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Highlights | Frequently Asked Questions | Requirements
Protect your source code!
TclPro Compiler translates your Tcl scripts into bytecode files so
that you can distribute your applications without providing access
to the original Tcl source code. TclPro Compiler protects your proprietary
interest when you distribute applications to customers. It also simplifies
maintenance and support by preventing customers from modifying the
Tcl code of the application. TclPro Compiler allows you to retain all
the benefits of working with a dynamic scripting language, while regaining
the advantages of distributing applications in compiled form.
Source code protection. The bytecodes generated by TclPro Compiler
use a lower-level representation that hides the original source code.
Flexible output. The output of TclPro Compiler is a Tcl script
that can be used anywhere normal Tcl scripts can be used, such as the
source command, the eval command, or even
a startup file invoked directly from a Unix shell.
Portability. The bytecodes generated by TclPro Compiler are
portable across all platforms supported by TclPro: bytecodes generated
on one platform may be used on a different platform.
Q. Can I use compiled bytecodes with any Tcl application?
A. Yes, as long as the application uses Tcl 8.0.3 or later. TclPro
includes a special bytecode loader package that reads in and evaluates
bytecodes; you can link this package into your applications or distribute
it separately as a Tcl package.
Q. Will TclPro Compiler make my applications load faster?
A. We think that TclPro Compiler should provide a modest performance
benefit, because without it your code has to be compiled each time
the application is run. However, the size of the benefit depends significantly
on the specific application.
Q. Does TclPro Compiler work with extensions?
A. Yes, but if the extensions define their own control structures (such as methods in object-oriented extensions) TclPro Compiler won't be able to compile the bodies of the control structures. TclPro Compiler will leave these bodies in source form, where they will be compiled on-the-fly by the normal Tcl 8.x mechanisms. Thus you can still use the compiler with extensions, but you won't get quite as much source code protection. TclPro Compiler has special support for the incorporated open source extensions ([incr Tcl], Expect, and TclX), so that their methods are obfuscated, and we will provide support for additional extensions in the future.
Q. Can I invoke bytecode files directly from my Unix shell as applications?
A. Yes. TclPro Compiler provides a mechanism for adding header lines
to bytecode files to provide facilities like the #! mechanism
used to invoke scripts under Unix.
Q. Can commands like info body be used to discover
the bodies of compiled procedures?
A. No. TclPro Compiler compiles the bodies of procedures to bytecodes.
For compiled procedures, the info body command returns
a comment string saying that the procedure has been compiled so its
body isn't available.
Q. Do my customers have to purchase TclPro licenses in order to
use my compiled applications?
A. No. Your TclPro license agreement gives you the right to redistribute,
royalty-free, a bytecode reader file along with your compiled applications.
System hardware/software
TclPro Compiler is available as a ready-to-run application for the following platforms. The bytecode files may also be used on these same platforms:
- Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 (Intel), 2000
- Solaris 2.5, 2.6, 7 (SPARC)
- HP-UX 10.20
- Linux (Intel, Red Hat 5.0+, SuSE 6.0+)
- SGI IRIX 6.3+
Note: The Linux distribution is for the Intel platform and the glibc2 C library.
Tcl versions
TclPro Compiler works with the following versions of Tcl:
- Tcl 8.0.3 or higher, excluding 8.1
- Tk 8.0.3 or higher, excluding 8.1
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