 | Tcl Dev Kit User Guide |  |
Tcl Dev Kit FAQ
If the Tcl Dev Kit installer generates a message that it cannot find the Tcl Dev Kit
package, it is likely that the TCL_LIBRARY variable is set in your
environment. (Installing the Ruby language, for example, automatically sets
this variable.) This variable is unnecessary, and should be removed.
Windows 9x users can remove the variable by editing their autoexec.bat file.
Reboot the system when complete.
Windows NT/2000/XP users can remove the variable by altering their Environment Settings:
- Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
- On the Advanced tab, select "Environment Variables..."
- Select the TCL_LIBRARY variable, and click Delete.
The Tcl Dev Kit Compiler
generates bytecode representations of Tcl scripts for the purpose of obscuring
and securing the code. However, compiled applications do not include a Tcl
interpreter, and thus rely on an interpreter installed on the client machine.
The ActiveTcl distribution includes a tbcload library that is
free to distribute, and can be used to load compiled applications. Alternatively,
use TclApp to generate a compiled
application that includes an interpreter and the required libraries.
A wrapped application inherits the current working directory from the
shell where the application was run. Runtime support does not change the
current working directory to a location inside of the wrapped application
before running it. Therefore, you must use a method such as
set base $starkit::topdir to specify the base path. See
Path Handling in the "Converting Prowrap Projects
to TclApp Projects" section of the TclApp documentation for more information.
You must add a 'package require Tk' command to your script to successfully
wrap an application with Tk in a Linux environment.
A starkit is a single file that packages a set of Tcl
scripts, platform-specific compiled code and application data. It relies on
an external run-time interpreter. A starpack is a single
executable file that contains both a starkit and an interpreter.
TclApp generates a starpack when a base kit is specified as a build
option. Specify a base kit in the Prefix file field on the
Wrapping Tab in the graphical
TclApp, or using the -prefix
option on the command line. See
Specifying the Interpreter:
Creating Starpacks and Starkits in the TclApp section for more
information.
See http://www.equi4.com/191
for an Anatomy of a starkit.
"Base kits" are executable files that include an interpreter. Base kits can
be included in applications generated by TclApp in
order to generate a standalone, portable application (a "starpack").
The Tcl Dev Kit includes two platform-specific base kits: base-tcl* and
base-tk* (which is the equivalent of base-tcl plus tk). Custom base kits can
also be included in applications generated by TclApp. For example, custom
base kits would be required to use old build systems which create only static
libs.
Before customizing the build process to create a custom tclkit, ensure
that the standard tclkit will build without errors.
Note that as the resulting applications containing your static libraries are
different from the original tclkits, to avoid confusion they should not be named
"tclkit". For example, ActiveState calls the binaries provided with the
Tcl Dev Kit "base-kits".
For more information, see the starkit mailing list at
http://www.equi4.com/277.
This list is for the general discussion of starkits and tclkits.
UNIX
Jean-Claude Wippler provides instructions and a script for generating base
kits on his site, located at
http://www.equi4.com/218.
The primary consideration for creating custom base kits is the inclusion of
your own static libraries. These must be specified in the following locations:
The Tclkit Sources
The static libraries must be included in the sources of tclkit, so that
the package is initialized at runtime. The relevant source file is
kit/src/kitInit.c. (This file is extracted from the archive
kit.tar.gz, retrieved during the kit-building process.)
kit/src/kitInit.c contains slightly non-standard initialization
code for a tcl core / application. However, the parts where packages are
initialized are standard.
Note that kit/src/kitInit.c does not include headers for any
packages. Instead, it contains the relevant extern...
declarations for the package_Init functions.
The Linking Phase of Tclkit
Create a file called genkit.local in the directory where
genkit is called. This file contains the following statements:
set Z(tclsuff) <your static libraries>
set Z(tksuff) <your static libraries>
"your static libraries" might be something like:
<path>/libFOO.a
...or:
-L<path> -lfoo.
Windows
The kit.tar.gz file described in the previous section has a
subdirectory called "msvc6", which provides MSVC++ workspace and project
files for the creation of a tclkit on Windows.
The expected directory layout is:
tclkit/msvc6/kit.dsw etc
Dists/Tcl/...
/Tk/...
/Mk4tcl/...
/Vfs/...
/Itcl/...
/Zlib/...
Build/
"tclkit" is the directory provided by kit.tar.gz. The "Build" directory is
for temporary files. The "Dists" directory is populated with the contents
of the tar files retrieved from
http://www.equi4.com/pub/tk/tars/.
(On UNIX, as described above, this retrieval is done by "genkit").
The results of the build are kit.exe and
kitsh.exe in the tclkit/ directory. These are incomplete
executables. To complete the generation, use:
cat kitsh.exe tclkit/runtime.kit > tclkitsh.exe
cat kit.exe tclkit/runtime.kit > tclkit.exe
Insertion of your own libraries has to happen in
tclkit/src/kitInit.c (as described in the UNIX section above),
and in the link step of the MSVC project.
Yes. The behavior will vary depending on your operating system.
Unix
On Unix, install different versions of the Tcl Dev Kit in different
directories. Alter the system's PATH variable to specify the
bin directory of the desired installation.
Windows
When installing multiple versions of the Tcl Dev Kit on Windows, the
following considerations apply:
- The installer for ActiveTcl and the TDK both prepend their path info
to the user/global PATH environment variable (depending on whether the
user or administrator (all) option is chosen during the installation).
This means that the last installed version is first on the path.
Modify the PATH environment variable by right-clicking the
My Computer icon, selecting the Properties
menu item, then selecting the Advanced tab and altering the
variable in the Environment Variables dialog.
- The ActiveTcl and TDK installers create or modify the system's association
for files with the
.tcl extension. This association is
modified to point to the version of wish included in the
installation package. (When you invoke a file with this extension,
the file is run using the version of wish specified in
the file association.) To manually modify this setting (and thus associate the
.tcl extension with another version of wish),
modify the system's File Types setting. In Windows Explorer, select
Tools | Folder Options | File Types and configure the
association to point to the desired interpreter.
- Each version of the Tcl Dev Kit will create its own program group
(accessed via the Windows Start menu). Regardless of the PATH or file
associations, the menu items within the program group will link to the
version of the Tcl Dev Kit included in the installation. The demonstration
programs, however, may in some cases use the PATH and / or file associations
to determine the location of the Tcl Dev Kit binaries.
- During uninstallation, the version being uninstalled will remove
any environment setting it made, if those settings are still set to the
value configured by the installation. That means if you modify the
.tcl association after installing a new version, uninstalling
that version will not remove the .tcl association.
TclApp Package definition (.tap) files are reorganized in the 3.x
distribution of the Tcl Dev Kit. The majority of .tap files have undergone
a conversion that facilitates moving them with a package directory. These
.tap files are now located under the packages they belong to, for example:
TclDevKit3.0/lib/bwidget1.6/
bwidget.tap
or
TclDevKit3.1/lib/tcllib1.5/
tcllib.tap
The .tap files that have not undergone the conversion remain located in
the tap directory under the Tcl Dev Kit installation,
for example:
TclDevKit3.x/lib/tap/
expwin.tap
snack.tap
Add the @TAPDIR@ placeholder in the .tap file you want to move,
and then put the .tap file in the same directory as the package file. The .tap
file now moves with the package directory and TclApp can find the correct files
to wrap, relative to the location of the .tap file.
There are two solutions:
1. Set the Environment Variable to the Directory
Put all your .tap files in a custom directory and set the environment
variable TCLAPP_PKGPATH to that directory.
2. Set a Placeholder
In your .tap files, use the @TAPDIR@ placeholder as a reference
for the package directory, and then put the .tap file in the same directory as
the package files. TclApp finds the correct files to wrap, relative
to the location of the .tap file.
If the implentation of a package tells Tcl what version it is
(e.g. 1.3.1) and the index file of that package (pkgIndex.tcl - used
by Tcl to map from versions to implementations) is not consistent with
the implementation (e.g. maps version 1.3 to the implementation of
version 1.3.1), an error in the startup script may occur.
This can affect ActiveTcl 8.5 if it is used in conjunction with an
older ActiveTcl for the packages to use. We have no hard data which
old releases are problematical, and which are good. ActiveTcl 8.4.9
has at least one package with an inconsistency of this type, i.e.
starkit 1.3 vs 1.3.1.
TclApp is only indirectly affected, and only TclApp. The result of
its operation may fail if a Tcl 8.5 basekit was used, and packages
having the inconsistency were wrapped as well. These packages may
have come from older versions of ActiveTcl, or they may be packages
the user of Tclapp has developed locally, i.e. company internal
packages, etc.
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