Visual Tcl

                      An Application Development Environment
                             For the Tcl/Tk language

                        Copyright 1996-1999, Stewart Allen
                        Originally created by Stewart Allen
                           Maintained by Christian Gavin
                                       & Damon Courtney


 TABLE OF CONTENTS

   I.   Introduction
   II.  Installation
   III. Requirements


 I. INTRODUCTION

   Visual Tcl is a freely-available, cross-platform application development
   for the Tcl/Tk language.

   Visual Tcl is covered by the GNU General Public License.
   Please read the LICENSE file for more information.


 II. INSTALLATION

    o  Unzip or untar Visual Tcl into a permanent location. On Unix, we
       recommend /usr/local/vtcl. On Windows, a good default is
       "C:\Program Files\vTcl". On Macintosh, I recommend you do this
       inside of the folder in which Tcl/Tk was installed. It is important
       to note that on Windows, you must use WinZip (www.winzip.com) or
       another zip which supports long file names and nested directories.
       This is the most common difficulty Windows users encounter.


                                    UNIX

    o  Run the ./configure script in the location where you installed vTcl.
       This script will run and attempt to find the best WISH shell.  This
       script will write out a startup script called vtcl that you can then
       use to start Visual Tcl.

    o  If a WISH is not found, or you want to use a different WISH, edit the
       "vtcl" shell script.
       Change PATH_TO_WISH to the location of the wish binary
       Change VTCL_HOME to the directory you installed vTcl in.

    o  Put vtcl in your path (/usr/local/bin or /usr/bin) or change your
       path to include $(VTCL_HOME)

    o  Make sure your DISPLAY environment variable is set and type "vtcl".

    o  Select File / Preferences... then select the libraries you want to 
       be loaded on start up.

       Note:
       - lib_core.tcl must always be selected.
       - lib_vtcl.tcl contains a combobox, a multicolumn listbox, and a
         progress bar
       - lib_itcl.tcl adds support for [Incr Tcl/Tk]
       - lib_tix.tcl  adds support for Tix
       - lib_blt.tcl  adds support for BLT
       - the libraries you selected will be loaded the next time you start
         Visual Tcl. The first time you start vTcl, it will attempt to load
         all the libraries. For faster startup time, it is recommended you
         select only the libraries you need.

       We recommend to select lib_core.tcl and lib_vtcl.tcl for a starter.
       Depending on what extensions you have installed, you can then load
       additional libraries. It is not an error to load a library if the
       targeted extension is not installed, but vTcl will use more
       memory if you do so.

                              WINDOWS 95 and NT

    o  Make SURE you use Winzip from http://www.winzip.com
       Other zip programs fail to preserve long file names and nested
       directory structures.

    o  If you wish to create "shortcuts" to the vtcl.tcl icon, make sure
       you edit the "startup directory" to the base installation directory
       for Visual Tcl.

    o  You will need to associate all ".tcl" files with the Wish appplication.
       This is usually done by default by the newest Tcl/Tk packages for
       Windows.

    o  Double-click on the "vtcl.tcl" icon.

    o  Select File / Preferences... then select the libraries you want to 
       be loaded on start up.

       Note:
       - lib_core.tcl must always be selected.
       - lib_vtcl.tcl contains a combobox, a multicolumn listbox, and a
         progress bar
       - lib_itcl.tcl adds support for [Incr Tcl/Tk]
       - lib_tix.tcl  adds support for Tix
       - lib_blt.tcl  adds support for BLT
       - the libraries you selected will be loaded the next time you start
         Visual Tcl. The first time you start vTcl, it will attempt to load
         all the libraries. For faster startup time, it is recommended you
         select only the libraries you need.

       We recommend to select lib_core.tcl and lib_vtcl.tcl for a starter.
       Depending on what extensions you have installed, you can then load
       additional libraries. It is not an error to load a library if the
       targeted extension is not installed, but vTcl will use more
       memory if you do so.


                                  MACINTOSH

    o  Start the Wish shell interpreter.

    o  "cd" to the Folder in which Visual Tcl was installed.

    o  Type "source vtclmac".


 III. REQUIREMENTS

    Tcl8.3.2 and Tk8.3.2 or newer. You can obtain a binary for most platforms
    from http://www.activestate.com/. If not, source code is also available
    from http://www.sourceforge.net/.

                                      --
                              stewart@neuron.com
                                cgavin@dnai.com
                              damon@unreality.com