Tcl-8.4.18

Introduction to Tcl

The Tcl package contains the Tool Command Language, a robust general-purpose scripting language.

Package Information

User Notes: http://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/tcl

Installation of Tcl

This package is also installed in LFS during the bootstrap phase. As it is not installed during Chapter 6 of LFS, installation instructions are included here in BLFS.

Install Tcl by running the following commands:

cd unix &&
./configure --prefix=/usr \
            --enable-threads \
            --mandir=/usr/share/man &&
make &&
sed -i \
    -e "s@^\(TCL_SRC_DIR='\).*@\1/usr/include'@" \
    -e "/TCL_B/s@='\(-L\)\?.*unix@='\1/usr/lib@" \
    -e "/SEARCH/s/=.*/=''/" \
    tclConfig.sh

To test the results, issue: make test.

Now, as the root user:

make install &&
make install-private-headers &&
ln -v -sf tclsh8.4 /usr/bin/tclsh

Command Explanations

--enable-threads: This switch forces the package to build with thread support.

make install-private-headers: This command is used to install the Tcl library interface headers used by other packages if they link to the Tcl library.

ln -v -sf tclsh8.4 /usr/bin/tclsh: This command is used to create a compatibility symbolic link to the tclsh8.4 file as many packages expect a file named tclsh.

sed -i -e ... tclConfig.sh: The Tcl package expects that its source tree is preserved so that packages depending on it for their compilation can utilize it. This sed removes the references to the build directory and replaces them with saner system-wide locations.

Contents

Installed Programs: tclsh and tclsh8.4
Installed Libraries: libtcl.so and libtclstub8.4.a
Installed Directories: /usr/lib/tcl8.4

Short Descriptions

tclsh

is a symlink to the tclsh8.4 program.

tclsh8.4

is a simple shell containing the Tcl interpreter.

libtcl.so

contains the API functions required by Tcl.

Last updated on 2008-04-09 14:15:48 -0500