Sybperl, version 1.0



   Sybperl is a set of user-defined subroutines letting you access a
   Sybase data server using Perl.

   Requirements: Perl ver 3.0.27 or higher (4.035 strongly suggested!).
		 Sybase DB-Library (aka Open Client)


   Compiling & Installing Sybperl:
   
   Unshar somewhere convenient, and edit Makefile to reflect your
   system setup. The following macros/defines may need to be set:

       PERL_VERSION	 Uncomment if you're using a Perl version
			 earlier than 4.03
       UPERL/SAVESTR	 See the comments in the Makefile, and the
			 BUGS file. The defaults should work.
       HAS_CALLBACK	 This enables the use of Perl subroutines as
			 DB-Library error & message handlers. This is
			 a new feature of Perl 4.018, but it might
			 work with earlier versions.
       DBLIB42     	 If this Makefile macro is defined, then the
			 newer datatypes (such as SYBREAL) will be
			 handled correctly, and dbsafestr() will be
			 implemented.
       SET_VAL		 If this macro is set, then attempts to set a
			 Sybperl user-variable (such as
			 $NO_MORE_RESULTS) will result in a fatal
			 error. Otherwise such attempts are silently
			 ignored.
       NULL_UNDEF	 If this macro is set, then NULL values
			 returned from a select statement will be
			 returned as 'undef' values. Otherwise, they
			 are returned as the string 'NULL'.
       OLD_SYBPERL	 This is a backwards compatibility flag -
			 mainly for myself :-). It's main impact is to
			 silently call dblogin()/dbopen() with default
			 arguments if you omit to do so in the script.

   The Makefile will not attempt to build uperl.o if it can't find it.

   You may also need to edit the lib/sybperl.pl file to addapt it to
   your environment.

   There are some test scripts in the t directory which you can run to
   see if all is well, and to get an idea of what can be done with
   sybperl. There are also some example scripts in the 'eg' directory.

   Sybperl has been tested succesfully in the following environments:

   Sun Sparc, SunOS 4.1.1, Sybase 4.0.1, Perl 4.010
   Sun 3/80, SunOS 4.0.3, Sybase 4.0.1, Perl 4.010
   Sun Sparc, SunOS 4.1, Sybase 4.2, Perl 4.010
   Pyramid MIServer 2/2, OSx V5.1a, Sybase 4.0, Perl 4.010
   
   I use sybperl daily in a production environment on a Sun 4/65 under
   SunOS 4.1.1, with Sybase version 4.0.1 and Perl 4.035

   BUGS:

   Both DBlibrary and Perl define a symbol named 'savestr', resulting
   in the Perl version being called from DBlibrary. See the BUGS file
   for ways to get around this problem.

   Memory usage can also be a problem in certain cases. Again see the
   BUGS file for details.

   BCP functions are not available, but would probably be useful.

   Access to IMAGE datatypes isn't handled in &dbnextrow().



   
   Have fun using it and let me know of any improvements, problems,
   whatever...

   Michael Peppler	        mpeppler@itf.ch    mpeppler@bix.com
   ITF Management SA            BIX:   mpeppler                         
   13 Rue de la Fontaine        Phone: (+4122) 312 1311  
   CH-1204 Geneva, Switzerland  Fax:   (+4122) 312 1322  

   

                   NOTICE - Warranty and Copyright

		   
   Sybperl is not a product of ITF Management. There is no warranty,
   and no official support.

   Sybperl is copyright, but may be freely distributed under the
   same terms as Perl itself.



   My thanks to the following people for testing Perl, and suggesting
   improvements:

   Teemu Torma			Brent Milnor
   Matthew Merzbacher		Eric Fifer
   Dan Banay			Mark Lawrence
   Jeffrey Wong			Wolfgang Richter
   Anders Ardo			Gijs Mos
   Minh Ton Ha			G. Roderick Singleton
   Peter Gutmann