** Summary **
'''[http://tkcon.sourceforge.net/%|%tkcon]''' is a replacement for the standard
console that comes with Tk (on Windows/Mac, but also works on Unix). The
console itself provides many more features than the standard console. tkcon
works on all platforms where Tcl/Tk is available. It is meant primarily to aid
one when working with the little details inside tcl and tk, giving Unix users
the GUI console provided by default in the Mac and Windows Tk. It's also not a
bad replacement for the default MS-DOS shell (although it needs lots of fine
tuning).
[http://web.archive.org/web/http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~nem/tkcon_see.png]
** Attributes **
website: http://tkcon.sourceforge.net/
current release: 2009-02-26
contact: jeff at hobbs org
'''More Up To Date Version for Tcl/Tk 8.6'''
website: https://github.com/wjoye/tkcon
last commit: 2017-01-27
** Documentation **
[http://tkcon.sourceforge.net/docs/index.html%|%official reference]:
[tkcon.cfg]:
[Pasting commands into Tkcon]:
Using [TkCon as an application console]:
Using [Tkcon as an IDE shell]:
[Tkcon remote access over TCP sockets]:
[Expanding method names in tkcon]:
** Development **
[https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11462&atid=111462%|%bugtracker]:
[https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361462&group_id=11462&func=browse%|%feature tracker]:
** Obtaining **
[stevel]: tkcon packaged as a [starkit] can be found at
http://www.tcl.tk/starkits/tkcon.kit). The tkcon "Help/Retrieve latest version"
option will update the starkit with the latest CVS version of tkcon.tcl.
[LV]: Steve, the code for retrieve latest version would be useful to turn into a
proc that became part of tclkit's std environment, so that all starkits might
do that. Or at least, all the ones at sf.net...
[ActiveTcl]: Tkcon is in the bin directory, which you can find with `[[info nameofexecutable]` and `[[file dirname]`. It is named "`tkcon.tcl`" on Windows and "`tkcon`" (without "`.tcl`") on Unix. If TkCon isn't immediately available in the installed ActiveTcl, use [teacup] to install it.
[WinTclTk]: TkCon is included.
Unofficial standalone TkCon (with [Tclkit]) :
* For [Windows], [Mac OS X] and [Linux] : http://web.archive.org/web/https://www.zolli.fr/fichiers/tkcon.zip
A single-file Tkcon executable for 32-bit Microsoft Windows Operating Systems
wrapped using TkWrap (part of [WinTclTk]) can be found at
http://wintcltk.sourceforge.net/tkwrap.html
** Description **
TkCon provides a console for interacting with [Tcl]. This console has an input
history, the ability to help loading packages, ability to attach to running
[Tk] applications (if on a system which supports Tk's [send] command),
A Tcl/Tk source standard console. It not only is a replacement for the one
that comes with Tk on Windows and Macintosh, but can also be used under Unix.
Provides command history, path/proc/variable name expansion, multiple
interpreter consoles, captures stdout and stderr, character and proc
highlighting, history searching, copy/paste between consoles, communicate with
other tk interpreters, supports dynamically loadable extensions, electric
character and proc highlighting. Latest version supports attaching to itcl/Tcl
8 namespaces. Regular updates occur - check pack on the WWW page for
announcements. Requires Tcl/Tk 8.0+ . Currently version 2.5 There is also a
megawidget console based on tkcon.
It's often useful to use [Img] with TkCon:
======
tkcon eval package require [Img]
======
** Installation **
Make a directory (e.g. tkcon-2.5) in your Tcl lib directory, sibling to other packages. Copy the pkgIndex.tcl and tkcon.tcl files there. Load the package and launch the console:
======
package require tkcon
tkcon show
======
----
To get tkcon to work using only the main interpreter and the . toplevel, [Jeff
Hobbs] writes:
You need to pass with `-exec ""` on the command line (in ::argv) or add the
following code before you source tkcon:
======
namespace eval ::tkcon {}
# we want to have only the main interpreter
set ::tkcon::OPT(exec) ""
======
----
In a [comp.lang.tcl] posting, Glenn Jackman offers his personal '''tkcon.cfg''' source:
======
# tkcon.cfg
tkcon font "Lucida Console" 10
set ::tkcon::OPT(rows) 40
# source $env(HOME)/tclshrc.tcl
# hmmm, can't load procs in this config file.
# ah:
set ::tkcon::OPT(slaveeval) {source $env(HOME)/tclshrc.tcl}
======
[kpv]: Here's my tkcon.cfg file as a more complicated example:
======
set ::tkcon::OPT(rows) 14
set ::tkcon::OPT(cols) 75
set ::tkcon::OPT(font) "Courier 12"
set ::tkcon::OPT(history) 300
set ::tkcon::OPT(autoload) Tk
set ::tkcon::OPT(calcmode) 1
set ::tkcon::OPT(maxlinelen) 500
set ::tkcon::OPT(slaveeval) {
source c:/home/.wishrc
package require Img
wm protocol . WM_DELETE_WINDOW exit
}
set ::tkcon::OPT(maineval) {
wm geom . +140+825
bind TkConsole <Control-p> [bind TkConsole <<TkCon_PreviousSearch>>]
bind TkConsole <Up> [bind TkConsole <<TkCon_PreviousSearch>>]
bind TkConsole <Control-n> [bind TkConsole <<TkCon_NextSearch>>]
bind TkConsole <Down> [bind TkConsole <<TkCon_NextSearch>>]
}
======
[hv]: On my Linux Mint 11, I found the following font and color works best for
me:
======
set ::tkcon::COLOR(bg) ivory
set ::tkcon::OPT(font) "{Liberation Mono} 10"
set ::tkcon::OPT(rows) 40
set ::tkcon::OPT(cols) 80
======
[adrian]: tkcon version 2.6 on OSX has a bug that prevents accessing the command history via the arrow up key. Emiliano pointed out that the newer version of tkcon http://tkcon.cvs.sourceforge.net/tkcon/tkcon/tkcon.tcl?rev=HEAD%|%here%|% fixes this issue.
** Open Questions **
[NC]: Is it possible to use tkcon as the default wish console?
----
[JH]: '''Debugging with tkcon'''
I was asked:
* [[could someone discuss how to debug with tkcon: explain idebug [http://tkcon.sourceforge.net/docs/idebug.html], observe [http://tkcon.sourceforge.net/docs/observe.html], "hot errors", and state introspection.]]
''idebug'' is a very simple "debugger" that is really more of an interactive
introspection tool. You have to actively add the ''idebug break'' lines into
your code. You can turn off idebug triggers globally (or by id). You can also
add ''idebug trace'' calls which just show the call stack anytime they are hit.
''idebug'' was inspired by an earlier work done by Stephen Uhler (one of the
former Tcl Sunlabs folks).
When you stop at an idebug breakpoint, you can introspect or eval any code you
want. There are shortcuts for most introspection, just type '?' to see them.
''observe'' is just a wrapper around [trace] that allows you to watch variable
modifications or command invocations easily in tkcon.
''hot errors'' is the facility in tkcon that makes any error thrown to the
toplevel tkcon command line a link. Clicking on the link will pop up the full
error (with [errorInfo]) and, where possible, highlight procs. Green
highlighted procs will pop up an edit window with that proc information, while
blue highlighted procs will do the same, but highlight the error information it
received from the stack trace. In this way, errors in your code that reach the
global level become much easier to debug. Try this example in tkcon:
======
% proc foo {args} { set a b $args }
% proc bar {} { foo a b c }
% bar
wrong # args: should be "set varName ?newValue?"
======
and click on the error. Simply by running in tkcon you can do all sorts of
introspection and state modification. It has many other features, but now my
fingers are tired ...
[KPV]: The way I do the bulk of my debugging with tkcon is by simply pasting in
lines of code. I get to a quiescent state in the program, then ''walk'' the
code by copying lines of my tcl code from the editor and pasting them into the
console.
[LV]: most of my programs have much too much state, and interaction, for me to
imagine myself being very successful working that way.
[KPV]: Most of my programs proceed in two stages: start up stage and then an
event driven stage. To debug the first stage I just put in one or more
''return'' to get back to the console prompt, at which I can proceed as
described above. The second stage is even easier--you're already at the command
prompt.
[AMG]: See the [idebug] page for more on idebug.
----
[Victor Wagner] has expressed interest in running Tkcon on [MS-DOS].
[AMG]: First you must port [Tk] to MS-DOS, not to mention your selected version of Tcl. I have strong doubts that current Tcl will run on MS-DOS, but maybe you're fine with an older version.
----
[NEM]: A version of [RS]'s 'see' proc for viewing images inline in the
[console], adapted for TkCon:
======
proc see image {
set im [tkcon eval image create photo -file $image]
tkcon console image create end -image $im
tkcon console insert end \n
}
======
----
[RLH] 2011-09-21: Can tkcon take color values in hex besides the actual color
name?
[AMG]: I don't see why not. Just prefix the color value with #, as in `#aaa`
or `#ff0000`. See the
[http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl/TkLib/GetColor.htm%|%Tk_GetColor() documentation].
----
[milarepa] 2013-10-18 03:09:47:
How I can add command line history using the up and down keys? For tclsh there
are a few readline libraries that can achieve this, but nothing for Tkcon.
[IDG]: If you are using tcl 8.6, get a more current version of Tkcon. History
recall was always part of tkcon, but was broken by changes to [text] in 8.6,
and subsequently repaired.
----
[kap]: A minimalist, easy on the eyes, .tkconrc / tkcon.cfg dark theme.
======
# Disable menu and statusbar
set ::tkcon::OPT(showmenu) 0
set ::tkcon::OPT(showstatusbar) 0
# Configure font and colors
set ::tkcon::OPT(font) {Consolas 10}
set ::tkcon::COLOR(bg) gray10
set ::tkcon::COLOR(cursor) ivory
set ::tkcon::COLOR(stdin) ivory
set ::tkcon::COLOR(proc) deepskyblue
set ::tkcon::COLOR(prompt) green3
set ::tkcon::COLOR(stdout) ivory
set ::tkcon::COLOR(var) darkred
set ::tkcon::COLOR(blink) goldenrod4
set ::tkcon::COLOR(stderr) red
======
----
[AMG]: Is there any way to embed Tkcon into an existing [toplevel] window alongside other widgets? I'd like to use it in place of a [[[text]]] widget whose purpose is to collect logs ([[[puts]]] would work well for that) and provide interactive debugging and development. The [[tkcon show -root .whatever]] option only succeeds in specifying the name of the toplevel created by Tkcon.
** Unofficial Bug Fixes for Tkcon v2.5 on Tcl/Tk 8.6.x **
The latest version of Tkcon on SourceForge is v2.5 (CVS v1.102 2008/02/07 21:02:53). '''Cripes!''' OK, well "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Oh wait, it '''is''' broke! Let's fix it!
Just downloading and using this version has several bugs (Verified on Windows 10 with Magicsplat 8.6 and Debian 9 Tcl/Tk 8.6):
* Hot Errors trigger an error "unknown option "-under""
[DPG]: This is a super-easy fix of just changing all references of -under to -underline
* Up and Down keys do not trigger <<TkCon_Previous>> and <<TkCon_Next>> when on the prompt line
[DPG]: the built-in virtual events <<NextLine>> and <<PrevLine>> mess up the bindings on the custom virtual events <<TkCon_Previous>> and <<TkCon_Next>>
To fix it, I added the following lines right after the virtual event binding sections (file line 5064)
bind TkConsole <<NextLine>> {}
bind TkConsole <<PrevLine>> {}
* Help > Retrieve Latest Version doesn't work anymore (and can destroy your tkcon.tcl file if you click through the warnings!)
[DPG]: SourceForge has is moving away from CVS (https://sourceforge.net/blog/decommissioning-cvs-for-commits/).
It appears that HTTP access for CVS is gone, which means that the Tkcon method of updating won't work properly with SourceForge. Time to update to another VCS or change hosting.
* The archive has a README.txt and a release.txt which are almost identical.
[DPG]: I removed release.txt in my personal repo and updated the README.txt to say "Tested through Tcl/Tk 8.6"
I'd be happy to patch the official sources if I had access.
[DPG] Turns out, there is a repo with the above fixes (except for CVS checkout on SourceForge): https://github.com/wjoye/tkcon
----
[AMG]: There are a couple places in Tkcon that run [info procs] inside [namespace eval] to query the existence of [proc]s inside a namespace. However, this fails when the namespace being queried itself contains a command named [[info]], for example ::tcl::dict. The solution is to instead run [[::info procs]], i.e. to use an explicit namespace qualifier on [[info]].
======
% what ::tcl::dict::set
wrong # args: should be "info dictionary"
while executing
"info procs set"
(in namespace eval "::tcl::dict" script line 1)
invoked from within
"namespace eval [namespace qualifier $str] info procs [namespace tail $str]"
(procedure "what" line 9)
invoked from within
"what ::tcl::dict::set"
("uplevel" body line 1)
invoked from within
"uplevel #0 {what ::tcl::dict::set}"
======
----
[JHJL]: 2019/12/02 On Mac OS X High Sierra, in TkCon 2.7, pressing Home or Control-a is positioning the curser at the start of the prompt rather than the after it. This seems to be due to a <<LineStart>> binding inherited from the underlying Text widget. As a workaround I have added the following which fixes this issue for me:
''In tkcon.tcl at line 5106, insert''
======
if {$PRIV(AQUA)} {
bind TkConsole <<LineStart>> {tk::TextSetCursor %W limit}
}
======[JHJL2]: 2022/04/02 I now fix the above problem by putting the code in my ~/.tkconrc file
----
'''[aplsimple] - 2024-01-11 06:24:43'''
As Ian noted in https://groups.google.com/g/comp.lang.tcl/c/uRqi9275xI4/m/hWGFckacAAAJ
* [tkcon] defines its own version of [lremove], which has completely different behaviour from the version defined by tcl9.0. This can produce surprising results for [tkcon] users.
* I have made a compatible version of [tkcon] by changing all instances of [lremove] in its source code to ''Lremove'', so the tcl9 version of [lremove] does not get overwritten.
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