An HTML Widget For Tcl/Tk

Last update: Wed Aug 28 12:12:40 EDT 2002

"Tkhtml" is a Tcl/Tk widget that displays HTML. Tkhtml is implemented in C. It is a true widget, not a metawidget implemented using the Text or Canvas widgets of the Tcl/Tk core. Implementing Tkhtml in C gives it a number of advantages:

• It runs fast and uses little memory.
• It supports smooth scrolling.
• It supports text wrap-around on images and tables.
• It has a full implementation of tables. Complex pages (such as http://www.scriptics.com/) are displayed correctly.
• Supports forms.
• It supports the <APPLET>, <SCRIPT> and <EMBED>. (Partially. Full support is pending.)
• Support for frames is planned.

Tkhtml can be used with Tcl/Tk8.0 or later. The shared libraries use the new stubs mechanism, so you should be able to load Tkhtml with any version of "wish" beginning with 8.0.6.

At the moment, there is not a lot of software that uses this widget. Tkhtml is not an application in and of itself. It is only a tool. But applications are being built around tkhtml. Check back later for new developments.

Mailing List!

New! A mailing list has been started for users of tkhtml. Sign up if you want to recieve notifications of updates or ask questions about using tkhtml.

You Can Help!

If you would like to help, please consider contributing in the following ways:

• Try out tkhtml on your computer and report bugs to drh@acm.org.
• Fix bugs and send in patches. (Write access to the CVS repository may be granted to anyone who is serious about this.)
• Make suggestions for new features.
• Write applications that use tkhtml.
• Improve the documentation.

Any help you can provide is appreciated.

Getting The Widget

Visit the download page for a list of files available for immediate download.

You can now also obtain the latest tkhtml sources via anonymous CVS. To access the anonymous CVS server, first install CVS on your system. (See http://www.cyclic.com/ for additional information.) Then login as follows:

cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@cvs.hwaci.com:/home/cvs/tkhtml login

You will be prompted for a password. Use "anonymous". After you get logged in successfully, you can check out the source tree like this:

cvs -d :pserver:anonymous@cvs.hwaci.com:/home/cvs/tkhtml checkout htmlwidget

This command creates a directory named "htmlwidget" and fills it with the latest version of the sources.

You can view a log of changes, create trouble tickets, or read or enter Wiki about TkHTML by visiting the CVSTrac server at

http://cvs.hwaci.com:2080/tkhtml/

Note that the cvs.hwaci.com machine is connected to the internet via a cable modem which changes IP addresses 3 or 4 times a year. If you have trouble getting through, it may be because there was a recent IP address change and the new address has not yet had time to propagate through DNS. Try again in a few days.