You need a graphical user interface, and it needs to run on multiple platforms. You don't have much time, and you're not a wizard with X/Motif, the Win32 GUI, or the Mac GUI. The project seems impossible, but with Tcl/Tk it's simple and fun. The Tcl scripting language and the Tk toolkit create a powerful programming environment for building graphical user interfaces. With two lines of code you can create a simple button; with two hundred lines of code, a desktop calculator; and with a thousand lines of code, an industrial-strength groupware calendar and appointment minder. Your applications run on all of the major platforms: UNIX, Windows 95/NT, and Macintosh. You can even embed your programs in a Web page to make them available online. Mark Harrison and Michael McLennan, two noted Tcl/Tk experts, combine their extensive experience in this practical programming guide. It is ideal for developers who are acquainted with the basics of Tcl/Tk and are now moving on to build real applications. Effective Tcl/Tk Programming shows you how to build Tcl/Tk applications effectively and efficiently through plenty of real-world advice. It clarifies some of the more powerful aspects of Tcl/Tk, such as the packer, the canvas widget, and binding tags. The authors describe valuable design strategies and coding techniques that will make your Tcl/Tk projects successful. You will learn how to: *Create interactive displays with the canvas widget * Create customized editors with the text widget *Create new geometry managers, like tabbed notebooks or paned windows *Implement client/server architectures * Handle data structures * Interface with existing applications *Package Tcl/Tk code into reusable libraries * Deliver Tcl/Tk applications that are easy to configure and install * Embed applications in a Web page * Build applications that will run on multiple platforms Throughout the book, the authors develop numerous applications and a library of reusable components. Learn from their approach, follow their strategies, and steal their code for your own applications! But don't bother retyping all of the examples. 0201634740B04062001

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Building Tcl/Tk Applications Application-building process * A small application * Designing the application * Designing the screen * Prototyping the screen * Library analysis * Adding behavior to the program * Adding finishing touches * Testing the program * Packaging the program Chapter 2: Packing, Gridding, and Placing Windows Using the pack command * Cavity-based model * Packing options * Packing order * Hierarchical packing * Compressing windows * Enlarging windows * Unpacking widgets * Using the grid command * Grid-based model * Gridding options * Resizing windows * Mixing grid and pack * Using the place command * Coordinate-based model * Custom geometry managers Chapter 3: Handling Events The event loop * Keyboard focus * Forcing updates * Handling long-running bindings * Execution scope * Quoting and the event loop * Simple examples using bind * Selecting an item from a listbox * Automatic button help * Class bindings * Syntax of the bind command * The event specification * Percent substitutions * More complex events * Click, drag, drop * Customizing widget behavior * Binding tags * Default binding tags * Using break to interrupt event processing * Inventing binding tags for groups of bindings * Binding to a toplevel widget * Debugging bindings * Displaying bindings * Monitoring events * Animation * Animating items on a canvas * Debugging after events * Library procedures for animation Chapter 4: Using the Canvas Widget Understanding the canvas widget * Scrolling * Display list model * Using tags * Canvas bindings * Scrollable form * Progress gauge * HSB color editor * Tabbed notebook * Calendar * Handling size changes * Sensors and callbacks * Monitoring variables * Simple drawing package * Drawing items * Selecting items * Moving and deleting items * Configuring items * Resizing items * Entering text * Printing a drawing * Saving a drawing * Loading a drawing Chapter 5: Using the Text Widget Understanding the text widget * Indexing model * Scrolling * Using tags * Text bindings * Using marks * Wrap modes * Tab stops * Simple text editor * Read-only text display * Appointment editor * Using tags to apply styles * Embedded windows * Changing text bindings * Retrieving appointments * Hierarchical browser * Hierarchical data * Creating the hierarchical browser * Using tags and marks Chapter 6: Top-level Windows Toplevel widgets * Setting the widget class * Communicating with the window manager * Window placement * Window size * Simple dialogs * Modal dialogs * Controlling access to dialogs * Create/destroy strategy * Help from the window manager * Show/hide strategy * Unmanaged windows * Introductory placard * Balloon help Chapter 7: Interacting with Other Programs Executing other programs * Execution pipelines * Building commands and handling errors * Collecting output from long-running programs * Driving other programs without temporary files * Working aroun