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1 README: Tcl |
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2 This is the Tcl 8.4.15 source distribution. |
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3 Tcl/Tk is also available through NetCVS: |
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4 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/ |
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5 You can get any source release of Tcl from the file distributions |
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6 link at the above URL. |
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7 |
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8 RCS: @(#) $Id: README,v 1.49.2.18 2006/10/23 17:53:23 dgp Exp $ |
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9 |
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10 Contents |
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11 -------- |
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12 1. Introduction |
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13 2. Documentation |
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14 3. Compiling and installing Tcl |
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15 4. Development tools |
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16 5. Tcl newsgroup |
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17 6. Tcl contributed archive |
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18 7. Tcl Resource Center |
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19 8. Mailing lists |
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20 9. Support and Training |
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21 10. Thank You |
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22 |
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23 1. Introduction |
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24 --------------- |
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25 Tcl provides a powerful platform for creating integration applications that |
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26 tie together diverse applications, protocols, devices, and frameworks. |
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27 When paired with the Tk toolkit, Tcl provides the fastest and most powerful |
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28 way to create GUI applications that run on PCs, Unix, and the Macintosh. |
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29 Tcl can also be used for a variety of web-related tasks and for creating |
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30 powerful command languages for applications. |
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31 |
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32 Tcl is maintained, enhanced, and distributed freely by the Tcl community. |
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33 The home for Tcl/Tk sources and bug/patch database is on SourceForge: |
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34 |
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35 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/ |
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36 |
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37 with the Tcl Developer Xchange hosted at: |
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38 |
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39 http://www.tcl.tk/ |
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40 |
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41 Tcl is a freely available open source package. You can do virtually |
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42 anything you like with it, such as modifying it, redistributing it, |
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43 and selling it either in whole or in part. See the file |
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44 "license.terms" for complete information. |
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45 |
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46 2. Documentation |
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47 ---------------- |
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48 |
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49 Extensive documentation is available at our website. |
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50 The home page for this release, including new features, is |
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51 http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/8.4.html |
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52 |
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53 Detailed release notes can be found at the file distributions page |
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54 by clicking on the relevant version. |
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55 http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=10894 |
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56 |
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57 Information about Tcl itself can be found at |
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58 http://www.tcl.tk/about/ |
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59 |
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60 There have been many Tcl books on the market. Many are mentioned in the Wiki: |
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61 http://wiki.tcl.tk/book |
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62 |
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63 2a. Unix Documentation |
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64 ---------------------- |
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65 |
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66 The "doc" subdirectory in this release contains a complete set of |
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67 reference manual entries for Tcl. Files with extension ".1" are for |
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68 programs (for example, tclsh.1); files with extension ".3" are for C |
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69 library procedures; and files with extension ".n" describe Tcl |
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70 commands. The file "doc/Tcl.n" gives a quick summary of the Tcl |
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71 language syntax. To print any of the man pages on Unix, cd to the |
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72 "doc" directory and invoke your favorite variant of troff using the |
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73 normal -man macros, for example |
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74 |
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75 ditroff -man Tcl.n |
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76 |
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77 to print Tcl.n. If Tcl has been installed correctly and your "man" program |
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78 supports it, you should be able to access the Tcl manual entries using the |
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79 normal "man" mechanisms, such as |
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80 |
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81 man Tcl |
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82 |
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83 2b. Windows Documentation |
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84 ------------------------- |
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85 |
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86 The "doc" subdirectory in this release contains a complete set of Windows |
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87 help files for Tcl. Once you install this Tcl release, a shortcut to the |
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88 Windows help Tcl documentation will appear in the "Start" menu: |
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89 |
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90 Start | Programs | Tcl | Tcl Help |
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91 |
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92 3. Compiling and installing Tcl |
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93 ------------------------------- |
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94 |
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95 There are brief notes in the unix/README, win/README, and macosx/README about |
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96 compiling on these different platforms. There is additional information |
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97 about building Tcl from sources at |
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98 |
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99 http://www.tcl.tk/doc/howto/compile.html |
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100 |
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101 4. TclPro Development tools |
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102 --------------------------- |
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103 |
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104 A high quality set of commercial quality development tools is available to |
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105 accelerate your Tcl application development. The TclPro product provides a |
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106 debugger, static code checker, packaging utility, and bytecode compiler. |
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107 TclPro was open-sourced when Scriptics/Ajuba was acquired by Interwoven. |
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108 Visit its home at SourceForge for more information and source/binaries: |
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109 |
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110 http://tclpro.sourceforge.net/ |
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111 |
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112 ActiveState has picked up support for commercial Tcl development tools. |
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113 More information can be found at |
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114 |
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115 http://www.ActiveState.com/Tcl |
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116 |
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117 5. Tcl newsgroup |
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118 ---------------- |
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119 |
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120 There is a USENET news group, "comp.lang.tcl", intended for the exchange of |
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121 information about Tcl, Tk, and related applications. The newsgroup is a |
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122 great place to ask general information questions. There is also |
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123 a USENET news group, "comp.lang.tcl.announce", intended to announce new |
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124 releases of software, training, and more. For bug reports, please |
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125 see the "Support and bug fixes" section below. |
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126 |
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127 6. Tcl contributed archive |
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128 -------------------------- |
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129 |
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130 Many people have created exciting packages and applications based on Tcl |
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131 and/or Tk and made them freely available to the Tcl community. An archive |
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132 of these contributions is kept on the machine ftp://archives.tcl.tk/pub/tcl |
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133 (aka ftp://ftp.procplace.com/pub/tcl). You can access the archive using |
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134 anonymous FTP. The archive also contains several FAQ ("frequently asked |
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135 questions") documents that provide solutions to problems that are commonly |
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136 encountered by Tcl newcomers. |
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137 |
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138 7. The Tcler's Wiki |
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139 ------------------- |
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140 |
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141 A Wiki-based open community site covering all aspects of Tcl/Tk is at: |
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142 |
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143 http://wiki.tcl.tk/ |
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144 |
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145 A wealth of useful information can be found there. |
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146 |
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147 8. Mailing lists |
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148 ---------------- |
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149 |
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150 Several mailing lists are hosted at SourceForge to discuss development or |
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151 use issues (like Macintosh and Windows topics). For more information and |
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152 to subscribe, visit: |
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153 |
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154 http://sourceforge.net/projects/tcl/ |
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155 |
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156 and go to the Mailing Lists page. |
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157 |
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158 9. Support and Training |
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159 ------------------------ |
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160 |
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161 We are very interested in receiving bug reports, patches, and suggestions |
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162 for improvements. We prefer that you send this information to us via the |
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163 bug form at SourceForge, rather than emailing us directly. The bug |
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164 database is at: |
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165 |
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166 http://tcl.sourceforge.net/ |
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167 |
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168 The bug form was designed to give uniform structure to bug reports as |
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169 well as to solicit enough information to minimize followup questions. |
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170 |
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171 We will log and follow-up on each bug, although we cannot promise a |
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172 specific turn-around time. Enhancements, reported via the Feature |
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173 Requests form at the same web site, may take longer and may not happen |
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174 at all unless there is widespread support for them (we're trying to |
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175 slow the rate at which Tcl/Tk turns into a kitchen sink). It's very |
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176 difficult to make incompatible changes to Tcl/Tk at this point, due to |
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177 the size of the installed base. |
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178 |
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179 The Tcl community is too large for us to provide much individual support |
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180 for users. If you need help we suggest that you post questions to |
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181 comp.lang.tcl. We read the newsgroup and will attempt to answer esoteric |
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182 questions for which no one else is likely to know the answer. In addition, |
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183 see the following page on the Wiki for links to other organizations that offer |
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184 Tcl/Tk training: |
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185 |
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186 http://wiki.tcl.tk/training |
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187 |
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188 10. Thank You |
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189 ------------- |
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190 |
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191 We'd like to express our thanks to the Tcl community for all the |
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192 helpful suggestions, bug reports, and patches we have received. |
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193 Tcl/Tk has improved vastly and will continue to do so with your help. |