Perl Windows Automation Scripting

Question

I want to learn it.

Where can I get some good information to start learning?

Answer 1

What kind of automation?

If you're trying to do things like automate Word or Excel, you should look at Win32::OLE (I think it's called); this lets you use Perl to manipulate these applications as an equivalent to VB/WSH. The ActivePerl install includes a useful tool called "OLE-Browser", which you can use to discover the object model available.

If you're trying to replace .BAT files, you want to use the regular Perl builtin commands for dealing with files and directories (and probably also File::Copy), as well as things like system() and qx() (which is the function that the backticks are a shortcut for).

Answer 2

The canonical answer to "How do I start learning Perl?" is to get and read Learning Perl. It was a classic when I cut my teeth on it a decade ago. It's been updated a few times since then, but it remains an excellent book.

You might find the book Perl for System Administration useful. It provides a lot of task oriented examples for Mac, Windows and *nix systems.

If you are looking for free/online resources, you can find a directory at learn.perl.org.

Answer 3

I have found Win32 Perl Programming by Dave Roth quite useful in the past.

It's easy to read and have lots of practical examples.

_{Note that it's rather old (2001) and might not be up to date regarding Vista and win7}