'\"
'\" Generated from file 'critcl_devguide\&.man' by tcllib/doctools with format 'nroff'
'\" Copyright (c) Jean-Claude Wippler
'\" Copyright (c) Steve Landers
'\" Copyright (c) 2011-2018 Andreas Kupries
'\"
.TH "critcl_devguide" 3tcl 3\&.1\&.18\&.1 doc "C Runtime In Tcl (CriTcl)"
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.BS
.SH NAME
critcl_devguide \- Critcl - The Developer's Guide
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fIC Runtime In Tcl\fR, or \fICriTcl\fR , is a system for compiling C code
embedded in Tcl on the fly and either loading the resulting objects into Tcl for
immediate use or packaging them for distribution\&.  Use \fICriTcl\fR to improve
performance by rewriting in C those routines that are performance bottlenecks\&.
.PP
This document is a guide for developers working on Critcl,
i\&.e\&. maintainers fixing bugs, extending the package's functionality,
etc\&.
.PP
Please read
.IP [1]
\fICritcl - License\fR,
.IP [2]
\fICritcl - How To Get The Sources\fR, and
.IP [3]
\fICritcl - The Installer's Guide\fR
.PP
first, if that was not done already\&.
.PP
Here we assume that the sources are already available in a directory
of your choice, and that you not only know how to build and install
them, but also have all the necessary requisites to actually do
so\&. The guide to the sources in particular also explains which source
code management system is used, where to find it, how to set it up,
etc\&.
.SH "PLAYING WITH CRITCL"
.PP
The sources of Critcl, should you have gotten them, contain
several larger examples show-casing various aspects of the
system\&. These demonstration packages can all be found in the
sub-directory "\fIexamples/\fR" of the sources\&.
.PP
Lots of smaller examples can be found in the document
\fIUsing CriTcl\fR, an introduction to Critcl by way of a of
examples\&. These focus more on specific critcl commands than the
overall picture shown by the large examples mentioned in the previous
paragraph\&.
.SH "DEVELOPING FOR CRITCL"
.SS "ARCHITECTURE & CONCEPTS"
The system consists of two main layers, as seen in the figure below,
plus a support layer containing general packages the system uses during
operation\&.
.PP
.PS
.nf
+----------------+
|Applications    |
| critcl         |
| critcl::app    |
+----------------+

+----------------+
|Core Packages   |
| critcl         |
| critcl::util   |
+----------------+

+----------------+
|Support Packages|
| stubs::*       |
| md5, platform  |
|  \&.\&.\&.           |
+----------------+

.fi
.PE
.PP
.IP [1]
At the top we have an application built on top of the core packages,
providing command line access to the second and third usage modes,
i\&.e\&. \fIGenerate Package\fR and \fIGenerate TEA Package\fR\&.
.RS
.TP
\fBcritcl\fR
.TP
\fBcritcl::app\fR
.RE
.IP [2]
Below that is the core package providing the essential functionality
of the system, plus various utility packages which make common tasks
more convenient\&.
.RS
.TP
\fBcritcl\fR
.TP
\fBcritcl::util\fR
.RE
.IP [3]
Lastly a layer of supporting packages, mostly external to critcl\&.
.RS
.TP
\fBmd5\fR
For this pure-Tcl package to be fast users should get one of several
possible accelerator packages:
.RS
.IP [1]
\fBtcllibc\fR
.IP [2]
\fBTrf\fR
.IP [3]
\fBmd5c\fR
.RE
.TP
\fBcmdline\fR
.TP
\fBplatform\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::container\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::reader\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::writer\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::init\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::header\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::decl\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::macro\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::slot\fR
.TP
\fBstubs::gen::lib\fR
.RE
.PP
.SS REQUIREMENTS
To develop for critcl the following packages and applications must be
available in the environment\&. These are all used by the \fBbuild\&.tcl\fR
helper application\&.
.TP
\fBdtplite\fR
A Tcl application provided by Tcllib, for the validation and
conversion of \fIdoctools\fR-formatted text\&.
.TP
\fBdia\fR
A Tcl application provided by Tklib, for the validation and conversion
of \fBdiagram\fR-formatted figures into raster images\&.
.sp
Do not confuse this with the Gnome \fBdia\fR application,
which is a graphical editor for figures and diagrams, and completely
unrelated\&.
.TP
\fBfileutil\fR
A Tcl package provided by Tcllib, providing file system utilities\&.
.TP
\fBvfs::mk4\fR, \fBvfs\fR
Tcl packages written in C providing access to Tcl's VFS facilities,
required for the generation of critcl starkits and starpacks\&.
.PP
.SS "DIRECTORY STRUCTURE"
.TP
Helpers
.RS
.TP
"\fIbuild\&.tcl\fR"
This helper application provides various operations needed by a
developer for critcl, like regenerating the documentation, the
figures, building and installing critcl, etc\&.
.sp
Running the command like
.CS


	\&./build\&.tcl help

.CE
.IP
will provide more details about the available operations and their
arguments\&.
.RE
.TP
Documentation
.RS
.TP
"\fIdoc/\fR"
This directory contains the documentation sources, for both the text, and the figures\&.
The texts are written in \fIdoctools\fR format, whereas the figures are written for
tklib's \fBdia\fR(gram) package and application\&.
.TP
"\fIembedded/\fR"
This directory contains the documentation converted to regular manpages
(nroff) and HTML\&.
It is called embedded because these files, while derived, are part of the
git repository, i\&.e\&. embedded into it\&. This enables us to place these files
where they are visible when serving the prject's web interface\&.
.RE
.TP
Testsuite
.RS
.TP
"\fItest/all\&.tcl\fR"
.TP
"\fItest/testutilities\&.tcl\fR"
.TP
"\fItest/*\&.test\fR"
These files are a standard testsuite based on Tcl's \fBtcltest\fR package,
with some utility code snarfed from \fBTcllib\fR\&.
.sp
This currently tests only some of the \fBstubs::*\fR packages\&.
.TP
"\fItest/*\&.tcl\fR"
These files (but not "\fIall\&.tcl\fR", and "\fItestutilities\&.tcl\fR") are
example files (Tcl with embedded C) which can be run through critcl for testing\&.
.sp
\fITODO:\fR These should be converted into a proper test suite\&.
.RE
.TP
Package Code, General structure
.RS
.RE
.TP
Package Code, Per Package
.RS
.TP
\fBcritcl\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl/critcl\&.tcl\fR"
The Tcl code implementing the package\&.
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl/Config\fR"
The configuration file for the standard targets and their settings\&.
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl/critcl_c/\fR"
Various C code snippets used by the package\&.
This directory also contains the copies of the Tcl header files used
to compile the assembled C code, for the major brnaches of Tcl,
i\&.e\&. 8\&.4, 8\&.5, and 8\&.6\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBcritcl::util\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl-util/util\&.tcl\fR"
The Tcl code implementing the package\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBcritcl::app\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/app-critcl/critcl\&.tcl\fR"
The Tcl code implementing the package\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBcritcl::iassoc\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl-iassoc/iassoc\&.tcl\fR"
The Tcl code implementing the package\&.
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl-iassoc/iassoc\&.h\fR"
C code template used by the package\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBcritcl::class\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl-class/class\&.tcl\fR"
The Tcl code implementing the package\&.
.TP
"\fIlib/critcl-class/class\&.h\fR"
C code template used by the package\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBdict84\fR
.TP
\fBlassign84\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/util84/dict\&.tcl\fR"
.TP
"\fIlib/util84/lassign\&.tcl\fR"
These are two packages implementing forward compatibility emulations
of the \fBdict\fR and \fBlassign\fR commands introduced with Tcl 8\&.5\&.
These are used automatically when critcl is run by Tcl 8\&.4\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBstubs::*\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/stubs/*\fR"
A set of non-public (still) packages which provide read and write
access to and represent Tcl stubs tables\&. These were created by taking
the "\fIgenStubs\&.tcl\fR" helper application coming with the Tcl core
sources apart along its internal logical lines\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBcritclf\fR
.RS
.TP
"\fIlib/critclf/\fR"
Arjen Markus' work on a critcl/Fortran\&. The code is outdated and has
not been adapted to the changes in critcl version 3 yet\&.
.RE
.TP
\fBautoscroll\fR
.TP
\fBcmdline\fR
.TP
\fBmd5\fR
.TP
\fBmd5c\fR
.TP
\fBplatform\fR
.TP
\fBsnit\fR
.TP
\fBsnitbutton\fR
.TP
\fBwikit\fR
These are all external packages whose code has been inlined in the
repository for easier development (less dependencies to pull), and
quicker deployment from the repository (generation of starkit and
-pack)\&.
.sp
The packages
\fBautoscroll\fR,
\fBsnit\fR,
\fBsnitbutton\fR, and
\fBwikit\fR
are for the support of the Wikit GUI accessible from starkit and -pack
when the application functionality (\fBcritcl::app\fR) is run with
an empty command line\&.
.sp
\fITODO:\fR These should all be checked against their origin
for updates and changes since they were inlined\&.
.RE
.PP
.SH AUTHORS
Jean Claude Wippler, Steve Landers, Andreas Kupries
.SH "BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK"
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain
bugs and other problems\&.
Please report them at \fIhttps://github\&.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues\fR\&.
Ideas for enhancements you may have for either package, application,
and/or the documentation are also very welcome and should be reported
at \fIhttps://github\&.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues\fR as well\&.
.SH KEYWORDS
C code, Embedded C Code, code generator, compile & run, compiler, dynamic code generation, dynamic compilation, generate package, linker, on demand compilation, on-the-fly compilation
.SH CATEGORY
Glueing/Embedded C code
.SH COPYRIGHT
.nf
Copyright (c) Jean-Claude Wippler
Copyright (c) Steve Landers
Copyright (c) 2011-2018 Andreas Kupries

.fi