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.