Provided by: tk8.5-doc_8.5.19-3_all bug

NAME

       console - Control the console on systems without a real console

SYNOPSIS

       console subcommand ?arg ...?
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DESCRIPTION

       The  console  window  is a replacement for a real console to allow input and output on the
       standard I/O channels on platforms that do not have a real console.  It is implemented  as
       a  separate  interpreter  with the Tk toolkit loaded, and control over this interpreter is
       given through the console command.  The behaviour of the console window is defined  mainly
       through  the  contents  of the console.tcl file in the Tk library. Except for TkAqua, this
       command is not available when Tk is loaded into a tclsh interpreter with “package  require
       Tk”,  as  a conventional terminal is expected to be present in that case.  In TkAqua, this
       command is ony available when stdin is /dev/null (as is the case e.g. when the application
       embedding Tk is started from the Mac OS X Finder).

       console eval script
              Evaluate  the  script  argument  as  a  Tcl script in the console interpreter.  The
              normal interpreter is accessed through the consoleinterp  command  in  the  console
              interpreter.

       console hide
              Hide  the  console  window  from  view.   Precisely equivalent to withdrawing the .
              window in the console interpreter.

       console show
              Display the console window.  Precisely equivalent to deiconifying the .  window  in
              the console interpreter.

       console title ?string?
              Query  or  modify  the  title  of  the console window.  If string is not specified,
              queries the title of the console window, and sets the title of the  console  window
              to  string  otherwise.   Precisely  equivalent to using the wm title command in the
              console interpreter.

ACCESS TO THE MAIN INTERPRETER

       The consoleinterp command in the console interpreter allows scripts to be evaluated in the
       main interpreter.  It supports two subcommands: eval and record.

       consoleinterp eval script
              Evaluates script as a Tcl script at the global level in the main interpreter.

       consoleinterp record script
              Records  and  evaluates  script  as  a  Tcl  script at the global level in the main
              interpreter as if script had been typed in at the console.

ADDITIONAL TRAP CALLS

       There are several additional commands in  the  console  interpreter  that  are  called  in
       response  to activity in the main interpreter.  These are documented here for completeness
       only; they form part of the internal implementation of  the  console  and  are  likely  to
       change or be modified without warning.

       Output  to  the  console  from  the main interpreter via the stdout and stderr channels is
       handled by invoking the tk::ConsoleOutput command in  the  console  interpreter  with  two
       arguments.  The first argument is the name of the channel being written to, and the second
       argument is the string being written  to  the  channel  (after  encoding  and  end-of-line
       translation processing has been performed.)

       When the . window of the main interpreter is destroyed, the tk::ConsoleExit command in the
       console interpreter is called (assuming the  console  interpreter  has  not  already  been
       deleted itself, that is.)

DEFAULT BINDINGS

       The default script creates a console window (implemented using a text widget) that has the
       following behaviour:

       [1]    Pressing the tab key inserts a TAB character (as defined by the Tcl \t escape.)

       [2]    Pressing the return key causes the current line (if complete by the rules  of  info
              complete) to be passed to the main interpreter for evaluation.

       [3]    Pressing  the delete key deletes the selected text (if any text is selected) or the
              character to the right of the cursor (if not at the end of the line.)

       [4]    Pressing the backspace key deletes the selected text (if any text is  selected)  or
              the character to the left of the cursor (of not at the start of the line.)

       [5]    Pressing  either  Control+A or the home key causes the cursor to go to the start of
              the line (but after the prompt, if a prompt is present on the line.)

       [6]    Pressing either Control+E or the end key causes the cursor to go to the end of  the
              line.

       [7]    Pressing  either  Control+P  or the up key causes the previous entry in the command
              history to be selected.

       [8]    Pressing either Control+N or the down key causes the  next  entry  in  the  command
              history to be selected.

       [9]    Pressing  either  Control+B or the left key causes the cursor to move one character
              backward as long as the cursor is not at the prompt.

       [10]   Pressing either Control+F or the right key causes the cursor to move one  character
              forward.

       [11]   Pressing  F9  rebuilds  the  console  window  by  destroying  all  its children and
              reloading the Tcl script that defined the console's behaviour.

       Most other behaviour is the same as a conventional text widget except for the way that the
       <<Cut>> event is handled identically to the <<Copy>> event.

EXAMPLE

       Not all platforms have the console command, so debugging code often has the following code
       fragment in it so output produced by puts can be seen while during development:
              catch {console show}

SEE ALSO

       destroy(3tk),  fconfigure(3tcl),  history(3tcl),  interp(3tcl),   puts(3tcl),   text(3tk),
       wm(3tk)

KEYWORDS

       console, interpreter, window, interactive, output channels