From The Starman's Perl Pages

A Solution to Perl's perldoc.bat
"Paging" Problem (under Win95)

Under Windows™95/NT, the perldoc batch file that comes with the Win32 or Active State distributions of Perl does not "page" properly at times! (Most notably when using the -f switch !) The text "flys off the screen" before you ever have a chance to read it!

Win NT users have the luxury of a scroll back function in their DOS windows. And if that's not enough, they can usually use a pipe to save the output to a text file. So, most of what is presented here applies only to Windows™ 95/98.
Apparently it's very difficult, if not impossible, to solve this problem using just the perldoc batch file (Windows™95's DOS kernel -- COMMAND.COM -- has been called "brain dead" by a Perl expert who worked on the "port" to Win32 ).

I spent a lot of time writing a combination perl script and batch file to solve the problem. But since then, I've found a free editor which also captures DOS-window screen outputs. If you've never heard of PFE (Programmer's File Editor), read my review and download the program! You might still like to examine my own solution:

    My first solution: A Perl script and another DOS batch file which runs the original perldoc batch file from the perl script! (Yes, a round about way to go, but it does have the extra benefit of producing a text file copy of the output screen which you can read/edit/save as desired.)

Download both the script and batch file (with PGP signatures) in this single .ZIP file: PGP signed pdoc.bat and pdoc.pl in a single 3 KB .zip file.

Or, copy both the script and batch files from these text pages:

pdoc.bat.txt      (they open in new windows)       pdoc.pl.txt

NOTE: PDOC.BAT is NOT a substitute for the perldoc.bat file!
To INSTALL:
Place BOTH pdoc.bat and pdoc.pl in your C:\PERL\BIN folder ( If your Perl folder is located elsewhere, then you'll have to make a change to lines 3 and/or 4 of pdoc.bat.)
To RUN:
Simply use pdoc at the command prompt instead of perldoc.

DESCRIPTION:
PDOC.BAT calls the perldoc.bat file from within a perl script which stores the output in a temporary file that is read using the MORE "pager" of Windows™95 (more TEMP.tmp). Any parameter added on the command line after pdoc is simply passed along to perldoc.bat

PDOC.BAT saves its last output as TEMP.tmp (a text file) in your Perl BIN folder. This makes it possible for you to edit and/or store the pod data it found until you use PDOC.BAT again.