$Id: README,v 1.100 2002/09/12 16:56:26 rcaputo Exp $

--------------------
Detailed Information
--------------------

POE is bigger than this README.  Please see http://poe.perl.org/ for
much more information.

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What POE Is
-----------

POE is a mature framework for creating networking or multitasking
programs in Perl.  It has been in active, open development since
August 1998.  It has been used in mission-critical systems such as
internetworked financial markets, file systems, commerce and
application servers.  It has been used in projects ranging from a few
lines to nearly 20,000.

POE is compatible with perl 5.005_03 through 5.6.1 and beyond.

POE includes functions for creating and using components.  Components
are modular, reusable pieces of programs.  Several components have
been published on the CPAN, and more are listed on POE's web site.

POE includes components and libraries for making quick work of network
clients, servers, and peers.  A simple stand-alone web application
takes about 30 lines of code, most of which is your own custom logic.

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Documentation Roadmap
---------------------

POE includes so much documentation that the main man page includes an
index to the rest.  See the "SEE ALSO" section in "man POE", or your
system's equivalent.

The CHANGES file lists all the changes in the past year.  POE's web
site includes a complete change history, broken down by release.

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Installing POE
--------------

See http://poe.perl.org/?Where_to_Get_POE for download sites, Windows
tips, and anonymous CVS instructions.

POE may be installed through the CPAN shell in the usual CPAN shell
manner.

  perl -MCPAN -e 'install POE'

It involves a little more work if you have an older CPAN shell:

  perl -MCPAN -e shell
  cpan> install POE

To install on a Win32 machine using ActiveState's PPM.  If PPM fails,
try PPM3:

  ppm install http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/poe/POE.ppd
  ppm3 install http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/poe/POE.ppd

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Test Results
------------

POE's test results are large and constantly changing, so it makes more
sense that they are on the web.

  http://eekeek.org/poe-tests/
    -- Automated test reports by users like you.

  http://testers.cpan.org/search?request=dist&dist=POE
    -- CPAN testers' reports.

POE's ongoing improvement relies on your feedback.  The easiest way to
do that is included in the POE distribution itself.  The Makefile
includes two targets: 'testreport' and 'reportupload'.

  make testreport
  make reportupload

Running 'make testreport' will run the test suite and generate an XML
file summarizing the test results named 'poe_report.xml'.  If you have
an active non-proxied internet connection, running 'make reportupload'
will transmit your test results to the POE test server.

If 'make reportupload' fails, you can upload poe_report.xml from the
form at http://eekeek.org/poe-tests/ .

Uploaded test results can be viewed at http://eekeek.org/poe-tests/.

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Test Coverage
-------------

POE's test coverage report has also moved onto the 'web.  It gives a
very rough idea of the amount of POE that's been at least cursorily
tested, but it should not be used as an accurate gauge of quality.

  http://poe.perl.org/?POE%27s_test_coverage_report

----
Bye!
----

Thanks for reading!

-- Rocco Caputo / rcaputo@cpan.org / poe.perl.org / poe.sourceforge.net