tcltk-perl

[tcltk-perl] RE: Anyone try running Insight/gdbtk thru tcl2perl ?

[Konovalov, V. <vko...@sp...>]

(CC-ed to Tcl::Tk discussion list)

> >>"real soon now", but lack of Perl mega-widgets is a 
> show-stopper, no?

Another thought as being "show-stopper" - my feeling that lack of perlTk
mega-widgets is not a show-stopper in Tcl::Tk but rather moving in slightly
different direction, probably more convenient way from perspective of
creating widgets

> My reading of Tcl/Tcl::Tk indicates it creates a tcl interpretter.
> 
> 1. Does this interpretter run in the same process as perl, or
> a subprocess ?

In the same process. Just like ordinary C library call. No additional
processes, but you can still create another interpreters from Tcl language
(if you wish), but I did not tried this.

If thinking about extra overhead with creating additional interpreter, it
actually results in smaller memory footprint and faster startup time...

> 
> 2. How does it behave wrt PAR, perl2exe, or PerlApp (ie, bundling
> into a single executable for distribution) ? Obviously, I'd need to
> bundle tcl + tcl/tk stuff into the executable; I'm wondering if
> Tcl::Tk will be able to find the tcl + tcl/tk pieces in that
> environment ?

I did not tried it from PAR.
Because I feel uncomfortable when application's DLL's (speaking of Win32)
are unpacked into TEMP dir and executed from there: there could be no space
there, there could be race conditions, security risks.

I created similar approach of moving around Tcl/Tk application with my
Perl-based executables. It actually works to create statically linked Tcl/Tk
that linked with Tcl.xs so all Tcl/Tk code could live in one single DLL and
all Tcl/Tk scripts libe in one single ZIP file.

I am currently in process of finalizing of this approach, which I expect
will be robust in a week or so.
I can share my own experience on this.

So - it is not hard to create movable independent binaries.

> 
> 3. Much of the tcl.tk website seems to be undergoing repair...is
> there an alternate link to enumerate all available widgets ?

I also noticed this and have no idea why things are behaving this way.
Probably you should go to wiki instead: http://mini.net/tcl , there is
category widget there.

Best regards,
Vadim.

RE: [tcltk-perl] RE: Anyone try running Insight/gdbtk thru tcl2perl ?

[Jeff H. <je...@Ac...>]

Vadim Konovalov wrote:
> (CC-ed to Tcl::Tk discussion list)
>
> > >>"real soon now", but lack of Perl mega-widgets is a
> > show-stopper, no?
>
> Another thought as being "show-stopper" - my feeling that lack of =
perlTk
> mega-widgets is not a show-stopper in Tcl::Tk but rather moving in =
slightly
> different direction, probably more convenient way from perspective of
> creating widgets

At the same time, it will be important for many to have the
compatibility, and it is possible.

This brings up an interesting point regarding the future
structure of the Tcl::Tk code.  Only the Tcl module has C (XS)
code, the rest is all perl-based.  The Tcl::Tk code already has
multiple interface implementations.  At ActiveState we have
actually created another called Tcl::yTk, that is an even
lower-level / stripped down binding.  It would be nice to see
each interface become distinct.  This would make coding and
supporting them easier.  That means turning the existing compat
stuff for Perl/Tk into a proper Tcl::pTk module.  That would
alleviate the funny compat stuff from the other code, while
freeing up that module to focus on Perl/Tk support issues.

> > 2. How does it behave wrt PAR, perl2exe, or PerlApp (ie, bundling
> > into a single executable for distribution) ? Obviously, I'd need to
> > bundle tcl + tcl/tk stuff into the executable; I'm wondering if
> > Tcl::Tk will be able to find the tcl + tcl/tk pieces in that
> > environment ?

We use Tcl::Tk (and Tcl::yTk) in the ActiveState PDK UIs.
Those are wrapped with PerlApp.  At this point there is a bit
of hand-crafting involved to do that.  We are aware that users
will want to wrap end apps, but first we need to focus on the
actual use (making it available via PPM, foolproof CPAN builds,
etc).

As Vadim said, you can always move around the DLLs and runtime
files with your app (for that most part, that "just works"),
but that is understandably not ideal.

> > 3. Much of the tcl.tk website seems to be undergoing repair...is
> > there an alternate link to enumerate all available widgets ?

The Tcl/Tk wiki (http://wiki.tcl.tk/) is a good reference.  On
the main tcl.tk site there are a lot of links that end up at
the currently functionally disabled resource area.  The main
problem we were having was with URL spamming, so we took that
part offline.  In fact, looking at some other ref stuff this
morning I saw that the Perl/Tk wiki was defaced as well (since
corrected).  Ah, it would be so much better to live in a world
without spammers ...

  Jeff Hobbs, The Tk Guy
  http://www.ActiveState.com/, a division of Sophos