From: kennykb@dssv01.crd.ge.com (Kevin B. Kenny)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.tcl
Subject: Re: Several questions about Tcl/Tk
Keywords: tcl, tk, WWW, mail readers, widgets, et cetera
Date: 6 Oct 92 13:10:59 GMT
Reply-To: kennykb@crd.ge.com
Organization: GE R&D, Information Architectures & Management Program


In article <84271@bcsaic.boeing.com>, douglas@bcsaic.boeing.com (Douglas
Schuler) writes:
|> Does a cookbook/tutorial exist that shows the steps that
|> one takes to add a tcl interpreter to an existing application?

The easiest way is to borrow a main program from somewhere: `wish' if
you're using Tk, or `tcltest' or the Extended Tcl shell if you're not.
Insert calls to Tcl_CreateCommand at the indicated places in the
source code to add your application's commands, and you're off and
running.  Tcl command processing routines are really straightforward
to write -- they use the argc/argv mechanism.  The clientData
mechanism is available for object-based commands.

|> 3.  I'm working on an "intelligent mail" ("Imail") application
|> where I want to embed source code (in some language) within
|> pieces of mail which will then be interpreted by the reader.
|> I'd like to use tcl for this.  Does anybody have any thoughts on
|> this or pointers to similar approaches taken with other platforms,
|> mail readers, or interpreted languages?   Some aspects of the WWW 
|> (World Wide Web) approach might be useful.

Check out Service Mail, from Jay Weber of Enterprise Integration
Technologies (weber@eitech.com).  It's exactly what you describe, and
it's done already.  It depends on METAMAIL, by the way, in order to
deal with messages in MIME format.  METAMAIL is available for
anonymous FTP on thumper.bellcore.com [128.96.41.1] in the directory
pub/nsb.  Once you have METAMAIL, you can get Service Mail by sending
email to
	services@eitech.com
with the subject line
	Subject: archive-request servicemail.tar

|> 4.  Speaking of the WWW, what are Hyper widget or XYGraph widgets?

They're two additional widgets added to Tk by George Howlett and Sani
Nassif of AT&T.  The first is a hypertext widget that, I believe, is
largely made obsolete by the text widget in Tk.  The second is a
simple widget for X-Y graph plotting.  They're available on
barkley.berkeley.edu [128.32.142.237] in the file
	pub/tcl/extensions/graph-1.0.tar.Z

|> 5.  The Tk approach of using "send" is very useful and flexible.
|> I'm wondering, however, if there is there an approach that would make 
|> the Tk widgets more secure by "turning off" access (by any mechanism)
|> to some programs or users that might be issuing send commands that
|> shouldn't be interpreted.
|> 
|> 6.  I'm wondering if there is any way that the send command can be
|> issued to widgets *not* on the desktop.

Yes to both.  Possibly the easiest way to accomplish both objectives
is to pick up my own tclTCP package.  It's also on barkley, in
	pub/tcl/extensions/tclTCP-1.0.tar.Z 

|> 7.  I'd like any and all references to additional papers on Tcl or
|> Tk besides the two winter Usenix papers.  Are there more?

There are at least Don Libes's four papers on Expect, which are
available for anonymous ftp on ftp.cme.nist.gov [129.6.32.4] in the
directory
	pub/expect

|> 8.  I read that there were over 50 applications using tcl/tk.  It
|> would be very interesting and useful to hear some about those 
|> efforts.

Well, the FAQ file that gets posted here monthly has names and e-mail
addresses of contacts for most of the packages.  

73 de ke9tv/2, Kevin          There isn't any .signature virus, is there?