2005-06-22:
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QOTW:  "We'll find a way to make this work."  D. Richard Hipp, on a
design challenge that languages other than Tcl and data managers other
than SQLite have decided is beyond their limits

"To [managers, especially of QA], automation means 'humans not necessary
to this process' rather than 'we take out the mundane, mind-deadening
stuff'." -- Esther Schindler 


POTW:  "I've been using Gnocl instead of Tk for some time now and it's
just great. Note that it is different enough from Tk that you can't just
plug it in, you have to adjust your code quite a bit. For the most common
tasks it's even simpler to use than Tk, though. It has also a few widgets
that are hard to come by with Tk (hierarchical multicolumn lists for
example) and still are just a joy to use."  http://gnocl.sourceforge.net/ 


    An extremely important thread for those with an interest in
    Tcl internals erupts.  Among other highlights, this exploration
    by Tcl heavyweights of SQLite and its Tcl connections hearkens
    back to debates from the prehistory of Tcl ("Is it a language or
    a library?"), and forward to Tcl's continuing pre-eminence as a
    language that correctly handles Unicode, with a tangent on under-
    appreciated advantages of SQLite.  Ultimately, EIAS occupies
    center stage.
        http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/5b26a4ce957d0f55/

    In some communities, regular expressions are regarded
    as nearly universal solutions.  Quite a few Tclers
    advise they "should be avoided if at all possible."
    Others counsel that negative lookahead constraints are
    an important, if performance-robbing, tool for
    constructive use of REs.
        http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/776b71f7159da1a7/

    Neil Madden contributes a "patch" for the frequently-made
    switch-comment mistake.
        http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/c2921849e1958422/

Thanks to Arjen Markus for his report from the Wiki(s):
  With the summer holidays on the northern hemisphere approaching,
  the Wiki holds the usual mixture of fun stuff and useful techniques.
  So, in the very same spirit, let us proceed!
  
  Fun little pages
  - Instead of tangible little sticky pieces of paper you can use
    their electronic equivalent - perhaps because it is environmentally
    friendly? <http://wiki.tcl.tk/13717> but only for Windows-users.
  
  - Play it again, Richard: <http://wiki.tcl.tk/1248> is a cute 
    demonstration of how to do musical notes.
  
  Serious little pages
  - Adding a list of most recently used files to your GUI:
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14324> makes it easy.
  
  - Clear the screen? Do you realise how complex that is?
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/3799> holds a small encyclopaedia
    on the topic.
  
  - Message catelogues? So useful and now even easier to
    use - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14377> extracts the text 
    for you.
  
  - If you do not want to see hidden files and directories,
    you need to tweak the tk_*File dialogue a bit. The 
    French Wiki tells the story: <http://wfr.tcl.tk/967>
  
  - Distribute your interpreters freely over various
    machines and make sure they all behave:
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14374>
  
  Simply serious pages
  - Small versions of the Tcl runtime are important
    for some people - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/1363>
  
  - Impressive screenshots of a diagram editor:
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14319>
    

Everything Tcl-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in these
pages:
    The "Welcome to comp.lang.tcl" message by Andreas Kupries
        http://www.purl.org/net/tcl-welcome

    The Tcl Developer Site is Tcl's "home base".
	http://www.tcl.tk

    Larry Virden maintains a comp.lang.tcl FAQ launcher.
        http://www.purl.org/NET/Tcl-FAQ/

    The Tcl Developer Xchange is a highly organized resource center
    of documents and software with provisions for individuals to
    maintain references to their own software:
        http://www.tcl.tk/resource/
    The TDX sponsor, ActiveState, also keeps info to convince your
    boss Tcl is a good thing
        http://www.tcl.tk/scripting/

    The Tcl'ers Wiki is a huge, dynamic, collaboratively edited repository
    of documentation, examples, tutorials and pontifications on all things 
    Tcl.
        http://wiki.tcl.tk/0
    For the ideal overview of the topics about Tcl most likely to
    interest a newcomer, see "Arts and Crafts ..."
        http://wiki.tcl.tk/969

    ActiveState maintains binaries distribution and development tools
        http://www.activestate.com/Tcl
    along with a Cookbook of Tcl recipes
        http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Tcl

    deli.cio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary.
    It already aggregates quite a bit of Tcl intelligence.
        http://del.icio.us/tag/tcl


    Cameron Laird tracks several Tcl/Tk references of interest
        http://phaseit.net/claird/comp.lang.tcl/

    Cetus Links maintains a Tcl/Tk page with verified links
        http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_tcl_tk.html

    "Yahoo! Groups" archives comp.lang.tcl.announce posts
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcl_announce/

Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are listed here:
  http://www.ddj.com/topics/tclurl/
An alternative is
  http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_q=+Tcl-URL&as_ugroup=comp.lang.tcl

Suggestions/corrections for next week's posting are always welcome.

To receive a new issue of this posting in e-mail each Monday, ask
<claird@phaseit.net> to subscribe.  Be sure to mention "Tcl-URL!".
--
Dr. Dobb's Journal (http://www.ddj.com) is pleased to participate in and
sponsor the "Tcl-URL!" project.

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