Subject: Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL! - weekly Tcl news and links (Oct 3)
From: Uwe Klein
Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 00:36:28 +0000
To: "Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL distribution" :;
CC:
Newsgroups: comp.lang.tcl

QOTW:  "oo::define is a DWIM." - Joe English  "Yes, but it virtually always
gets it right." - Donal K. Fellows in reply
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DWIM

"[C]ivilizing blocking interfaces is one of the sensible uses of
threads." - Donald Porter


POTW:
    ANNOUNCE: XOTcl 1.5.1 available
    XOTcl 1.5.1 is available. This is mostly a bugfix release, but contains
    as well an improved API for developing XOTcl-methods in C. Many thanks
    to the community for the input and the reports. Especially many thanks
    to Scott Gargash for the discussion and suggestions for improving the
    C-level API.
	homepage: http://www.xotcl.org/
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/37e956aa079fa89e

    ANNOUNCE: splash library	by Manuel Frecon
    The splash library implements a new Tcl/Tk toplevel widget that aims at 
    showing one (or more) splash windows during the initialisation phase of 
    an application or any other lengthy operation. The library opens a 
    pseudo-widget and offers a number of configuration options to control 
    the appearance and behaviour of the splash window.
	download: http://www.sics.se/~emmanuel/?Code:splash
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/497ffe5a95ee3bfe

    ANN: Release of TclRAL Version 0.8	by Andrew Mangogna
    I'm pleased to announce the availability of Version 0.8 of TclRAL,
    a Relational Algebra package for Tcl. Version 0.8 is a complete rewrite
    of 0.7 and includes many new commands, especially those for enforcing
    referential integrity.
    I will be giving a presentation on TclRAL at the upcoming Tcl
    conference and this release coincides with the paper and
    presentation for the conference.
	homepage: http://tclral.sourceforge.net
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/f2904a423f83fbf7

ORBI: or what happened on comp.lang.tcl

    Tcl and various packages broken in configure
    This is a recurring point mentioned and not a specific
    newsposting characterized by "syntax error near unexpected token" 
    The error is bash related and will be fixed in future bash versions.
    Meanwhile:
	http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg01854.html

    Exec a program on Windows that contains ( ) in the filename
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/63ce89be20ad0ce9

    How to copy a proc
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/dfd5817a0f503e63

    Porting Tcl/Tk to Java
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/e6246e1dd58b35d1

    Debug API in the core?
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/54bd8689191b7ef1

    problem with attachments using tcllib smtp/mime
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/20a2ebd8dbbae828

TIPX: new, used and discarded Tips
    This was a tipsy week ( and maybe with a slight hangover ): 

    TIP 268 by Jeff Hobbs : Enhance 'package' Version Handling
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/268.html
	    state has changed from Accepted to Final

    TIP 275 by Pat Thoyts : Support Unsigned Values in binary Command
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/275.html
	    is a new TIP

    TIP 119 by Simon Geard : Angled Text on a Canvas
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/119.html
    TIP 264 by George Petasis : Add Function to Retrieve the Interpreter of a Window
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/264.html
    TIP 275 by Pat Thoyts : Support Unsigned Values in binary Command
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/275.html
	    All 3: Vote: In progress

    TIP 257 by Donal K. Fellows : Object Orientation for Tcl
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/257.html
	Glimpses into the implementation of this TIP have 
	resulted in large masses of expectations vanishing.
	the resulting "Tsunami" seems to have run its course. 
	people are sieving through their belongings to see what 
	is broken ( some dreams?).
	    http://sourceforge.net/search/index.php?group_id=10894&search_subject=1&type_of_search=mlists&all_words=257&ml_name%5B%5D=tcl-core&form_submit=Search
	    http://groups.google.com/groups/search?q=TIP+257+group%3Acomp.lang.tcl
	    http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/257.html


OOTW: Orphan of the week or questions nobody answered yet:
    New tcludp release.  When?
	
TWIP: or what happened on comp.lang.tcl this week TEN years ago:
    Proposed improvement to package loading
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/a7133fe31224890b

    ASTcl-1.0 AppleScript package for Tcl/Tk
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl.announce/browse_frm/thread/ad29c86f1d9e7d88

    experimental, extensible Linux NFS server soon to be
    This seems to be FUSE done over NFS and in (but not limited to) Guile. 
    This was a floater for an idea:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/thread/23f4452c4db36a36
    Not really OnTopic but an advisable read to some:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/msg/a182f9880638a3c2


Thanks to Arjen Markus for his summary of Wiki activity:
  A year ago your chronicler started his summary for week 39 with
  XOTcl and a debate about object-orientation ... History repeats
  itself!
  
  TIP 257 ...
  - Notes on TIP 257: now that the implementation is there, 
    lots of details are beginning to show up - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14754>
  
  - Of course XOTcl is not Snit is not Incr Tcl, but well, Tcl is
    the chameleontic language, isn't it? <http://wiki.tcl.tk/14773>
  
  A picture says more than a thousand words
  - With a suitable OS displaying the computer's activity is 
    simple - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/16946> 
  
  - Here is yet another web content management system in Tcl.
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/13367> is alive and kicking
  
  - A new kind of graphical presentation? Well, see for yourself,
    the picture looks cute - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/16931>
  
  - Fortran bindings for good old Tk: <http://wiki.tcl.tk/4000>
    guides you to a provisional home page.
  
  Politics 
  - It is a myth that Tcl be slower than Perl - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/1799>
    has "independent" evidence.
  
  - A voting system inevitably contains an algorithm to distribute
    the votes over the seats. The system used in Flemish Belgium 
    is illustrated on this Wiki page - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/16940>
  

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
    There's also a high-quality Wikibook on Tcl:
        http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Programming:Tcl

    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 (but
    needs to validate many of the links).
        http://phaseit.net/claird/comp.lang.tcl/

    Years ago, Cetus Links maintained a Tcl/Tk page with verified links
        http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_tcl_tk.html

    "Yahoo! Groups" archives comp.lang.tcl.announce posts--even 
    though clta itself is dormant.
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcl_announce/

Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are supposed to be
listed at *Dr. Dobbs*, but sysad at CMP has fallen behind.  We're working
with them to restore the archive.
  http://www.ddj.com/topic/tcl/
In the meantime, 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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