VERSION-get_iplayer Says 2.94.

[Vangelis forthnet]

On Wed Mar 23 14:14:36 GMT 2017, tellyaddict wrote:

> Does that mean that in future we will not be able
> to drop back to an older script or
> is there still a way around it
> if those modules are removed from the installer?

... As the GiP perl code evolves, dependency on some
perl modules may be removed (thus rendering them
redundant) and dependency on some other perl modules
may be introduced; most non-Windows OSes come with
a system provided, native, Perl distribution which, AFAIK,
can be updated to accommodate those changes.

 Since Windows OS does not have perl natively,
the win32 installer of GiP bundles a self-contained
mini disrtibution of Strawberry Perl with only those
modules necessary for GiP to run on Windows.
This package is thus tailored to meet the perl requirements
of the versions of the scripts within the installer.
Unfortunately, this package can't be updated from
within to install missing modules (since it's lacking CPAN).
A new version of the windows installer would have to
be released in such cases...

 Those Perl updates for Windows do not occur very
often, though - when GiP 2.87 was released, the perl
package was updated to Perl 5.18.2.2 (from 5.16.3.1)
and it was re-updated to Perl 5.24.0.1 only when 2.95 came out.
That latter package had to be patched (via a new win32 installer),
though staying in the same perl version, to fix an issue
with accessing HTTPS podcast feeds.
Since then, the package has remained unchanged up
to v2.99 of the installer.

 It is within the discretion of the maintainer to keep or
remove compatibility with older script versions.
If no longer required modules are removed in a future
version of the installer, then attempting to run older
GiP versions will be problematic; from functions not
being available, to the script itself not being able to run,
printing "Abort on compilation" errors and such;
hard to tell in advance what'll happen...

 Since the current policy is to remove obsolete versions
of the win32 installer from the repo, I tend to keep
local back-ups of them, just in case...
You can extract the NSIS installer without actually
running it via 7-zip, thus accessing the "perl"
directory... But then, if you downgrade the
script version, you should also downgrade to the
perl package suitable for that older version,
so things begin to become more complex...

The other solution when previous compatible
versions of the miniperl distribution are unavailable
to you is to shift to a full blown Windows custom installation:

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer/wiki/windows#customising-get_iplayer-on-windows

You can install Strawberry Perl (open source)
or Active Perl (closed sourse) on the system
and use that to run GiP perl scripts; both
Active & Strawberry Perl come with tools
to add missing perl modules, if older versions
of GiP script need them...
E.g., I have installed the full-blown portable version
of S.P. 5.24 on a USB HDD (takes up 460MB)
to occasionally run perl script get_flash_videos,
so I can also run all versions of GiP under that
environment.

Obviously the contents of this post should not
attract the attention/time of the plain GiP user;
downgrading to/using older versions of GiP or a
customised Windows installation are not
endorsed/supported officially, as stated
in the wiki/forums. Knowledgeable people in this list
may offer some support, but, essentially,
you're on your own...

Best regards