Thanks for telling me about trace. I will give that a try and update with results and working example.

Works, here is what I did for the next person who needs to know.

use Tk;
use Tk::Trace;
use Tk::Text;

my $system = {};
@{$system->{gui}->[0]->{cut_ctl_1}} = ("start", "normal");
@{$system->{gui}->[0]->{cut_ctl_2}} = ("remove", "normal");
$system->{gui}->[0]->{progress}->[0] = "Not running";

my $mainwindow = MainWindow->new();

my $but_ctl_1 = $mainwindow->Button(-textvariable=>\$system->{gui}->[0
+]->{but_ctl_1}->[0], -state=>$system->{gui}->[0]->{but_ctl_1}->[1])->
+grid(-row=>0, -column=>0, -sticky=>"nsew");
my $but_ctl_2 = $mainwindow->Button(%{-textvariable=>\$system->{gui}->
+[0]->{but_ctl_2}->[0], -state=>$system->{gui}->[0]->{but_ctl_2}->[1])
+->grid(-row=>1, -column=>0, -sticky=>"nsew");
my $progress = $mainwindow->Scrolled('Text', -scrollbars=>'osoe', -hei
+ght=>5, -width=>30)->grid(-row=>2, -column=>0, -sticky=>"nsew");
$progress->Subwidget('scrolled')->insert( 'end', "$system->{gui}->[0]-
+>{progress}->[0]" );

#traces:
$frame->traceVariable( \$system->{gui}->[0]->{progress}->[0], 'w', [ \
+&text_update, $progress->Subwidget('scrolled')] );
$frame->traceVariable( \$system->{gui}->[0]->{but_ctl_1}->[1], 'w', [ 
+\&state_update, $but_ctl_1] );
$frame->traceVariable( \$system->{gui}->[0]->{but_ctl_2}->[1], 'w', [ 
+\&state_update, $but_ctl_2] );

$mainwindow->after(5000, sub{
    $system->{gui}->[0]->{progress}->[0] = "RUNNING";
    $system->{gui}->[0]->{but_ctl_1}->[1] = "disabled";
});

MainLoop();

sub text_update {
    my ($index, $value, $op, $t) = @_;
    return unless $value;
    $t->delete("1.0", "end");
    $t->insert( 'end', "$value" );
    return $value;
}

sub state_update {
    my ($index, $value, $op, $b) = @_;
    return unless $value;
    $b->configure(-state=>$value);
    return $value;
}

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In reply to Re: Tk Button state tied to variable by glenn
in thread Tk Button state tied to variable by glenn

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