Version 24 of Package Repository Client

Updated 2017-10-03 20:05:28 by mistachkin

The Package Repository Client , which is currently part of the Eagle project, allows users to obtain packages for both Tcl and Eagle.

It is implemented as a set of Tcl scripts, all of which support being evaluated in a native Tcl or Eagle interpreter. It uses HTTPS to communicate with the Package Repository Server and the Package Downloads Server, which are just customized instances of Fossil.

All trunk check-ins on the Package Repository Server are OpenPGP signed. All files managed by the Package Repository Server are OpenPGP signed.

The Package Repository Client verifies the OpenPGP signatures on all downloaded files.

For each file that belongs to an Eagle package (e.g. script files), a Harpy script certificate file is also present.

This project is sponsored by Eyrie Solutions.

Also see


In order to use the Package Repository Client, the following prerequisites must be met:

  1. The tls package available for use by the local Tcl installation; the IronTcl distribution already includes it.
  2. An implementation of the OpenPGP standard that includes appropriate command-line tools (e.g. GPG ).
  3. The Package Client Toolset , added to the auto_path of the local Tcl installation.
  4. The Package Signing Key (dated "2003-06-09", with fingerprint C3C7 5138 83EE DD3A ED1F E425 502C 96AF 495D C2D9 ) on your local OpenPGP key ring.

Currently, Package Repository Client is in the beta testing phase.

There are an extremely limited set of packages available and all access is controlled via API keys.

To request access in order to add the packages that you maintain, please contact Joe Mistachkin. Please include your public OpenPGP key so that it can be added to the appropriate key ring(s).

For those simply wanting to examine the client code, which is Tcl licensed, it can be found here .


Important Notes

  1. The Fossil executable must reside along the PATH.
  2. The GPG executable ("gpg2") must reside along the PATH.
  3. When using Eagle, the Harpy packages and their associated license certificates must be available.

How to use with Eagle Beta 40 or later:

  # NOTE: First, enable use of the [package unknown] handler...
  set iflags [object invoke -flags +NonPublic Interpreter.GetActive InterpreterFlags]
  object invoke -flags +NonPublic Interpreter.GetActive InterpreterFlags "$iflags -NoPackageUnknown"

  # NOTE: When troubleshooting, use the following commands before
  #       loading the Package Client Toolset...
  namespace eval ::PackageRepository {variable verboseUnknownResult true; variable verboseUriDownload true}

  # NOTE: Download and load the Package Client Toolset...
  lappend auto_path [downloadAndExtractPackageClientToolset]
  package require Eagle.Package.Repository

  # NOTE: Test that the Package Client Toolset is working...
  package require ZZZ.Test; # NOTE: Should (eventually) result in "0.0"

How to use with IronTcl:

  1. Download the Package Client Toolset from here .
  2. Extract the resulting ZIP file to a local directory.
  3. Add the local directory from the previous step joined with "client/1.0/neutral" to the auto_path.
  4. Evaluate the following commands:
  # NOTE: When troubleshooting, use the following commands before
  #       loading the Package Client Toolset...
  namespace eval ::PackageRepository {variable verboseUnknownResult true; variable verboseUriDownload true}

  # NOTE: Load the Package Client Toolset...
  package require Eagle.Package.Repository

  # NOTE: Test that the Package Client Toolset is working...
  package require ping; # NOTE: Should (eventually) result in "0.0"

Other distributions of Tcl/Tk can also be used; however, they will need to have the http and tls packages already available as HTTPS is a hard-and-fast requirement.