Re: question on startup.pl overriding perl search path

[Adam Prime <suppressed>]

c chan wrote:
> I use "PerlConfigRequire /var/www/html/mypath/startup.pl" in httpd.conf to recompile all the CGIs. Inside startup.pl, I added the line:
>
>   use lib qw(. mylib);
>
> To me amazement, after all the CGI is precompiled, they start to look into the "." and "mylib" path for loading Perl Modules without even having the line [use lib qw(. mylib);] incorporated in each individual cgi script. 
>
> Can someone explain to me why this is the case? Is the mod_perl startup.pl script simply becomes the parent apache process for all the preloaded CGIs?

This is normal.  Under mod_perl the perl interpreter just keeps running 
until the apache child dies your modified @INC stays modified.  I'm sure 
someone with a better understanding of the internals can give a more 
detailed 'why'.  FYI though, you should probably use PerlPostConfigRequire

http://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/user/config/config.html#C_PerlPostConfigRequire_

> If I remove mod_perl, can I use the 
>
>   PerlSetEnv -I/var/www/html/mypath -I/var/www/html/mypath/lib 
>
> to achieve the same result.

Isn't PerlSetEnv part of mod_perl?  In which case, no that wouldn't work 
if you'd removed mod_perl

> This will make a profound effect on my CGI directory because whatever I installed will no longer affect the system perl module search path. In effect, this will make my application self contained and making trouble shooting make easier.
>
> - C Chan

Adam