Subject: Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! - weekly Tcl news and links (Sep 19)
From: Cameron Laird
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 13:09:04 +0000
To: "Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL distribution" :;
CC:
Newsgroups: comp.lang.tcl

QOTW:  "The way I explain my interest in TCL is this: imagine if there
were a GUI language much faster than Java, much more cross platform than
C++ and its variants, easy enough to write code straight from text files,
well supported by both commercial vendors and the Open Source community,
with a long history of use dating back to the 1980s. That's TCL.

...

The other great plus is, of course, this comp.lang.tcl newsgroup. Lots
of handy suggestions and hints when you need them :-)." -- Synic

"I've learned more by examining the code that vTcl produces than
I ever would have by just learning the specific commands I thought I
needed." -- Peter Flynn


POTW:  Muzic allows Tcl scripts to play MIDI-encoded notes and load
SoundsFonts through softsynth.
    http://wiki.tcl.tk/Muzic


    Bryan Oakley, Rob, Earl Grieda, and various Jeffs make an eloquent
    case for Tcl/Tk as a useful development language that's easy to learn
    (especially when one exploits the "absolutely brilliant" Wiki).
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/a47f9832d6bb54c4/
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/b286fee3242cec40/

    Randolf Shultz and William J. Poser illustrate use of synthetic 
    events with details on management of Mac OS X button presses.
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/6b837767fefbe1bc/

    Jingzhao Ou rightly summarizes, "It is so cool!" to be able to
    add new canvas item types by way of a loadable DLL which doesn't
    require messy source changes in the distribution.  Notice 
    particularly George Peter Staplin's tips on this subject.
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/cde5712ff8518688/

    Is Tile for you?  What's it take to get started?  Well, "yes", and
    "not much", but Bryan Oakley provides the specifics to make those
    answers more convincing.
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_thread/thread/e2e58ea5adeb2939/

Thanks to Arjen Markus for his summary of Wiki activity:
  Loads of little tools on the Wiki last week. So let us 
  make this summary concentrate on them.
  
  Ports
  - Need to overcome the restrictions of firewalls?
    Just send the data through ... <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14713>
  
  - Evil ears on your system? Want to check them?
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/12105>
  
  Solutions
  - What's in a name? Once a project file, now a "solution"
    Scanning "dot-net" solution files for certain information
    is easy ... <http://wiki.tcl.tk/10840> 
  
  - State machines can be tricky to built. Better let a 
    compiler take care of them. Maybe not implemented in Tcl,
    but it might be useful anyway = <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14711>
  
  - Object reference counts can be tough to manage, here is a 
    noteworthy guide ... <http://wiki.tcl.tk/1192>
  
  Music and graphics 
  - A kind gesture towards your computer may make do what you
    want it to ... <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14697>
  
  - Editing pictures - animated GIFs and what not: the French
    Wiki has a lot to say on the subject - <http://wfr.tcl.tk/1013>
    is but an example
  
  - New Orleans after the storm: "Muse" attempts to help out 
    - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14420>


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
    comp.lang.tcl is a crucial resource for Tcl practitioners.
    An interesting perspective on its traffic appears at
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/about

    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.

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