tnt-mmtl/sppdgTcllib/console/README

sppdgTcllib/console/README

	console package


This tcl library provides the 'console' package for use within 
applications.

It is often nice to be able to open a console window in your
application to give users access to a log window and/or to give
programmers the ability to debug applications on the fly.  You can
either look at the results of commands (puts output is captured) or
type commands directly into the interpreter.

Long, long ago, Jeff Hobbs published a Console widget, based on his
tkcon work and the 'widget' package.  But this has not been updated
and doesn't work too well.  Note that 'package require Console' (with
a capital C) gets you the Hobbs widget.  Use lowercase for this
package.

This alternative package wraps around the (more updated and complete)
tkcon application.  This is an excellent console application in its
own rithe, and can be invoked as a componet of another application, if
you know all the secret internal bits to set.


SYNOPSIS
--------

   package require console 
   console::create ?options?
   console::show
   console::hide


COMMANDS:
---------

  console::create ?options?

Create the console window.  This must be a toplevel window, and cannot
be a widget to be packed into another interface.  Each option requires
a value.

  console::show

Shows (deiconifies) the console window.  Sets the -variable to "1".

  console::hide

Hides (withdraws) the console window.  Sets the -variable to "0"


OPTIONS
-------

Options control the behavior of the console.  You can't change 'em
once created.

  -showOnStartup <value>

If value is "1", the console is shown when created.  If the value is
"0", then the console is created in a withdrawn state.  The default is
0.

  -root <windowName>

Root window name for the console.  This must be a toplevel, and it
must not yet exist.  Default is .console.

  -protocol <script>

The script code is assigned to the console window's WM_DELETE_WINDOW
protocol (see [wm protocol]).  This script is executed when the user
clicks on the [X] button on the console window.  The default script is
{console::hide}, which just hides the console window.

  -showMenu <value>

If value is "1", then the console comes with tkCon's menu bar.  If
value is "0", then the window appears without any menu bar.  The
default is 0.

  -title <string>

Sets the window title text on the console window's title bar.  The
default is "Command Console".

  -variable <varname>

Associates the show/hiddent state of the console window with the
specified variable.  The default is no variable.  But if a variable is
specified, then it will be set to 0 or 1 whenever the console is
hidden or shown, respectively.  A trace is set on the variable, so
that if it changes to 0 or 1, the console is hidden or shown.  This is
handy if you put a checkbutton on your gui, and assign a variable.




EXAMPLES
--------

See the file console_demo.tcl for a small application based on the
BWidget toolkit which illustrates menu control of the console.



  package require Tk
  package require console

  menu .menu
  . configure -menu .menu
  menu .menu.view
  .menu add cascade -label "View" -menu .menu.view
  .menu.view add checkbutton -label "Console" -variable ::showConsole

  console::create -title "My App Console" -variable ::showConsole