stk/Doc/Tcl93/Tcl93.tex

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% Tcl-93 Presentation of Stk
%
%           Author: Erick Gallesio [eg@kaolin.unice.fr]
%    Creation date:  5-Apr-1993 12:29
% Last file update: 24-May-1993 22:12


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\newcommand{\stk}{{\sc STk }}
\title{Embedding a Scheme Interpreter in the Tk Toolkit}
{\footnotesize
\author{
Erick Gallesio \\
Universit\'e de Nice~~-~~Sophia-Antipolis \\
Laboratoire I3S - CNRS URA 1376 - B\^at 4. \\
250, avenue Albert Einstein \\
Sophia Antipolis \\
06560 Valbonne - FRANCE}}
\date{}
\maketitle
\vskip1cm
\begin{abstract}
{\it \stk is a graphical package which rely on Tk and the Scheme programming
language. Concretely, it can be seen as the Tk package where the
Tcl language as been {\em replaced} by a Scheme interpreter.  Programming with
{\stk} can be done at two distinct levels. First level is quite identical than
programming Tk with Tcl. Second level of programming uses a full object
oriented system. Those two programming levels and current implementation are
described here.}
\end{abstract}


\section{Introduction}
Today's available graphical toolkits for applicative languages are not
satisfactory. Most of the time, they ask to the user to be an X expert which
must cope with complicated arcane details such as server connections or queue
events.  This is a true problem, since people which use this kind of languages
are generally not inclined in system programming and little of them get over
the gap between the language and the toolkit abstraction levels.

Tk is a powerful X11 graphical tool\-kit de\-fi\-ned at the University of Berkeley
by J.Ousterhout \cite{Ouster-Tk}. This toolkit gives to the user high level
widgets such as buttons or menu and is easily programmable. In particular, a
little knowledge of X fundamentals are needed to build an application with it.
Tk package rely on an interpretative language named Tcl \cite{Ouster-Tcl}.
However, dependencies between those two packages are not too intricate and
replacing Tcl by an applicative language was an exciting challenge. To keep
intact the Tk/Tcl pair spirit, a little applicative language was necessary.
Scheme \cite{SICP} was a good candidate to replace Tcl, because it is small,
clean and well defined since it is an IEEE standard
\cite{IEEE-Scheme}. 

Programming with {\stk} can be done at two distinct levels. First level is
quite identical than programming Tk with Tcl, excepting several minor
syntactic differences. Second level of programming uses a full object oriented
system (with multi-inheritance, generic functions and a true meta object
protocol). Those two levels of programming are briefly described in the two first
sections. Section 4 is devoted to implementation and section 5 exposes some
encountered problems when mixing Tk and Scheme.

\section{\stk: First level}

The first level of {\stk} uses the standard Scheme constructs. To work at
this level, a user must know a little set of rewriting rules from the
original Tk-Tcl library. With these rules, the Tk manual pages and a little
knowledge of Scheme, he/she can easily build a {\stk} program.

Creation of a new widget (button, label, canvas, ...) is done with special \stk
primitives procedures. For instance, creating a new button can be done with
\begin{verbatim}
    (button ".b")
\end{verbatim}
Note that the name of the widget must be ``stringified'' due to the Scheme
evaluation mechanism. The call of a widget creation primitive defines a new
Scheme object. This object, which is considered as a new basic type by the
Scheme interpreter, is automatically stored in a variable whose name is equal
to the string passed to the creation function. So, the preceding button
creation would define an object stored in the~{\tt .b} variable. This object
is a special kind of procedure which is generally used, as in pure Tk, to
customize its associated widget. For instance, the expression {\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (.b 'configure 
        '-text "Hello, world" 
        '-border 3)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
permits to set the text and background options of the~{\tt .b} button. As
we can see on this example, parameters must be well quoted in regard of the 
Scheme evaluation rules. Since this notation is barely crude, the Common Lisp
keyword mechanism has been introduced in the Scheme interpreter {\cite{CLtl2}}
{\footnote{A keyword is a symbol beginning with a colon. It can been seen
as a symbolic constant (i.e. its value is itself)}}. Consequently, the preceding
expression could have been written as  
\noindent
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (.b 'configure 
        :text "Hello, world" 
        :border 3)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
which in turn is both close from Common Lisp and pure Tk. Of course, as in
Tk, parameters can be passed at widget creation time and our button creation
and initialization could have been done in a single expression:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (button .b 
            :text "Hello, world" 
            :border 3)
\end{verbatim}
}

The Tk binding mechanism, which serves to create widget event handlers follow
the same kind of rules. The body of a Tk handler must be written, of
course, in Scheme. Following example shows such a script; in this example, the
label indicates how many times mouse button 3 has been depressed.
Button press counter increment is achieved with the simple script
given in the {\tt bind} call.
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (define count 0)
    (pack 'append "." 
          (label ".l" 
                  :textvariable 'count) 
                  "fill")
    (bind .l "<3>" 
             '(set! count (+ count 1)))
\end{verbatim}
}

To illustrate {\stk} first level of programming, Figure~1 shows the simple
file browser described in {\cite{Ouster-Tcl}} written in {\stk}.

\begin{figure*}[t]
{\small
\vskip2mm
\begin{quote}
\begin{verbatim}
#!/usr/local/bin/stk -f

(scrollbar ".scroll" :command ".list 'yview")
(listbox ".list" :yscroll ".scroll 'set" :relief 'raised :geometry "20x20")
(pack 'append "." .scroll "right filly" .list "left expand fill")

(define (browse dir file)
  (if (not (string=? dir ".")) (set! file (string-append dir "/" file)))
  (if (directory? file)
      (system (format #f "browse.stk ~A &" file))
      (if (file? file)
          (let ((ed (getenv "EDITOR")))
            (if ed
                (system (string-append ed " " file "&"))
                (system (string-append "xedit " file "&"))))
          (error "Bad directory or file" file))))

(define dir (if (> argc 0) (car argv) "."))

(system (format #f "ls -a ~A > /tmp/browse" dir))

(with-input-from-file "/tmp/browse" (lambda()
  (do ((f (read-line) (read-line)))
      ((eof-object? f))
    (.list 'insert 'end f))))

(bind .list "<Control-c>" '(destroy "."))
(bind .list "<Double-Button-1>" '(browse dir (selection 'get)))
\end{verbatim}
\end{quote}
}
\caption{\em A simple file browser}
\vskip2mm
\hrule
\end{figure*}

\section{\stk: Second level}

Programming with material shown before is a little bit tedious and more
complicated than coding with Tcl since one have to add parenthesis pairs and 
quote options values. Its only interest is to bring the power and flexibility of
Tk to the Scheme world. 

The second level of \stk is far more interesting since it uses a full object
oriented extension of the Scheme language. Defining an object oriented layer
on Scheme is a current activity in the Scheme community and several packages
are available. The object layer of \stk is derived from a package called {\em
Tiny Clos}~{\cite{Tiny-Clos}}. This extension provides objects {\em \`a la}
CLOS (Common Lisp Object System). In fact, the proposed extension is much
closer from the objects one can find in Dylan, since this language is already
a tentative to merge CLOS notions in a Scheme like language {\cite{Dylan}}.

\stk object extension gives to the user a full object oriented 
system with multi-inheritance and generic functions. Furthermore, all the
implementation rely on a true meta object protocol, in the spirit of
{\cite{AMOP}}. This model has been used to embody all the predefined Tk
widgets in a hierarchy of Stk classes.

\subsection{Class hierarchy}

With the \stk object system, every Tk graphical object used in a program such
as a menu, a label or a button is represented as an object in the Scheme core.
All the defined {\stk} classes build a hierarchy which is briefly described
here. Firstly, all the classes shared a unique ancestor: the {\em
$<$Tk-object$>$} class. Instances of this class contain informations which are
necessary to establish a communication between the Scheme and Tk worlds.
Objects of this class have two main slots named {\tt Id\index{Id slot}} and {\tt
parent\index{parent slot}}. The {\tt Id} slot contains a string, normally
generated by the system, which correspond to a (unique) variable name in the
Tk world. The {\tt parent} slot contains a reference to the object which
(graphically) includes the current object. Normally, end users will not have to
use direct instances of the {\em $<$Tk-object$>$} class\footnote{ All classes
whose name begins with the ``Tk-'' prefix are not intended for the final user.}.


The next level in our class hierarchy defines a fork with two branches: the
{\em $<$Tk-widget$>$\index{Tk-widget class}} class and {\em
$<$Tk-canvas-item$>$\index{Tk-canvas-item class}} class. Instances of the
former class are classical widgets such as buttons or menus since instances of
the later are objects contained in a canvas such as lines or rectangles. Tk
widgets are also divided in two categories: {\em $<$Tk-simple-widgets$>$} and
{\em $<$Tk-composite-widgets$>$}. Simple widgets are directly implemented as
Tk objects and composite ones are built upon simple widgets (e.g. file
browser, alert messages and so on).  A partial view of the
\stk hierarchy is shown in Figure~2.
\begin{figure*}
%\centerline{\psfig{figure={Fig1-1.idraw},height={2.00in},width={2.00in}}}
\centerline{\psfig{figure={hierarchy.eps},width={5.00in},width={5.00in}}}
\caption{\em A partial view of \stk hierarchy}
\vskip2mm
\hrule
\end{figure*}

\subsection{Basic notions}

This section describes basic concepts of our object extension on a small 
example. Definition of a new object class is done with the {\em defclass} form. 
For instance,
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (defclass person ()
       ((name :initarg :name
              :accessor name 
        (age  :initarg :age))))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
defines a person characteristics. Two slots are declared: {\tt name} and 
{\tt age}. Characteristics of a slot are expressed with its definition. 
Here, for instance, it is said that the slot {\tt name} can be inited with 
the keyword {\tt :name} upon instance creation and that an accessor function 
should be generated for it. Creation of a new instance is done with the 
{\tt make} constructor:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (define p (make person 
                   :name "Smith"
                   :age 42))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
This call permits to build a new person and to initialize the slots which
compose him/her.

Reading the value of a slot can be done with the function {\tt slot-value}.
For instance,
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (slot-value p 'age)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
permits to get the value of slot {\tt age} of the {\tt p} object.
Setting this slot can be done by using the generalized {\tt set!} defined in \stk:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (set! (slot-value p 'age) 43)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
Since an accessor as also been defined on the {\tt name} slot, it can be read
with the following expression:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (name p)
\end{verbatim}
}
As before, slot setting can be done with the generalized {\tt set!} as in
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (set! (name p) 43)
\end{verbatim}
}

\subsection{Tk classes}
Now that basic concepts have been exposed, let come back to how using Tk with
the object layer. In our model, each Tk option is defined as a slot. For
instance, a simplified definition of a Tk button could be:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (defclass <Button> (<Label>)
       ((command :accessor command
                 :initarg :command
                 :allocation :pseudo
                 :type 'any))
       :metaclass <Tk>)
\end{verbatim}
}

This definition says that a {\tt $<$Button$>$} is a ({\em inherits} from) {\tt
$<$Label$>$} with an extra slot called {\tt command}. This slot's allocation
scheme is said to be {\tt :pseudo}\footnote{ Pseudo-slots are defined in the
metaclass $<$Tk$>$, hence the {\tt :metaclass} option in definition.}.
Pseudo-slots are special purpose slots: they can be used as normal slots but
they are not allocated in the Scheme world (i.e. their value is stored in
one of the structures manipulated by the Tk library instead of in a Scheme
object). Of course, accessors will take into account this fact and functions
for reading or writing such slots are unchanged. For example, 
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (set! (command b) '(display "OK"))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
permits to set the script associated to the {\tt b} button.

Preceding {\tt defclass} states that the {\tt command} slot can contain a
value of any type. Type of a slot permits to the system to apply the adequate
coercion function when a slot is read. Since Tk always computes results as
strings, this conversion can be done automatically when we know the type of
the slot (e.g. a border width is always stored as an integer in Tk
structures). No conversion is done when a slot is written; this work is done
by Tk since it will reject bad values.

Note that using the object extension of \stk permits the user to forget some Tk
idiosyncrasies. In particular, it permits to avoid the knowledge of pure Tk
naming conventions. The only thing the user has to know when creating a new
object is it's parent. An example of widgets creation is shown below:
{\small 
\begin{verbatim}
    (define f (make <Frame>))
    (define b1 (make <Button> 
                     :text "B1" 
                     :parent f))
    (define b2 (make <Button> 
                     :text "B2" 
                     :parent f))
\end{verbatim}
}
Created buttons here specify that their parent is the frame {\tt f}. Since
this frame does not specify a particular parent, it is supposed to be a direct
descendant of the root window {\tt "."}. This parent's notion is also used for
canvas items: a canvas item is considered as a son of the canvas which contains
it. For instance,
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (define c (make <Canvas>))
    (define r (make <Rectangle> 
                    :parent c 
                    :coords '(0 0 50 50)))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
defines a rectangle called {\tt r} in the {\tt c} canvas. User can now forget 
that {\tt r} is included in {\tt c} since this information is embedded in the 
Scheme object. To move this
rectangle, one can use for example the following expression:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (move r 10 10)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
which is more natural than the things we have to do at \stk first level.

\subsection{Generic functions}

With the \stk object layer, execution of a method doesn't use the classical
message sending mechanism as in numerous object languages but generic
functions. The mechanism implemented in \stk is a subset of the generic
functions of CLOS. As in CLOS, a generic function can have several methods
associated with it. These methods describe the generic function behaviour
according to the type of its parameters. A method for a generic function is
defined with the {\em define-method} form.

Following example shows three methods of the generic function {\tt value-of}:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
   (define-method value-of ((obj <Scale>))
     (string->number ((Id obj) 'get)))

   (define-method value-of ((obj <Entry>))
     ((Id obj) 'get))
    
   (define-method value-of (obj)
     (error "Bad call: " obj))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
When calling the {\tt value-of} generic function, system will choose 
the more adequate method, according to its parameter type: if parameter is a
scale or an entry, first  or second method is called; otherwise the third
method is called since it doesn't discriminates in favour of a particular
parameter type.

Setter method are a special kind of methods which are used with the
generalized {\tt set!}. Here are the corresponding setter methods to previous 
{\tt value-of}:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (define-method (setter value-of)
                   ((obj <Scale>) value)
      ((Id obj) 'set value))

    (define-method (setter value-of)
                   ((obj <Entry>) value)
      ((Id obj) 'delete 0 'end)
      ((Id obj) 'insert 0 value))
    
    (define-method (setter value-of) (obj)
      (error "Bad call: " obj))
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
One of these methods will be called when evaluating following form, depending
of type of {\tt x}:
{\small
\begin{verbatim}
    (set! (value-of x) 100)
\end{verbatim}
}
\noindent
As we can see here, generic functions yield things more homogeneous than what
we can have at \stk first level. Indeed getting and setting the value of an
entry or a scale can now be done in a similar fashion with those methods.

\section{Implementation - Performances}
The \stk interpreter is written in C and for some parts in Scheme. The object
oriented layer presented in section 3 is totally written in Scheme.  The
Scheme interpreter is as far as possible conform with R4RS \cite{R4RS}. It
is important to note that the Tk library is used unmodified in this
interpreter.  All the Tcl functions call issued by Tk primitives are simulated
by \stk.  This permits to the \stk interpreter to be, as far as possible,
independent of the Tk code. In particular, embedding a new release of Tk will
only require to link the new library to the actual {\stk}
interpreter. Furthermore, external contributions we can find on net can be
easily included in the interpreter, since Tcl ``intrinsics'' replacements are
present in the \stk core.

Actual implementation doesn't put accent on performances. It must be seen as a
prototype which must be stretched further. However, measuring the performances
of the \stk package is a difficult task and has not been really done yet. What
we can say for now is that there is a little overhead when calling a Tk
primitive written in C since the \stk package must translate all the
parameters in C strings. This translation must be done because the Tk library
``thinks'' that it works on Tcl which uses strings for passing parameters. In
counterpart, procedure written in Scheme are far more efficient than Tcl
scripts since the Scheme interpreter uses an appropriate format which is
cheaper than strings. In particular, there is no data conversion when other
Scheme procedures are called. Using the object extension of
\stk gives this tool more power but is, as we can expect, more time consuming.
For now, penalty when using the \stk object oriented layer is mainly due to
object creation: creating a widget with a {\tt make} is nearly 20 times slower
than basic creation achieved by using only first level primitives. However,
getting or reading a Tk option using a slot access is only 1.5 times slower
than direct Tk configuration. We can expect that rewriting some parts of the
\stk object layer in C will decrease those ratios.
Comparing the Tcl and Scheme approaches needs much more working; and a
complete study will be done when the package will be more stable.


\section{Open problems}
Using Scheme with Tk causes some difficulties which cannot satisfactorily be
resolved. Some problems are due to the very nature of Scheme, others are due to
Tk. Following, is a list of major of them 
\begin {itemize}
\item R4RS requires that symbol must be case insensitive. Tk
imposes, in a certain extent, to the underlying interpretative language to
be case sensitive since command in event handler scripts take into account
the case of the letter following the \% symbol. 

\item  Another problem arises with lists and strings: Tcl doesn't
distinguish those two types. In particular, one can set an option as a string
and asking to Tk this option value will yield a list. This is not a problem in
Tcl since a list is only another vision of a string. Unfortunately, there is no
such direct equivalence in Scheme. Improvement of this point would probably
require a modification of the Tk library.


\item One of the major assets of the Tk library is the {\tt send} command.
With this command, a Tk application can ask to another running Tk interpreter to
evaluate an expression. Since Tk library is not modified, \stk interpreters
cannot be distinguished from Tcl ones. Most of the time, this is confusing and
error prone because requests to an application must take into account the
language its underlying interpreter understands. 
Keeping the communication possibility between \stk an Tcl applications seems
to be suitable, but it would be fine to establish a standard way to
determine what kind of interpreter is running in a particular application.
\end {itemize}


\bibliography{bibliography}

\end{document}