Purpose: to cover the use of Tcl under the variations of [Microsoft Windows] that continues to grow at an alarming rate. ---- [Iain B. Findleton] recently wrote an article on comp.lang.tcl about his experiences with Tcl on Windows. Read more at [http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=&num=100&as_scoring=d&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_ugroup=&as_usubject=&as_uauthors=&as_umsgid=3C540DCE.F4A6FF2A@videotron.ca&lr=&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=&as_mind=12&as_minm=5&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=29&as_maxm=1&as_maxy=2002] ---- See also [How to compile Tcl and related C extensions on Windows]. ---- See the latest FAQ [http://www.pconline.com/~erc/tclwin.htm] for information being maintained by the comp.lang.tcl Windows and Tcl FAQ maintainer. Note that this version is different than the one posted to comp.lang.tcl - there has been some problems trying to get the autoposting software version updated :-( ... See [Microsoft Windows and Tk] for information about the graphical extension and Windows. Also, the [Tcl Developer Xchange] hosts a surprisingly (well, it surprises [CL]) active Web forum on Win* issues [http://resource.tcl.tk/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic_id=31&topic=wintcl%20%2d%20Windows%20issues%20and%20extensions] Other info will be added as people encounter it. For instance, Tcl runs on Windows 95/98/Windows NT, Windows 2000, and soon [Windows/CE]. ---- ''It's been said at '''c.l.t.''' that Windows 95 is no longer supported and support to Windows 98 is expected to be dropped very soon.'' ---- A frequent problem in DOS/Windows vs. C/Tcl is the use of backslashes as path separators. Tcl parses c:\test to have a Tab (\t) as third character, with "est" following that. Since strings may get parsed several times, the safest is to use slashes internally. You can get that canonical form from a backslashed pathname with set canonicalpathname [file join $backslashedpathname] Going back to backslashes may be necessary for [exec]: set backslashedpathname [file nativename $canonicalpathname];#RS ---- How can one tell whether a given application is already running under Windows (e.g. is 'internet explorer' already running?), if it is running, how can one simply switch to it (without opening a new browser window or anything)? ---- On Windows I have a third party application (the dvi previewer Yap.exe) which can tell another application to go to a particular file and source line. Unfortunately it can't use dde (at least not directly) but can only execute a command line, so it wants to do something like this (it lets you design the command line): app.exe open %f -line %l where '%f' will be substitued by the file, and %l by the line. Now, I have a Tcl/Tk application already running, which wants that information. How can I get it to my application in the easiest way?? [RS] In [Inventory of IPC methods], I have sketched a proc '''fsignal''' which uses a file in a well-known directory. You could write a little script that calls fsignal send Open [list $filename $lineno] and your "receiving app" could, when idle, call foreach {filename lineno} [fsignal wait Open] break ---- A recent question and answer from comp.lang.tcl asks: ''What options are available for printing from a TCL (not TK) script running under Windows (NT/9x/2000)?'' (See also [Printing a canvas under Windows].) One way is to just open and write directly to a device like LPT1. set pr [open lpt1 w] If the printer isn't attached to the local PC, you will need to capture the device to the network queue. One way to do this is with a command-line like: net use lpt1 \\server\printer /persistent:yes ---- A topic that's sure to come up more and more often is "[What WinForms has to do with Tcl]". ---- A frequent, sometimes implicit, topic is "[How Tcl accesses the Win32 API]". Also important for getting the right Windows feel is to "[Register file types under Windows]". ---- See also: * http://mini.net/tcl/8879 (since I cannot get the wiki to do the title right) * [Building Tcl DLL's for Windows] * [Combining GUI applications developed with Tk and 'native' Windows toolkits] * [Embedding Windows applications in Tk frames] * [Expect for Windows] * [Generating PDF on Windows] * [How to ensure my Windows or MacOS Tk process has a console] * [Integrating Tcl and Emacs on Windows] * [Playing with Windows file associations] * [Reading version information from Win32 executables] * [Robust environment variables on Windows] * [SDX under Windows] * [serial ports on Windows] * [Services under Microsoft Windows NT], * [Symbolic links in Windows/CE] * [Techniques for 'driving' Windows applications] * [Tk widgets look fine under Windows] * [TWAPI] - Tcl Windows API extension * [Using Kill on Windows 98] * [Using Windows Controls in Tk Windows] * [What WinForms has to do with Tcl] * [Wikit Command Line for Windows95] * [win32] * [wince] * [winChooseDirectory] * [Windows file finder] * [Windows Helper Utilities] * [Windows Registry Browser] * [Windows shell links] * [Windows Speed Cleaning] * [Windows wish console] * [Windows: getting desktop properties] * [winico] * [wintclsend] * [winutils] * [winutil] * [WippleWobble - A Mini Web Browser (for Windows)] ---- '''Display control panel''': ''[Bob Techentin] wrote in [the comp.lang.tcl newsgroup]:'' According to knowledge base article "Q192806 How to Run Control Panel Tools by Typing a Command", just type "control desk.cpl" at a command prompt. You find that article at http://msdn.microsoft.com as well, if you get to the knowledge base and search for either the title or the article number. If you want to do this from C, you can look at Q232536. Works fine from ''[exec] control desk.cpl'' too, but returns an error code, so you might want to catch it. ---- [Category Windows] | [Windows specific Tcl commands] - [Arts and crafts of Tcl-Tk programming]