Using Perl

Perl (Practical Extraction and Reporting Language) offers a platform-independent solution for HCL Compass scripting. Hook scripts you write in Perl support the HCL Compass clients on Windows, the UNIX system, and on Linux.

HCL Compass API support for VBScript is different than that for Perl. When you use Perl, be aware that:

  • The prefix and syntax are different. For more information, see "Notation conventions for Perl".
  • You must use the prefix for Entity methods and properties inside hook scripts, unlike VBScript, where the Entity object is implicit.
  • Perl uses an array for hook choices instead of a HookChoices object.
  • The EventObject is supported differently. For more information, see the EventObject Object.
  • CQPerl evaluates an empty string as a NULL value. To test for an empty string, use the CQ_COMP_OP_IS_NULL operator.