Alphatk version 8.1fc1

Alphatk's web site is at <http://www.santafe.edu/~vince/Alphatk.html>.
Alphatk is a powerful text editor, implemented in Tcl/Tk.  It is not a
free product; you may purchase a license at <http://order.kagi.com/?1GU>.
New versions are releases frequently, so please check for updates if
you are experiencing problems.

If you have any questions/problems getting started with Alphatk, try
reading some of the documentation (in the Help menu), or contact me
directly at <vince.darley@kagi.com>.  Similarly if you have any
particular requests/desires for Alphatk, please contact me!  Whether
you love Alphatk or hate it, feedback can only help improve the product.

Alphatk shares numerous Help files with the MacOS-only editor Alpha.
In those documents the 'Command' key is equivalent to 'Alt' on
Windows/Unix, and the 'Option' key is equivalent to 'Meta', when
available.

If you wish to uninstall Alphatk, click here: <<uninstall>>

	  	 Supported Platforms:

I'm happy to support Alphatk on any platform on which Tk 8.1 or newer
runs (i.e. please tell me if it doesn't run on your platform when
using Tk 8.1 or newer).  Alphatk is currently known to run on:

Windows NT 4.0sp3,sp5,sp6, with any of Tcl/Tk 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4
Windows 2000sp1/2 with Tcl/Tk 8.3.2/3, Tcl 8.4a1-4.
Solaris running X-windows, with Tcl/Tk 8.1, 8.3.2
RedHat Linux with Tcl/Tk 8.4a1-4
MacOS X with Tcl/Tk 8.4a4 and DarwinX, or macosx-tk 8.4a4 (there are some
startup issues on MacOS X which are currently being debugged)

I assume it will also run under many more platforms, but I simply
haven't tested it.  Please tell me what other platforms you've got it
running on, and I'll add them to the list.  It should work on MacOS as
well, with one problem: modes which use a large number of menus will
lead to a 'Can't assign menu id' error.  MacTk needs to be updated for
some new APIs available in MacOS 8.5 or newer which allow more
menus...

	  	 Alphatk's API:

Most people will be content simply to use Alphatk as an editor.  Should
you feel the desire to further customize Alphatk, you should read
both "Alpha Commands" and "Extending Alpha" for details.

Code contributions are welcome...

	  	 Relationship with the MacOS editor 'Alpha'

Alpha was originally implemented by Pete Keleher on MacOS, and simply
used Tcl internally as a scripting and extension language.

Alphatk emulates the Tcl commands which Alpha originally exported from C:
there are several hundred of these which are used to create windows, menus,
dialogs, and handle editing, searching etc.  All of these had to be written
from scratch.  Simultaneously, the rest of the Tcl code which had been
written over the years to make Alpha a sophisticated 'mode-aware' text
editor underwent extensive work to make it independent of the differences
between Tk's and Alpha's views of the world.  The result of that work
is the 'AlphaTcl' library of code, which is now more or less shared by all
versions of Alpha and Alphatk.  The AlphaTcl library is now open source
and available on sourceforge.net

Since this new version is a complete reimplementation in Tcl/Tk (the
original was in C), it is a separate product and has different
licensing, copyright and payment methods.  Registered users of Alpha on
MacOS do not receive free licenses to Alphatk on any platform.  I
realise some folk may not like that, but the only way I could justify
the time I've put into Alphatk over recent years is to make it a
paid product.  You can purchase Alphatk at <http://order.kagi.com/?1GU>.

	  	 Known issues

Macs have command, shift, option and control keys.  Windows machines seem
only to have shift, control and alt keys (the 'fn' and 'windows' keys are
not accessible as modifiers from Tk, I believe).  This means on windows
there is a 'meta' modifier in some menu items which cannot be used.  If you
run Linux on a PC, the 'windows' key becomes the meta key, so you can then
use it.  Perhaps there is some way (or some utility) which can translate
that key when running Windows too?  Any suggestions welcome.
