[mp1] .htaccess and mod_perl

[Michael L. Artz]

I am stuck in an Ensim environment (shared web-hosting, Apache 1.3.27 
and mod_perl 1.24) and am trying to get around some of the limitations 
imposed by Ensim.  Basically, I have complete .htaccess control but have 
no way to restart the server or start it with different arguments or 
modify the central httpd.conf

What is possible within an .htaccess file as far as perl configuration 
for mod_perl 1?  I am already using the <Perl></Perl> sections to 
unshift @INC (because 'PerlSetVar PERL5LIB /my/path' pushes the values) 
and have tried using PerlRequire startup.pl, however the startup.pl file 
only executes for one of the httpd children.  What happens with 
PerlModule directives, i.e. does the module get loaded only once, the 
first time that apache processes the .htaccess, or every time apache 
hits the directory?  Similarly, If I am developing a module in place and 
PerlModule it within an .htaccess, will it be reloaded whenever apache 
hits the directory, or only once?  If its only once, can I force a 
reload of the module?  Finally, can I use the <Perl></Perl> sections to 
totally replace a startup.pl, or are there any caveats that I should be 
aware of?

Thanks
-Mike