| Developer(s) | ActiveState |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Website | www |
ActivePerl is a distribution ofPerl fromActiveState (formerly part ofSophos) forWindows,macOS,Linux,Solaris,AIX andHP-UX.
A few main editions are available, including: Community (free, for development use only), and several paid tiers up to Enterprise that includes support for OEM licensing. It includes a version of thePerl package manager (PPM) for installing packages fromCPAN, etc.
The Windows version includes anActive Scripting component forWindows Script Host (WSH) called PerlScript and anISAPI module for embedding withinInternet Information Services (IIS).
PerlScript was initially solely anActiveX Scripting Engine produced by the company ActiveState for use withMicrosoft's Internet Information Services (IIS) that allows for programmers to use Perl-based code in addition to, or in place of,VBScript orJScript in the context of web servers running theASP protocol. SubsequentlyApache::ASP was created for theApache web server, which allows for coding with only Perl, but neither VBScript nor JScript. PerlScript can also be used to write Windows Script Host-based programs, similar to VBScript.
Standalone PerlScripts can be executed if they are created with the file extension .pls, in which case theydo not require enclosingXML, e.g.
usestrict;our$WScript;$WScript->Echo("Hello, world!");
.pls files do not gain access to drag and drop WSH functionality.
PerlScripts which have the extension wsfrequire XML tags which specify the job id and script language, e.g.
<JobID="DropFiles"><scriptlanguage="PerlScript">usestrict;our$WScript;$WScript->Echo("Displaying names of dropped files");my$arg=$WScript->{Arguments};my$countArgs=$arg->{Count};for(my$i=0;$i<$countArgs;$i++){$WScript->Echo($arg->Item($i));}</script></Job>
wsf PerlScripts gain access to WSH drag and drop functionality, similarly to Perl Droplets in the now-obsoleteMacPerl.
Most WSH objects are available via the implicitly created$WScript object.