NAME

       xowish - Graphical shell containing object-oriented scripting language XOTcl

SYNOPSIS

       xowish ?fileName arg arg ...?
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DESCRIPTION

       xowish  is  a shell-like application that reads XOTcl commands from its standard input or from a file and
       evaluates them. In addition to xotclsh it provides graphical user interface support for TK widgets.

       XOTcl (XOTcl, pronounced exotickle) is an object-oriented scripting language based on MIT's OTcl.  It  is
       intended as a value added replacement for OTcl.

       Scripting  languages,  like  Tcl,  are  designed  for  glueing components together, provide features like
       dynamic extensibility and dynamic typing with automatic conversion, that make them well suited for  rapid
       application development.

       The  basic  object  system of XOTcl is adopted from OTcl. The object system enables us to define objects,
       classes, and meta-classes. Classes are special objects  with  the  purpose  of  managing  other  objects.
       ``Managing''  means  that  a  class  controls  the  creation and destruction of its instances and that it
       contains a repository of methods accessible for the instances. Every object may be enhanced with  object-
       specific  methods.  XOTcl supports single and multiple inheritance. All relationships in XOTcl, including
       class and superclass relationships, are completely  dynamic  and  can  be  introspected.  Through  method
       chaining  without  explicit  naming of the intended method, ambiguities in name resolution of methods are
       avoided. This way a shadowed method can be ``mixed into'' the execution of the current method.

       XOTcl combines the ideas of scripting and object-orientation in a way that preserves the benefits of both
       of them. It is equipped with several new language functionalities that help building and managing complex
       systems. We added the following support:

       Dynamic Object Aggregations, to provide dynamic aggregations through nested namespaces (objects).

       Nested Classes, to reduce the interference of independently developed program structures.

       Assertions, to reduce the interface and the reliability problems caused by dynamic typing and, therefore,
       to ease the combination of many components.

       Meta-data, to enhance self-documentation of objects and classes.

       Per-object mixins, as a means to improve flexibility of mixin methods  by  giving  an  object  access  to
       several different supplemental classes, which may be changed dynamically.

       Per-class  mixins,  as  a  means to improve flexibility of mixin methods to a class, all instances of the
       class have access to the mixed in methods  like  for  multiple  inheritance,  but  without  the  need  of
       intersection classes.

       Filters  as  a  means of abstractions over method invocations to implement large program structures, like
       design patterns.

       Dynamic Component Loading XOTcl integrates  the  Tcl  package  loading  with  architectrual  support  for
       integration with object-oriented constructs. Moreover, it provides tracking/tracing of component loading.

KEYWORDS

       argument, interpreter, prompt, script file, shell

XOWish                                                                                                 xowish(1)