NAME

ptksh - Perl/Tk script to provide a graphical user interface for testing Perl/Tk commands and scripts.

SYNOPSIS

  % ptksh  ?scriptfile?
  ... version information ...
  ptksh> $b=$mw->Button(-text=>'Hi',-command=>sub{print 'Hi'})
  ptksh> $b->pack
  ptksh> o $b
  ... list of options ...
  ptksh> help
  ... help information ...
  ptksh> exit
  %

DESCRIPTION

ptksh is a perl/Tk shell to enter perl commands interactively. When one starts ptksh a MainWindow is automaticly created, along with a ptksh command window. One can access the main window by typing commands using the variable $mw at the 'ptksh> ' prompt of the command window.

ptksh supports command line editing and history. Just type "<Up>" at the command prompt to see a history list. The last 50 commands entered are saved, then reloaded into history list the next time you start ptksh.

ptksh supports some convenient commands for inspecting Tk widgets. See below.

To exit ptksh use: "exit".

ptksh is *not* a full symbolic debugger. To debug perl/Tk programs at a low level use the more powerful perl debugger. (Just enter ``O tk'' on debuggers command line to start the Tk eventloop.)

FEATURES

History

Press <Up> (the Up Arrow) in the perlwish window to obtain a gui-based history list. Press <Enter> on any history line to enter it into the perlwish window. Then hit return. So, for example, repeat last command is <Up><Enter><Enter>. You can quit the history window with <Escape>. NOTE: history is only saved if exit is "graceful" (i.e. by the "exit" command from the console or by quitting all main windows--NOT by interrupt).

Debugging Support

ptksh provides some convenience function to make browsing in perl/Tk widget easier:

?, or h

displays a short help summary.

d, or x ?args, ...?

Dumps recursively arguments to stdout. (see Data::Dumper). You must have <Data::Dumper> installed to support this feature.

x was introduced for perl debugger compatibility.

p ?arg, ...?

appends "|\n" to each of it's arguments and prints it. If value is undef, '(undef)' is printed to stdout.

o $widget ?-option ...?

prints the option(s) of $widget one on each line. If no options are given all options of the widget are listed. See Tk::options for more details on the format and contents of the returned list.

o $widget /regexp/

Lists options of $widget matching the regular expression regexp.

u ?class?

If no argument is given it lists the modules loaded by the commands you executed or since the last time you called "u".

If argument is the empty string lists all modules that are loaded by ptksh.

If argument is a string, ``text'' it tries to do a ``use Tk::Text;''.

Packages

Ptksh compiles into package Tk::ptksh. Your code is eval'ed into package main. The coolness of this is that your eval code should not interfere with ptksh itself.

Multiline Commands

ptksh will accept multiline commands. Simply put a "\" character immediately before the newline, and ptksh will continue your command onto the next line.

Source File Support

If you have a perl/Tk script that you want to do debugging on, try running the command

  ptksh> do 'myscript';

   -- or  (at shell command prompt) --

  % ptksh myscript

Then use the perl/Tk commands to try out different operations on your script.

ENVIRONMENT

Looks for your .ptksh_history in the directory specified by the $HOME environment variable ($HOMEPATH on Win32 systems).

FILES

.ptksh_init: If found in current directory it is read in an evaluated after the mainwindow $mw is created. .ptksh_init can contain any valid perl code.
~/.ptksh_history: Contains the last 50 lines entered in ptksh session(s).

PITFALLS

It is best not to use "my" in the commands you type into ptksh. For example "my $v" will make $v local just to the command or commands entered until <Return> is pressed. For a related reason, there are no file-scopy "my" variables in the ptksh code itself (else the user might trounce on them by accident).

BUGS

Tk::MainLoop function interactively entered or sourced in a init or script file will block ptksh.

VERSION

VERSION 2.03

AUTHORS

Mike Beller <beller@penvision.com>, Achim Bohnet <ach@mpe.mpg.de>