This Perl extension allows for the use of Perl Archive files within a mod_perl environment (1.x or 2.x).
The software is based on PAR.pm by Autrijus Tang and Archive::Zip by Ned Konz, as well as the mod_perl modules. It extends the concept of PAR files to mod_perl, similar to how WAR archives work for Java. With Apache::PAR, an archive (which is really a zip file) can contain one or more elements and can easily be served to clients making requests to an Apache web server, with scripts, modules, and static content served from within the .par archive without modifications.
Using Apache configuration, users can specify the location of PAR archives and allow the loading of modules from these archives. The files and paths can be specified at load time. Once an archive has been located, an optional web.conf (filename configurable) can then be loaded, and included into the main web configuration. Once Apache::PAR has been loaded, Perl Apache modules within these .par files can then be loaded.
Developers using Apache::PAR can use a variety of configuration options to serve their web applications. These options include using an alternative configuration inside a startup.pl script or PERL section or using an Alias inside a web.conf file for static files or CGI-perl scripts. Users can also use ##UNPACKDIR## to unpack the archive and specify elements using the Alias directive, including options for PerlHandler, PerlSetVar, PerlAddVar, and more.
Overall, Apache::PAR is an essential software tool for developers who want to easily package and distribute their web applications with a single file. It is a powerful and flexible software framework that makes development and deployment easy and streamlined.
Version 0.30: N/A