NAME

win - Win32 programming and development tool

DESCRIPTION

The goal of win, the Perl Win32 programming tool, is to make Perl Win32 programming simpler, quicker, and less of a hassle. The win tool seeks to achieve its goal by:

1. Addressing the integration of Win32 modules. 2. Addressing Win32 idiosyncrasies.

You can call other Win32 modules via win and if your system doesn't have the module, win is polite enough to download and install the module for you (using PPM).

By default, win also enables a handful of basic and useful Win32 modules, specifically Win32, Win32::Autoglob, and Win32::Die. You can think of win as a broom that sweeps the idiosyncrasies of Windows under the rug. It is good to know what those idiosyncrasies are, but sometimes you don't want to deal with them. If that's ever the case, then win is for you.

EXAMPLES

       # use Win32::OLE and Win32::API

       use win q(ole, api);    

       # just use the default modules    
    
       use win;

       # use Win32::OLE, Win32::API, and Win32::TieRegistry

       use win q(  ole,
                   api,
                   TieRegistry(Delimiter=>"/")
                );

DEFAULTS

By default, win enables a few basic and useful Win32 modules. Originally, I planned for these modules to be optional. But none of them should interfere with other Win32 modules and they are relatively small. If you are concerned about the execution speed of your program, then you shouldn't be using the win tool anyway.

Here's a listing of the default modules:

Win32 Win32::Autoglob Win32::Die

Please see their documentation for more information about them. More modules may be added in future releases.

NOTES

Observe that arguments to import are passed via q// and not qw//. Of course, you could also use single quotes, but I prefer not to. Commas are the delimiter because they seem more appropriate than spaces. Also commas, unlike spaces, are rarely used in import arguments. (I thought long and hard about the delimiter. So if you can think of a better solution, please email me.)

The win tool is good for rapid prototyping and everyday Win32 scripting. I wouldn't recommend using it in distributed software, but no one is stopping you.

BUGS

None known

AUTHOR

Mike Accardo <mikeaccardo@yahoo.com> Comments and suggestions welcomed

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2003, Mike Accardo. All Rights Reserved. This module is free software. It may be used, redistributed and/or modified under the terms of the Perl Artistic License