Forum: Ruby Where is Ruby 1.9 'TK' library?

Just installed Ruby 1.9 and tried to run one of my TK applications that
works using Ruby 1.8.  There doesn't appear to be a 'TK' library in Ruby
1.9.  Where/how can I get and install the 'TK' library?

--Alex

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:36 PM, Alex DeCaria
<alex.decaria@millersville.edu> wrote:
> Just installed Ruby 1.9 and tried to run one of my TK applications that
> works using Ruby 1.8.  There doesn't appear to be a 'TK' library in Ruby
> 1.9.  Where/how can I get and install the 'TK' library?
>
> --Alex

See the recent (within the past two days) threads about Tk here. It
sounds like you're using the Windows RubyInstaller, which (as I just
found out) doesn't include Tk or Tk bindings.

On Feb 17, 7:36 pm, Alex DeCaria <alex.deca...@millersville.edu>
wrote:
> Just installed Ruby 1.9 and tried to run one of my TK applications that
> works using Ruby 1.8.  There doesn't appear to be a 'TK' library in Ruby
> 1.9.  Where/how can I get and install the 'TK' library?
>

The Tk bindings in RubyInstaller has not been included.

The reason for that is simple: finding the proper Tk package, manage
to automate the unpacking and verify that Ruby does the good job in
picking it up during compilation takes time.

All the above thing is what we call a build recipe. At this time,
nobody wrote it. But I'm open to add extensions if someone takes the
stab and create the recipe *using rake tasks) to build it.

The repository is here:

http://github.com/oneclick/rubyinstaller/

Once implemented and tested, just send a pull request and will get
those changes tested and then merged.

Is extremely important the Tk package Ruby will links against could be
unpacked, *not installed*. Installation sometimes requires certain
levels of right that some users don't have when working with the build
recipes.

Also, because the recipes should document the process, not hide a
dependency or specific of a version outside the repository.

Hope this shed some light on this.

Regards,

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 3:10 PM, Luis Lavena <luislavena@gmail.com> 
wrote:
> to automate the unpacking and verify that Ruby does the good job in
> Once implemented and tested, just send a pull request and will get
> Hope this shed some light on this.
Luis, is it possible at all to *add* Tk bindings to a copy of Ruby
that has already been installed via RubyInstaller?

> Luis, is it possible at all to *add* Tk bindings to a copy of Ruby
> that has already been installed via RubyInstaller?

Funny you ask.

http://wiki.github.com/rdp/ruby_tutorials_core/tk

has some info on it (I've had success installing tk_as_gem for 1.9.1 
mingw).

-rp

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 5:40 PM, Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com> 
wrote:
>> Luis, is it possible at all to *add* Tk bindings to a copy of Ruby
>> that has already been installed via RubyInstaller?
>
> Funny you ask.
>
> http://wiki.github.com/rdp/ruby_tutorials_core/tk
>
> has some info on it (I've had success installing tk_as_gem for 1.9.1
> mingw).

Wow, nice! Only... how do I compile the extension to take its Tcl/Tk
files from a non-default directory? I tried:
gem install tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir='C:/Documents and
Settings/echristopherson/My Documents/Development/Tcl'
--with-tk-dir='C:/Documents and Settings/echristopherson/My
Documents/Development/Tcl'

(I don't have permission to install in C:\.)

> Wow, nice! Only... how do I compile the extension to take its Tcl/Tk
> files from a non-default directory? I tried:
> gem install tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir='C:/Documents and
> Settings/echristopherson/My Documents/Development/Tcl'
> --with-tk-dir='C:/Documents and Settings/echristopherson/My
> Documents/Development/Tcl'

Did you add the bin dir into your path?
-r

Roger Pack wrote:
>> Luis, is it possible at all to *add* Tk bindings to a copy of Ruby
>> that has already been installed via RubyInstaller?
> 
> Funny you ask.
> 
> http://wiki.github.com/rdp/ruby_tutorials_core/tk
> 
> has some info on it (I've had success installing tk_as_gem for 1.9.1 
> mingw).
> 
> -rp

I tried:  'gem install tk_as_gem' but get the error message

'ERROR:  Error installing tk_as_gem:
         ERROR: Failed to build native extension.'

Any idea what may be wrong?  I have both Tcl and Ruby 1.9 installed on 
my C: drive.

--Alex

> 'ERROR:  Error installing tk_as_gem:
>          ERROR: Failed to build native extension.'
> 
> Any idea what may be wrong?  I have both Tcl and Ruby 1.9 installed on 
> my C: drive.

My first guess is that you don't have the devkit installed (if gcc 
--version works then you do, though).  We'll probably need more info, 
like put your mkmf.log output into a pastie and post the link back here 
or what not.
GL!
-r

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 6:14 PM, Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com> 
wrote:
>> Wow, nice! Only... how do I compile the extension to take its Tcl/Tk
>> files from a non-default directory? I tried:
>> gem install tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir='C:/Documents and
>> Settings/echristopherson/My Documents/Development/Tcl'
>> --with-tk-dir='C:/Documents and Settings/echristopherson/My
>> Documents/Development/Tcl'
>
> Did you add the bin dir into your path?

Yes. Still no luck. I also tried using both MSys and cmd.exe. This was
on my work computer.

At home, I tried installing the gem from MSys and it seemed to hang
for 30 minutes or more, so I ran gem install with --verbose the second
time. It seems to be sitting there doing nothing at a few different
spots, but the really long one (which never terminates that I can see)
is after it runs /bin/install on a whole bunch of files, with the last
one being ./lib/tkextlib/SUPPORT_STATUS.

At that point, I got the message "Updating class cache with 496
classes...". After waiting about 20 minutes for that the first time, I
decided to try running gem install with --no-ri and
--no-update-sources, but it still hangs.

Places where it hangs:
1. Right after the line
"c:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/ext/lib/tkextlib/tkimg/window.rb".
This takes about 10 minutes here, before it actually prints out the
remaining 42 or so files unpacked, and configures and compiles the
extension.
2. Right after the line "/bin/install -c -m 644
./lib/tkextlib/SUPPORT_STATUS
c:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/lib/tkextlib". This
is the one that seems to hang for 40 minutes, or however long I let it
go on.

After I kill the process, I am able to at least run a test Tk program.

While we're on the subject, gem install --verbose lists the files that
it's unpacking, and part of the output is the following:

(begin)
c:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/ext/lib/tk/clipboard.rb

:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/ext/lib/tk/clock.rb
(end)

-- notice that there is a blank line between clipboard.rb and
clock.rb, and the clock.rb line starts with :/ instead of c:/. Does
anyone know why that would be? It seems to always happen right between
those two lines.

> 2. Right after the line "/bin/install -c -m 644
> ./lib/tkextlib/SUPPORT_STATUS
> c:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/lib/tkextlib". This
> is the one that seems to hang for 40 minutes, or however long I let it
> go on.

Hangs with tk for me have typically historically meant that Tk wasn't 
found (I think, anyway).  that for was 1.8 I've never seen it for 1.9, 
though.

Here's a zipped up copy of my binaries (with the gem compiled in there). 
They might not even need the tcl binaries in the path...but probably do 
(8.4 binaries).

http://rubydoc.ruby-forum.com/distro/ruby191p376.tgz

HTH.

-rp

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 1:14 AM, Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com> 
wrote:
>
>> 2. Right after the line "/bin/install -c -m 644
>> ./lib/tkextlib/SUPPORT_STATUS
>> c:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.0.1/lib/tkextlib". This
>> is the one that seems to hang for 40 minutes, or however long I let it
>> go on.
>
> Hangs with tk for me have typically historically meant that Tk wasn't
> found (I think, anyway).  that for was 1.8 I've never seen it for 1.9,
> though.

It did find Tk and used it to compile the extension; and things seem
to work afterwards. Maybe part of the reason is that I was using Tk
8.5 instead of 8.4?

>
> Here's a zipped up copy of my binaries (with the gem compiled in there).
> They might not even need the tcl binaries in the path...but probably do
> (8.4 binaries).
>
> http://rubydoc.ruby-forum.com/distro/ruby191p376.tgz

Thanks. I'll try to download 8.4 so I can try it out later.

I got an interesting result.  I was able to install tk_from_gem and it 
installed and worked.  However, if I run my Tk application using Ruby 
1.9 it loads noticably slow (the Gui builds frame-by-frame as I watch 
it).  If I run the exact same application using Ruby 1.8, it loads 
instantaneously.

I've attached the application I'm running (a units converter program) in 
case anyone wants to play with it.  Please note it was my first attempt 
at GUI programming, so I know it's not the best for style, etc.

--Alex

Alex DeCaria wrote:
> I got an interesting result.  I was able to install tk_from_gem and it 
> installed and worked.  However, if I run my Tk application using Ruby 
> 1.9 it loads noticably slow (the Gui builds frame-by-frame as I watch 
> it).  If I run the exact same application using Ruby 1.8, it loads 
> instantaneously.

Interesting.  I get the same thing with tk_as_gem (and approximately the 
same thing with 1.9.1 with tk "built inline" (non gem)) [1]

Wonder why it's slower.

-rp
[1] http://rubydoc.ruby-forum.com/distro/ruby-1.9.1-p243-tweaked.tgz

Roger, could you give some more guidance on what gem/extconf switches
are required to get tk_as_gem built when Tk is installed somewhere
other than C:\Tcl?

Also, is there anything I can do to help diagnose the hanging problem
that happens on my other computer (which does have C:\Tcl)?

> Roger, could you give some more guidance on what gem/extconf switches
> are required to get tk_as_gem built when Tk is installed somewhere
> other than C:\Tcl?

Looks like I was hard coding it to /Tcl (my bad).

Give 'er a shot now.

ex:

gem install tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir=/installs/Tcl 
--with-tk-dir=/installs/Tcl



> Also, is there anything I can do to help diagnose the hanging problem
> that happens on my other computer (which does have C:\Tcl)?

Typically for me this has meant I don't have tk84.dll in my path.

You can make sure it is using the whichr gem, if desired.
c:\dev_old>gem install os whichr
c:\dev_old>whichr tk*.dll -a
higher in the list is executed first
e:\Tcl\bin\tk84.dll (is not executable)

(it should show one)
-r

On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 3:29 PM, Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com> 
wrote:
> gem install tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir=/installs/Tcl
> --with-tk-dir=/installs/Tcl

I've finally had success installing tk_as_gem on my home Windows VM
and my work Windows machine. It also no longer hangs for long periods
of time. On my VM I didn't really have to do anything to make it work,
but on my work PC I have everything stored under My Documents since I
can't write to C:\. Here is what helped:

1. Upgrade to the newest RubyInstaller package (1.9.1-p378). P243 had
a bug where the compilation couldn't finish because it had run out of
memory (Errno::ENOMEM). Install the devkit from rubyinstaller.org, if
you haven't already.
2. Run gem in a Windows command prompt (cmd) window. I never got it
working under MSys.
3. Use "short filenames" (the ones with ~ in them) instead of any
file/directory name with spaces. You can find out short filenames in
cmd by running dir /x on their parent directories. I couldn't get
paths with spaces to work.
4. For convenience, I set a shell variable TCLDIR_. It was set to
C:/Docume~1/echris~1/MyDocu~1/Development/Tcl. Note that this has
forward slashes instead of backslashes! Gcc doesn't understand
backslashes. (The underscore is because I had another variable TCLDIR
with backslashes.)
5. Use the command line:
gem install --verbose tk_as_gem -- --with-tcl-dir=%TCLDIR%
--with-tk-dir=%TCLDIR%

I really hope this helps someone. Roger, I don't know if you'd be able
to fix things so it can build with pathnames with spaces, or under
MSys, but that'd be great. And thanks for the hard work of making this
a gem!

Roger Pack wrote:
> 
>> 'ERROR:  Error installing tk_as_gem:
>>          ERROR: Failed to build native extension.'
>> 
>> Any idea what may be wrong?  I have both Tcl and Ruby 1.9 installed on 
>> my C: drive.
> 
> My first guess is that you don't have the devkit installed (if gcc 
> --version works then you do, though).  We'll probably need more info, 
> like put your mkmf.log output into a pastie and post the link back here 
> or what not.
> GL!
> -r

Roger,

I'm still trying to get tk_to_gem to work on my 64-bit windows.  I made 
sure devkit was installed, and gcc --version works.  I'm getting the 
same error message.  I can't seem to locate the mkmf.log file.  It 
doesn't even seem to be created (I did a search of my entire harddrive 
and only found mkmf.log files for other installs I've done).

As mentioned before, it worked fine on my other (32-bit) system.  Would 
there be any 64-bit issues with tk_as_gem?

--Alex

> I'm still trying to get tk_to_gem to work on my 64-bit windows.  I made 
> sure devkit was installed, and gcc --version works.  I'm getting the 
> same error message.  I can't seem to locate the mkmf.log file.  It 
> doesn't even seem to be created (I did a search of my entire harddrive 
> and only found mkmf.log files for other installs I've done).

What's the full output? Do you have 32 bit versions of tk and ruby 
installed, I assume?
-rp

Roger Pack wrote:
> What's the full output? Do you have 32 bit versions of tk and ruby 
> installed, I assume?
> -rp

I have ActiveState Active Tcl8.4.19.1 installed, along with Ruby 
1.9.1p378 (2010-01-10 revision 26273) [i386-mingw32].  Ruby is working 
fine with my other apps, and the Active Tcl is working fine with my TK 
apps if I run them under Ruby 1.8.6.

Ruby 1.9 is my default installation (confirmed by ruby -v).

When I type gem install tk_as_gem I get:
'Building native extensions.  This could take a while...
ERROR:  Error installing tk_as_gem:
        ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension.

C:/Ruby19/bin/ruby.exe extconf.rb

Gem files will remain installed in 
C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.1.0 for inspection.
Results logged to 
C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.1.0/gem_make.out'

The contents of the gem_make.out file are just 'C:/Ruby19/bin/ruby.exe 
extconf.rb'

I do have devkit in the Ruby19 directory, along with the appropriate 
/bin stuff from devkit.

Other gems install fine.  I currently have fxruby and RMagick gems 
installed and they are working fine.  My gem environment is 1.3.6.

--Alex

> The contents of the gem_make.out file are just 'C:/Ruby19/bin/ruby.exe 
> extconf.rb'

What happens if you try and run ruby extconf.rb?
-rp

Roger Pack wrote:
>> The contents of the gem_make.out file are just 'C:/Ruby19/bin/ruby.exe 
>> extconf.rb'
> 
> What happens if you try and run ruby extconf.rb?
> -rp

I'm away from my system this week.  When I return I'll try running ruby 
extconf.rb and let you know the outcome.

Thanks --Alex

Roger Pack wrote:
> What happens if you try and run ruby extconf.rb?
> -rp

The results of running ruby extconf.rb are:

checking for ruby_native_thread_p() in ruby.h... yes
checking for rb_errinfo() in ruby.h... yes
checking for rb_safe_level() in ruby.h... yes
checking for struct RArray.ptr in ruby.h... no
checking for struct RArray.len in ruby.h... no
checking for tcl.h... no
checking for tcl.h in 
/usr/local/include,/usr/pkg/include,/usr/include,/Tcl/include,/usr/local/include/tcl8.4,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.4,/usr/include/tcl8.4,/Tcl/include/tcl8.4,/usr/local/include/tcl8.7,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.7,/usr/include/tcl8.7,/Tcl/include/tcl8.7,/usr/local/include/tcl8.6,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.6,/usr/include/tcl8.6,/Tcl/include/tcl8.6,/usr/local/include/tcl8.5,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.5,/usr/include/tcl8.5,/Tcl/include/tcl8.5,/usr/local/include/tcl8.3,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.3,/usr/include/tcl8.3,/Tcl/include/tcl8.3,/usr/local/include/tcl8.2,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.2,/usr/include/tcl8.2,/Tcl/include/tcl8.2,/usr/local/include/tcl8.1,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.1,/usr/include/tcl8.1,/Tcl/include/tcl8.1,/usr/local/include/tcl8.0,/usr/pkg/include/tcl8.0,/usr/include/tcl8.0,/Tcl/include/tcl8.0,/usr/local/include/tcl7.6,/usr/pkg/include/tcl7.6,/usr/include/tcl7.6,/Tcl/include/tcl7.6... 
yes
checking for tk.h... yes
checking for Tcl_FindExecutable() in -ltcl8.4... no
checking for Tcl_FindExecutable() in -ltcl84... yes
checking for Tk_Init() in -ltk8.4... no
checking for Tk_Init() in -ltk84... yes
checking for rb_hash_lookup() in ruby.h... yes
creating Makefile

As a reminder, I have ActiveState Tcl/Tk 8.4 installed in C:\Tcl

--Alex

> checking for tk.h... yes
> checking for Tcl_FindExecutable() in -ltcl8.4... no
> checking for Tcl_FindExecutable() in -ltcl84... yes
> checking for Tk_Init() in -ltk8.4... no
> checking for Tk_Init() in -ltk84... yes
> checking for rb_hash_lookup() in ruby.h... yes
> creating Makefile

And then when you run make?
-r

> 
> And then when you run make?
> -r

after running 'make' the results are:

gcc -shared -s -o tcltklib.so stubs.o tcltklib.o -L. -LC:/Ruby19/lib 
-LC:/Tcl/lib -L.  -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base,--enable-auto-import 
-lmsvcrt-ruby191 -ltk84 -ltcl84  -lshell32 -lws2_32

Then I do 'make install' and get the contents of the attached .txt file.

After all is said and done, then when I try to run a ruby tk app I get 
the following error:

C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/tk.rb:7 in `require': no such file to 
load - tkutil (Load Error)
     from C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/tk.rb:7:in `<top 
(required)>'

--Alex

Alex DeCaria wrote:
>> 
>> And then when you run make?
>> -r
> 
> after running 'make' the results are:
> 
> gcc -shared -s -o tcltklib.so stubs.o tcltklib.o -L. -LC:/Ruby19/lib 
> -LC:/Tcl/lib -L.  -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base,--enable-auto-import 
> -lmsvcrt-ruby191 -ltk84 -ltcl84  -lshell32 -lws2_32

that it odd it should be creating several .so files

e:\>gem which tkutil
E:/installs/ruby191p376/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.1.0/lib/tkutil.so

e:\>gem which tcltklib
E:/installs/ruby191p376/lib/ruby/gems/1.9.1/gems/tk_as_gem-0.1.0/lib/tcltklib.so

What does yours say for those commands after installing the gem?  My 
guess is that they exist but somehow aren't finding the dll's right or 
something.

If you have the file tkutil.so, you can train "dependency walker" on it 
[1], and it might inform you of missing dependencies or what not...
Let me know how it goes.
-r
[1] http://www.dependencywalker.com/

gem which tkutil results in:
 ERROR:  Can't find ruby library file or shared library tkutil

gem which tcltklib results in:
C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/i386-msvcrt/tcltklib.so

If I search my entire C: drive for tkutil.so it finds a copy in my old 
Ruby 1.8 installation, but not in the Ruby 1.9 installation.  I don't 
suppose I could just copy the file from the 1.8 install to the 1.9 
install?  If so, where should I put it?

--Alex

> gem which tcltklib results in:
> C:/Ruby19/lib/ruby/site_ruby/1.9.1/i386-msvcrt/tcltklib.so

That's the built-in one, I think, not the gem one...and this is after a 
successful gem install?  "gem search tk_as_gem" lists something? what 
does "gem which tk" yield?

You might get some traction in building the gem on you 32 bit box and 
then copying over that entire ruby version to your 64 bit box, too.
GL!
-r

Roger Pack wrote:
> You might get some traction in building the gem on you 32 bit box and 
> then copying over that entire ruby version to your 64 bit box, too.
> GL!
> -r

That worked!  I copied the entire tk_as_gem-0.1.0 directory from my 32 
bit install to the 64 bit machine, and it worked first time!  Thanks for 
the tip.

I have two additional questions:

1) Will the tk_as_gem work with a later version of Tcl/Tk, or do I need 
to stick with the 8.4 version I am using now?

2) Any ideas as to why the Tk apps with Ruby 1.9 load so slow compared 
to the way it was on Ruby 1.8?

Again, thanks for all your help.  I'm happy that I can at least run my 
apps now.

--Alex

> 1) Will the tk_as_gem work with a later version of Tcl/Tk, or do I need 
> to stick with the 8.4 version I am using now?

I think it will work with 8.5

> 2) Any ideas as to why the Tk apps with Ruby 1.9 load so slow compared 
> to the way it was on Ruby 1.8?

Nope.  If you can reproduce it in Linux, you could ping core and ask 
them why they think it's slow (or anybody else out there?).

rp

From: Roger Pack <rogerpack2005@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Where is Ruby 1.9 'TK' library?
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:21:30 +0900
Message-ID: <e97b3f4392e52cdc3a0bf4d1469f1206@ruby-forum.com>
> > 2) Any ideas as to why the Tk apps with Ruby 1.9 load so slow compared 
> > to the way it was on Ruby 1.8?
> 
> Nope.  If you can reproduce it in Linux, you could ping core and ask 
> them why they think it's slow (or anybody else out there?).

I've had a trouble on extremely slow loading Ruby1.9/Tk on my linux box.
Then, the linux box worked fine. It had no other trouble.
Although I couldn't find the reason of why, it was gone after rebooting
the linux box.