OpenGL Perl Module V0.2
=======================

This module lets you create 2D and 3D graphical OpenGL programs in PERL.

If your idea of 3D graphics is button widgets with shaded 
borders (light on top, dark on bottom),
then this is not the module for you :-) 

For the latest information on this module, 
see the OpenGL Perl Module WWW Home Page at:
	http://www.arc.ab.ca/vr/opengl

If you have any problems building the module, installing,
or running demos, then see the file "HELP",
or get the most up-to-date help at
	http://www.arc.ab.ca/vr/opengl/help.html

Why PERL?
---------
Well, its becoming the language of choice for more and more
things.  Some benefits include:  quickly prototyping programs, 
no compiling, and it allows a high degree of expressability.
See the file "WHY" to learn more about perl's advantages
and to see some cool ideas.

What's Here
-----------
This module does not give a complete API, and it is seriously
lacking in the X stuff.
It does have all of the opengl library and 
some of the glu and glx libraries.
In addition, some extra routines are provided for convienience.
For example, "glpOpenWindow", does all that X/glX setup stuff for you.
Perhaps GLUT would be a nice addition for the future.

The perl module preserves the interface (names and arguments) to all the 
opengl functions.  
Therefore, you can continue to use existing man pages, books, and other
documentation.

See the file "TUTORIAL" and the examples for more information 
about what this module contains.



System Requirements
-------------------
Obviously you need a machine with 
Perl 5, OpenGL, and X (with the glx extention).

This module has only been tested on a SGI workstation
running IRIX 5.3 and using PERL version 5.001 Unofficial patchlevel 1m.


Getting the Software 
--------------------
The software can be ftp'd from: 

    ftp://skyler.arc.ab.ca/pub/perl

Snag the file OpenGL-0.2.tar.gz. Its the most recent version. 
Unless, of course, you see a later version :-) 
Note that this is still considered an alpha release.

Building the Module
-------------------
To generate the Makefile
do a

	perl Makefile.PL

Next, simply do a 

	make

and hopefully everything works smoothly.
Remember to look at HELP if there are problems.

There are a number of example programs in the
examples directory.  Some of them are 
perl versions of the samples used 
in the "OpenGL Programming Guide" published by Addison-Wesley.
Test the install with some of these programs
You may have to change the first line 
	#!/usr/local/bin/perl
to whatever
the pathname for perl is: 
	cd examples
	perl -pi -e "s,/usr/local/bin/perl,`which perl`,;" *
(No promises that the above line will work correctly.)
Enjoy.

If you get things working then be sure to do the following:
	echo "Yo, the OpenGL module works!" | mail stan@arc.ab.ca


Installation
------------
If you have the necessary permission then you can
install the OpenGL module in the perl library.
If you're in the examples directory then get back out ("cd ..").
Do a:
	make install
If there are no problems then everything should install correctly.
Test the examples using the installed module (dont have the demo
search the "blib" directory by commenting out the appropriate line):
	cd examples
	perl -pi -e 's/^(BEGIN.*unshift.*INC)/\#$1/;' *


Please Help
-----------
Join the world wide effort to create and polish this module.
Send comments, flames, questions, suggestions, 
or even just useless weather observations to:
	stan@arc.ab.ca

Thanks

No animals were harmed, and no Microsoft products were used in
the making of this module.
