2 This is the Tcl 8.4.15 source distribution.
3 Tcl/Tk is also available through NetCVS:
4 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/
5 You can get any source release of Tcl from the file distributions
8 RCS: @(#) $Id: README,v 1.49.2.18 2006/10/23 17:53:23 dgp Exp $
14 3. Compiling and installing Tcl
17 6. Tcl contributed archive
18 7. Tcl Resource Center
20 9. Support and Training
25 Tcl provides a powerful platform for creating integration applications that
26 tie together diverse applications, protocols, devices, and frameworks.
27 When paired with the Tk toolkit, Tcl provides the fastest and most powerful
28 way to create GUI applications that run on PCs, Unix, and the Macintosh.
29 Tcl can also be used for a variety of web-related tasks and for creating
30 powerful command languages for applications.
32 Tcl is maintained, enhanced, and distributed freely by the Tcl community.
33 The home for Tcl/Tk sources and bug/patch database is on SourceForge:
35 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/
37 with the Tcl Developer Xchange hosted at:
41 Tcl is a freely available open source package. You can do virtually
42 anything you like with it, such as modifying it, redistributing it,
43 and selling it either in whole or in part. See the file
44 "license.terms" for complete information.
49 Extensive documentation is available at our website.
50 The home page for this release, including new features, is
51 http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/8.4.html
53 Detailed release notes can be found at the file distributions page
54 by clicking on the relevant version.
55 http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=10894
57 Information about Tcl itself can be found at
58 http://www.tcl.tk/about/
60 There have been many Tcl books on the market. Many are mentioned in the Wiki:
61 http://wiki.tcl.tk/book
63 2a. Unix Documentation
64 ----------------------
66 The "doc" subdirectory in this release contains a complete set of
67 reference manual entries for Tcl. Files with extension ".1" are for
68 programs (for example, tclsh.1); files with extension ".3" are for C
69 library procedures; and files with extension ".n" describe Tcl
70 commands. The file "doc/Tcl.n" gives a quick summary of the Tcl
71 language syntax. To print any of the man pages on Unix, cd to the
72 "doc" directory and invoke your favorite variant of troff using the
73 normal -man macros, for example
77 to print Tcl.n. If Tcl has been installed correctly and your "man" program
78 supports it, you should be able to access the Tcl manual entries using the
79 normal "man" mechanisms, such as
83 2b. Windows Documentation
84 -------------------------
86 The "doc" subdirectory in this release contains a complete set of Windows
87 help files for Tcl. Once you install this Tcl release, a shortcut to the
88 Windows help Tcl documentation will appear in the "Start" menu:
90 Start | Programs | Tcl | Tcl Help
92 3. Compiling and installing Tcl
93 -------------------------------
95 There are brief notes in the unix/README, win/README, and macosx/README about
96 compiling on these different platforms. There is additional information
97 about building Tcl from sources at
99 http://www.tcl.tk/doc/howto/compile.html
101 4. TclPro Development tools
102 ---------------------------
104 A high quality set of commercial quality development tools is available to
105 accelerate your Tcl application development. The TclPro product provides a
106 debugger, static code checker, packaging utility, and bytecode compiler.
107 TclPro was open-sourced when Scriptics/Ajuba was acquired by Interwoven.
108 Visit its home at SourceForge for more information and source/binaries:
110 http://tclpro.sourceforge.net/
112 ActiveState has picked up support for commercial Tcl development tools.
113 More information can be found at
115 http://www.ActiveState.com/Tcl
120 There is a USENET news group, "comp.lang.tcl", intended for the exchange of
121 information about Tcl, Tk, and related applications. The newsgroup is a
122 great place to ask general information questions. There is also
123 a USENET news group, "comp.lang.tcl.announce", intended to announce new
124 releases of software, training, and more. For bug reports, please
125 see the "Support and bug fixes" section below.
127 6. Tcl contributed archive
128 --------------------------
130 Many people have created exciting packages and applications based on Tcl
131 and/or Tk and made them freely available to the Tcl community. An archive
132 of these contributions is kept on the machine ftp://archives.tcl.tk/pub/tcl
133 (aka ftp://ftp.procplace.com/pub/tcl). You can access the archive using
134 anonymous FTP. The archive also contains several FAQ ("frequently asked
135 questions") documents that provide solutions to problems that are commonly
136 encountered by Tcl newcomers.
141 A Wiki-based open community site covering all aspects of Tcl/Tk is at:
145 A wealth of useful information can be found there.
150 Several mailing lists are hosted at SourceForge to discuss development or
151 use issues (like Macintosh and Windows topics). For more information and
154 http://sourceforge.net/projects/tcl/
156 and go to the Mailing Lists page.
158 9. Support and Training
159 ------------------------
161 We are very interested in receiving bug reports, patches, and suggestions
162 for improvements. We prefer that you send this information to us via the
163 bug form at SourceForge, rather than emailing us directly. The bug
166 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/
168 The bug form was designed to give uniform structure to bug reports as
169 well as to solicit enough information to minimize followup questions.
171 We will log and follow-up on each bug, although we cannot promise a
172 specific turn-around time. Enhancements, reported via the Feature
173 Requests form at the same web site, may take longer and may not happen
174 at all unless there is widespread support for them (we're trying to
175 slow the rate at which Tcl/Tk turns into a kitchen sink). It's very
176 difficult to make incompatible changes to Tcl/Tk at this point, due to
177 the size of the installed base.
179 The Tcl community is too large for us to provide much individual support
180 for users. If you need help we suggest that you post questions to
181 comp.lang.tcl. We read the newsgroup and will attempt to answer esoteric
182 questions for which no one else is likely to know the answer. In addition,
183 see the following page on the Wiki for links to other organizations that offer
186 http://wiki.tcl.tk/training
191 We'd like to express our thanks to the Tcl community for all the
192 helpful suggestions, bug reports, and patches we have received.
193 Tcl/Tk has improved vastly and will continue to do so with your help.