This page is NOT the newsgroup, you can NOT ask questions on the newsgroup by editing this page!
This page was originally called comp.lang.tcl, but at one time, pages on the wiki whose titles ended in .tcl caused formatting to be turned off. That's why I moved it to this slightly more verbose name -- RS LV: Note the above problem is no longer true for this wiki.
news:comp.lang.tcl (c.l.t) and its moderated counterpart news:comp.lang.tcl.announce (c.l.t.a) were two of the Usenet group options which are extremely useful and the richest communication channel available for Tclers. Due to much traffic, it overwhelms me sometimes, and I need long linking (???) sessions to keep up with what all the guys wrote.
See http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/about and http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl.announce/about
for a summary of statistics, recent topics, top posters, etc.
[Alas, the moderator of comp.lang.tcl.announce appears to have disappeared over the past few years, and attempts, to date, to get someone to take over that task have failed.]
Whenever I find text or code examples worth keeping for posterity, I try to bring it to this Wiki. Feel free to contribute in a similar fashion!
Bryan Oakley wrote on c.l.t, 28Nov2001: This group is more like a school playground where the place is filled with kids who see gems when other people only see rocks, and everyone shares in the magic of a found treasure even if it's really just something a grown-up threw away. And when they find something that truly is junk it is just thrown away with a laugh, and a race to find the next cool thing :-)
Tom Poindexter writes on clt about some of its history [L1 ]
LV: I will add one - here's the first appearance of the Tcl source code on usenet! [L2 ]
Could someone point to resources on how to find NNTP servers, clients, etc.? Is there a resource either here on the Wikit or elsewhere that would be useful?
A look at http://www.lucidway.org/tclwiki/keyword.html shows Simple News Posting Program. Also, try http://www.purl.org/mini/tcl/2?nntp*
Here you can find a [L3 ] list of free NNTP servers. Lars H: When I try entering "comp.lang.tcl" in that webpage, a little (about the size of a stamp) popup appears, and then disappears again after less than a second. There is no content in it, that I can see. Is this how that web page is supposed to work?
Someone commented: It is a matter of good manners to either check first with the original author or at least let them know afterwards. Some people prefer anonimity ... RS: Posting to Usenet is like "going public" - Google doesn't ask you either whether you want your posting archived...
Ah, but Google allows one to add a header that says "Do not archive this posting".
The bottom line is that while there is no requirement to check with the author, it is good manners. And one seldom goes wrong with observing good manners. RS: OK, point taken.
DejaNews as a WWW site that provided web access to usenet newsgroups; it used to have comp.lang.tcl as the URL http://www.deja.com/group/comp.lang.tcl - but Google came along, bought the database, and now has that information up at: http://groups.google.com/ . One has access to a large number of years - maybe all years! - of comp.lang.tcl* archives by using the advanced searching function of google. It appears to LV that, during November 2001, the lag time between posting and articles appearing on google, is about 6-8 hours.
Google now supports posting to clt.
http://groups.google.com/googlegroups/posting_announce.html
See also: http://www.mailgate.org/comp/comp.lang.tcl/index.html (content 2006-06-30 is from September 2004) or http://news.interbulletin.com/
The tclNNTPD server at mirror.utcorp.net provides free access to clt; you can use any newsreader - e.g. Netscape Communicator's. Notice that this also allows for posting, so that those without general Usenet access still can participate fully in c.l.t. [2007 Jan 12 - This site no longer appears to be available.]
Another free alternative to reading and posting on c.l.t. is http://mailandnews.com/ (dead link 2006-06-30) (and http://news.banctec.com/comp/thread.php?group=comp.lang.tcl ? Content shown now (June 2006) is from March 2004. Probably not on the usenet anymore. ).
Anyone want to provide some nntp sites for 2007?
Note that as usenet posters contribute to the newsgroup, they get a pointer in email to the Dirty Dozen tcl urls. This includes a pointer to this web site as well as to http://www.purl.org/NET/Tcl-FAQ/ , the WWW launch page for this newsgroup.
LV: Musings on USENET
Often people wonder what is okay to post to the newsgroups above. This is a wonderful thing to wonder - I wish the spammers would worry about such a thing... If the posting is source code, there are several options. You could just send along a URL to an ftp or WWW page at your own site. If you don't have such a resource, you could make use of ftp://ftp.procplace.com/pub/tcl/ , which provides ftp and http space for Tcl source. Other options include the various free web space sites on the WWW, or one of the several free 'internet disk space' web sites. There is even disk space available from some of the free mailing list management web sites - you could upload the latest version AND provide an application-specific mailing list at the same time! Finally, there is the option of asking on comp.lang.tcl for some space if all of the above fail for some reason. However, relatively small (in my mind, less than 50k qualifies here) pieces of code could be posted to the newsgroup. Bigger than that and readers may run into posting size limits somewhere along the path. Certainly one should not post binaries to the newsgroup - unless of course it is an encoding of a compressed archive of source code <smile>. Binaries are best served up via one of the previously mentioned internet resources - or even just by having people send you email.
If the posting is in regards to mentioning a new application, or a new release of an application, those are very much in order. In fact, that's the primary purpose for news:comp.lang.tcl.announce . However, there has, at times, been delays in postings to that newsgroup appearing. If you don't see your announcement after a day or two (and you can check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcl_announce/ to see if the announcement has really gone out), then go ahead and post to comp.lang.tcl - many people in fact cross-post to both groups - just in case some people don't get one or only want to watch the other... One thing that you are encouraged to consider is to not post lots of references/updates/etc. on a daily (or even weekly) basis, as that will tend to annoy people. Another thing that seems to annoy people is the mentioning of one or a few specific solutions in almost every posting. However, a bit of forethought will usually lead one to be considerate of others.
If the posting is in regards to a job opening at your company, there is a mixed view of the appropriateness of this. Some people are annoyed at seeing postings of job openings at all. Others find them interesting - while still others find them invaluable. I myself recommend not posting job openings to the announce newsgroup. However, I myself do not see anything wrong with an occasional (i.e. not more than once every couple of months) posting looking for employees who specifically have Tcl experience.
One of the cardinal rules, though, of newsgroups is relevancy. If your posting - whatever the topic - is not relevant to Tcl and/or one of its extensions or applications, then it probably belongs elsewhere.
Recently, Cameron Laird wrote regarding a wish for usenet posters:
".... One of the most important things for junior programmers to learn is that top coders know how to test and automate, and expect to do both these things at all opportunities. I'm inclined to take Donal at his word, and believe that he makes no fewer errors than others, and quite possibly more. However, he's quite good at verifying his own work.
If we could somehow teach a fraction of that to incoming Usenet posters ... well, the world would be a different place."
Larry Virden recently wrote in a newsgroup for some other language:
According to Martien Verbruggen <[email protected]>: :On Thu, 04 Jan 2001 01:29:53 GMT, : John Hall <[email protected]> wrote: :> I see a lot of "you work stupid" and "RTFM" on this list. : :Mostly when it is deserved.
Treating someone poorly, regardless of their inappropriate behavior, seldom converts them to one's point of view. It creates barriers, and in all likelihood burns bridges which, one day, one may regret having burned (imagine if you will finding yourself across the hiring desk from someone that you might have treated that way...)
See also Effective ways to request help with Tcl-related problems.
[This page also needs pointers to standard Usenet introductions. Do that someday ...]
Basics of Usenet: [L4 ]
Usenet Glossary: [L5 ]
Posting Style Guide: [L6 ]
LV I've been spectacularly unsuccessful in contacting the moderator of comp.lang.tcl.announce - if anyone else has more success than I, please let me know.
There have also been noteworthy off-topic postings to c.l.t.
See also How to read answers posted on the comp.lang.tcl newsgroup and Effective ways to request help with Tcl-related problems.
I am trying to launch a .exe file from a tcl gui on a windows xp machine. The application succesfully launches but I get a no response error at the top of the tcl gui. I would like this application to run in the background to the tcl gui. The command I am using is exec abc.exe. Is this a bug in tcl?
it is a bug in your code. Read the man page for exec and look for 'background'. Short version: add & to the end of your exec statement to run the program in the background. Other options include running the program via a pipe, through blt's bgexec command, and others.
Why did you ask this question here? You'll get *much* better response if you write to the actual comp.lang.tcl newsgroup. I'll be removing your question in a day or so since it really is off topic for this page.
Thank you your suggestion adding & at the end no longer hangs the gui, I originally posed this question to the people at activestate and they suggested this web page.
aa suspects that they meant for you ask on the actual comp.lang.tcl newsgroup, not on the Wiki page which describes it.
MG The best place to ask a question on the Wiki is the Ask, and it shall be given # 8 page, which many people regularly read to help others. :)
Pooja - 2009-10-23 11:40:04
File handling
Hi All, I need to develop a tk gui in which user will browse for a .tcl file(with some data) and it will save few data out of that to a .txt file. please help how to do this. I am new to tcl tk...
many thanks...
Martyn Smith - 2010-6-29 Is any one else having problems on the google groups access to comp.lang.tcl ? I submitted a post on monday and it has stoppped updating since ?
arjen Yes, it seems the updating has simply stopped. I have seen it in another newsgroup as well. Very annoying! Google groups was becoming less and less useful due to the spam they let through, but now it is almost completely useless (except as an archive).
arjen (30 june 2011) It seems to be back. Let's hope it stays that way.