Using Xlib With Tcl/Tk

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'''WORK IN PROGRESS (for the next day or two (cleaning up old code and redocumenting how to do this)'''
By [George Peter Staplin]


This tutorial demonstrates how to use Xlib with Tcl/Tk. In the example provided, Xlib is used to draw two boxes in a Tk window. A working C program is provided that should compile in OpenBSD, Linux, and other Unix-like systems.  Most Tcl/Tk C programming examples provide information about writing a complete widget.  This tutorial is designed in mind for using Tcl/Tk as a C library. 

It is assumed that the reader knows the basics of C, Xlib, Tk, and compiling programs. 

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060530120630/www.xmission.com/~georgeps/documentation/examples/Xlib_TclTk/Xlib_TclTk-2.tar.gz]

----
Xlib_TclTk.c:======
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <tcl.h>
 #include <tk.h>
 
 GC green_gc;
 GC red_gc;
 
 int create_colors (Tcl_Interp *interp) {
  XColor *col;
  Tk_Window tkwin;
 
  tkwin = Tk_MainWindow (interp);
  Tk_MakeWindowExist (tkwin);
 
  col = Tk_GetColor (interp, tkwin, "green");
  if (NULL == col)
   return TCL_ERROR;
 
  green_gc = Tk_GCForColor (col, Tk_WindowId (tkwin)); 
  col = Tk_GetColor (interp, tkwin, "red");
  if (NULL == col)
   return TCL_ERROR;
 
  red_gc = Tk_GCForColor (col, Tk_WindowId (tkwin));
 
  return TCL_OK;
 }
 
 int draw_pattern_cmd (
  ClientData clientData, Tcl_Interp *interp, int objc, Tcl_Obj *CONST objv[]
 ) {
  Display *dis;
  Tk_Window tkwin;
  int i;
 
  if (2 != objc) {
   Tcl_WrongNumArgs (interp, 1, objv, "window-path");
   return TCL_ERROR;
  }
 
  tkwin = Tk_NameToWindow (interp, Tcl_GetString (objv[1]), Tk_MainWindow (interp));
  if (NULL == tkwin)
   return TCL_ERROR;
 
  Tk_MakeWindowExist (tkwin);
  dis = Tk_Display (tkwin);
 
  XClearWindow (dis, Tk_WindowId (tkwin));
 
  for (i = 0; i < 150; (i += 3)) {
   XFillRectangle (dis, Tk_WindowId (tkwin), green_gc, 1, 1, i, i);
   XFlush (dis);
   usleep (1);
  }
 
  for (i = 0; i < 150; (i += 3)) {
   XFillRectangle (dis, Tk_WindowId (tkwin), red_gc, 150, 150, i, i);
   XFlush (dis);
   usleep (1);
  }
 
  return TCL_OK;
 }
 
 int create_window_cmd (
  ClientData clientData, Tcl_Interp *interp, int objc, Tcl_Obj *CONST objv[]
 ) {
  Tcl_Obj *r;
  Tk_Window tkwin;
  
  if (2 != objc) {
   Tcl_WrongNumArgs (interp, 1, objv, "window-path");
   return TCL_ERROR;
  }
  tkwin = Tk_CreateWindowFromPath (
   interp, Tk_MainWindow (interp), Tcl_GetString (objv[1]), NULL);
 
  r = Tcl_DuplicateObj (objv[1]);
  Tcl_SetObjResult (interp, r);
  return TCL_OK;
 }
 
 int app_init (Tcl_Interp *interp) {
  Tk_Window tkwin;
 
  if (TCL_OK != Tcl_Init (interp)) {
   fprintf (stderr, "Tcl_Init error: %s\n", Tcl_GetStringResult (interp));
   exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
  }
 
  if (TCL_OK != Tk_Init (interp)) {
   fprintf (stderr, "Tk_Init error: %s\n", Tcl_GetStringResult (interp));
   exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
  }
 
  Tcl_CreateObjCommand (interp, "create_window", create_window_cmd,
   (ClientData) NULL, (Tcl_CmdDeleteProc *) NULL);
 
  Tcl_CreateObjCommand (interp, "draw_pattern", draw_pattern_cmd, 
   (ClientData) NULL, (Tcl_CmdDeleteProc *) NULL);
 
  if (TCL_OK != create_colors (interp))
   return TCL_ERROR;
 
  Tcl_EvalFile (interp, "script.tcl");
 
  Tk_MainLoop ();
 
  return TCL_OK;
 } 
  
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
  Tk_Main(argc, argv, app_init);
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }======
----
script.tcl:======
 pack [create_window .w] -fill both -expand 1
 pack [button .b -text Draw -command {draw_pattern .w}]
 wm geometry . 400x400======
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See also: [Drawing Into Foreign Windows].  Also, [BLT] has a "container" widget,
about which [George Howlett] has written [http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&frame=right&th=550fbc8088915ab7].