This is the README file for PAR-Packer, a part of the PAR toolkit.
PAR-Packer is the PAR component that can generate stand-alone executables
and ".par" archives.

The main front-end for PAR-Packer is the "pp" utility.

Please type "perldoc PAR::FAQ" for frequently answered questions.

For packing scripts with prerequisite modules into stand-alone scripts
or executables (aka PerlApp, Perl2exe, or 'perlcc that works'), see
"perldoc pp" and "perldoc tkpp".

For running ".par" files directly, see "perldoc parl".

To generate/execute self-contained perl scripts, see "perldoc pp"
or "perldoc par.pl".

An extensive "Cross-Platform Packaging and Deployment with PAR" tutorial
is available as "perldoc PAR::Tutorial" from the PAR distribution which is
a prerequisite for this distribution.

* Installation

If you have cpanm, you only need one line:

  cpanm PAR::Packer

Alternatively, if your CPAN shell is set up, you should just be able to do:

  cpan PAR:Packer

As a last resort, you can manually install it. Download the tarball, untar it,
then build it:
  
  perl Makefile.PL
  make                # or 'dmake' on Win32
  make test
  make install

Note that all of the above require that you have a C compiler installed.

* Notes for Windows users

If your Perl distribution is Strawberry Perl, you already have the
MinGW C compiler installed. If you are using ActiveState Perl, 
you may want to install the MinGW C compiler with:

  ppm install MinGW

* Typical Usage

Here are some recipes showing how to utilize pp to bundle source.pl with
all its dependencies, on target machines with different expected
settings:

- Stand-alone setup

    % pp -o packed.exe source.pl	# makes packed.exe
    # Now, deploy 'packed.exe' to target machine...
    $ packed.exe			# run it

- Perl interpreter only, without core modules:

    % pp -B -p source.pl		# makes source.par
    % par.pl -B -Opacked.pl source.par  # makes packed.pl
    # Now, deploy 'packed.pl' to target machine...
    $ perl packed.pl			# run it

- Perl with core module installed:

    % pp -p source.pl			# makes source.par
    % par.pl -b -Opacked.pl source.par	# makes packed.pl
    # Now, deploy 'packed.pl' to target machine...
    $ perl packed.pl			# run it

- Perl with PAR.pm and its dependencies installed:

    % pp -p source.pl                   # makes source.par
    % echo "use PAR 'source.par';" > packed.pl;
    % cat source.pl >> packed.pl;       # makes packed.pl
    # Now, deploy 'source.par' and 'packed.pl' to target machine...
    $ perl packed.pl                    # run it

Note that if your perl was built with a shared library, the
'Stand-alone setup' above will still need a separate perl5x.dll or
libperl.so to function correctly.  Patches to include a copy
of libperl with the executable are most welcome. (Note: This might not
apply any more.)

Please consult the documentation of 'pp' for more information.

* Source Repository

You can check out the most recent revision from PAR's Subversion repository:

    https://www.openfoundry.org/svn/par/PAR-Packer/trunk

Same applies to the main PAR distribution:

    https://www.openfoundry.org/svn/par/trunk

There is anonymous access to all. Commit access is handed out liberally;
contact the mailing list for details.

* Contact

You can write to the mailing list at <par@perl.org>, or send an empty mail to
<par-subscribe@perl.org> to participate in the discussion.

Please submit bug reports to <bug-par@rt.cpan.org>.

* Copyright

Copyright 2002-2010 by Audrey Tang <cpan@audreyt.org>.

All rights reserved.  You can redistribute and/or modify
this bundle under the same terms as Perl itself.

See <http://www.perl.com/perl/misc/Artistic.html>.