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Tk-Tickit-Bridge-0.001
/ README.md

Tk-Tickit-Bridge

Connect Perl/Tk keyboard input to a Tickit terminal interface, with a small helper to service IO::Async while Tk owns the event loop. Extracted from Audio::Nama, without Nama, Ecasound, or project-state dependencies.

Tk and Tickit remain separate interfaces in one process. This does not embed a terminal emulator in a Tk widget.

Installation

Requires Perl 5.36+, Tk, and Tickit 0.70+. The demo also needs IO::Async, Tickit::Async, Tickit::Widget::VBox, Tickit::Widget::Static, and Tickit::Widget::Entry. Tk needs an X display; Tickit needs a terminal.

cpanm --installdeps .
perl Build.PL
./Build
./Build test
./Build install

Install the optional demo dependencies:

cpanm IO::Async Tickit::Async Tickit::Widgets
perl examples/bridge-demo.pl

The Tk window has two entry fields. The first forwards input into the terminal entry; the second keeps normal Tk editing. Typing directly into the terminal works too. Pressing Enter in the terminal entry updates a Tk label. The Tk button updates the terminal status. Quit with the button, window close, Ctrl-C, or /quit followed by Enter in the terminal entry.

Minimal connection

After constructing the two interfaces and adding Tickit::Async to your loop:

my $bridge = Tk::Tickit::Bridge->new(
    widget  => $mw,
    term    => $tickit->term,
    forward => 'outside',
)->install;

my $pump = Tk::Tickit::Bridge::Loop->new(
    widget => $mw,
    loop   => $loop,
)->start;

outside preserves Nama's policy: forward keys received by Tk when the mouse pointer is outside the application's Tk windows. Use always or a coderef to choose another policy. No policy captures global keys or changes focus.

Installation attaches a private bindtag to the existing widget subtree. For widgets added later, call $bridge->attach($new_widget). Call uninstall to remove only this bridge's tags and discard pending input. Keep the bridge and pump objects alive. See the modules' POD for the complete API.

The pump uses a 10 ms Tk timer and a nonblocking loop_once(0). Callbacks in both interfaces must return promptly. The application owns Tickit setup and terminal restoration. The demo requests quit inside callbacks, then cleans up after returning to the outer event dispatcher.

Tests

prove -lr t
xvfb-run -a prove -lr t   # headless X11 integration tests, if Xvfb is installed

Tests requiring a display skip when one is unavailable. Unit tests do not require an X display. Tests never substitute fake Tk or Tickit modules.

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Joel Roth.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See LICENSE, Artistic, and COPYING.