Tcl Blend

1. Introduction
---------------

Tcl Blend provides two new capabilities to Tcl. First, Tcl Blend
provides Java classes that expose key pieces of the interfaces that
are available to extension writers who currently use C. Using these
classes, extension writers can create new commands for the Tcl
interpreter. In addition, Tcl Blend provides commands that allow
script writers to directly manipulate Java objects without having
to write any Java code. The reflection classes in Java make it
possible to invoke methods and access fields on arbitrary Java
objects. Tcl Blend takes advantage of these capabilities to provide
a dynamic interface to Java.

Tcl Blend 1.4 is considered stable (only bug fixes will be applied
going forward) and is considered ready for evaluation in production
environments.

2. Documentation
----------------

The Tcl/Java project website includes a getting started page that
provides a good intro to interacting with Java from Tcl. The website
can be viewed locally by opening docs/website/index.html in a web
browser, or online at the following URL:

http://tcljava.sourceforge.net

The "New Features" page describes features and functionality
added to a specific Tcl/Java release.

docs/Topics/WhatsNew.html

One can also find demos included in this release that provide
examples of how to integrate Tcl and Java. The manual page
at docs/website/manual.html provides a useful API reference.

3. Requirements
---------------

Tcl Blend requires JDK 1.4 or newer and has been tested on a
Win95, WinNT, Solaris, IRIX, and Linux systems. It should
also work on other systems that have a correctly implemented
Java VM. Tcl Blend has been tested on JDK 1.5. See the
known_issues.txt file for a list of known problems.

Some Solaris systems require the Native Threads Pack, and 
several patches in addition to the JDK. The
package, necessary patches, and installation instructions can 
be found at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/index.html.

Tcl 8.4.13 is the most recent Tcl release tested with Tcl Blend.
Older Tcl releases are not supported. The Thread extension
version 2.6.3 or greater is also required.

4. Build/Installation
---------------

A unified build system that works under both Unix and Windows
is used to build Tcl Blend. Build instructions are located here:

docs/Topics/BuildTclBlendUnix.html

or

docs/Topics/BuildTclBlendWin.html

5. License Agreement
---------------------

See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and 
redistribution of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.

6. Getting Help
----------------

Users of Tcl Blend or Jacl should subscribe and post questions
to the tcljava-user mailing list at SourceForge. This mailing
list provides a forum to ask questions or post scripts that are
causing you trouble. Basically, any Jacl or Tcl Blend related
question is on topic for this mailing list.

http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tcljava-user

There is also a mailing list for Jacl and Tcl Blend developers.
If you have a specific question about some implementation feature,
have a patch for Jacl or Tcl Blend, or are interested in implementing
some feature, then you should post a note to the developers
mailing list.

http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/tcljava-dev

Note that you will have to subscribe to the mailing lists before
posting to them. Some people think this subscription requirement
is somehow "unfriendly", but without it the mailing list would
be full of spam. It only takes a moment to subscribe and you
can unsubscribe at any time. Posts from users that are not subscribed
to the mailing list will be automatically rejected.

In addition to the mailing lists, you can ask about Jacl or Tcl Blend
or on the Tcl newsgroup. The network news group "comp.lang.tcl"
intended for the exchange of information about Tcl, Tk, and
related applications. It can also be useful to do a google groups
search on comp.lang.tcl for Jacl or Tcl Blend related questions.

When reporting bugs, please provide a short Tcl script that we can use
to reproduce the bug.  Make sure that the script runs with bare-bones
Tcl and doesn't depend on any extensions or other programs,
particularly those that exist only at your site.  Also, please include
these additional pieces of information with the script:
    (a) How do we use the script to make the problem happen (e.g.
	what things do we click on, in what order)?
    (b) What happens when you do these things (presumably this is
        undesirable)?
    (c) What did you expect to happen?
    (d) What platform are you running on (Machine, OS, etc.)?
    (e) What releases of Tcl products are you using?

7. Development History
----------------------

Tcl Blend 1.0 was released by the now defunct SunScript group at
Sun Labs. Newer versions of Tcl Blend have been developed by Mo DeJong.