hi wolis,
IT WORKS!!!
Not completly, because of the choices I made, but it works.
The big question was what was wrong... and why mysql_check_table.pl was OK and not cow.pl?
Assuming that we are running debian distribution, without any change in default configuration,
we can count on the wellknown unflexibility and integrism of the default settings and compilation options.
In this environment, rare are the programs that run easy without acknowledging to those strict rules.
Secondly I'm not familiar at all with mod_perl but I have some knowledge of perl programing.
So I choosed to dig in the perl program side rather than betting on a mod_perl problem.
Well, with the complete and nice formated version of cow I decided to add corrections to make it run under 'use strict' without warnings. 10 hours and hundreds of warning killed until having the first login page OK :)
Doing that I broked some things here and there, but it's a very good approach to jump into the code. I have to do one or two other sessions to have the whole thing running OK. Note that now, the login page display quite rapidly but not too much the first time because of perl compilation. Database connection are inbedded into the Virtual Host config and are opening on each new apache child :) The cow.pl connect_db subs may stay in place as they are not executed by Apache::DBI.
For now, the correction I made are rather dirty, but I'm going to try to make them nicer when possible, and I will try to make it the more friendly to you. I noticed that in the more recent subs you have begin to use 'my' to declare vars. That a very good idea but be careful with that as you can't declare a var with 'my' more than one time in the same block. I suppose that problem is a good candidate to be in the origin of the difficulties Apache encountered.
Let me finish with that 'wimpish' clean, then we will choose betwen going further in this way or working on a friendlier config of mod_perl.
Today we have a mysql guru here in Beziers, I'm going to catch im at the rail station at noon, he stay with us till tomorow noon. yerk-yerk, cluster-cluster onk-onk :)
see you soon,
xiii