Trouble with mod_perl API: E.g., Apache2::Directive::conftree()

[Worik Stanton]

I am having a lot of trouble with mod_perl APIs.

The short of it is that when I say:

use Apache2::Directive ();
my $tree = Apache2::Directive::conftree();
my $documentroot = $tree->lookup('DocumentRoot');
warn "\$documentroot '$documentroot'";

I get:
[Wed May 14 12:13:43 2014] -e: Use of uninitialized value $documentroot
in concatenation (.) or string at /home/worik/Worik.org/cgi/track line 11.
[Wed May 14 12:13:43 2014] -e: $documentroot '' at
/home/worik/Worik.org/cgi/track line 11.

in the logs.

I copied the code from
https://perl.apache.org/docs/2.0/api/Apache2/Directive.html

The longer of it is:

In the past (15 years ago) I installed mod_perl and forgot about it. I
set up my perl cgi script handler to be mod_perl in httpd.conf, and the
only real effect it had on my development cycle was I often had to
restart Apache to get it to notice I had changed a script. 

These days I am more ambitious and am returning to Web programming after
a long break.

I expect mod_perl to still be useful to cut the overhead of starting
Perl. I expect a high throughput this time around, each request will be
worth very little to me so I want lots and lots of requests.  SO far so
good.

I have set up my server:

        ## mod_perl2 configuration
        Alias /cgi/  /home/worik/Worik.org/cgi/
        PerlModule ModPerl::Registry
        ## PerlModule Apache::Registry
        PerlSwitches -T
        ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/Worik.error.log
        <Location /cgi/>
           SetHandler perl-script
           PerlResponseHandler ModPerl::Registry
           PerlOptions +ParseHeaders
           Options +ExecCGI
           Order allow,deny
           Allow from all
        </Location>

Now I would like to use the API.  In the first instance I want to find
what the directory is I am running in.  So I want to say:

use Apache2::Directive ();
my $tree = Apache2::Directive::conftree();
my $pwd = $tree->lookup("cgi");

But that fails just like the example at the start of this email.

Also my errors are coming out in the wrong log.  When I say warn("foo")
I expect it to come out in the file specified by the ErrorLog directive
but it comes as:

[Wed May 14 12:22:53 2014] -e: foo at /home/worik/Worik.org/cgi/track
line 12.

in /var/log/apache2/error.log which is not what I specified.

I am at a loss.  Is the documentation up to date?  Is mod_perl still
being used out there?

cheers
Worik

-- 
The only true evil is turning people into things....
                                         Granny Weatherwax
       worik.stan...@gmail.com 021-1680650, (03) 4821804
                          Aotearoa (New Zealand)

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