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authorWilliam Joye <wjoye@cfa.harvard.edu>2016-10-27 19:39:39 (GMT)
committerWilliam Joye <wjoye@cfa.harvard.edu>2016-10-27 19:39:39 (GMT)
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Merge commit '7c621da28f07e449ad90c387344f07a453927569' as 'tcllib'
Diffstat (limited to 'tcllib/devdoc')
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/critcl-tcllib.txt116
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/cvs.branches.fig32
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/devguide.html50
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/dirlayout_install.txt85
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/indexing.txt418
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/installation.txt85
-rw-r--r--tcllib/devdoc/releaseguide.html72
7 files changed, 858 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/critcl-tcllib.txt b/tcllib/devdoc/critcl-tcllib.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d63b7d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/critcl-tcllib.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+* Enhancing tcllib with CriTcl
+
+ I have been looking into using critcl [http://wiki.tcl.tk.critcl]
+ to enhance some of the computationally intensive packages in
+ tcllib with compiled functions. The intention here is to provide
+ an alternative implementation for the 'hot-spots' in a package. In
+ the case of the uuencode package, for instance, we can provide
+ just the function that encodes or decodes a chunk of data. The
+ remainder of the package can be left in Tcl - which importantly
+ means that the public interface to the package remains identical.
+
+ There is already some precedent for enhancing tcllib in this
+ way. Trf is used in the base64, md5 and sha1 packages to
+ optionally provide a compiled implementation of the
+ package. Importantly we still have a pure-tcl implementation.
+
+ Provided that we accept that this hot-spot compilation strategy is
+ a good idea there is an issue to do with how the compiled code is
+ bundled. Critcl can build libraries or packages. Packages are the
+ same as libraries except that the library is placed into a
+ platform dependent subdirectory and a suitable pkgIndex file is
+ created.
+
+ There are four main possibilities:
+ 1) library-per-package
+ 2) package-per-package
+ 3) package-per-module
+ 4) tcllib-c-package
+
+** library-per-package
+ a library is built for each critcl-enabled tcllib package. For
+ instance, 'critcl -lib uuencode.dll base64/uuencode.tcl'. This
+ doesn't generate any package loading tcl code and so doesn't
+ require a new package name. Instead the calling code will have to
+ handle loading the correct library. Once loaded the compiled
+ commands are available in the tcl namespace. For example,
+ ' load uuencode.tcl ; uuencode::CEncode abc '
+
+** package-per-package
+ a compiled package is built for each critcl-enabled package. For
+ instance, 'critcl -pkg uuencode_c base64/uuencode.tcl'. This
+ builds the same library and for library-per-package but also
+ generates the package loading code. This requires a unique package
+ name (such as ${package}_c).
+
+** package-per-module
+ a compiled package is built for each tcllib module. For instance,
+ 'critcl -pkg base64c base64/base64c.tcl base64/uuencode.tcl
+ base64/yencode.tcl'. This collects all the critcl sections for a
+ module (which may contain a number of packages) into one library
+ and then creates the package loading code for this library.
+
+** tcllib-c-package
+ a compiled package is built for tcllib. This combines all the
+ critcl sections for all tcllib packages together in one
+ library. An advantage to this is that there is only one package
+ name and only one library.
+
+
+
+* Examples
+
+** library-per-package
+
+ critcl -lib yencode.dll base64\yencode.tcl
+ critcl -lib uuencode.dll base64\uuencode.tcl
+ critcl -lib md4c.dll md4\md4c.tcl
+ critcl -lib md4c.dll md4\md4c.tcl
+ critcl -lib sum.dll crc\sum.tcl
+
+ This gives us the named dll's in the current directory. For this case
+ I get (under Windows):
+ md4c.dll - 15,360
+ md5c.dll - 15,360
+ sum.dll - 12,800
+ uuencode.dll - 13,312
+ yencode.dll - 12,800
+
+** package-per-package
+
+ This creates libraries of the same size as library-per-package.
+
+** package-per-module
+
+ critcl -libdir . -pkg base64c base64c\base64c.tcl base64\uuencode.tcl
+ base64\yencode.tcl
+ critcl -libdir . -pkg md4c md4\md4c.tcl
+ critcl -libdir . -pkg md5c md5\md5c.tcl
+ critcl -libdir . -pkg crc crc\crcc.tcl crc\sum.tcl
+
+ This gives:
+ base64c.dll - 14,848
+ crcc.dll - 12,800
+ md4c.dll - 15,360
+ md5c.dll - 15,360
+
+** tcllib-c-package
+
+ critcl -libdir . -pkg tcllibc <all the above>
+ tcllibc.dll - 19,968
+
+* Conclusion
+
+ We can see that the overhead of producing a dynamic library is
+ quite significant - at least for Windows. Building a library for
+ all 5 packages is only around 4000 bytes larger than the library
+ for a single package. There is also a cost involved in loading
+ each dynamic library as they have to be loaded from disk and
+ relocated in memory. Other concerns are the package namespace
+ pollution - by which I mean the proliferation of package names
+ caused by creating compiled packages for each tcllib package. Also
+ ease of loading - I don't really think abandoning the tcl package
+ mechanism is a good idea.
+
+Pat Thoyts
+
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/cvs.branches.fig b/tcllib/devdoc/cvs.branches.fig
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c6f6a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/cvs.branches.fig
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#FIG 3.2
+Landscape
+Center
+Inches
+Letter
+100.00
+Single
+-2
+1200 2
+6 3000 2025 5400 2400
+4 0 12 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 150 2385 3000 2175 Point releases are branched\001
+4 0 12 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 150 1530 3000 2370 from RELEASES\001
+-6
+6 2400 750 5700 1200
+4 0 1 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 195 3225 2400 900 Developer performs internal releases,\001
+4 0 1 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 195 3285 2400 1095 merging from HEAD into RELEASES\001
+-6
+2 1 0 4 0 7 50 0 -1 0.000 0 0 7 1 0 2
+ 2 1 4.00 240.00 480.00
+ 300 600 5700 600
+2 1 0 2 1 7 50 0 -1 0.000 0 0 -1 1 0 2
+ 2 1 2.00 120.00 240.00
+ 2100 600 2400 1800
+2 1 0 5 12 7 50 0 -1 0.000 0 0 -1 1 0 3
+ 2 1 5.00 300.00 600.00
+ 2700 1800 3000 3000 5700 3000
+2 1 0 4 17 7 50 0 -1 0.000 0 0 7 1 0 3
+ 2 1 4.00 240.00 480.00
+ 1200 600 1500 1800 5700 1800
+4 0 0 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 195 2835 3150 1575 Staging for release : RELEASES\001
+4 0 0 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 195 1905 3900 300 Development : HEAD\001
+4 0 0 50 0 0 14 0.0000 4 150 930 4800 2700 Tcllib 1.2.0\001
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/devguide.html b/tcllib/devdoc/devguide.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c438ca4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/devguide.html
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+<!- Guide for Tcllib developers -->
+
+<h1>Guide for Tcllib developers.
+</h1>
+<hr>
+
+<h2>CVS Repository
+</h2>
+<table><tr><td valign=top>
+ <!-- The local source of this image is
+ tcllib/devel/cvs.branches.*
+ -->
+ <img src="http://sourceforge.net/dbimage.php?id=2221">
+</td><td valign=top><p>
+
+The CVS repository for Tcllib contains two main branches, the HEAD for
+development, and RELEASES as the staging area for official
+releases. At RELEASES the minor branches containing the various
+official releases are anchored at.
+</p></td></tr></table>
+
+<p>All the branches are of interest to the developers for
+ Tcllib. Ongoing development happens in HEAD, which can be
+ unstable or may not work at all. Whenever a developer considers
+ a piece of code, or module, he is responsible for as
+ sufficiently stable she has to perform an internal release which
+ merges this part from HEAD into RELEASES. Tools to help with
+ this will be provided.
+</p>
+
+<p>The branches for the official releases of tcllib are of interest to
+ a developer because it is expected that fixes for important bugs
+ not only go into the HEAD branch but also into the release
+ branches for the release they were found in and all releases
+ following that one. This is to allow the release manager to
+ create patch releases of existing releases distributing important
+ bugfixes as well.
+</p>
+
+<p>Version numbers for modules are handled as described below. This
+ way of handling them was chosen so that the modules in the
+ development branch always uses version numbers different from
+ the version numbers in the official releases made so far.
+</p>
+<ul>
+<li>Whenever an internal release of a module FOO is done, the
+ developer performing this internal release has to increment
+ the version number of the module <b>after</b> the release was
+ executed.
+</ul>
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/dirlayout_install.txt b/tcllib/devdoc/dirlayout_install.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8cacea0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/dirlayout_install.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+Tcllib installation directory layout
+====================================
+
+This document describes the possible layouts for an installed tcllib,
+discusses their pro and contra and makes a choice for Tcllib 1.4. A
+roadmap of changes in the future is made available as appendix.
+
+[L1/D] Deep layout
+------------------
+
+ This is the layout of Tcllib 1.3 (and versions before that).
+
+ A single directory tcllib<version> is created, and all
+ subdirectories of the 'modules' subdirectory in the
+ distribution is copied into it. This is restricted at large to
+ *.tcl files, with exception made for some modules with special
+ needs.
+
+ Pro:
+ Contra:
+ Makes the handling of the various package indices,
+ well, not difficult, but uncomfortable.
+
+
+[L2/Fa] Flat layout 1
+---------------------
+
+ A directory is created for each module of tcllib.
+
+ Pro:
+ Handling of package indices is easier than for L1/D, a
+ toplevel index file with all its problems is not
+ required anymore.
+
+ Contra:
+ Directories should be versioned to avoid conflicts
+ between multiple releases. modules have no
+ version. This can be faked for modules containing one
+ package, but not for the modules with more.
+
+
+[L2/Fb] Flat layout 2
+---------------------
+
+ A directory is created for each package in tcllib.
+
+ Pro
+ Handling of package indices is easy, one per package.
+
+ Contra:
+ Modules containing more than one package are difficult
+ to handle. The system has to split them into the
+ individual packages. This rendered very difficult
+ because of shared package index files.
+
+ This can be solved by moving tcllib (back) towards of
+ one package per module. When that goal is reached
+ L2/Fa and L2/Fb become the same, and the contra for
+ L2/Fa vanishes too as an exact version number can be
+ associated with each directory.
+
+Chosen layout for Tcllib 1.4
+----------------------------
+
+ L1/D
+
+ Despite the problems with package indices the contras against
+ the flat structures are too strong at this point in
+ time. Automatic solutions are not really possible, or require
+ a very high effort.
+
+Roadmap
+-------
+ Change the module directories of tcllib to contain exactly one
+ package per directory, with appropriate index (and meta data).
+
+ This not only makes sense for easier handling of installation
+ and package indices, but also in the greater context of
+ wrapping code for deployment.
+
+
+-----------------------------------
+This document is in the public domain.
+
+ Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sf.net>
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/indexing.txt b/tcllib/devdoc/indexing.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddc501a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/indexing.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,418 @@
+Tcllib package indexing
+=======================
+
+This document describes the possibilities for using one or more
+pkgIndex.tcl files in an installation of tcllib to provide the
+information about all of its packages to a tcl interpreter, discusses
+their pro and contra and makes a choice for Tcllib 1.4. A roadmap of
+changes in the future is made available as an appendix.
+
+Background under which to see the solutions:
+
+ There are three level of groupings:
+
+ - The tcllib project itself
+ - Modules in the project (== subdirectory of 'modules')
+ - Packages in a module.
+
+ Each module currently contains one package index file.
+
+ Some modules contain more than one package. They share the index.
+
+ Most packages require specific versions of the Tcl
+ interpreter. They perform the checks in their package index
+ file and do not register if the pre-requisites are not
+ fulfilled.
+
+ Other checks are possible, but currently not in use.
+
+Note I:
+ Whether a solution is actually applicable depends on external
+ factors, like the chosen directory layout of an installed
+ tcllib.
+
+Note II:
+ All solutions currently depend on the specific implementation
+ of [tclPkgUnknown] coming with the basic core, simply by the
+ fact that the files looked at are called 'pkgIndex.tcl'. This
+ is therefore no contra argument against any specific solution,
+ but against all. We ignore this as currently there is no
+ better replacement in existence.
+
+Note III:
+ We have to support Tcl before 8.3. as some packages in tcllib
+ allow this.
+
+
+[i1/ng] No global package index
+-------------------------------
+
+ In this solution the module package indices are the only index
+ files present in an installation.
+
+ This solution is applicable if and only if one of the flat
+ directory layouts (L2/Fa or L2/Fb) has been chosen.
+
+ Pro:
+ Simple. No need for complex management.
+
+
+[i2/ad] Global package index, auto_path extension, direct
+---------------------------------------------------------
+
+ A single global package index is present in the toplevel
+ directory of the installation.
+
+ This solution is applicable if and only if the deep directory
+ layout (L2/D) has been chosen.
+
+ The package index contains a series of statements extending
+ the auto_path variable with all module directories. The list
+ of names of the module directories is hardcoded. In other
+ words, it is _not_ determined via [glob].
+
+ Example:
+ lappend auto_path [file join $dir md4]
+ lappend auto_path [file join $dir md5]
+ lappend auto_path [file join $dir sha1]
+ ...
+
+
+ Pro:
+ [[0]] Compared to [i3/ag] this should be bit faster
+ as glob'ing the directory tree of tcllib is
+ avoided. This performance-boost is not a big
+ pro according to the opinions below.
+
+ [[1]] Relies on the module package index files for
+ the actual registration of packages, thus
+ automatically inherits the correct constraints
+ on the registration of packages. No additional
+ complexities.
+
+ [[2]] Easier to generate than [i6/dr].
+
+ Contra:
+ [[3]] Hard coding the directory names implies that
+ adding modules to the installed tcllib is not
+ as easy as just creating a new directory for
+ the module/package. The global index has to be
+ updated too.
+
+ Contra-Contra:
+ <<Don: New, updated packages should be
+ installed separately, outside of
+ tcllib. The ticked version number
+ ensures that it is prefered over the
+ package in tcllib.>>
+
+ <<AK: Agree fully>>
+
+ [[4]] Extending the 'auto_path' list causes the
+ package management of the tcl core to re-read
+ the list and glob through all of them for new
+ package indices. This has a high cost in terms
+ of filesystem access, i.e. is an issue of
+ performance.
+
+ Contra-Contra:
+ <<Don: IMHO, it's not really tcllib's
+ job to fix [tclPkgUnknown]'s
+ performance problems. If performance
+ is a problem, users could try the
+ patch with Tcl Feature Request 680169
+ and see if it helps.>>
+
+ <<AK: Not sure yet about this>>
+
+
+ [[5]] This enables auto-loading in each module
+ (according to any tclIndex file installed).
+ This should not be done by the package
+ indexer, but by the package itself. See
+ control for an example.
+
+ [[10]] Will not work with Tcl releases prior to
+ 8.3.1. Only then was [tclPkgUnknown]
+ "enhanced" to deal with changing ::auto_path
+ values. If tcllib 1.4 wishes to continue
+ supporting pre-8.3.1 Tcl, then this option has
+ to be supplemented with a fallback.
+
+
+[i3/ag] Global package index, auto_path extension, glob
+-------------------------------------------------------
+
+ This is like [i2/ad], except that the list of sub directories
+ is not hardcoded into the index, but determined through glob.
+
+ Example:
+ foreach subdir [glob -nocomplain -type d $dir/*] {
+ lappend auto_path $subdir
+ }
+
+ Pro:
+ Anti-[[3]]
+ [[1]]
+
+ Contra:
+ All the contras of [i2/ad] and Anti-[[0]].
+
+
+[i4/sd] Global package index, sourcing module indices, direct
+-------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ A single global package index is present in the toplevel
+ directory of the installation.
+
+ This solution is applicable if and only if the deep directory
+ layout (L2/D) has been chosen.
+
+ The package index contains a series of statements source'ing
+ the package index files of the modules in tcllib. The list
+ of names of the module directories is hardcoded. In other
+ words, it is _not_ determined via [glob].
+
+ Example:
+ set main $dir
+ set dir [file join $main md4] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ set dir [file join $main md5] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ set dir [file join $main sha1] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ ...
+
+ Pro:
+ [[0]], but compared to [i5/sg].
+ [[1]]
+ [[2]]
+ [[6]] In contrast to [i2/ad] and [i3/ag] repeated
+ glob'ing for package index files is
+ avoided. This cuts down on costly FS accesses.
+ I.e. another perf. boost.
+
+ Contra:
+ [[3]]
+
+[i5/sg] Global package index, sourcing module indices, glob
+-----------------------------------------------------------
+
+ This is like [i4/sd], except that the list of package indices
+ to source is not hardcoded into the index, but determined
+ through glob.
+
+ Example:
+ foreach subdir [glob -nocomplain -type d $dir/*] {
+ set dir $subdir
+ source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ }
+
+ Pro:
+ Anti-[[3]]
+ [[1]]
+ [[2]]
+
+ Contra:
+ All the contras of [i2/sd], and Anti-[[0]]
+
+
+[i6/dr] Global package index, direct registration
+-------------------------------------------------
+
+ A single global package index is present in the toplevel
+ directory of the installation.
+
+ This solution is applicable if and only if the deep directory
+ layout (L2/D) has been chosen.
+
+ The package index contains a series of statements which
+ directly register all the tcllib packages.
+
+ Example:
+ if {[constraint]} {return}
+ package ifneeded md4 [list source [file join $dir md4 md4.tcl]]
+ package ifneeded md5 [list source [file join $dir md4 md4.tcl]]
+ package ifneeded sha1 [list source [file join $dir md4 md4.tcl]]
+ ... more constraints ... package ifneeded
+
+ Pro:
+ [[7]] This is the fasted solution as the number of
+ accesses to the filesystem is minimal.
+
+ Contra:
+ [[[3]]
+ Anti-[[1]] Care has to be taken to ensure that
+ the constraints the module indices
+ place on the registration of packages
+ are replicated in the global
+ index. All other solutions simply used
+ the module indices and thus got it
+ right automatically. Now supporting
+ code is required to detect such
+ constraints and then to properly
+ recreate them globally.
+
+ = High complexity for the maintainer.
+
+[i7/ad] Global package index, auto_path extension, direct
+---------------------------------------------------------
+
+ A single global package index is present in the toplevel
+ directory of the installation.
+
+ This solution is applicable if and only if the deep directory
+ layout (L2/D) has been chosen.
+
+ The package index contains a single statement extending the
+ auto_path variable with the tcllib main directory. The
+ standard package management will then find all module sub
+ directories and the package indices in them.
+
+ Example:
+ lappend auto_path $dir
+
+ Pro:
+ [[1]]
+ [[8]] This is the easiest solution by far in terms
+ of code to write, and complexities to solve
+ (none).
+
+ [[9]] <<Don: I believe this is the only proposal listed
+ that actually fixes tcllib Bug 720318
+ (successful [package require] of packages
+ within a SafeBase) because it is the only one
+ that changes the value of ::auto_path.>>
+
+ <<AK: This is true, yet brittle. It depends on
+ when the SafeBase sees the auto_path. If it
+ happens to be before a [package require
+ something] forced the reading of all package
+ indices (and thus the extension of
+ 'auto_path') we are still SOL.>>
+
+ Contra: [[4]]
+ [[10]]
+
+
+[i8/pm] Global package index, pkg_mkIndex
+-----------------------------------------
+
+Just use [pkg_mkIndex modules */*.tcl] to generate the master index.
+
+ Pro:
+ Easy to do.
+
+ Contra:
+ Does not handle constraints in subordinate package
+ indices, simply because they are actually ignored
+ during processing.
+
+ Adding code to handle constraints evolves this into
+ [i6/dr].
+
+ Note: The contra is hard enough IMHO to make this solution not
+ applicable for 1.4, which does have constraints, and handling
+ them wrong (not at all) is a bug.
+
+
+General discussion
+------------------
+
+Given that a deep directory layout was chosen [i1/ng] is not
+applicable and therefore dropped from the discussion.
+
+In the pro and contra arguments listed above three independent axes of
+reasoning emerged:
+
+a) Performance of the solution, with the number of accesses to
+ filesystem the main factor determining it.
+
+b) Complexity/difficulty of the solution with regard to
+ adding/updating packages.
+
+c) Complexity of generating the master index.
+
+Axis (b) has essentially been thrown out. Trying to modify the
+installation of tcllib itself is bad practice. Install new/updated
+packages separately. The version numbering takes care of the rest,
+i.e. usage of the new over the older version found in tcllib.
+
+With respect to axis (c), complexity of generation, [i7/ad] is the
+definite winner, with the other *d solutions close behind (all use
+fixed scripts, I7/ad wins on size). This is followed by the *g
+solutions as they require actual dynamic generation of code. And at
+the bottom of the ladder is [i6/dr] with its need for close inspection
+of the sub-ordinate indices to get everything right.
+
+Now axis (a), performance, [i6/dr] is most likely the winner as it
+causes only one index to be read and nothing else. This is followed by
+the all *d solutions, which read the subordinate indices, but do not
+need much glob'ing. The actual order in this group is difficult to
+determine. I guess that the auto_path extending methods are slower
+than the sourcing methods, and the adding of one directory faster than
+the adding of all, as the latter looks for much more subdirectories.
+The next group are the *g solutions as they perform their own glob'ing too
+beyond that done by the package mgmt.
+
+Two final rankings
+
+ (c), then (a) (a), then (c)
+ ------------- -------------
+ [i7/ad] [i6/dr]
+ [i4/sd] [i4/sd]
+ [i2/ad] [i7/ad]
+ [i5/sg] [i2/ad]
+ [i3/ag] [i5/sg]
+ [i6/dr] [i3/ag]
+ ------------- -------------
+
+[i4/sd] seems to be a good compromise solution between performance and
+complexity of generation, but [i7/ad] is not too bad either.
+
+[i4/sd] reminder:
+ set main $dir
+ set dir [file join $main md4] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ set dir [file join $main md5] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ set dir [file join $main sha1] ; source [file join $dir pkgIndex.tcl]
+ ...
+
+[i7/ad] reminder:
+ lappend auto_path $dir
+
+Other opinions:
+
+ Don Porter prefers [i7/ad], and [i6/dr] as second choice. Also
+ as [i7/ad] fallback for older Tcl before 8.3.1
+
+ Joe English strictly opposes any solution modifying the
+ auto_path, violating his opinion that index scripts should
+ have no side-effects beyond registering a package.
+
+
+Chosen solution for Tcllib 1.4
+------------------------------
+
+After comparing the code for the combination of [i7/ad] and [i6/dr] as
+submitted by Don Porter, and for [i4/sd] as submitted by myself
+(Andreas), and a small discussion on the Tcl'ers chat between Don and
+me, we took [i4/sd] for the main body of the index, and the header of
+Don's code. Basically the chosen package index is a combination of
+[i7/id] and of [i4/sd] as fallback.
+
+This is still as easy to generate as [4/sd], the index is also only a
+bit more complex, and speed should be okay too.
+
+Don convinced me that while extending auto_path is definitely bad in
+the long-term it is still okay for the short-term and release 1.4.
+
+
+Roadmap
+-------
+
+After Tcllib has been driven into the state of one package per module
+directory, and switched to a flat directory layout for its
+installation we switch to [i1/ng] for the indexing structure.
+
+
+-----------------------------------
+This document is in the public domain.
+
+ Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sf.net>
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/installation.txt b/tcllib/devdoc/installation.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8b95b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/installation.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+Tcllib installation directory layout
+====================================
+
+This document describes the possible layouts for an installed tcllib,
+discusses their pro and contra and makes a choice for Tcllib 1.4. A
+roadmap of changes in the future is made available as appendix.
+
+[L1/D] Deep layout
+------------------
+
+ This is the layout of Tcllib 1.3 (and versions before that).
+
+ A single directory tcllib<version> is created, and all
+ subdirectories of the 'modules' subdirectory in the
+ distribution is copied into it. This is restricted at large to
+ *.tcl files, with exception made for some modules with special
+ needs.
+
+ Pro:
+ Contra:
+ Makes the handling of the various package indices,
+ well, not difficult, but uncomfortable.
+
+
+[L2/Fa] Flat layout 1
+---------------------
+
+ A directory is created for each module of tcllib.
+
+ Pro:
+ Handling of package indices is easier than for L1/D, a
+ toplevel index file with all its problems is not
+ required anymore.
+
+ Contra:
+ Directories should be versioned to avoid conflicts
+ between multiple releases. modules have no
+ version. This can be faked for modules containing one
+ package, but not for the modules with more.
+
+
+[L2/Fb] Flat layout 2
+---------------------
+
+ A directory is created for each package in tcllib.
+
+ Pro
+ Handling of package indices is easy, one per package.
+
+ Contra:
+ Modules containing more than one package are difficult
+ to handle. The system has to split them into the
+ individual packages. This rendered very difficult
+ because of shared package index files.
+
+ This can be solved by moving tcllib (back) towards of
+ one package per module. When that goal is reached
+ L2/Fa and L2/Fb become the same, and the contra for
+ L2/Fa vanishes too as an exact version number can be
+ associated with each directory.
+
+Chosen layout for Tcllib 1.4
+----------------------------
+
+ L2/D
+
+ Despite the problems with package indices the contras against
+ the flat structures are too strong at this point in
+ time. Automatic solutions are not really possible, or require
+ a very high effort.
+
+Roadmap
+-------
+ Change the module directories of tcllib to contain exactly one
+ package per directory, with appropriate index (and meta data).
+
+ This not only makes sense for easier handling of installation
+ and package indices, but also in the greater context of
+ wrapping code for deployment.
+
+
+-----------------------------------
+This document is in the public domain.
+
+ Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sf.net>
diff --git a/tcllib/devdoc/releaseguide.html b/tcllib/devdoc/releaseguide.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1fd086c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tcllib/devdoc/releaseguide.html
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+<!- Guide to the creation of source releases for Tcllib -->
+
+<h1>Guide to the creation of source releases for Tcllib
+</h1>
+<hr>
+
+<h2>Recap
+</h2>
+<table><tr><td valign=top>
+ <!-- The local source of this image is
+ tcllib/devel/cvs.branches.*
+ -->
+ <img src="http://sourceforge.net/dbimage.php?id=2221">
+</td><td valign=top><p>
+The CVS repository for Tcllib contains two main branches,
+ the HEAD for development, and RELEASES as the staging area for
+ official releases.
+</p></td></tr></table>
+
+<h2>Dependencies
+</h2>
+
+<h2>Creation of a new official release
+</h2>
+
+<p>To create a new official release of Tcllib the release manager has
+ to perform the steps described below:
+</p>
+
+
+<ol>
+<li> Retrieve the sources at the current head
+ from the CVS repository, using a command like
+<pre>
+ CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs.tcllib.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/tcllib
+ cvs -d${CVSROOT} co tcllib
+</pre>
+ Vary this command according to taste as long as the overall
+ meaning is not changed. Compression options and the like.
+
+<li> Tag these sources with a new branch tag for the new release of
+ tcllib, like
+<pre>
+ cvs -d${CVSROOT} rtag tcllib
+</pre>
+
+<li> Commit the changes, then update the working directory.
+
+<li> Use a tclsh to run the <b>sak</b> tool with the argument <i>gendist</i>, like
+<pre>
+ tclsh /path/to/tcllib/sak.tcl gendist
+</pre>
+
+<li> This results in the creation of a <i>tcllib-VERSION</i> directory
+in the current working directory, and of two archives, <i>.zip</i>,
+and <i>.tar.gz</i>. A starkit will be created if <b>sdx</b> is present
+in the PATH. If additionally a file named <b>tclkit</b> is present in
+the current working directory a starpack will be created too, using
+this tclkit as the runtime.
+
+
+<li> Now follow the instructions in the Sourceforge site documentation
+ for uploading the archives generated by the last
+ step to
+ <b>ftp://upload.sourceforge.net/incoming</b>, and
+ follow the procedures for creating packages and
+ releases at Sourceforge.
+</ol>
+
+<p>At last notify the relevant persons in other communities like
+Debian (See list of contacts) about the new release.
+</p>