I = am having=20 problems running Perl on my Windows 98 machine using the Cygwin B-32 = BASH shell.=20 While I can run Perl from the command line, I cannot yet get = "stand-alone" Perl=20 programs to run, i.e., programs where Perl runs not because the command = "perl=20 -e" is evoked in the first position on the command line but rather = because the=20 ".pl" file itself has information concerning the location of the Perl=20 interpreter on the computer.

Installation: = =20 Perl version 5.005_03 built for MSWin32-x86-objec. Binary build 522 from = ActiveState Tool=20 Corp.

=20 =20 BASH shell downloaded from Cygwin, version B20.=20

Objectives: = I have=20 multiple objectives in studying Perl.

(1) Write=20 CGI scripts for Web site am designing. Am working my way thru E. = Castro's "Perl=20 and CGI for the World Wide Web" (Peachpit Press). Have directory on a = friend's=20 server which I can use for practice purposes; server runs Apache web = server with=20 BASH-2.02 shell. Have learned enough Unix to Telnet to that server, get = around=20 it, change permissions, etc. So far so good. =

(2) On my=20 job (hospital) I face problem of editing text files (client medication=20 histories) so as to make them conform to a certain database format. Friend with Perl expertise = says this=20 would be an ideal job for Perl. =20 However, job would have to be done on PC rather than over = network/Net to=20 a file server.

Question=20 arises: Should I learn = Perl thru an=20 MS-DOS command line for this application, while learning Perl thru BASH = command=20 line for regular Web application? =20 My thinking: It = would=20 probably be simpler to learn one command line (BASH) first. However, that means that I = have to get=20 the BASH shell to work on a Windows 9x machine -- and that I have to get = Perl to=20 work properly on that shell.

Hence the=20 Cygwin and ActiveState downloads. =20 But my Perl practice programs only seem to work when "perl -e" is = called=20 on the command line. I = can't get=20 programs which start with the shebang line to run. In addition, the command = "which perl"=20 doesn't work. It = generates the=20 message: "bash: which: command not=20 found".

Research: =20 My research into this problem has generated contradictory=20 information. The = ActivePerl FAQ=20 (<http://www.activestate.com/ActivePerl/docs/perl-win32/perlwin32= faq4.html>)=20 states: "...Win32 = platforms don't=20 provide the shebang syntax, or anything like it. The FAQ suggests (a) calling = the perl=20 interpreter directly (as in "perl myscript.pl"), (b) installing an = Apache=20 webserver on a Win32 system (which does accept the shebang syntax) or = (c)=20 converting Perl script into a batch file using the "pl2bat" utility = distributed=20 with Perl for Win32. (b) = and (c)=20 seem overly complex, especially to a beginner like=20 me.

The O'Reilly=20 book Learning Perl on Win32 = Systems,=20 however, says (p.9 fn.), "...there are Win32 ports of UNIX shells = (e.g., tcsh, ksh, and bash) that do understand = shebang=20 lines. If you're using = one of these=20 shells, you can use shebang lines by specifying the path to your Perl=20 interpreter."

Vincent=20 Lowe’s Perl = Programmer’s Interactive=20 Workbook (Prentice Hall PTR) states that “For MS-DOS = operation, you’ll need=20 to make the program look like a batch file and have it start Perl for = you.”=20 (p.23) However, = it’s not clear=20 whether this applies to any DOS-based system (including my = Windows 98=20 system) or just to the MS-DOS shell and command line. If the former, then on a = Windows=20 computer I’ll have to learn Perl via the DOS command line; BASH = would be=20 useless. If the latter, I = should be=20 able to learn Perl via the BASH command line, whether the installation = is a=20 Windows computer or Unix.

Can anybody=20 help?