From: ptkwt@...1.aracnet.com (Phil Tomson)
Date: 2003-06-22T13:47:09+09:00
Subject: Re: Exasperated with ruby/tk - anybody successfully using it?

In article <017401c33860$ff13a800$0200a8c0@hal9000>,
Richard Browne <richb@timestone.com.au> wrote:
>General question: Is ruby/tk still being maintained in 1.7/1.8 or is it
>dead? There is no documentation that I can find, and almost everything I try
>results in a ruby error/bug. For example:
>
>- Attempt to use TkSpinbox result in 'tk_call': invalid command name
>`spinbox'
>
>- Attempt to use TkOptionMenubutton results in `__invoke': unknown option
>"-kind_of"
>
>- The <MenuSelect> event with TkOptionMenubutton does not work properly
>
>- Attempt to use the -command option with TkOptionMenubutton results in
>`__invoke': unknown option "-command"
>
>- I upgraded to  ruby180-9 from http://rubyinstaller.sourceforge.net/, and
>after doing so the Tk.mainloop call never even returns!!
>
>Is anybody using ruby/tk successfully?
>

For some very small projects , yes, I've had some success.  However, I 
suspect that Tk might not be the best option for larger projects - I'd 
probably look at FxRuby (FOX) for larger projects.

As far as docs go, I've found the following links:

http://www.approximity.com/ruby/rubytk.html (Ruby/Tk FAQ)
http://httpd.chello.nl/k.vangelder/ruby/learntk/index.html (Ruby/Tk 
tutorial)

However, these generally don't go into as much detail as is needed and not 
all widgets are covered.  I found myself doing a lot of searching on 
Perl/Tk sites for more of the arcane details.

I do tend to like Tk's canvas widget (because you can tag any object drawn 
on it) and Tk does have the advantage (at least on Linux) that it will 
most likely already be installed so users will tend to already have it.  
However,I think Tk is starting to show it's age and I'm wanting to learn 
some of the newer GUI toolkits out there like FOX, FLTK and WxWindows 
(wish WxRuby was done).  I will miss the TkCanvas widget, though.

Phil