PERL GTM module version 1.00 ============================ This module allows a PERL programmer to access the GT.M globals database. GT.M is a fast and flexible hierarchical database system. It is assumed that the user has already installed GT.M, set up a database and has the appropriate environment variables defined to allow GT.M to run. A hierarchical database (also called an object database) allows data to be stored at different levels of depth. It behaves differently than either of the two common database types; "Relational" and "Flat File". The most widely used hierarchical database is the registry in Microsoft Windows. Instead of a simple key, each database node name is defined as a PERL list. One example could be ["Clients","Auto Dealerships","ACME Auto","Phone Number"] If you're thinking of objects and object properties, this would be analagous to: clients.auto_dealerships.acme_auto.phone_num Data can be stored at any levels, and any level can also have sub-levels (also called children, sub-nodes or child nodes). Hierarchical databases can be treated as a collection of flat files, or a relational database, or a post- relational or object-relational database with minimal effort. Your mileage may vary, but hierarchical databases can outperform relational databases in many cases, especially for certain types of queries. INSTALLATION To install this module type the following: perl Makefile.PL make make test make install Now you need to copy 'extapi.m' somewhere that GT.M will find it, and move the file 'calltab.ci' to /usr/local/gtm/xc/calltab.ci If you'd prefer a different location for the calltab.ci file, you can change the location in GTM.h and recompile, or specify a new location in the environment variable 'GTMCI' when using the database. The environment variable always takes precedence over the hard-coded location. DEPENDENCIES This module does not requires any other modules. COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE Copyright (C) 2005 -- Regents of the University of California This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.