Deployment is the work it takes to move from finished application to application working on the end-users desktop/server/other computer to keeping the application up to date.
Issues to be considered include:
The Wikipedia has a serious page [L1 ] on the topic.
[Discussions in pages on "VFS", "Critcl builds C extensions on-the-fly", "MicroTcl for Tcl9", "Jean-Claude Wippler", "James Garrison", "Script to merge C source files", "How can I compile Tcl type scripts into binary code", "COMPANY: Career Demon.com plc", Cameron Laird's personal remarks on deployment [L2 ], ...]
Bob Techentin wisely observes, "You might consider a 'traditional' tcl/tk installation, complete [with] additional packages, as a component of your application. Take a close look at how TclPro tools get installed, and you'll see that the 'wish' executable is actually a short shell script which sets some environment variables (e.g., LD_LIBRARY_PATH) and then execs the binary shell."
Another option is to use Tclkit's starkit [L3 ]. In a few steps:
There are ways to make "main.tcl" work in unpackaged as well as in packaged form, which is useful for debugging. All of this is based on Tcl's Virtual File System or VFS in short. All examples here [L5 ] and here [L6 ] use this same approach, you can unpack them (with "sdx sd2fs ...") to see how they work. - JCW
ActiveState's Tcl Dev Kit TclApp tool builds on starkit technology to make all the above a simple point-and-click exercise.
Also be sure to check out the wondrous offerings at the Starkit Distribution Archive [L7 ]
EKB There is also FreeWrap, which works quite nicely.
An interesting academic project in this area: the Software Dock [L8 ].
Wize - Wish Integrated Zip Executable is yet another deployment method, along with a development environment.
See also A Poor Boy does Deployment for the ravings (;-)) of Rohan Pall as he struggles to solve various deployment issues. This is a stream of conciousness description to show people that this stuff of putting an application on a desktop is non-trivial.
"[W]ith the advent of starkit/starpack technology, deployment issues are mostly a thing of the past ..." -- Jeff Godfrey
LV What would be a good web site for someone attempting to get a handle on these types of issues, in cases where a starkit is not an option?
Lectus There's also Tkwrap from the WinTclTk project: http://wintcltk.sourceforge.net/tkwrap.html
What deployment options with encryption are available?