Purpose: discuss this Microsoft Windows development environment's pros and cons

----

    * What is Cygwin?

Cygwin is a free software package that provides a Unix-like
environment on a Windows system.  It works with Windows 95, 98,
NT, 2000, and possibly others.  (See the web site.)

Cygwin consists of an emulation library and a collection of Unix
(and GNU) programs ported to that library, including bash, gcc,
and Tcl/Tk.  The Unix tools can be used from the bash shell or
from the usual Windows command shell, a.k.a. DOS prompt.

A version of the XFree86 server for X Windows, with X Windows
tools, has been ported to Cygwin.  It is distributed separately.

Cygwin is free.

    * Where can I learn more?

      http://www.cygwin.com/

    * Does it include Tcl and Tk?

Yes, but the version included is ported to the Cygwin environment
and differs from the official Tcl/Tk code available from
http://www.tcl.tk/ . The Cygwin version presumably lags the
official releases.  However, check out
ftp://ftp.nanotech.wisc.edu/pub/khan/tcl/tcltk-8.3.4-cygwin/README
which describes a version of Tcl/Tk 8.3.4 and various extensions, ported to Cygwin.

On the other hand, you have the opportunity to extend wish or
tclsh with your own functionality by linking the cygwin tcl and
tk libraries with your C-functions, possibly by using swig at 
http://www.swig.org/ .

    * Why are there such problems using [TEA] under Cygwin?

''Can anyone answer this?''  

I believe the problems are threefold: (1) 
historically cygwin was rather complex to install and setup for basic
use (this is no longer true, I think), (2) [TEA] itself requires the 
installation of extra unixxy packages on top of cygwin (autoconf, for
example), and its entire operation is based around lots of implicit 
knowledge of unix.  When running on Windows, things which 'should
work' (in the mind of the user) don't, and since it is a bunch of
unixxy stuff (as opposed to pure Tcl) the user hasn't the faintest
idea how to fix what went wrong (and nor should they have to!) --
these problems range from the 'wrong' use of backslashes vs not,
wrong handling of paths which contain spaces, directories requiring
to have (or not) a trailing forward slash, etc, etc (i.e. lots and
lots of fragility which the poor Windows user has been forced to
inherit), (3)
[TEA] itself is full of bugs, on unix as well as windows (it could be 
true that Jeff finally fixed most/all of these bugs in early 2002 for
the sampleextension,
but that was a bit too late for most people, and obviously doesn't
help with any extension which tried to copy the sampleextension
before).

    * What compiler should I use with cygwin?

To build Cygwin executables, use the gcc included in the cygwin
package.  This applies as well when building the cygwin version
of Tcl/Tk.

To build normal Windows executables, use the Cygwin gcc with
Mingw http://www.mingw.org/ , a version of which is included
with cygwin.  This configuration can be used to compile the
standard Tcl/Tk distribution into a standard Windows executable.
See win/README in the Tcl/Tk distribution for details.

    * Are there any special add-on packages that would be useful when developing with Cygwin?

''Can anyone answer this?''

[TV] you may want to type

   startx

assuming you clicked XFree86 in the 'setup' installer.

That gives you X windows emulation on ms windows, that is a big window which has contents just like on an X server/client setup, like on linux. In fact it easily cooperates with linux, by changing the DISPLAY variable to some other machine running either the same or linux (with gui) or Unix, and setting xhost +your.machine on the other machine, and running a shell on you machine, it appear on the other. Maybe worth a seperate page, but I guess many will know. The reverse is also fine, the main screen can be refered to as :0, so 

   export DISPLAY=some.machine:0

Note that bash requires the use of export to set shell variables, 'set' results gets lost.

in any terminal window on the X screen you can type

   xterm &

to get more terminals, when the rubber lining appears click somewhere to place the window. To get a nicer window manager, use ps to find the PID (process ID) of 'twm' the standard window manager, kill it with

   kill <PID>\

and type 

   wmaker &

in some terminal's  shell. Now openstep will start, which looks pretty cool and works comfortable.

Text editors supplied are emacs (me) and vi, and maybe more. DIR becomes ls, more and pipes  | are available. Find works like:

   find -name '*somename*' /cygdrive/c/cygwin/... -print

Bat files become .sh script files, slashes go the other way around as in windows (/).

The most important command is probably 'man' which stands for manual.

   man man

wil give you the manual page for the man command. man gcc can also be usefull, but lengthy.

   wish

will give you the builtin (fairly recent but usually not completely the same as standard) tcl/tk. Add an ampersand to start it in the background, so your shell can continue.

For the advanced:

   gdb

or as of recently

   insight

is a powerful graphical C debugger, with interface based on tcl/tk (hardcoded, but fast).

----
[[Is [Joe English] the resident expert?]]

[[''Absolutely not.  I'm as confused by this stuff as everyone else.'' --[jenglish] ]].  But see [http://www.flightlab.com/~joe/tcl/tclpkg.html] for something I'm working on that may eventually help.

[[Mumit Khan]] appears to be the expert.
[http://www22.voip99.com ][http://a68.voip99.com 喷泉][http://a69.voip99.com 音乐喷泉][http://a70.voip99.com 门禁系统][http://a76.voip99.com 试验设备][http://a77.voip99.com 电机][http://a78.voip99.com 铝合金][http://a79.voip99.com 收银机][http://a86.voip99.com 反应器][http://a87.voip99.com 混合设备][http://a88.voip99.com ][http://w21.voip99.net 打包机][http://w22.voip99.net 痔疮][http://w23.voip99.net 发电机][http://w24.voip99.net 深圳装饰][http://w25.voip99.net ][http://c02.voip99.net 测试仪][http://c19.voip99.net 冶金设备][http://c20.voip99.net 铁合金][http://c21.voip99.net 高尔夫][http://c22.voip99.net 滑板车][http://c23.voip99.net 运动服][http://c24.voip99.net 滤清器][http://c25.voip99.net GPS系统][http://c103.voip99.net 热像仪][http://c104.voip99.net 塑料托盘][http://c112.voip99.net 燃气表][http://c113.voip99.net 液压升降机][http://b03.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c105.voip99.net 压铸][http://c106.voip99.net 喷灌][http://c107.voip99.net 输送带][http://c108.voip99.net ][http://b08.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c148.voip99.net 除尘器][http://c149.voip99.net 橱柜][http://a40.voip99.com 货架][http://a41.voip99.com ][http://b33.zhiliaotuofa.com 塑料][http://b34.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://kaoqinji.voip99.com 考勤机][http://c01.voip99.net 示波器][http://c02.voip99.net ][http://c97.voip99.net 会议系统][http://c98.voip99.net 球磨机][http://c99.voip99.net 手套箱][http://c100.voip99.net ][http://c79.voip99.net 工业炉][http://c80.voip99.net 生产线][http://c77.voip99.net ][http://a58.voip99.com mp3播放器][http://a59.voip99.com 点钞机][http://a60.voip99.com 耗材][http://a61.voip99.com 出国留学][http://a62.voip99.com 礼品][http://a63.voip99.com ][http://c150.voip99.net ][http://a19.voip99.com 注册广州公司][http://b50.zhiliaotuofa.com 吹膜机][http://b51.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://b54.zhiliaotuofa.com 首饰][http://b55.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://aaa08.zhiliaotuofa.com 吸塑制品][http://aaa09.zhiliaotuofa.com 伺服电机][http://b08.zhiliaotuofa.com 减速机][http://b09.zhiliaotuofa.com 节能][http://b10.zhiliaotuofa.com 二极管][http://b11.zhiliaotuofa.com 液晶屏][http://b12.zhiliaotuofa.com LCD][http://b13.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c64.voip99.net 电加热器][http://c65.voip99.net 电子秤][http://c66.voip99.net ][http://c151.voip99.net 五金机械][http://shuijing.zhiliaotuofa.com 水晶][http://rongzi.voip99.net 融资][http://chuli.zhiliaotuofa.com 污水处理][http://wuye.zhiliaotuofa.com 物业管理][http://aaa20.zhiliaotuofa.com 节能灯][http://aaa21.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c134.voip99.net 膜结构][http://c135.voip99.net 帐篷][http://c136.voip99.net 真空泵][http://c137.voip99.net ][http://b31.zhiliaotuofa.com 防静电][http://b32.zhiliaotuofa.com 防辐射][http://b39.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://b77.zhiliaotuofa.com 卫浴][http://a45.voip99.com 电源][http://a46.voip99.com 开关][http://a51.voip99.com 工程机械][http://a52.voip99.com 轴承][http://a53.voip99.com 齿轮][http://a54.voip99.com 化工原料][http://a55.voip99.com ][http://a01.voip99.com 制卡][http://a02.voip99.com ][http://b60.zhiliaotuofa.com 雕塑][http://b61.zhiliaotuofa.com 鲜花][http://b62.zhiliaotuofa.com 树脂工艺品][http://b63.zhiliaotuofa.com 电磁炉][http://b64.zhiliaotuofa.com 搅拌机][http://b65.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c07.voip99.net 电吹风][http://c08.voip99.net 干手机][http://c09.voip99.net 文具][http://c10.voip99.net 幻灯机][http://c11.voip99.net ][http://b92.zhiliaotuofa.com 展览器材][http://b93.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c63.voip99.net 管道][http://c73.voip99.net 植绒][http://c74.voip99.net 捏合机][http://c75.voip99.net 升降台][http://c100.voip99.net 证卡][http://c101.voip99.net 机床附件][http://c102.voip99.net 高压泵][http://c103.voip99.net ][http://b78.zhiliaotuofa.com 花洒][http://b79.zhiliaotuofa.com 台面][http://c129.voip99.net ][http://w32.voip99.net 网络电话][http://w44.voip99.net 脱发特效药][http://w45.voip99.net 生发产品脱发产品][http://www22.voip99.com 保险柜,保险箱][http://www26.voip99.com ][http://a20.voip99.com 律师事务所][http://a73.voip99.com 露点仪][http://a74.voip99.com 托盘][http://a75.voip99.com 栈板][http://a76.voip99.com ][http://b58.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c85.voip99.net 纸品][http://c86.voip99.net 冷弯型钢][http://c87.voip99.net ][http://c77.voip99.net ][http://c37.voip99.net ][http://c50.voip99.net 跑步机][http://c5.1voip99.net oa][http://c52.voip99.net 激光雕刻][http://c53.voip99.net ][http://c76.voip99.net ][http://a45.voip99.com ][http://c37.voip99.net 办公用品][http://c38.voip99.net 保温材料][http://c40.voip99.net ][http://a03.voip99.com 讨债公司][http://a04.voip99.com 喷码机][http://a10.voip99.com 广州机票][http://aaa21.zhiliaotuofa.com 断路器][http://aaa22.zhiliaotuofa.com 电动机][http://aaa35.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://a16.voip99.com ][http://c114.voip99.net 工具柜][http://c115.voip99.net 焚烧炉][http://c116.voip99.net 电力设备][http://c117.voip99.net 计量泵][http://c123.voip99.net 石材][http://c124.voip99.net 食品机械][http://c125.voip99.net 切换器][http://c138.voip99.net 饮料机械][http://c139.voip99.net 分析仪器][http://c140.voip99.net 蝶阀][http://c141.voip99.net 保护膜][http://c142.voip99.net ][http://w48.voip99.net 头发移植][http://w52.voip99.net 高血压][http://w53.voip99.net 交换机][http://w59.voip99.net 化妆品][http://c40.voip99.net VOD][http://c41.voip99.net 服装][http://c42.voip99.net ][http://a47.voip99.com 电源开关][http://ww3.voip99.net 传感器][http://ww4.voip99.net ][http://jiudian.voip99.net 深圳酒店][http://www.shuangchuang.com/product/ip_super.htm 科迅公用电话通用计费系统][http://www.voip99.com/bbs/ ][http://w49.voip99.net 自体毛发移植][http://w50.voip99.net ][http://a100.voip99.com 铸件][http://b01.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://a24.voip99.com 隔热膜][http://a25.voip99.com ][http://a90.voip99.com 印刷设备][http://a91.voip99.com ][http://a09.voip99.com 北京机票][http://a10.voip99.com ][http://b58.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://a66.voip99.com ][http://w72.voip99.net 防盗门][http://w71.voip99.net 监控][http://w73.voip99.net 包装机][http://w74.voip99.net 电缆][http://www39.voip99.com 电路板][http://www40.voip99.com 干燥剂][http://aaa47.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c121.voip99.net 烘干机][http://c122.voip99.net ][http://aaa29.zhiliaotuofa.com 铝制品][http://aaa30.zhiliaotuofa.com 蓄电池][http://aaa31.zhiliaotuofa.com 锁具][http://aaa32.zhiliaotuofa.com 锂电池][http://aaa33.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://aaa13.zhiliaotuofa.com 活性炭][http://aaa18.zhiliaotuofa.com 连接器][http://ww2.voip99.net 对讲机][http://ww3.voip99.net ][http://c49.voip99.net 加湿器][http://www33.voip99.com 表面处理][http://www34.voip99.com 床上用品][http://www35.voip99.com ][http://w17.voip99.net LED][http://w18.voip99.net 酒店][http://w19.voip99.net 水表][http://w20.voip99.net 锅炉][http://b03.zhiliaotuofa.com 气动元件][http://b04.zhiliaotuofa.com 液压元件][http://b05.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c26.voip99.net 智能卡][http://c27.voip99.net ][http://www31.voip99.com 涂装][http://www32.voip99.com ][http://ww4.voip99.net 电子元器件][http://a98.voip99.com 服务器][http://a99.voip99.com 链条][http://c27.voip99.net 不干胶][http://c28.voip99.net 游艇][http://b76.zhiliaotuofa.com 水槽][http://b88.zhiliaotuofa.com 墨盒][http://b89.zhiliaotuofa.com 打印机][http://b90.zhiliaotuofa.com 摄像头][http://b91.zhiliaotuofa.com UPS][http://b96.zhiliaotuofa.com 翻译][http://b58.zhiliaotuofa.com 纪念品][http://b59.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://b28.zhiliaotuofa.com 光纤][http://b29.zhiliaotuofa.com 电线][http://b30.zhiliaotuofa.com 插座][http://c122.voip99.net 冷却塔][http://c123.voip99.net ][http://b83.zhiliaotuofa.com 窗帘][http://b84.zhiliaotuofa.com T恤][http://b85.zhiliaotuofa.com 衬衫][http://b86.zhiliaotuofa.com 唐装][http://b87.zhiliaotuofa.com 婚纱][http://b88.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c56.voip99.net 碎石机][http://c57.voip99.net 制砂机][http://c58.voip99.net ][http://b68.zhiliaotuofa.com 家具][http://b69.zhiliaotuofa.com 门][http://b70.zhiliaotuofa.com 地板][http://b71.zhiliaotuofa.com 窗帘][http://b72.zhiliaotuofa.com 铝型材][http://b73.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://c68.voip99.net 特许经营][http://c69.voip99.net ][http://b80.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://a25.voip99.com 机箱][http://a26.voip99.com erp][http://a27.voip99.com vpn][http://a42.voip99.com 单片机][http://a43.voip99.com 音响][http://a44.voip99.com 手袋][http://a55.voip99.com ][http://aaa05.zhiliaotuofa.com 针孔摄像机][http://aaa06.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://aaa28.zhiliaotuofa.com 磁性材料][http://aaa33.zhiliaotuofa.com 塑料玩具][http://aaa34.zhiliaotuofa.com 电动车][http://aaa35.zhiliaotuofa.com ][http://w37.voip99.net 网络电话][http://w38.voip99.net 治疗脱发][http://w43.voip99.net 脂溢性脱发][http://w44.voip99.net ][http://www29.voip99.com 照明][http://www30.voip99.com 制冷][http://a17.voip99.com ][http://a41.voip99.com 标签打印机][http://a42.voip99.com ][http://b26.zhiliaotuofa.com 电池]
----
[TV] Anyone try porting tcl/tk in some version to the FREEX server with cygwin?

''[escargo] 27 Aug 2003'' - What's FREEX?  Do you mean the XFree86 X server?

----
[['''Environment Quirks for ActiveState TCL and Cygwin''']]

When using a TCL interpreter which is started outside of the cygwin environment,
make sure to check your environment variables from within TCL if you are not getting the results that you expected.
I was having fits trying to get '''arch'''[http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gnu-arch/] command output into TCL.
The problem as it turned out was due to discrepancies between the environment variables.  Thus a simple ''set env(HOME) /path/to/home''
fixed my problems.  The moral of this story is: ''Before you pull your hair out because you aren't getting the ouput you expected, check your environment settings''.
A big thanks to the people on '''#tcl''' at irc.freenode.net for helping me out with this.

[LES] on April 11, 2004. I use Cygwin, but not the Cygwin Tcl. I prefer [ActiveTcl]. My $PATH has 21 paths, but when I use it from Cygwin/rxvt, I get 25 paths. Inspection revealed that Cygwin prepends 4 paths to one's $PATH, and if you already have them in your $PATH (say you want to call GNU programs from outside Cygwin), they will be repeated in the output: '''D:\cygwin\usr\local\bin;D:\cygwin\bin;D:\cygwin\bin;D:\cygwin\usr\X11R6\bin;''' . Note that '''D:\cygwin\bin''' appears twice, which leaves me with '''three''' occurrences of that path in my $PATH. Go figure.

----

'''See also'''
   * [Building Tcl and Tk with Cygwin]

   * [MinGW] gcc & binutils for MSYS
   * [MSYS] a fork of cygwin

----

[Category Porting]