http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=1020921


in reply to Re: Installing Template::Toolkit on Windows
in thread Installing Template::Toolkit on Windows

The last time I tried to get Strawberry working, it didn't play nicely with Win32::OLE and Excel. I'd be delighted to hear that all such issues are closed, but the BugZilla instructions recommend AS, so I prefer situations in which I can point would-be helpers to the instructions I am trying to follow rather than making up my own as I go along.

Regards,

John Davies

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Re^3: Installing Template::Toolkit on Windows
by sundialsvc4 (Abbot) on Feb 27, 2013 at 18:42 UTC

    Now that is downright interesting, because I certainly have never found that to be the case.   I use Strawberry quite a bit in connection specifically to Excel (and Outlook), specifically using OLE ... (so much for being “a troll”) ... and have never encountered a lick of trouble with it.

    The key difference, if there is any (and I doubt), is that, yes, you do need to have a compiler on-hand to do a lot of these things in the Windows environment ... which Strawberry takes care of and which AS (I do believe by design) generally seeks to avoid [the need for].   AS seems to strive to do things “the Windows way,” if you will, whereas Strawberry appears in like manner to do things much closer to the way that the same things are done in Linux/Unix.

    Certainly, it has never been my experience ... and (sorry, “troll-UK,” but I do have “experience” here) ... that Strawberry was in any way “problematic” with regards to using OLE.   Therefore, I have no clue where that recommendation comes from.   Perl technology worked splendidly, as did Strawberry, as did OLE.

      For many years ActiveState Perl has supported module installation via cpan, and provided build tools (MinGW etc) via PPM. The issue* (at hand) is they don't provide said build tools for 64bit builds. I personally prefer Strawberry Perl over ActiveState.

      Update: * or not as BrowserUK points out

      (sorry, “troll-UK,” but I do have “experience” here)

      I've some news for you. Reading about something does not constitute experience.


      With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
      Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
      "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
      In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

      This was a few years back and I still regard myself as a Perl novice, so it's quite conceivable that I blundered in some way and should have been able to get SP working with Excel. When I next get to the stage of wanting to experiment rather than wanting something that works (and that's a continuum rather than a boolean), I'll try SP again.

      Regards,

      John Davies

      Update 3/3/13: I've just tried SP & it seems to work fine. It's still early days, but I ran some stuff that did fairly esoteric Excel stuff without a problem.