D. McC: For those who want super-simple hypertext help with extremely little overhead, here's something that will do the job. It requires:
<link "Run Programs:">Run Programs</link>
package require Tk
# Here's a proc to create the text box:
proc userhelp {} {
toplevel .uhelp
grid [text .uhelp.tx -width 65 -height 25 -bg white \
-yscrollcommand ".uhelp.roll set" \
-font "times 14" -wrap word -cursor top_left_arrow] \
-row 0 -column 0 -sticky news
grid [scrollbar .uhelp.roll -width 12 \
-command ".uhelp.tx yview"] -row 0 -column 1 -sticky news
grid [button .uhelp.close -text "Close" -borderwidth 6 \
-command {destroy .uhelp}] -row 1 -column 0 \
-columnspan 2 -sticky news
grid rowconfigure .uhelp 0 -weight 1
grid columnconfigure .uhelp 0 -weight 1
}
# Here's one to get the text widget to display links and let the user see
# the uniquely named sections when the links are clicked
# (anybody who can make this one even simpler than it is, please let me know):
proc getlinks {} {
# Find beginnings and ends of all links:
set linkstars [.uhelp.tx search -regexp -all \
-count cti "<link .+?>" 1.0 end]
set linkends [.uhelp.tx search -regexp -all "</link>" 1.0 end] ;# !!
# Fix the links up to work:
for {set i 0} {$i < [llength $linkstars]} {incr i} {
set star [lindex $linkstars $i] ; # Begin link-start tag
set starleng [lindex $cti $i] ; # Length of link-start tag
set starsplit [split $star "."]
set starline [lindex $starsplit 0] ; # Line number in text
set starchar [lindex $starsplit end] ; # Position in line
# End of link-start tag:
set starend $starline.[expr {$starchar + $starleng}]
# Content of link-start tag:
set linkstar [.uhelp.tx get $star $starend]
set linkname [string trim $linkstar "<>"] ; # Link name
# Tag to hide link tags:
.uhelp.tx tag configure hide -elide 1
.uhelp.tx tag add hide $star $starend
# Add tag for clickable link between link-start and link-end tags:
set finis [lindex $linkends $i]
.uhelp.tx tag add $linkname $starend $finis
# And one to hide the link-end tag:
.uhelp.tx tag add hide $finis "$finis +7c"
# Get clickable tag to look right and do things:
.uhelp.tx tag configure $linkname -foreground blue -underline 1
.uhelp.tx tag bind $linkname <ButtonRelease-1> {
# See where clicked link is:
set clickpos [.uhelp.tx index insert]
# Verify that it's really a link:
set tagnames [.uhelp.tx tag names $clickpos]
set tagplace [lsearch $tagnames "link *"]
if {$tagplace > -1} {
# If so, strip off everything but its name:
set tagname [lindex $tagnames $tagplace]
set tagend [lindex [.uhelp.tx tag range "$tagname"] end]
set searchname [string map "{link } {} {\"} {}" $tagname]
# And find where the name appears in the help-file text:
set target [.uhelp.tx search "$searchname" $tagend \
end]
if {$target ne ""} {
.uhelp.tx see $target
}
}
}
}
}
# And here's an example of a proc for getting an application to invoke the help system:
proc comhelp {} {
userhelp
wm title .uhelp "WISH Command Center - User Help"
set helpfile [open /home/david/9.com/wish/suite/comhelp_link.txt r]
set helpcontents [read $helpfile]
close $helpfile
.uhelp.tx insert 1.0 $helpcontents
getlinks
}
# Test:
comhelpHJG I get an error: 'bad switch "-all": must be -, -backward, -count, -elide, -exact, -forward, -nocase, or -regexp' in getlinks (the line marked with "!!"). Maybe requiring Tcl 8.4 is not specific enough ?
D. McC: Ugh! You're right. I just noticed that the "-all" flag for text-widget searches only came in with Tk 8.5. I've changed the statement of requirements at the top of this page. I do have some code for a loop that can substitute for the "-all" flag; I'll see about modifying it for use with this help system.