How to use a starkit

A starkit normally contains all the application logic and data needed for use on your computer.

The combination of the (application-specific) starkit with a copy of Tclkit (the general purpose but platform-specific runtime) is all you need to run an application on a wide range of platforms.

Suppose you have a starkit called "myapp.kit", and you want to run it...

first of all, get the appropriate runtime, see downloading tclkit
if your platform is not supported, see using starkits without tclkit

On Windows, you can launch in several ways:

from the command line, by typing "tclkit myapp.kit"
by dragging "myapp.kit" and dropping it on the "tclkit.exe" runtime
by double clicking "myapp.kit" (if .kit has been associated to tclkit.exe)
with a batch file "myapp.bat", containing "@tclkit myapp.kit %1 %2 %3 %4 %5"
by launching tclkit, and entering "source myapp.kit"

On Unix, launching a starkit can be done:

from the command line, by typing "tclkit myapp.kit"
by typing "myapp.kit" (if "chmod +x myapp.kit" was done)
by typing "myapp" (if you did "mv myapp.kit myapp")
by launching from a graphical shell
by launching tclkit, and entering "source myapp.kit"

On Macintosh classic, launching happens when:

you drag "myapp.kit" over the "Tclkit" runtime
double-click (if the starkit's "creator" has been set to "TKd4")
by launching tclkit, and entering "source myapp.kit"

Troubleshooting

Access permissions - the default (as of mid-2002) for Starkits is to run in read/only mode. If "myapp.kit" is not writable, then changes to it will not be saved. You can unwrap and re-wrap with the "-writable" option of sdx to turn a read-only starkit into a modifiable one.