porting a Tcl/TK based gui to a browser gui

Michael Niehren

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Dec 4, 2017, 3:38:22 AM12/4/17

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Hi folks,

subject say's it all. I have a running Tcl/TK Application (V8.6) and want to bring it
to a browser based application.

Do someone see a chance to realize that ?

As the Browser-Plugin is very outdated, my idea is to use VNC. The browser should run an
JAVA-VNC-App which connects to a local VNC-Server where the Tcl/Tk-App run's.

Or is it possible (maybe with the help of tclRFB) to write an VNC-Server in TCL and display
the app in this VNC-Server ?

any suggestions are welcome ...

best regards
Michael

taip...@gmail.com

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Dec 4, 2017, 8:59:15 AM12/4/17

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On Monday, December 4, 2017 at 9:38:22 AM UTC+1, Michael Niehren wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> subject say's it all. I have a running Tcl/TK Application (V8.6) and want to bring it
> to a browser based application.
>
> Do someone see a chance to realize that ?
>
> As the Browser-Plugin is very outdated, my idea is to use VNC. The browser should run an
> JAVA-VNC-App which connects to a local VNC-Server where the Tcl/Tk-App run's.

as a Java applet, for example http://tightvnc.org

> Or is it possible (maybe with the help of tclRFB) to write an VNC-Server in TCL and display
> the app in this VNC-Server ?

or much better and already provided as tclkit try to run
tclkit-8.5.17-(your os and cpu-version) TCL-RFB-WebSocket.kit
and visit http://localhost:8015
which will show a digital clock in the NoVNC Javascript VNC client window, when you connect (no password)

Resources:
tclkit runtime from http://tclkits.rkeene.org/fossil/wiki/Downloads
kit-file containing TclHttpd web server, including websocket,... http://www.freewebs.com/headsup/TclRFB-WebSocket.kit
I found this on the Tcl Wiki http://wiki.tcl.tk/40658

TclHttpd with Tcl 8.6 will require modifications due to security changes in the file command
(file isDirectory)

>
> any suggestions are welcome ...
>
> best regards
> Michael

regards
Roland Frank

HeadsU...@yahoo.com

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Dec 5, 2017, 5:50:02 AM12/5/17

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On Monday, 4 December 2017 19:38:22 UTC+11, Michael Niehren wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> subject say's it all. I have a running Tcl/TK Application (V8.6) and want to bring it
> to a browser based application.
>
> Do someone see a chance to realize that ?

Yes, I am developing application called CloudTk that does what you have suggested. See http://wiki.tcl.tk/41972

>
> As the Browser-Plugin is very outdated, my idea is to use VNC. The browser should run an
> JAVA-VNC-App which connects to a local VNC-Server where the Tcl/Tk-App run's.
>

I find that noVNC works well in modern web browsers and supports Desktops, Tablets and Smartphones.

> Or is it possible (maybe with the help of tclRFB) to write an VNC-Server in TCL and display
> the app in this VNC-Server ?
>
> any suggestions are welcome ...
>

I have put a couple of the Tk apps on the wiki into CloudTk while I was troubleshooting my app. See

https://wiki.tcl.tk/1011 - An analog clock in Tk
https://wiki.tcl.tk/8340 - Bulging Line Illusion
https://wiki.tcl.tk/13165 - Cursor demo
https://wiki.tcl.tk/43901 - Divisible by 7
https://wiki.tcl.tk/16993 - GRIDPLUS2 (example 6)
https://wiki.tcl.tk/15436 - Lights On
https://wiki.tcl.tk/26449 - Pythagoras Tree
https://wiki.tcl.tk/48824 - Sleepcalc a sleep calculator
https://wiki.tcl.tk/1681 - Tcl Tutor (disabled at the moment working on a sandbox for this app)
https://wiki.tcl.tk/36740 - Tkeyes
https://wiki.tcl.tk/8656 - TkPool

These seem to work well so far. CloudTk will only support Tk apps that will run on Linux 64 bit (hopefully Raspberry Pi also), with TigerVNC server and the Matchbox Window Manager. I have it running on Debian 9. Originally it was working with TightVNC but it didn't support window resizing whereas TigerVNC does. I will clean up the code, write some documentation and release it by the end of the year or early next year hopefully.

Kind Regards

Jeff Smith

> best regards
> Michael

HeadsU...@yahoo.com

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Dec 9, 2017, 2:18:06 AM12/9/17

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This post got me inspired. Go to http://wiki.tcl.tk/41972 for further information.

Donald Arseneau

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Dec 11, 2017, 2:59:24 AM12/11/17

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Michael Niehren <mic...@niehren.de> writes:

> subject say's it all. I have a running Tcl/TK Application (V8.6) and want to bring it
> to a browser based application.
>
> Do someone see a chance to realize that ?

Does anyone know the current status of wacl? If it is stable enough,
would it useful for this type of project?

--
Donald Arseneau as...@triumf.ca