1                     VIRTUAL RESOURCE PATH
2----------------------------------------------------------------------
3
4by Darren Duncan <perl@DarrenDuncan.net>
5
6CONTENTS
7
8* Preface
9* Keeping Up To Date
10* Requirements
11* Installation
12* Support
13* To Do
14* Author
15
16PREFACE
17
18This distribution features the Perl 5 module named "File::VirtualPath",
19a portable abstraction of a file/dir/url path.
20 
21All of my modules have complete POD inside of them, so please refer to that for a
22description of the module itself.
23
24This Read Me document concerns itself mainly with installation and support
25issues, and also includes any "To Do" lists and the file manifest.
26
27KEEPING UP TO DATE
28
29My module set is constantly under development.  You should be able to find the
30newest versions at my website, "http://www.DarrenDuncan.net", on the page called
31"Perl Libraries I Made" (name subject to change).  They can also be found on CPAN
32under the author name of "DUNCAND".  
33
34I am inclined to update the copies on my web site more often, but those
35intermediate versions are more likely to have been tested less, and the modules
36may be updated day by day without increasing the version numbers.  However, the
37copies on CPAN are guaranteed to have unique version numbers when the module has
38changed.
39
40REQUIREMENTS
41
42All of my modules require Perl 5.004 or newer, even though only some of them need
43it, in the interest of consistency.  That said, Perl 5.004 is already 3 years 
44old, is available as a binary on practically every OS that supports Perl at all, 
45and is a very solid release, so I see no reason to support anything older.
46
47This module doesn't require anything else.
48
49INSTALLATION
50
51To install this module, cd to the directory that contains all of the extracted 
52distribution files, including this ReadMe file, and type the following:
53
54	perl Makefile.PL
55	make
56	make test
57	make install
58
59The last step probably won't work if you are not the administrator of your 
60machine; in that case you either need to get your administrator to install this 
61for you, or put it in a your own local directory instead.
62
63The Makefile.PL can do this for you if you substitute something like the 
64following for the first line above:
65
66	perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/tmp/myperl5
67	
68or:
69
70	perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/home/me/myperl5
71
72If you are on a Mac system that is older than Mac OS X (Mac OS 9 or earlier)
73and/or you are otherwise having problems with the Makefile, you can still
74install this module the old fashioned way, by copying.
75
76Every file in the "lib" folder of this distribution goes in its corresponding 
77location within the "lib" folder that came with your Perl 5 distribution.
78
79Or alternately, put them anywhere you want, but you will need to have that 
80location added to your include path by your main program using something like 
81this:
82
83	use lib '/home/me/myperl5/lib';
84
85Then you would want to run the included test programs to make sure the modules
86are installed correctly.  Call them like this:
87
88	perl -w t/File-VirtualPath.t
89
90Any existing POD is embedded in the module itself.  The Makefile probably 
91extracted it for you in the usual manner, or you can run a POD extractor on it 
92yourself to the same effect.  You can also find an HTMLized copy of the POD on 
93CPAN and other public source archives; I link to one copy of it on my web site.
94
95SUPPORT
96
97Currently I don't have any support arranged with other people, lists, newsgroups,
98or otherwise.  Feel free to ask me if you can't figure things out on your own, or
99another person whom you know has used this.  I may start a mailing list for 
100support issues later, so that users of my modules can help each other with them.
101
102TO DO
103
104	* I have no more ideas in this regard, but am open to suggestions.
105	* Get my other modules done.
106
107AUTHOR
108
109Copyright (c) 1999-2003, Darren R. Duncan.  All rights reserved.  This module
110is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms
111as Perl itself.  However, I do request that this copyright information and
112credits remain attached to the file.  If you modify this module and
113redistribute a changed version then please attach a note listing the
114modifications.  This module is available "as-is" and the author can not be held
115accountable for any problems resulting from its use.
116
117I am always interested in knowing how my work helps others, so if you put this
118module to use in any of your own products or services then I would appreciate
119(but not require) it if you send me the website url for said product or
120service, so I know who you are.  Also, if you make non-proprietary changes to
121the module because it doesn't work the way you need, and you are willing to
122make these freely available, then please send me a copy so that I can roll
123desirable changes into the main release.
124
125Address comments, suggestions, and bug reports to perl@DarrenDuncan.net.
126
127Share and Enjoy!
128