PTKSH(1p) perl/Tk Documentation PTKSH(1p)
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 automatically 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.
SEE ALSO
Tk perldebug
VERSION
VERSION 2.03
AUTHORS
Mike Beller <beller@penvision.com>, Achim Bohnet <ach@mpe.mpg.de>
Copyright (c) 1996 - 1998 Achim Bohnet and Mike Beller. All rights
reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
Tk804.036 2025-04-13 PTKSH(1p)
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