README
1 Extended Tcl (TclX) 8.4.0
2 =========================
3
4INTRODUCTION
5============
6
7Extended Tcl (TclX), is an extension to Tcl, the Tool Command Language
8invented by Dr. John Ousterhout. Tcl is a powerful, yet simple embeddable
9programming language. Extended Tcl is oriented towards system programming
10tasks and large application development. TclX provides additional
11interfaces to the operating system, and adds many new programming
12constructs, text manipulation tools, and debugging tools.
13
14TclX is upwardly compatible with Tcl. You take the Extended Tcl package,
15add it to Tcl, and from that you get Extended Tcl. Tcl can be obtained at
16
17 http://www.tcl.tk/ or http://tcl.sourceforge.net/
18
19Extended Tcl runs on most Unix-like systems and Windows.
20
21While this TclX distribution is tested with Tcl 8.4 and Tk 8.4, it should
22with Tcl 8.3+. Please check the Extended Tcl homepage at
23
24 http://tclx.sourceforge.net/
25
26for the latest release and information.
27
28Extended Tcl was designed and implemented by Karl Lehenbauer
29(karl@procplace.com) and Mark Diekhans (markd@Kermodei.com), with help in
30the earliest stages from Peter da Silva (peter@NeoSoft.com). TclX 8.4
31work was done by Jeff Hobbs at ActiveState.
32
33TclX 8.4 differs from its predecessors in that it is based more on the
34idea of TclX as an extension to Tcl, and not an alternate environment.
35There is no TkX and no stand-alone shells are built.
36
37As with Tcl, all of Extended Tcl is freely redistributable, including for
38commercial use and resale (BSD-style license).
39
40BUILDING AND INSTALLING TCLX
41============================
42
431. Uncompress and unpack the distribution
44
45 ON UNIX/MAC:
46 gzip -cd tclx<version>.tar.gz | tar xf -
47
48 ON WINDOWS:
49 use something like WinZip to unpack the archive.
50
51 This will create a subdirectory tclx<version> with all the files in it.
52
532. Configure
54
55 ON UNIX/MAC:
56 cd tclx<version>
57 ./configure
58
59 TclX is TEA-based and uses information left in tclConfig.sh when you
60 built tcl. This file will be found in $exec_prefix/lib/. You might set
61 the --prefix and --exec-prefix options of configure if you don't want
62 the default (/usr/local). If building on multiple unix platforms, the
63 following is recommended to isolate build conflicts:
64
65 mkdir <builddir>/<platform>
66 cd !$
67 /path/to/tclx<version>/configure
68
69 ON WINDOWS:
70
71 TclX supports building in the cygwin/msys environment on Windows based
72 on TEA (http://www.tcl.tk/doc/tea/). Inside this environment, you build
73 the same as on Unix.
74
75 Otherwise, hack makefile.vc until it works and compile. It was not
76 updated for TclX 8.4. It has problems executing wish from a path with a
77 space in it, but the DLL builds just fine.
78
793. Make and Install
80
81 ON UNIX/MAC or WINDOWS with cygwin/msys:
82 make
83 make test (OPTIONAL)
84 make install
85
86 ON WINDOWS (makefile.vc):
87 nmake -f makefile.vc
88 nmake -f makefile.vc test (OPTIONAL)
89 nmake -f makefile.vc install
90
91 TclX is built to comply to the latest tcl package conventions.
92
93CHANGES IN TCLX 8.4
94===================
95
96 o Restructure of the sources and build system
97
98 o Removal of TkX extension
99
100FEATURES ADDED BY EXTENDED TCL
101==============================
102
103Here is a summary of the features added by Extended Tcl. For more details
104on the commands and functionality provided by Extended Tcl, see the manual
105page man/TclX.man.
106
107 o Keyed lists, a type of list that provides functionality
108 similar to C structures.
109
110 o A command tracing facility for debugging and a performance profiler.
111
112 o Unix access commands provide access to many Unix system calls,
113 including process management.
114
115 o File control and status commands provide added facilities for
116 accessing and manipulating open files.
117
118 o File scanning facility that provides awk-like functionality.
119
120 o Extended list manipulation commands.
121
122 o Extended string and character manipulation commands.
123
124 o X/PG based internationalization commands.
125
126 o Advanced Tcl code library facility that is oriented towards building
127 large applications. It is compatible with standard Tcl auto-loading.
128
129 o Additional general programming commands.
130
131 o Restricted use in a safe interpreter.
132
133 o Support for binary data in most commands.
134
135MANUAL PAGES
136============
137
138Man pages in nroff/troff format are provided for all of Tcl and the
139extensions in the doc directory. Start with the TclX.n manual.
140
141EXTENDED TCL VERSION NAMING
142===========================
143
144Extended Tcl version numbering has been changed to track the Tcl/Tk version
145numbering roughly.
146
147LINKING APPLICATIONS AND EXTENSION WITH TCLX
148============================================
149
150There are three basic approaches to linking TclX into applications or with
151other extensions:
152
153 o Dynamically load the C code using either 'package require' or
154 the 'load' command.
155
156 o Linking TclX into an application based on the standard Tcl or Tk
157 shells (tclsh or wish) or based on your own startup.
158
159See the TclX_Init.3 manual page for more details. The pkg_mkIndex does not
160generate a pkgIndex.tcl file that works with TclX. See TclX_Init.3 for
161instructions on how to setup a pkgIndex.tcl file for use with the package
162require command. There is no need to dynamically load libtkx, its only
163there to support wishx and applications that want wishx's signal handling.
164
165TclX will build and install a pkgIndex.tcl that will be automatically found
166by Tcl if TclX is installed in the same location.
167
168SUPPORT FOR EXTENDED TCL
169========================
170
171We are committed to providing continuing support for Extended Tcl.
172Please send questions, bug reports, and bug fixes to:
173
174 http://tclx.sourceforge.net/
175
176Use news:comp.lang.tcl for discussion about TclX development.
177
178WHERE TO GET IT
179===============
180
181Extended Tcl can be downloaded from the SF TclX release files area:
182
183 http://tclx.sourceforge.net/
184
185Refer to the above site for bug database and other support forums.
186
187THANKS
188======
189
190A big thanks to all of the Extended Tcl users from all over the world who
191have helped us debug problems and given us valuable suggestions. A special
192thanks to John Ousterhout, his students at Berkeley, and (more recently)
193his teams at Sun Microsystems and Scriptics, for Tcl, Tk and all the
194support they have given us.
195
196Thanks to Michael E. Shorter <mike@globalware.com>, Christopher M. Sedore
197<cmsedore@zombie.maxwell.syr.edu>, Philip Chow <pchow@isgtec.com>, and
198Kirk Benson <benson@healthcare.com> for their initial work on porting TclX
199to MS Windows.
200
201Thanks to Jan Nijtmans <nijtmans@wxs.nl> of Plus Patch fame for helping
202to get shared library support working for several system.
203