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From: Mo <no@spam.com>
Subject: [ANNOUNCE] Jacl and Tcl Blend 1.2.4 ready for download.
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 16:07:40 +0000

This message is to announce the new 1.2.4 release of Jacl and
Tcl Blend.  These releases are the result of a joint effort by
Mo DeJong, Christopher Hylands, and Bryan Surles. The goal of
this project is to extend and improve the 1.0 release of Jacl
and Tcl Blend which was originally started by the Sun Tcl team.

The 1.2.4 Developers release of Jacl and Tcl Blend are available for
downloading at the following URL:

    http://www.cs.umn.edu/~dejong/tcl/tcljava

The 1.2 version is a developers release and should be considered alpha
quality. Version 1.2.4 includes lots of bug fixes and new features
that make it even easier to use Tcl and Java together.


What's New in the 1.2.4 Release?
----------------------------------

Jacl now includes the namespace command! All the namespace
features included in Tcl 8.1 should be working in this
release. Unicode support has been added to the Jacl parser.
Tcl Blend works with Tcl 8.2 and supports Unicode characters
(encoded as UTF-8) when compiled with Tcl 8.1 or Tcl 8.2.
Jacl now supports the "package present" subcommand from
Tcl 8.1's package command.  A new java::import command
which supports using shortened class names has been added
to Jacl and Tcl Blend. A number of bugs in Jacl have been
fixed and a host of new regression tests from the Tcl 8.1
dist have been added to Jacl.

See the new_features.txt and changes.txt files for more info.

What is Jacl?
----------------

Jacl is a 100% Java implementation of Tcl 8.  This allows Tcl to run
in more environments and also brings the power of scripting to Java
developers.  Jacl only implements a subset of the Tcl language (the C
version of Tcl has a lot of features!).  However, the core of the
language is implemented and well tested.

What is Tcl Blend?
------------------------

Tcl Blend is a Tcl Extension that allows you to have access to the
Java VM from the Tcl interpreter.  The goal here is to allow Tcl
developers to write new Tcl extensions in Java rather then C or C++
for better portability.  Tcl Blend is known to work on Solaris,
Windows 95/NT, IRIX, and Linux. Other systems have not been tested
but it should be easy to port Tcl Blend to any system that supports
dynamic loading and the Java JNI interface.

For additional information:
---------------------------------

Scriptics Corporation maintains the download site for Jacl and Tcl
Blend.  This site contains a variety of information about Tcl & Java
integration: including FAQs, man pages, and the binary and source
distributions for Jacl and Tcl Blend.  Please visit the following URL:

    http://www.scriptics.com/java

Christopher Hylands maintains his own page that lists a plethora of
information.  There are links to related Web pages, his own personal
notes about building and using Jacl and Tcl Blend, and in depth
explanations about Tcl and Java integration.  This information can be
found at the following URL:

    http://ptolemy.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cxh/java/tclblend

Comments and questions can be sent to the Tcl & Java integration
mailing list at:

    tcljava@tclconsortium.org

Of course, you will need to join the mailing list first. You can do
so by sending an email to this address.

    tcljava-request@tclconsortium.org

Scriptics support for Jacl and Tcl Blend:
-------------------------------------------------

It is important to understand that this release is due entirely to the
efforts of Christopher Hylands and Mo DeJong. Scriptics currently has
a minor, facilitating role in Jacl and Tcl Blend and is not officially
supporting these releases.

If you have a problem with Jacl or Tcl Blend or you think you have
a great idea for a feature, you should send an email to the tcljava
mailing list. Please do not send email directly to the authors.

Credits
---------
The Jacl and Tcl Blend releases are brought to you by:

 Mo DeJong
 Christopher Hylands
 Bryan Surles

We would like to thank the Jacl and Tcl Blend 1.0 team:

 Ray Johnson: Project Manager
 Melissa Hirschl
 Ioi Lam
 Bryan Surles

And a special thanks to Scott Stanton who implemented Tcl Blend, and
to John Reekie of UC Berkeley.