TclSock is a loadable tcl library that provides a direct interface to the
socket system calls.  It is intended to be a simple interface that provides the 
building blocks for system independant networking applications.  The makefiles 
included here should work with Borland 4.5 Compiler under MsDog/Windoze and 
linux.
	I know that a native socket interface is in the works but for those
of you who (like me) don't want to (or can't) wait for a consistent socket interface
that will work on both UNIX and MS-Windows, give this a try.

	This code is ALPHA and most certaily will have bugs in it.  It has 
been tested on Linux and Windows NT.  If you find any bugs or make any 
improvments, please let me know about it.

Requirements:  tcl7.4.1 or greater
               
DOS:	Winsock TCP/IP stack
	Borland 4.5 compiler;  I'm sure MSVC would work as well but you'll need to
                               create a make file.  If you do, please send me a copy.

linux:	networking kernal; Other UNIX operating systems should work 
                           with little effort.  I compiled and test
                           it on HP-UX with no problem.

To Do:	Documentation
	Binary data send and receive
	
How to use Tclsock ( simple an interface to the socket system calls).  
	1> Extract the archive into a working directory.
	2> Modify the makefile paths that point to your tcl distribution
	3> make 

	Now your ready to use the tclsock.  

	The following call will load the shared extention and 
	connect to a news server;

	load tclsock socket;	# Initialize the library
	set n [socket]     ;    # Create a socket
	connect $n $newserver nntp;	# Connect to the server at the nntp port

	
	

	I've included a simple news reader that uses tclsock.  I intended 
it to be a demo of some of the tclsock functions.  You can use news.tcl
to read & post usenet news,  email articles and download/decode uuencoded
files.  


enjoy!!!!!!
P.S.  For legal stuff check the license agreement for Tcl/Tk and the GNU 
	license agreement.
      

	Tony Bringardner
	tbringar@infinet.com