2.5.1 Installing the Documentation

On Unix, the standard Perl installation procedure generates manpages for the Perl documentation from their pod format, although your system administrator might also choose to install the documentation as HTML files. You can also use this procedure to generate manpages for CPAN modules when you install them. You might need to modify your MANPATH environment variable to include the path to the Perl manpages, but then you should be able to read the documentation with the man command. In addition, Perl comes with its own command, perldoc , which formats the pod documentation and displays it. perldoc is particularly useful for reading module documentation, which might not be installed as manpages; you can also use it for reading the core Perl documentation.

The ActiveState Win32 port comes with documentation in HTML format; you can find it in the /docs subdirectory of the distribution. Documentation specific to ActiveState's Perl for Win32 is installed in the /docs/Perl-Win32 subdirectory.

The native Win32 port installs the perldoc command for formatting and reading Perl documentation; it also provides an option during installation for the documentation to be formatted and saved as HTML files.

2.5.2 The Perl Manpages

Perl comes with lots of online documentation. To make life easier, the manpages have been divided into separate sections so you don't have to wade through hundreds of pages of text to find what you are looking for. You can read them with either the man command or with perldoc . Run man perl or perldoc perl to read the top-level page. That page in turn directs you to more specific pages. Or, if you know which page you want, you can go directly there by using:

% man perlvar

or:

% perldoc perlvar

The following table lists the sections in a logical order for reading through them:

Section	Description
perl	Overview (the top level)
perldelta	Changes since previous version
perlfaq	Frequently asked questions
perltoc	Table of contents for Perl documentation
perldata	Data structures
perlsyn	Syntax
perlop	Operators and precedence
perlre	Regular expressions
perlrun	Execution and options
perlfunc	Builtin functions
perlvar	Predefined variables
perlsub	Subroutines
perlmod	How modules work
perlmodlib	How to write and use modules
perlmodinstall	How to install modules from CPAN
perlform	Formats
perllocale	Locale support
perlref	References
perldsc	Data structures introduction
perllol	Data structures: lists of lists
perltoot	OO tutorial
perlobj	Objects
perltie	Objects hidden behind simple variables
perlbot	OO tricks and examples
perlipc	Interprocess communication
perldebug	Debugging
perldiag	Diagnostic messages
perlsec	Security
perltrap	Traps for the unwary
perlport	Portability guide
perlstyle	Style guide
perlpod	Plain old documentation
perlbook	Book information
perlembed	Embedding Perl in your C or C++ application
perlapio	Internal IO abstraction interface
perlxs	XS application programming interface
perlxstut	XS tutorial
perlguts	Internal functions for those doing extensions
perlcall	Calling conventions from C
perlhist	History records