ANNOUNCE: eTcl 8.4.12-pl4 for Windows Mobile 2003 binaries available.
Eric Hassold
One week after initial release, Evolane is pleased to announce immediate
release of eTcl-8.4.12-pl4 for Windows Mobile 2003.
Binaries can be found at:
http://www.evolane.com/software/etcl/index.html
Because of a major problem with a too small stack size (Windows Mobile
version only, see below) in previous releases, together with important
improvements in stability and functionalities, we strongly recommend
anyone using a previous release to upgrade.
WHAT'S NEW
==========
This new release comes after one week of extensive bug tracking and
resolving. This has been made possible thanks to great support and
interest from many Tclers, who provided us with a very valuable
feedback. special thanks goes to Richard Suchenwirth for his impressive
testing and reporting, and for contributing a very important entry in
the wiki
http://wiki.tcl.tk/eTcl
Because of some major improvement and bug fixes in this release, we
recommend anyone having downloaded a previous version to upgrade to
8.4.12-pl4 or better. Here are some of the changes since intial release:
- Support for display rotation on WM2003SE or better.
- Improved embedded console: automatic resizing according to SIP state
or when screen is rotated, toolbar for "electric" braces and brackets
and autocompletion, build release displayed in about dialog.
- All encodings included in official Tcl distributuon are now embedded
into executable
- Add support for a "etclrc.tcl" startup file, in same directory than
executable
- Add support for service names as port argument in socket (e.g. "socket
localhost http" instead of "socket localhost 80"). When system doesn't
provide a valid services setup, a hard-coded small database of most used
instead
- Removed some embedded truetype fonts (used only by the pixane
extension) to make executable little bit smaller
- Fix support for sqlite, upgrade to version 3.3.1
- Restore Tktable, which was "forgotten" in previous builds
- Serial communication should now be fully functional. Communication
port can be opened as "com1:" to "com9:". Tested with both cable and
bluetooth devices.
- make "exec" work. Note however that this port doesn't detect yet
when child process dies, so program must be either started in background
(e.g., to launch PocketWord, use "exec pword &"), or use pipes (like in
open "| pword" r+), or eTcl will enter an infinite loop and freeze.
- Increase stack size at link time. This is a MAJOR problem, since
previous releases where compiled with a too small stack (0x10000), which
implies a stack-overflow error (eTcl dying without any message) with
many scripts.
A more detailed changelog is available from our the official eTcl page:
http://www.evolane.com/software/etcl/index.html
WHAT IS IT
==========
eTcl is a "batteries-included", thread enabled Tcl/Tk runtime, available
as a single standalone executable for Linux, Win32 (x86 and ARM) and now
Windows Mobile 2003 (or better) (tested on both standard and phone edition).
Distributions for all architecture include a common set of core components:
- Tcl/Tk 8.4.12 (thread enabled)
- Pixane: script your image transformation, support for reading and
writing several popular image formats (PNG, JPEG), support for TrueType
fonts, several truetype builtin fonts (serif, sansserif and monotype)
- Sqlite: A SQL server in your hand.
- Zlib: native deflate/inflate support
- Zipfs: easily Mount your ZIP files into Tcl Virtual Filesystem
- TclThread: run multi-threaded applications
- Tktable
ETcl for Windows Mobile is available for download as a Cabinet file
(which also contains few demos), a Win32 automatic installer (same
content as cabinet, requires activesync), a ZIP archive, and executable
only (ready to run, only need to be copied to device).
Executable is pretty large (3M), but includes lot of optionnal features,
including a large (approx. 900kB) set of builtins TrueType fonts for
Pixane engine. A stripped down version may be made available in a near
future.
Documentation (especially for wce package, i.e. windows mobile specific
native extensions) is not yet complete, but will be published soon on
our site. Please send all comments and bug reports to <support at
evolane.com>.
FEATURES
========
Generic eTcl features (all platforms):
- Unobstrusive executable. No registry to set, no external dependencies.
- Standalone executable. Tcl and Tk scripts packed into executable
(using ZIP based VFS). No installation required, only need to copy
executable wherever you want on device.
- Based on latest (8.4.12) Tcl/Tk version.
- Thread-enabled
Windows Mobile specific features:
- Optimized startup time.
- Optimized for XScale devices
- Faster Arc/Chord/Pie emulation, improved for ARM architecture (based
on an integer only algorithm, since ARM has no FPU)
- Efficient WSAAsyncSelect() emulation. Sockets, and fileevents on
sockets, should be fully functionnal (in both client and server modes)
- Support for native menu
- Improved native look and feel.
- Windows Mobile specific extension: manage SIP, change (X) button
action (closing vs. minimizing),...
- Correct handling of mouse (actually touchscreen) events
- Support for intercepting hotkeys (calendar, notes, etc...)
- Embedded console, supports for automatically setting file associations.
Eric Hassold
Evolane - http://www.evolane.com/