Help building Devel::Caller

[Limbic~Region]

All,
I am using ActiveState Perl 5.8.8 (817) and trying to build Devel::Caller with MinGW. The odd thing is that it is failing to find -lperl58

Here is the output of perl Makefile.PL

C:\Devel-Caller-0.11>perl Makefile.PL
# running Build.PL
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe Build.PL
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Checking whether your kit is complete...
Looks good

Checking prerequisites...
Looks good

Creating new 'Build' script for 'Devel-Caller' version '0.11'
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)

Here is the output of mingw32-make

C:\Devel-Caller-0.11>mingw32-make
C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe Build --makefile_env_macros 1
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
Set up gcc environment - 3.4.2 (mingw-special)
lib\Devel\Caller.pm -> blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm
lib\Devel\Caller.xs -> lib\Devel\Caller.c
C:\Perl\bin\perl.exe -IC:\Perl\lib -IC:\Perl\lib C:\Perl\lib\ExtUtils\
+xsubpp -noprototypes -typemap C:\Perl\lib\ExtUtils\typemap lib\Devel\
+Caller.xs
gcc -c -DNDEBUG -DWIN32 -D_CONSOLE -DNO_STRICT -DHAVE_DES_FCRYPT -DNO_
+HASH_SEED -DUSE_SITECUSTOMIZE -DPERL_IMPLICIT_CONTEXT -DPERL_IMPLICIT
+_SYS -DUSE_PERLIO -DPERL_MSVCRT_READFIX -DHASATTRIBUTE -fno-strict-al
+iasing -O2 "-DXS_VERSION=\"0.11\"" "-DVERSION=\"0.11\"" -I"C:\Perl\li
+b\CORE" -I"\include" -o "lib\Devel\Caller.o" "lib\Devel\Caller.c"
ExtUtils::Mkbootstrap::Mkbootstrap('blib\arch\auto\Devel\Caller\Caller
+.bs')
Generating script 'lib\Devel\Caller.lds'
dlltool --def "lib\Devel\Caller.def" --output-exp "lib\Devel\Caller.ex
+p"
gcc -o "blib\arch\auto\Devel\Caller\Caller.dll" -Wl,--base-file,"lib\D
+evel\Caller.base" -Wl,--image-base,0x26130000 -mdll "lib\Devel\Caller
+.lds" "lib\Devel\Caller.exp"
C:\mingw\bin\..\lib\gcc\mingw32\3.4.2\..\..\..\..\mingw32\bin\ld.exe: 
+cannot find -lperl58
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
dlltool --def "lib\Devel\Caller.def" --output-exp "lib\Devel\Caller.ex
+p" --base-file "lib\Devel\Caller.base"
gcc -o "blib\arch\auto\Devel\Caller\Caller.dll" -Wl,--image-base,0x261
+30000 -mdll "lib\Devel\Caller.lds" "lib\Devel\Caller.exp"
C:\mingw\bin\..\lib\gcc\mingw32\3.4.2\..\..\..\..\mingw32\bin\ld.exe: 
+cannot find -lperl58
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
Manifying blib\lib/Devel/Caller.pm -> blib\libdoc\Devel.Caller.3
HTMLifying blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm -> blib\libhtml\site\lib\Devel\Cal
+ler.html
Build: blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm: unterminated list at =head in paragra
+ph 30.  ignoring.
Build: blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm: cannot resolve L<perlfunc/caller> in 
+paragraph 31.
Build: blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm: cannot resolve L<perlfunc/caller> in 
+paragraph 50.
Build: blib\lib\Devel\Caller.pm: cannot resolve L<PadWalker> in paragr
+aph 50.

While I would be just as happy if someone could point me to a ppm repository with a current Devel::Caller, I would truly like to figure out why a default lib can't be found.
Any and all help is appreciated.

[bart]

It's, as stated, typically a problem you have with Module::Build in ActivePerl with the non-original C compiler — thus: MinGW. What happens is that Module::Build for some obscure reason uses -lperl58 as a libary to link against, which is short for perl58.lib in any searched directory, but the directory C:\Perl\lib\CORE, where perl58.lib actually resides, isn't in the search path.

The problem is so bad that I can't even install Module::Build 0.2805, because the tests fail for the exact same reason.

The solution that works for me, is find a way to specify that directory into the command line for the linker. Open the file C:\Perl\site\lib\ActivePerl\Config.pm, and replace the line 108,

        _override("lddlflags", "-mdll");

which is one of the parameters passed to the linker, with

        _override("lddlflags", "-mdll -LC:/Perl/lib/CORE");

Now, Module::Build passes all tests. And, after installing Module::Build, so does Devel::Caller.

[Limbic~Region]

bart,
Very interesting though this workaround is just that - a workaround. I would be interested in knowing who the right people are to get a real fix for this. The alternative I found for Devel::Caller was just to bypass Module::Build though I have confirmed your workaround also works.

[bart]

Despite your skeptiscism, after some more digging together with Intrepid who enjoys messing with build problems, I appear to have found the exact spot of the problem. You see, here is the line in Config Config_heavy.pl for ActivePerl5.8.8:

lddlflags='-dll -nologo -nodefaultlib -debug -opt:ref,icf  -libpath:"C
+:\Perl\lib\CORE"  -machine:x86'

And here is what is made of in in ActivePerl::Config:

        _override("lddlflags", "-mdll");

which lists the option for the dynamic libraries, i.e. the DLLs made out of the XS modules.

Do you see anything missing? Well, actually, a lot is missing, but most importantly, the command line switch to include the library search directory "C:\Perl\lib\CORE" is not there any more.

So, with a bit of cleanup, i.e. poring the library path out of _orig_config instead of hardcoding it, I guess I have the most acceptable patch.

update I've made a more politically correct patch, which gets the (MSVC style) -libpath: parameter switches out of the original lddlflags setting, and replaces each with the gcc style -L switch for MinGW. I've tested it and it seems to work, even with quotes and backslashes in place.

        _override("lddlflags", join " ", "-mdll",
          map "-L$_", map /^-libpath:(.+)/,
          _orig_conf("lddlflags") =~ /(?=\S)(?>[^"\s]+|"[^"]*")+/g);

update The code has been updated (from a simple split " ") so it can properly handle spaces embedded between quotes.

[syphilis]

I think there's an element of Module::Build bugginess involved here ... or perhaps it's the ActiveState/MinGW interaction that's buggy. You may also be better off using 'dmake' instead of 'mingw32-make' (http://search.cpan.org/dist/dmake/) though that alone won't solve the problem. (I am using 'dmake' and I get the same as you.)

Best I could come up with was to use this Makefile.PL:

use ExtUtils::MakeMaker;

WriteMakefile(
    'NAME'    => 'Devel::Caller',
    'VERSION_FROM' => 'lib/Devel/Caller.pm', # finds $VERSION
);

Also you need to copy lib/Devel/Caller.xs up 2 levels (to the root directory of the source distro). Then run 'dmake clean' (or 'mingw32-make clean') to get back to a fresh installation. Then run 'perl Makefile.PL', 'dmake test', 'dmake install'. Some of the tests fail - same happens on my MinGW-built perl. And the output of 'dmake test' is a little nonsensical (and 'nmake test', too ... which is why the CPAN testers reckon it builds on Win32 ... though it doesn't). For a better understanding of which tests failed and which tests passed, run 'perl -Mblib t\Devel-Caller.t'

I see ActiveState have a ppm for Devel-Caller-Perl. Perhaps that's worth checking out.

Cheers,
Rob

[Limbic~Region]

Rob,
I think there's an element of Module::Build bugginess involved here

bart and I are coming to the same conclusion. Oddly enough, the last ppd I can find for Devel::Build is .08 and according to the changes file, it ported to Module::Build at .09 version. Oddly enough, the test report shows the current version building on Win32 when MVC++ is used as the compiler. This leads me to believe it is a ActiveState/MinGW/Module::Build problem. I have several different makes lying around so that isn't the problem as I see the behavior with all of them.

Interestingly enough, my <make> test passed. Apparently a lot of the failing tests are marked TODO. As far as Devel::Caller::Perl, the particular module I am trying to install won't accept it as a surrogate dependency.

Thanks so much for figuring out a work around!!!! Any suggestions on who to contact on a real fix would be appreciated.