par.pl − Make and run Perl Archives
(Please see pp for convenient ways to make self-contained executables, scripts or PAR archives from perl programs.)
To make a PAR distribution from a CPAN module distribution:
% par.pl
−p # make a PAR dist under the current path
% par.pl −p Foo−0.01 # assume unpacked CPAN dist
in Foo−0.01/
To manipulate a PAR distribution:
% par.pl
−i
Foo−0.01−i386−freebsd−5.8.0.par #
install
% par.pl −i http://foo.com/Foo−0.01 #
auto−appends archname + perlver
% par.pl −i cpan://AUTRIJUS/PAR−0.74 # uses CPAN
author directory
% par.pl −u
Foo−0.01−i386−freebsd−5.8.0.par #
uninstall
% par.pl −s
Foo−0.01−i386−freebsd−5.8.0.par #
sign
% par.pl −v
Foo−0.01−i386−freebsd−5.8.0.par #
verify
To use Hello.pm from ./foo.par:
% par.pl
−A./foo.par −MHello
% par.pl −A./foo −MHello # the .par part is
optional
Same thing, but search foo.par in the @INC;
% par.pl
−Ifoo.par −MHello
% par.pl −Ifoo −MHello # ditto
Run test.pl or script/test.pl from foo.par:
% par.pl foo.par
test.pl # looks for 'main.pl' by default,
# otherwise run 'test.pl'
To make a self-containing script containing a PAR file :
% par.pl
−O./foo.pl foo.par
% ./foo.pl test.pl # same as above
To embed the necessary non-core modules and shared objects for PAR’s execution (like "Zlib", "IO", "Cwd", etc), use the −b flag:
% par.pl
−b −O./foo.pl foo.par
% ./foo.pl test.pl # runs anywhere with core modules
installed
If you also wish to embed core modules along, use the −B flag instead:
% par.pl
−B −O./foo.pl foo.par
% ./foo.pl test.pl # runs anywhere with the perl
interpreter
This is particularly useful when making stand-alone binary executables; see pp for details.
This stand-alone command offers roughly the same feature as "perl −MPAR", except that it takes the pre-loaded .par files via "−Afoo.par" instead of "−MPAR=foo.par".
Additionally, it lets you convert a CPAN distribution to a PAR distribution, as well as manipulate such distributions. For more information about PAR distributions, see PAR::Dist.
If you have a C compiler, or a pre-built binary package of PAR is available for your platform, a binary version of par.pl will also be automatically installed as parl. You can use it to run .par files:
# runs
script/run.pl in archive, uses its lib/* as libraries
% parl myapp.par run.pl # runs run.pl or script/run.pl in
myapp.par
% parl otherapp.pl # also runs normal perl scripts
However, if the .par archive contains either main.pl or script/main.pl, it is used instead:
% parl myapp.par run.pl # runs main.pl, with 'run.pl' as @ARGV
Finally, the "−O" option makes a stand-alone binary executable from a PAR file:
% parl −B
−Omyapp myapp.par
% ./myapp # run it anywhere without perl binaries
With the "−−par−options" flag, generated binaries can act as "parl" to pack new binaries:
% ./myapp
−−par−options −Omyap2 myapp.par #
identical to ./myapp
% ./myapp −−par−options −Omyap3
myap3.par # now with different PAR
The format for the stand-alone executable is simply concatenating the following elements:
|
• |
The executable itself |
Either in plain-text (par.pl) or native executable format (parl or parl.exe).
|
• |
Any number of embedded files |
These are
typically used for bootstrapping PAR’s various XS
dependencies. Each section contains:
The magic string ""FILE""
Length of file name in pack('N') format plus 9
8 bytes of hex-encoded CRC32 of file content
A single slash (""/"")
The file name (without path)
File length in pack('N') format
The file’s content (not compressed)
|
• |
One PAR file |
This is just a zip file beginning with the magic string ""PK\003\004"".
|
• |
Ending section |
The pre-computed cache name. A pack(’Z40’) string of the value of −T (−−tempcache) or the hash of the file, followed by "\0CACHE". The hash of the file is calculated with Digest::SHA.
A pack(’N’) number of the total length of FILE and PAR sections, followed by a 8−bytes magic string: ""\012PAR.pm\012"".
PAR, PAR::Dist, parl, pp
Audrey Tang <[email protected]>, Steffen Mueller <[email protected]>
You can write to the mailing list at <[email protected]>, or send an empty mail to <par−[email protected]> to participate in the discussion.
Please submit bug reports to <bug−par−[email protected]>.
Copyright 2002−2009 by Audrey Tang <[email protected]>.
Neither this program nor the associated parl program impose any licensing restrictions on files generated by their execution, in accordance with the 8th article of the Artistic License:
"Aggregation
of this Package with a commercial distribution is
always permitted provided that the use of this Package is
embedded;
that is, when no overt attempt is made to make this
Package's
interfaces visible to the end user of the commercial
distribution.
Such use shall not be construed as a distribution of this
Package."
Therefore, you are absolutely free to place any license on the resulting executable, as long as the packed 3rd−party libraries are also available under the Artistic License.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
See LICENSE.