This means that Tcl/Tk can't find its libraries of tcl-code needed for operation. This occurs when Tcl/Tk has been built but not properly installed. You have the option of stating the location of the libraries by means of the environment variables TCL_LIBRARY and TK_LIBRARY. See also the Tcl/Tk documentation.
Another reason for this could be if you are not using SICStus 3.8.1 or later. The original SICStus 3.8 did not initialize Tcl/Tk correctly.
This message can appear in Tcl code trying to access Prolog variables. Example:
tk_test :-
tk_new([],Interp),
tcl_eval(Interp,
'
global var
set Tree []
set Children []
set GrandChildren []
prolog {get_tree(Tree),
make_children(Tree, Children),
make_grandChildren(Tree, Children, GrandChildren)}
puts "$var(Tree) $var(Children) $var(GrandChildren) "
', _),
tk_main_loop,
tcl_delete(Interp).
The problem is that the argument to the prolog function
is just a string that is interpreted by Prolog as a goal. There
is no connection between the Prolog variables Tree,
Children and GrandChildren and the Tcl-variables with
the same name. After returning from prolog, the values that the
Prolog variables have been bound to are assigned to the
array variable prolog_variables.
So replacing $var in your example with $prolog_variables, makes it work.