Devel::PPPort (Perl in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition)

8.54. Devel::PPPort

Allows you to write Perl code that's as compatible as possible with the widest range of Perl interpreters. Devel::PPPort ships with ppport.h, with which you can incorporate some of the newest features of Perl with your older Perl releases. Devel::PPPort is important for developing modules, since newer Perl versions do not have as many issues with namespace pollution that older Perl versions had.

To use Devel::PPPort, copy ppport.h to wherever you're doing your development work, and use the WriteFile() method when you're ready to generate the necessary code. WriteFile() is used to write a C header file for XS modules. ppport.h contains a series of macros that allow XS to be built under older versions of Perl. For example:

my $port_file = '/users1/nvp/Perl/XS/Projects/ppport.h';
Devel::PPPort::WriteFile($port_file);

This generates ppport.h in /users1/nvp/Perl/XS/Projects.

WriteFile() takes an optional parameter representing the filename of the ppport header file. If empty, ppport.h is generated in the current directory. WriteFile() returns true if the write was successful, and false otherwise.

ppport.h provides access to the Perl API.