Dr. Dobb's Tcl-URL!

QOTW: "design without code is emptiness without Zen" - Donal K. Fellows
in a chat discussion on the fixability of [exec]

"It is so much better for the user to see [only] what is possible, rather
than being told of errors afterwards." - Donald Arseneau


POTW:
    ANNOUNCE:  InstallJammer Multiplatform Installer 1.0.3 Released!
    This release fixes some minor bugs that have been reported
    since the last release as well as adds some new File actions.
    What is it?
    InstallJammer is a multiplatform GUI installer and builder
    designed to be completely cross-platform and function on
    Windows and most all version of UNIX with eventual support
    for Mac OS X.
    Homepage: http://www.installjammer.com/
    Downloads: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=148203
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.java.announce/br...
	
    ANNOUNCE: Tcl Windows API extension 1.0 Beta
    Changes since V0.9 are primarily bug fixes and experimental COM client
    support. See http://twapi.sf.net/versionhistory.html for a complete
    list of changes.
    IMPORTANT: There is one major backward-incompatible change.
    The error class stored in errorCode when Windows encounters an error
    has changed. In V0.9 and before, the error class was WINDOWS. To
    prevent clashes with other extensions, the error class now used is
    TWAPI_WIN32. Code that traps errors using pattern matching in try or
    otherwise parses errorCode will need to be modified accordingly
	homepage: http://twapi.sourceforge.net/
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

    TileQt fixes in SF CVS...
    George Petasis would like to make it known 
    that important fixes have been made at the head
    of TileQt cvs.
    homepage: http://tktable.sourceforge.net/
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

ORBI: or what happened on comp.lang.tcl
    How to read from a file in TCK
    basic steps to read a file  and parse the content in 
    some way or other for the attentive newbie:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

    does anyone care about iwidget bug reports?
    alive, in limbo or just on a well earned holiday:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

    is tcl/tk dying out?!
    Swans gathering for a song. or not?
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...
    In this contex Mark Roseman in his kindness gives us a glimpse 
    into the real world:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/msg/a0ca1bd1...
    This Thread and Mark Rosemans Story are well worth reading. It has 
    been soaked in stars on google-groups ;-)

TIPX: new, used and discarded Tips
    TIP 268 by Jeff Hobbs : Enhance 'package' Version Handling
	Vote: Done
	state has changed from Draft to Accepted
	http://www.tcl.tk/cgi-bin/tct/tip/268.html

OOTW: Orphan of the week or questions nobody answered yet:
    tcl 8.4.12 spin loop (on Solaris 10 with tcl 8.4.12 )
    after heavy use the shell goes into a tight loop around
    pollsys():
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

TWIP: or what happened on comp.lang.tcl this week TEN years ago:
    to forego any questions: "Tclers Window Into the Past".

    Beta2: TeamRooms Internet groupware tool (now with server on Mac/Win)
    Mark Roseman announces a colaboration tool:
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.human-factors/browse_...

    Windowless Custom Wishes
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...
    
    ANNOUNCE: new tclet (pie charts)
    from SCO at that ( and before they changed over to the dark side )
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...

    Java vs. Tcl/Tk
    "Tcl/Tk only wins when you look at the GUI elements, which are written
    in C.  Java should beat Tcl by a large margin."
	http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/browse_frm/t...


Thanks to Arjen Markus for his summary of Wiki activity:
  We are months away from Easter (in either direction),
  but that does not stop your chronicler to include
  a reference to Easter eggs - so, let the summary 
  begin!
  
  Collections
  - TLC is not a misspelling, no, it is the name of
    a whole collection of widgets based on Itk.
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/16918>
  
  - Remarkable how old pages revive ... Here is 
    a golden oldie on three-dimensional appearances
    in the canvas. Useful for light-weight GUIs?
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/1380>
  
  - It is a thing of beauty ... <http://wfr.tcl.tk/1178>
    displays an egg that might rival Faberge's
    masterpieces. Well, forgive your chronicler his
    exaggeration :).
  
  Serving the public
  - Two pages on webservers with just a tiny 
    amount of code: DustMote and Castle 
    (<http://wiki.tcl.tk/4333>,
    respectively <http://wiki.tcl.tk/3899>).
    
  - Two books: 
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/12577> about Perl/Tk
    has a good reputation for explaining Tk.
    <http://wiki.tcl.tk/15300> leads to the
    Wikipedia entry about Tcl.
   
  - If you read French, this finely illustrated 
    series on Tk widgets might be handy -
    <http://wfr.tcl.tk/1221>
  
  What you C ...
  - Static data are sometimes useful when
    encoding commands in C. Here is an overview
    of methods - <http://wiki.tcl.tk/12584>
  
  - But if you are a beginner, why not start 
    with "Hello world"? <http://wiki.tcl.tk/11153>


Everything Tcl-related you want is probably one or two clicks away in these
pages:
    The "Welcome to comp.lang.tcl" message by Andreas Kupries
        http://www.purl.org/net/tcl-welcome
    comp.lang.tcl is a crucial resource for Tcl practitioners.
    An interesting perspective on its traffic appears at
        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.tcl/about

    The Tcl Developer Site is Tcl's "home base".
	http://www.tcl.tk

    Larry Virden maintains a comp.lang.tcl FAQ launcher.
        http://www.purl.org/NET/Tcl-FAQ/

    The Tcl Developer Xchange is a highly organized resource center
    of documents and software with provisions for individuals to
    maintain references to their own software:
        http://www.tcl.tk/resource/
    The TDX sponsor, ActiveState, also keeps info to convince your
    boss Tcl is a good thing
        http://www.tcl.tk/scripting/

    The Tcl'ers Wiki is a huge, dynamic, collaboratively edited repository
    of documentation, examples, tutorials and pontifications on all things 
    Tcl.
        http://wiki.tcl.tk/0
    For the ideal overview of the topics about Tcl most likely to
    interest a newcomer, see "Arts and Crafts ..."
        http://wiki.tcl.tk/969
    There's also a high-quality Wikibook on Tcl:
        http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Programming:Tcl

    ActiveState maintains binaries distribution and development tools
        http://www.activestate.com/Tcl
    along with a Cookbook of Tcl recipes
        http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Cookbook/Tcl

    deli.cio.us presents an intriguing approach to reference commentary.
    It already aggregates quite a bit of Tcl intelligence.
        http://del.icio.us/tag/tcl

    Cameron Laird tracks several Tcl/Tk references of interest (but
    needs to validate many of the links).
        http://phaseit.net/claird/comp.lang.tcl/

    Years ago, Cetus Links maintained a Tcl/Tk page with verified links
        http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_tcl_tk.html

    "Yahoo! Groups" archives comp.lang.tcl.announce posts--even 
    though clta itself is dormant.
        http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcl_announce/

Previous - (U)se the (R)esource, (L)uke! - messages are supposed to be
listed at *Dr. Dobbs*, but sysad at CMP has fallen behind.  We're working
with them to restore the archive.
  http://www.ddj.com/topic/tcl/
In the meantime, an alternative is
  http://groups.google.com/groups?oi=djq&as_q=+Tcl-URL&...

Suggestions/corrections for next week's posting are always welcome.

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