Version 9 of Apr 22 Tcl Meetup notes

Updated 2022-04-12 06:39:55 by stevel

Tcl Meetup, 2022-04-12

Possible topics:

  • single file distributions "blessed" by the community (i.e. tclkits of some form for common platforms) - stevel
    • the goal is a downloads page with links for common platforms
      • make it easier for people to get the latest Tcl/Tk on common platforms
      • help get more people testing releases as we move towards 8.7/9.0 since they won't need to build Tcl/Tk themselves
    • single file executable to make it easier to try / remove
      • this doesn't preclude installers and platform specific app bundles
      • perhaps have a standard option that gets the single file distro to install itself in a platform standard way (allowing you to run as a single file to try, and install for better performance or less platform friction)
    • a lite version containing just Tcl/Tk and a batteries included version with common extensions
    • what technology for the VFS? zip / xvfs / SQLite / whatever?
      • keen for rkeene to comment on xvfs
      • rz has done a lot with zipkits on Tcl 8.7
      • what about drh's ideas on using SQLite
    • code signing for both Tcl/Tk and apps deployed using it
      • apn mentioned Authenticode on Windows
      • rz mentioned the Euro meeting mentioned the need to attach app code to a tclkit and sign it
    • need to consider dkf's work on continuous integration which builds tclkits
    • JCW has provided a pure Tcl metakit reader ReadKit which could be used to provide backwards compatibility with existing starkits that use Metakit

rz - 2022-04-12 05:50:04

State of the art for tcl/tk8.7a5 for me:

  • you can build zip based tclkits. Just compile with "--disable-shared". The resulting tclsh and wish are tclkits.
  • To add your own stuff, put it in a directory and use a file "main.tcl" as starting point.
  • Under windows use "zip -r -q <tclsh or wish> *"
  • Under Unix use "zip ../t.zip * ; cd ..; cat t.zip >> <tclsh or wish> ; zip -A <tclsh or wish>"