Perl/Pollution/Portability Devel::PPPort::WriteFile() ; # defaults to ./ppport.h Devel::PPPort::WriteFile('someheader.h') ; Perl has changed over time, gaining new features, new functions, increasing its flexibility, and reducing the impact on the C namespace environment (reduced pollution). The header file, typicaly "ppport.h", written by this module attempts to bring some of the newer Perl features to older versions of Perl, so that you can worry less about keeping track of old releases, but users can still reap the benefit. Why you should use "ppport.h" in modern code: so that your code will work with the widest range of Perl interpreters possible, without significant additional work. Why you should attempt older code to fully use "ppport.h": because the reduced pollution of newer Perl versions is an important thing, so important that the old polluting ways of original Perl modules will not be supported very far into the future, and your module will almost certainly break! By adapting to it now, you'll gained compatibility and a sense of having done the electronic ecology some good. How to use ppport.h: Don't direct the user to download "Devel::PPPort", and don't make "ppport.h" optional. Rather, just take the most recent copy of "ppport.h" that you can find (probably in "Devel::PPPort" on CPAN), copy it into your project, adjust your project to use it, and distribute the header along with your module. "Devel::PPPort" contains a single function, called "WriteFile". It's purpose is to write a 'C' header file that is used when writing XS modules. The file contains a series of macros that allow XS modules to be built using older versions of Perl. This module is used by h2xs to write the file ppport.h.

WriteFile
"WriteFile" takes a zero or one parameters. When called with one parameter it expects to be passed a filename. When called with no parameters, it defults to the filename "./pport.h". The function returns TRUE if the file was written successfully. Otherwise it returns FALSE. The file written by this module, typically "ppport.h", provides access to the following Perl API if not already available (and in some cases [*] even if available, access to a fixed interface): aMY_CXT aMY_CXT_ _aMY_CXT aTHX aTHX_ AvFILLp boolSV(b) DEFSV dMY_CXT dMY_CXT_SV dNOOP dTHR dTHX dTHXa dTHXoa ERRSV gv_stashpvn(str,len,flags) INT2PTR(type,int) IVdf MY_CXT MY_CXT_INIT newCONSTSUB(stash,name,sv) newRV_inc(sv) newRV_noinc(sv) newSVpvn(data,len) NOOP NV NVef NVff NVgf PERL_REVISION PERL_SUBVERSION PERL_UNUSED_DECL PERL_UNUSED_DECL PERL_VERSION PL_compiling PL_copline PL_curcop PL_curstash PL_defgv PL_dirty PL_hints PL_na PL_perldb PL_rsfp_filters PL_rsfpv PL_stdingv PL_Sv PL_sv_no PL_sv_undef PL_sv_yes pMY_CXT pMY_CXT_ _pMY_CXT pTHX pTHX_ PTR2IV(ptr) PTR2NV(ptr) PTR2ul(ptr) PTR2UV(ptr) SAVE_DEFSV START_MY_CXT SvPVbyte(sv,lp) [*] UVof UVSIZE UVuf UVxf UVXf Version 1.x of Devel::PPPort was written by Kenneth Albanowski. Version 2.x was ported to the Perl core by Paul Marquess. See h2xs.