			     INTRODUCTION
			     ============
				   
                      The Perl/Tk Reference Guide

The Perl/Tk Reference Guide is a typeset quick reference guide to Nick
Ing-Simmon's Perl implementation of John Ousterhout's Tk toolkit. The guide
style is based on Johan Vromans' guide for Perl.

It contains a concise description of (almost) all Perl/Tk statements,
variables and lots of other useful information. The Guide is based on Perl
version 5.004 and Tk 4.2.

The purpose of the Reference Guide is to aid in the use of Perl/Tk, to look
up the syntax of specific commands, statements and the meaning of built-in
variables. It is *NOT* a self-contained user guide - basic knowledge of the
Perl and Tk languages is required. It is *NOT* complete - some of the more
obscure variants of Tk constructs have been left out. But all commands and
variables are mentioned in at least one way they can be used.

The Reference Guide is designed and created by Johan Vromans using the LaTex
typesetting system. For best results, Tom Rockiki's dvips 5.47 should be used
to generate the PostScript output. Your mileage may vary when you use other
output mechanisms.

*** IMPORTANT ***

The included file refbase.ps contains the basic guide in 44 pages formated
for A4 paper. This is almost definitely NOT what you want to print.  A
special formatting tool, written in Perl, makes it possible to reformat this
PostScript output for reproduction in a number of formats. If you cannot run
this tool, you probably don't have perl installed. To get it, try
http://www.perl.com/perl/.


INSTALLATION
============

 1. Unload the distribution

    After unloading the distribution, you will have the following
    files in a suitably named sub-directory:

	README	    - this file
	Makefile    - makefile
	parr.pl	    - reformat and rearrange tool
	Layout	    - description of the format
	refbase.tex - LaTeX source for the Reference Guide
	refbase.cls - LaTeX class for the Reference Guide
	refbase.ps  - pre-generated PostScript base
	testbase.ps - alignment test page
	Makefile.psutils - makefile to be used with psutils
	PROBLEMS    - known problems on certain printers

    The lastest distribution can be found at
        ftp://ftp.lehigh.edu/pub/perl5/
    or at your nearest CPAN site
        CPAN/authors/id/LUSOL/

 2. Create the PostScript base file ( *** IF NEEDED *** )

    *** Normally you can skip this step since a pre-generated
        PostScript file is included in the kit.

    This step requires the LaTeX typesetting system, version 2e of
    1994/12/01, and dvips version 5.47 or later. Earlier 2e versions
    of LaTeX may work, but have not been verified.

    - Use "make refbase-ps" (a dash, not a dot) to create a new
      PostScript file from the LaTeX source. This file can be printed
      normally. 

    NOTE: dvips must be instructed to use a4 format paper ('-t a4')
	  even if you intend to print on a different format!

 3. Determine the paper format and alignment

    As distributed, the Makefile is configured to generate output for
    US Letter (8.5 x 11") paper format. Comment out the line "PAPER=-letter"
    in the Makefile to select A4 (21 x 29.7 cm) format. Both
    formats should be printable on industry-standard PostScript
    printers.

    Now "make testpage.ps" and print it. The test page contains a
    scale. Find the center of the paper by folding it as illustrated
    and determine the value on the scale where the center of the paper
    intersects the scale. Add this value to the definition of HALIGN
    in the Makefile (initially 0). It is important that you modify the
    Makefile otherwise the test page will not be re-generated with the
    modified values.

    "make testpage.ps" once again and print it. Folding it should show
    that the center of the paper is at scale value 0. If not, repeat
    the process.

    For example, if your print looks like:

                                   :                           
     100                           :         0                 
     |---+---+---+---+---+---+---+-:-+---+---|---+---+---+---+---+--
                                   :                           
                                   :<- center of paper

    The value of HALIGN should be increased with 25.

    You can adjust the vertical offset by modifying VALIGN although
    this should rarely be necessary. Vertical alignment uses the same
    units as the horizontal alignment, positive offsets move the image
    down on the paper.

    NOTE: Do not print from Ghostview or other PostScript viewing
          tools since this can lead to mis-aligned prints.

    NOTE: If you have Angus Duggan's psutils package installed you can
          use Makefile.psutils instead. However, this is not
          supported by me.
          Angus' email address is <angus@harlequin.co.uk> .

 4. Create the RefGuide from the PostScript base

    You can use "make" to generate a new PostScript file for one of
    the following formats:

     - Use "make refguide.ps" to create a guide formatted in pages
       of 2-column text. It should be printed double-sided, stapled in
       the middle, folded, and cut to size to have a 24-page 4.25 x 8"
       booklet. See the "Layout" document.

     - Use "make 2pass" to create a set of odd and even pages for
       double sided printing. First print "guide-odd.ps". Then put the
       paper back in the tray, and print either "guide-even1.ps" or
       "guide-even2.ps", depending on the way your printer arranges
       the printed paper.
       "guide-even1.ps" is for printers with correct output stacking like
       Apple LaserWriter II. 
       "guide-even2.ps" is for printers with reverse output stacking,
       like old Apple LaserWriters. 
       In other words, after printing "guide-odd.ps", if the
       text of the front page is on top -- use "guide-even1.ps".
       But if you're looking at the text of the middle pages -- use
       "guide-even2.ps". 

    "make" without arguments will default to refguide.ps.

    NOTE: If you have Angus Duggan's psutils package installed you can
          use Makefile.psutils instead. However, this is not
          supported by me.

    On printers that support it, duplex printing is attempted. See the
    Makefile for details. This does not apply to Makefile.psutils.

    See also the file PROBLEMS.

Comments are welcome, send them to the Reference Guide author.

DETAILED HELP
=============

Implementors like John Ousterhout and Nick Ing-Simmons are busy people, so
don't bother them with Perl or Tk or Tcl questions, but use a newsgroup
instead:

	comp.lang.perl.misc
	comp.lang.perl.tk
	comp.lang.tcl

HISTORY
=======

The first version of the Reference Guide --"reference card" it was
called then-- appeared in 1989 with Perl version 2. It was created
using an Apple Macintosh and the RagTime DeskTop publishing tool. It
was 9 pages, if I remember well. The PostScript output was extracted
from the Mac and hacked for 'normal' use with the macps program.

With Perl version 3 came the next version. A 15-page card format, and
a 16-page reference guide. This time, the Guide was created using
MicroSoft Word, again on Macintosh. Tools were supplied to manipulate
the PostScript file to suit different printing formats. In a later
version, the card format was abandoned.

Next came the Camel version, with Perl version 4. Much effort was
spent to have the abundance of new functions fit on 16 pages.

After the book appeared, I decided to rework the Guide to use more
pages, and different styles and fonts for clarity. I reworked the
MS-Word version, to find out that the resultant PostScript file had
increased from 90Kb to 180Kb! 
So I decided to start again, from scratch (well, almost) using the
LaTeX typesetting system. The resultant PostScript file is now 80Kb,
while it prints out almost identical to the 180Kb MS-Word version.

When Perl 5 came out, the Guide was reworked to include the plethora
of new features while still trying to be concise. 
I also used a scan of the Camel to create a real cover page.
Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.) wrote me:

    You can do this, as long as you say somewhere in your text,
    "The camel as an image associated with perl is a trademark
    of O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. and is used with permission."

    Trademarks are funny. If you don't use due diligence to protect
    them, you lose them. We've applied to treat all our cover animals
    as trademarks, so they don't get abused by other publishers, and
    we need to acknowledge them as such if they are used elsewhere.

Thanks Tim, for the permission.

Paul Raines then borrowed the style file and other support files
to create a Reference Guide for Tcl/Tk.

Steve Lidie then borrowed Paul Raines' Tcl/Tk files to create a
Reference Guide for Perl/Tk.

COPYRIGHT
=========

The Perl Reference Guide is copyrighted by the author. It may be
reproduced, printed and distributed freely for non-profit purposes, as
long as the original author gets the credits, and the copyright notice
is not removed from the text. It may not be turned into a commercial
product except with written permission of the author.

---------------------------- author info -----------------------------
Johan Vromans                                     jvromans@squirrel.nl
Squirrel Design & Consultancy                 Boskoop, the Netherlands
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jvromans           http://www.xxlink.nl/squirrel
----------------------------------------------------------------------

CREDITS
=======

I like to thank everyone who has helped me (and encouraged me) to get
the job done, and to get the results to you. Especially Tom
Christiansen and JGreely (for "parr") And Larry Wall, of course,
without whom I would have spent lots of time annoying myself.

CREDITS FOR TCL/TK REFERENCE GUIDE
==================================

The Tcl/Tk Reference Guide is copyrighted by the author. It may be
reproduced, printed and distributed freely, as long as the original
author gets the credits, and the copyright notice is not removed from
the text. It may not be turned into a commercial product except with
written permission of the author.

---------------------------- author info -----------------------------
                            Paul Raines
             MS 42 Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
                  Stanford, California 94309-4349
                        tel. (415) 926 4378
                  email: <raines@slac.stanford.edu>
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to Jeff Tranter for Tcl reference parts and of course
John Ousterhout for creating Tcl and Tk.

CREDITS FOR PERL/TK REFERENCE GUIDE
===================================

I can't see how I can take credit for anything (-: This guide, of course, may
be reproduced, printed and distributed freely under the sames terms as Perl
itself, but may not be used commercially without my permission.

---------------------------- author info -----------------------------
Stephen.O.Lidie@Lehigh.EDU
Lehigh University Computing Center, USA
----------------------------------------------------------------------

-- PostScript is a trademark of Adobe, I assume.




