[MACTCL] Re: So many Tcl/Tk problems on the Mac...

[Brent W. <we...@pa...>]

Hmm - for some reason this is the first mac-tcl email I've gotten in
a long time.  Perhaps the list has gone stale.  I suggest you take
your questions to the comp.lang.tcl newsgroup, readable via the
groups.goole.com website.

>>>Ge...@or... said:
 > I'm really disappointed with this list.
 > 
 > I guess I'll unsubscribe in a few days. 
 > 
 > I'm working on a [paid] app for a record store,
 > and it's for the Mac (under MacOS 9.1.4). 
 > 
 > My expertise is Unix (Solaris). 
 > 
 > So I thought I might be able to get some help
 > when I run into problems. But no, I'm not even
 > getting a response, aside from one thing. And
 > that one thing was answered best by a Usenet
 > reply. 
 > 
 >  ---- 
 > 
 > The first coding problem I ask for feedback on
 > was a problem with "pack forget" not completely
 > unpacking a hierarchy, leaving a mess on the
 > screen. 
 > 
 > Brent Welch's book recommends that technique
 > for fast instantiation. 
 > 
 > Not a single comment, reply, or email on that. 
 > 
 > So I worked around it by not using it. 
 > 
 > I used two top level windows instead. 
 > 
 >  ---- 
 > 
 > The next problem I had I didn't post about. 
 > 
 > I couldn't get focus to _any_ field when the app
 > was first started. After a while I realized that
 > when the window first comes up, if I click on
 > the background desktop then click on my app's
 > window again, it had focus. Focus to the field
 > I had waited on (successfully) for visibility
 > then had issued a focus command for. 
 > 
 > So, the work-around was to issue a toplevel .zot
 > immediately followed by a destroy .zot. It worked. 
 > 
 >  ---- 
 > 
 > The third problem I posted about, and received
 > zilch comment on. Here is the post again: 
 > 
 > #    Subject: [MACTCL] Another problem on the Mac
 > #       Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 16:29:52 GMT
 > #       From: Ge...@Or...
 > #         To: tc...@li...
 > #
 > #    Hi. The last post I made was regarding "pack forget" not
 > #    working properly.
 > #
 > #    There was not a single reply, email or list.
 > #
 > #    Is this because it is on MacOS 9.1?
 > #
 > #    Clients are hard to come by, and the client is running 9.1,
 > #    and so am I. I don't plan on using MacOS X until a number
 > #    of releases in the future.
 > #
 > #    So I'd really appreciate it if someone would look at this bug.
 > #    The previous bug I worked around by not using "pack forget", 
and
 > #    using two top-level windows instead.
 > #
 > #     ----
 > #
 > #    This time, still under a fresh install of ActiveState 8.3.4,
 > #    the menubutton is flaky.
 > #
 > #    Out of ten times clicking on it, either holding the mouse 
button
 > #    down, or releasing it, the pop-up menu appears then <POOF> 
it's gone.
 > #
 > #    I've isolated it down to a very few lines of code, enclosed.
 > #
 > #    Please, someone tell me if this problem happens for you,
 > #    and what might be done about it.
 > #
 > #    I source the file to execute it under wish. (The entry box 
that
 > #    used variable ::lce to display the chosen menu entry is 
chopped
 > #    out too, to no avail.)
 > #
 > #     ----
 > #
 > #  wm geometry . 746x536+24+21
 > #
 > #  set ::Canvas2a        [frame .f]
 > #  set ::COUNTRY_menu    $::Canvas2a.mb
 > #  set ::COUNTRY_menu_mb $::COUNTRY_menu.mb
 > #
 > #  menubutton $::COUNTRY_menu -text Country -menu 
$::COUNTRY_menu_mb
 > #  set mb [menu $::COUNTRY_menu_mb -tearoff 0]
 > #
 > #  foreach {country value} {U.S.A. USA UK UK Canada Canada Japan 
Japan  \
 > #      Germany Germany E.E.C EEC Italy Italy Australia Australia  \
 > #      {New Zealand} {New Zealand} Mexico Mexico Brazil Brazil  \
 > #      {South America} {South America}}  {
 > #
 > #      $mb add radio -label $country ;# -variable ::lce  -value 
$value
 > #  }
 > #
 > #  pack $::COUNTRY_menu -side left  -fill x
 > #  pack $::Canvas2a -side top 
 > 
 >  ---- 
 > 
 > I have hacked out a work-around, after about 6 hours
 > of screwing around. 
 > 
 > This involved looking up the bindings for Menu and Menubutton,
 > retrieving and loading into my app the procs involved, hacking. 
 > 
 > This was the solution: 
 > 
 > proc tkMbEnter {w}  { 
 > 
 >    global tkPriv 
 > 
 >    if {[string compare $tkPriv(inMenubutton) ""]} {
 >        tkMbLeave $tkPriv(inMenubutton)
 >    }
 >    # Commenting out the following line was the solution:
 >    # set tkPriv(inMenubutton) $w
 >    if {[string compare [$w cget -state] "disabled"]} {
 >        $w configure -state active
 >    }
 > } 
 > 
 > Although the menu doesn't pop-up anymore when just clicking on it,
 > by clicking (without releasing) and moving the mouse down slightly,
 > the menu now appears consistently *without vanishing* before a
 > selection can be made. 
 > 
 >  ---- 
 > 
 > I can only imagine that many many more people who experience
 > these sort of problems on the Mac simply terminate their
 > use of Tcl/Tk without reporting the bugs, and this is a very
 > bad thing for Tcl/Tk and its claim of working cross-platform. 
 > 
 > It's not like the 'menu' widget is an obscure use of Tcl/Tk. 

--
Brent Welch
Software Architect, Panasas Inc
Pioneering the World's Most Scalable and Agile Storage Network
www.panasas.com
we...@pa...