Mailing List Archive

Hi,
>
> I've been able to get my Embperl app to load private copies of
> modules under development by manipulating @INC and %INC at the
> top of my EmbPerl file:
>
>...
> But the problem with this approach is that it seems the child
> processes in which this code runs are being told to load my
> private version of MyDir::MyModuleName, obliterating the public
> version, so the next person that tries to use the same child
> process to run a public app is going to find that it's trying to
> work with the compiled code of my private module rather than the
> public one.
>
> If this is indeed the case, what is the best solution?
>

Yes, this is the case, because the Perl interpreter is global to the child

> Here are some solutions I can think of:
>
> 1) For debugging/development, run a separate apache server
> on a separate http port
>
> 2) Put the modules in a differently-named directory
> during testing
>
> 3) Force my app to re-load the public version of the
> module after processing my request so the public
> version's once again available to subsequent users.
>
> 4) Somehow force the child process to terminate itself
> after my request.
>

I would prefer 1, followed by 2 (you must also rename the package name).
With 3 I am sure you will run in more problems, because Perl is not really
unloading your module/test module only overwriting code with the same name.
4 has the same problems, also I am not aware of a good solution to let the
child terminate.

Gerald




-------------------------------------------------------------
Gerald Richter ecos electronic communication services gmbh
Internetconnect * Webserver/-design/-datenbanken * Consulting

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>> Here are some solutions I can think of:
>>
>> 1) For debugging/development, run a separate apache server
>> on a separate http port
>>
>
>I would prefer 1
>....
>
>Gerald


Gerald,

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. Option #1 is what I have ended up settling on.

For the benefit of sharing my solution with the archives, here is how I am choosing to implement that technique on my Linux Red Hat box:

1) Modify my init.d/httpd file to take an optional "port" argument as arg 2, in which case it starts, stops, or re-starts a private httpd (but using the same config file as apachectl would have done.)

############## /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd:
#!/bin/sh
#
# Startup script for the Apache Web Server

# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
start)
echo -n "Starting httpd: $2"
if [ ! "x$2" = "x" ]; then
env ALT_PORT=$2 /usr/local/apache/bin/httpd -f \
/etc/httpd.conf/httpd.conf
echo
touch /var/lock/subsys/httpd$2
else
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start
echo
touch /var/lock/subsys/httpd
fi;
;;
stop)
echo -n "Shutting down http: "
if [ ! "x$2" = "x" ]; then
kill `cat /usr/local/apache/logs/httpd.pid.$2`
echo
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/httpd$2
rm -f /usr/local/apache/logs/httpd.pid.$2
else
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl stop
echo -n httpd
echo
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/httpd
rm -f /var/run/httpd.pid
fi;
;;
status)
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl status
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl fullstatus
;;
restart)
if [ ! "x$2" = "x" ]; then
kill -HUP `cat /usr/local/apache/logs/httpd.pid.$2`
else
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl restart
fi;
;;
reload)
echo -n "Doing a "graceful" reload of httpd: "
/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl graceful
echo
;;
*)
echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|reload|status}"
exit 1
esac

exit 0
##############

2) In httpd.conf, do the old "optional port" trick, but triggered from the environment variable passed by the init.d/httpd script, as follows:

PerlPassEnv ALT_PORT

<Perl>
if ($ENV{ALT_PORT} =~ /^(\d+)$/)
{
print STDERR "Starting on port $1...\n";
$Port = $1;
## PidFile corresponds to the one expected by init.d/httpd:
$PidFile = "/usr/local/apache/logs/httpd.pid.$Port";
}
else
{
$Port = 80;
$PidFile = "/usr/local/apache/logs/httpd.pid";
}
</Perl>


Hope this helps someone,

-chris

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