159 lines
6.6 KiB
HTML
159 lines
6.6 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
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<TITLE>The Linux Tcl and Tk HOWTO: Installing and getting started with Tcl and Tk</TITLE>
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<LINK HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-5.html" REL=next>
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<LINK HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-3.html" REL=previous>
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<LINK HREF="TclTk-HOWTO.html#toc4" REL=contents>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-5.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-3.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO.html#toc4">Contents</A>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME="s4">4. Installing and getting started with Tcl and Tk</A></H2>
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<P>
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<P>Most modern distribution include Tcl and Tk. Rpm and deb packages with
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precompiled binaries are avalaible for Red Hat, SuSE and Debian distributions
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(that'll make installation easier).
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<P>A modern distribution standard installation will include Tcl/Tk as it is
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needed by many configuration tools running mainly under X.
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<P>Tcl and Tk are distributed freely in source form via the Internet. There
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are no restrictions on their use and no licenses or royalties are needed (see
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the
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-9.html#license">license.terms</A> section for complete information).
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<P>
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<P>Many more Tcl/Tk scripts and extensions are also available freely.
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.1">4.1 Downloading the Core Distributions</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>The Tcl/Tk core consists of the Tcl and Tk libraries, plus the wish and
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tclsh applications, associated documentation, script libraries, and demonstrat
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ive
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applications. The primary FTP site for this information is
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.scriptics.com/pub/tcl/">ftp.scriptics.com/pub/tcl/</A>.
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<P>
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<P>The primary HTTP site is
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<A HREF="http://www.scriptics.com/software/download.html">www.scriptics. com/software/download.html</A> .
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.2">4.2 Installation</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>Unless already available for your Distribution in proprietary packages
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you'll want to download the source release. You'll need both Tcl and Tk source
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s.
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This procedure refers to the second case.
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<P>Choose between compressed tar and gzipped tar format.
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<P>Compressed Tar Files
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<P>Tcl sources (tcl8.0.3.tar.Z): compressed tar file (about 2.4 Mbytes). Tk
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sources (tk8.0.3.tar.Z): compressed tar file (about 3.3 Mbytes).
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<P>Gzipped Tar Files
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<P>Tcl sources (tcl8.0.3.tar.gz): gzipped tar file (about 1.5 Mbytes). Tk
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sources (tk8.0.3.tar.gz): gzip'ed tar file (about 2.1 Mbytes).
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<P>When you retrieve one of these files, you will get a compressed tar file
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with a name like tcl8.0.3.tar.gz or tcl8.0.3.tar.Z. The files are identical
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except for the technique used to compress them (.gz files are generally smalle
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r
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than .Z files).
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<P>To unpack the distribution, invoke shell commands like the following, depending
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on which version of the release you retrieved:
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<HR>
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<PRE>
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gunzip -c tcl8.0.3.tar.gz
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</PRE>
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<HR>
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<P>or
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<HR>
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<PRE>
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tar xf - zcat tcl8.0.3.tar.Z
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</PRE>
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<HR>
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<P>or
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<HR>
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<PRE>
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tar xf - unzip tcl80.3.zip
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</PRE>
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<HR>
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<P>Each of these commands will create a directory named tcl8.0.3, which includes
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the sources for all platforms, documentation, and the script library for Tcl
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8.0. To compile and install the distribution, follow the instructions in the
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README file in the distribution directory. Be sure to compile Tcl before Tk,
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since Tk depends on information in Tcl.
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.3">4.3 The Contributed Archive</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>There are many other freely available packages for Tcl and Tk, including
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both scripts written in Tcl and extensions written in C or C++. These packages
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include database applications and network access, a graphical user interface
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builder, the expect program, additional Tk widgets, and dozens of other things
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.
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The primary site for the Tcl/Tk archive is
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/tcl">ftp.neosoft.com/pub/tcl</A>.
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.4">4.4 Mirror Sites</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>Several other sites around the world mirror the whole or part of the material
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from the core site and the contributed archive; you may find more useful to
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retrieve information from a mirror site that is close to you.
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<P>Ftp file "0_mirror" at:
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.scriptics.com/pub/tcl/">ftp.scriptics.com/pub/tcl/</A>
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for a list of the mirror sites in your country.
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.5">4.5 Which Releases to Use</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>Always refer to newer recommended version in section "Tcl/Tk Core" of the
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<P>
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<A HREF="http://www.scriptics.com/software/download.html">Scriptics Soft ware Central page</A>.
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<P>At the time of this writing, recommended releases are the latest (Tcl 8.0.3
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and Tk 8.0.3), which were released in September, 1998. Tcl 8.0 contains a new
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bytecode compiler that can speed up execution by a factor of 2-10x. It also
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provides namespaces, binary I/O, and several other new features.
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<P>Tk 8.0 is the first release to provide native look and feel on Macintoshes
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and PCs. Tk 8.0 also supports application embedding and has a new portable
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font mechanism. Both Tcl 8.0 and Tk 8.0 provide additional features in the
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Safe-Tcl security model.
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<H2><A NAME="ss4.6">4.6 Where to report problems, bugs, or enhancements</A>
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</H2>
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<P>
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<P>Use
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<A HREF=" news.comp.lang.tcl">comp.lang.tcl</A> for public communicati
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ons.
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<P>The alternative would be to send problems, suggestions, new ideas, etc.
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directly to the author. Email to
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<A HREF="mailto:Ouster@scriptics.com">John Ousterhout</A> will reach the
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author of Tcl and Tk.
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<P>When reporting problems or bugs, be sure to mention all the details needed
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for a correct diagnosis. Basically you will have to describe what hardware,
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operating system and version of Tcl/Tk you are using, if you have made any
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modification or add on and provide, if possible, either a small piece of code,
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or a URL to some code which demonstrates the problem.
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<P>If you have software from which you think the community might benefit (either
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a program, function, extension, or simple example), or you have a document,
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magazine or journal article, thesis, project, or even commercial advertisement
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,
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be sure to let the appropriate guys know.
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<P>There are FAQ maintainers for each of these areas as well as a
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<A HREF="news:news.comp.lang.tcl.announce">comp.lang.tcl.announce</A>
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newsgroup you can use.
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<P>It is always worthwhile to submit your contributions directly to the ftp
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site so more folk in the future can benefitthanks to your experience.
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<P>To make announcements to the
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<A HREF="news:news.comp.lang.tcl.announce">comp.lang.tcl.announce</A>
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newsgroup, send email with the details to
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<A HREF="mailto:tcl-announce@mitchell.org">tcl-announce</A>. Also, feel
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free to just point folk at your own ftp site or WWW site if you have one which
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can be used .
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<HR>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-5.html">Next</A>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO-3.html">Previous</A>
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<A HREF="TclTk-HOWTO.html#toc4">Contents</A>
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