Net::Pager, version 2.00
Copyright (c) 2000 SimpleWire. All rights reserved. This program is free
software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms
as Perl itself.
Written By: Joe Lauer <joelauer@simplewire.com>
For further documentation and support, please check out
www.simplewire.com
Description
-----------
Net::Pager is a pure perl, global numeric and alphanumeric paging interface
via the Internet. We're bringing you the first and only way to
interface any brand or type of pager through one consistent
protocol without using the telephone network. Our purpose is to
define a paging standard and make numerous tools available for
developer's use so paging technology can be better utilized.
The module interacts with SimpleWire's Remote Procedure Calls.
This new standard, and subsequently this Perl module, has a
great deal of development energy behind it and will have full
development support through an online support forum. Pager has
built-in redundancy to create a fail-safe system.
For futher support or questions, you should visit Pager's
website at *www.simplewire.com* where you can visit our
developer support forum, faq, or download the most recent
documentation. SimpleWire's site has more example code and perl
client tools.
New Features in 2.00
--------------------
* The module was totally re-written since XML has been introduced
as the language for all client/server communication between this
client tool and the SimpleWire network.
* Support for asynchronous sending of pages has been added. This
means that network delays are now handled by the SimpleWire servers
rather than the client tools. This has eliminated any timeout
bugs that might occur, since SimpleWire can now respond immediately.
* Object oriented design following the HTTP::Response and
HTTP::Request methodology. Clients now construct Net::Pager::Request
objects, submit various requests through this object, and use
the Net::Pager::Response object to analyze the response from the
SimpleWire servers. This resulted in three more objects:
Net::Pager::Common, Net::Pager::Request, and Net::Pager::Response.
* SimpleWire now captures more error messages from each paging service.
A good example is the attempt to send pages to Sprint PCS phones
even though text messaging costs extra and most users don't have
it. SimpleWire now catches this kind of error.
* Added new services: Verizon, VoiceStream/OmniPoint
Bell Mobility, and Weblink Wireless Two-Way.
* Introduction of a ticket system where a TICKET ID is assigned
to every sendpage transaction. This allows clients to check on
the status of pages sent asynchronously or to check up on older
pages sent through our system.
* Added support for sending a page to a simplewire alias. This
means clients can now send pages to an alias instead of a pin
and service id, provided that the alias is setup and registered
on the SimpleWire network.
* Improved documentation on error codes and tapping into our
protocol. Please refer to www.simplewire.com to download these
helpful documents.
* Fixed small issue with clients entering pins that contain a dash
or a period. Our servers will now filter out this garbage to
ensure proper formatting of the pin.
* Added support for Subscriber IDs and Subscriber passwords.
* Added an optional delimiter parameter to be passed along with a page
so that client tools can override our default delimiter to
seperate the from, callback, and text fields in messages.
* Fixed timeout bugs by using LWP::UserAgent instead of our own
networking code.
* SimpleWire can now support proxy servers via the LWP::UserAgent
module. However, this will take custom tweaking of our
Net::Pager moduele until native support is added.
* Revised the system for remotely retrieving our service list. Many new
options have been added so that the list comes back sorted or
filtered in whatever way you like.
* Improved functions to use with the service list. New functions
include DBI-like interface for retrieval and looping. Such
functions are fetchrow_service, fetchall_services, and fetchrow_rewind.
* Fixed small bug that was related to timeouts where 2 or 3 duplicated
pages would be sent off. This was solved via LWP and smarter
error checking before moving onto the next simplewire server.
Archive Location
----------------
. The newest release/extensive help/faq/exaples on www.simplewire.com
. In the CPAN directory: modules/by-module/Net/
. To find a CPAN site near you see http://cpan.perl.org/SITES.html
Prerequisites
-------------
. Perl Version 5.002 or later
. A Windows 95/NT machine requires Perl version 5.003_07 or later
Documentation
-------------
User documentation in POD format is contained within the module
source (i.e. the .pm file). Installing using "make install"
places this documentation in a man page in the perl library under
the directory "man/man3". However, the best documentation is
the example code in the /eg directory form the tar.gz file or
on www.simplewire.com.
Installation
------------
These notes work on Unix based systems and there are some changes
if you are using Windows NT/95/98. See the special notes below.
To install, cd to the directory containing the unpacked
distribution and do one of the following:
a. Create a makefile by running Makefile.PL using the perl
program into whose library you want to install and then run
make three times:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
b. To install into a private library, for example your home
directory:
perl Makefile.PL INSTALLSITELIB=$HOME/lib INSTALLMAN3DIR=$HOME/man
make
make test
make pure_install
c. Alternatively, you can just copy or move Pager.pm
from the distribution into a directory named Net/ in the Perl
library. You can then manually build the documentation using
pod2man or pod2html.
d. At the time of printing this, there should be more ways to install
Net::Pager. Please go to www.simplewire.com and visit our
Developers section for the easiest ways. There should be a CPAN
install and a ppm install.
Windows NT/95/98 Installation
-----------------------------
Windows does not come with the make program. Instead, you will have to
use a similar program called 'nmake'. If you have happened to install
Microsoft's Visual Studio then 'nmake' is already installed on your
computer and you can fun the following instructions. If you don't have
'nmake' then please visit
http://www.simplewire.com/clienttools/perl.epl
for instructions on how to get 'nmake'.
Once you have 'nmake.exe' then you can replicate the instructions laid
out in the previous a, b, and c subpoint above except replace the 'make'
command with 'nmake'. So (a) would be now
perl Makefile.PL
nmake
nmake test
nmake install
Some Common Problems
--------------------
You most likely have to logged in as root on any machine to be able to
successfully install either module. If you cannot log in as root then
follow choice c. above and just make a directory called Net where your
programs will run and then copy Pager.pm into it.
If you have any other questions please visit SimpleWire's FAQ or online
support forum for anwers.
------------
SimpleWire
743 Beaubien
Suite 300
Detroit, MI 48226
313.961.4407
Released: 08/28/2000
Coded By: Joe Lauer <joelauer@rootlevel.com>
Contact: John Lauer <jlauer@rootlevel.com>