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Tcl 8.0.3 for Macintosh

by Ray Johnson

Scriptics Corporation

rjohnson@scriptics.com

with major help from

Jim Ingham

Cygnus Solutions

jingham@cygnus.com

RCS: @(#) $Id: README,v 1.1.1.1 2002-01-16 10:25:30 markom Exp $

1. Introduction

---------------

This is the README file for the Macintosh version of the Tcl

scripting language.  The file consists of information specific

to the Macintosh version of Tcl.  For more general information

please read the README file in the main Tcl directory.

2. What's new?

--------------

The main new feature is the Tcl compilier.  You should certainly

notice the speed improvements.  Any problems are probably

generic rather than Mac specific.  If you have questions or

comments about the compilier feel free to forward them to the

author of the compilier: Brian Lewis .

Several things were fixed/changed since the a1 release so be

sure to check this out.

The largest incompatible change on the Mac is the removal of the

following commands: "rm", "rmdir", "mkdir", "mv" and "cp".  These

commands were never really supported and their functionality is

superceded by the file command.

I've also added in a new "AppleScript" command.  This was contributed

by Jim Ingham who is a new member of the Tcl group.  It's very cool.

The command isn't actually in the core - you need to do a "package

require Tclapplescript" to get access to it.  This code is officially

unsupported and will change in the next release.  However, the core

functionality is there and is stable enough to use.  Documentation

can be found in "AppleScript.html" in the mac subdirectory.

The resource command has also been rewacked.  You can now read and

write any Mac resource.  Tcl now has the new (and VERY COOL) binary

command that will allow you to pack and unpack the resources into

useful Tcl code. We will eventually provide Tcl libraries for

accessing the most common resources.

See the main Tcl README for other features new to Tcl 8.0.

3. Mac specific features

------------------------

There are several features or enhancements in Tcl that are unique to

the Macintosh version of Tcl.  Here is a list of those features and

pointers to where you can find more information about the feature.

* The "resource" command allows you manipulate Macintosh resources.

  A complete man page is available for this command.

* The Mac version of the "source" command has an option to source from

  a Macintosh resource.  Check the man page from the source command

  for details.

* The only command NOT available on the Mac is the exec command.

  However, we include a Mac only package called Tclapplescript that

  provides access to Mac's AppleScript system.  This command is still

  under design & construction.  Documentatin can be found in the mac

  subdirectory in a file called "AppleScript.html".

* The env variable on the Macintosh works rather differently than on

  Windows or UNIX platforms.  Check out the tclvars man page for

  details.

* The command "file volumes" returns the available volumes on your

  Macintosh.  Check out the file command for details.

* The command "file attributes" has the Mac specific options of

  -creator and -type which allow you to query and set the Macintosh

  creator and type codes for Mac files.  See file man page for details.

* We have added a template for creating a Background-only Tcl application.

  So you can use Tcl as a faceless server process.  For more details, see

  the file background.doc.

If you are writing cross platform code but would still like to use

some of these Mac specific commands, please remember to use the

tcl_platform variable to special case your code.

4. The Distribution

-------------------

Macintosh Tcl is distributed in three different forms.  This

should make it easier to only download what you need.  The

packages are as follows:

mactk8.0.3.sea.hqx

    This distribution is a "binary" only release.  It contains an

    installer program that will install a 68k, PowerPC, or Fat

    version of the "Tcl Shell" and "Wish" applications.  In addition,

    it installs the Tcl & Tk libraries in the Extensions folder inside

    your System Folder.

mactcltk-full-8.0.3.sea.hqx

    This release contains the full release of Tcl and Tk for the

    Macintosh plus the More Files packages which Macintosh Tcl and Tk

    rely on.

mactcl-source-8.0.3.sea.hqx

    This release contains the complete source for Tcl 8.0.  In

    addition, Metrowerks CodeWarrior libraries and project files

    are included.  However, you must already have the More Files

    package to compile this code.

5. Documentation

----------------

The "html" subdirectory contains reference documentation in

in the HTML format.  You may also find these pages at:

        http://www.scriptics.com/man/tcl8.0/contents.html

Other documentation and sample Tcl scripts can be found at

the Tcl archive site:

        ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/tcl/

and the Tcl resource center:

        http://www.scriptics.com/resource/

The internet news group comp.lang.tcl is also a valuable

source of information about Tcl.  A mailing list is also

available (see below).

6. Compiling Tcl

----------------

In order to compile Macintosh Tcl you must have the

following items:

        CodeWarrior Pro 2 or 3

        Mac Tcl 8.0 (source)

        More Files 1.4.3

There are two sets of project files included with the package. The ones

we use for the release are for CodeWarrior Pro 3, and are not compatible

with CodeWarrior Gold release 11 and earlier. We have included the files

for earlier versions of CodeWarrior in the folder tcl8.0:mac:CW11 Projects,

but they are unsupported, and a little out of date.

As of Tcl8.0p2, the code will also build under CW Pro 2.  The only

change that needs to be made is that float.mac.c should be replaced by

float.c in the MacTcl MSL project file.

However, there seems to be a bug in the CFM68K Linker in CW Pro 2,

which renders the CFM68K Version under CW Pro 2 very unstable.  I am

working with MetroWerks to resolve this issue.  The PPC version is

fine, as is the Traditional 68K Shell.  But if you need to use the

CFM68K, then you must stay with CW Pro 1 for now.

The project  files included with the Mac Tcl source should work

fine.  The only thing you may need to update are the access paths.

Unfortunantly, it's somewhat common for the project files to become

slightly corrupted.  The most common problem is that the "Prefix file"

found in the "C/C++ Preference" panel is incorrect.  This should be

set to MW_TclHeaderPPC, MW_TclHeader68K or MW_TclHeaderCFM68K.

To build the fat version of TclShell, open the project file "TclShells.¼",

select the "TclShell" target, and build. All of the associated binaries will

be built automoatically. There are also targets for building static 68K

and Power PC builds, for building a CFM 68K build, and for building a

shared library Power PC only build.

Special notes:

* There is a small bug in More Files 1.4.3.  Also you should not use

  MoreFiles 1.4.4 - 1.4.6.  Look in the file named morefiles.doc for

  more details.

* You may not have the libmoto library which will cause a compile

  error.  You don't REALLY need it - it can be removed.  Look at the

  file libmoto.doc for more details.

* Check out the file bugs.doc for information about known bugs.

If you have comments or Bug reports send them to:

Jim Ingham

jingham@cygnus.com