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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

Tcl_ParseCommand (3tcl)

Name

Tcl_ParseCommand - String, Tcl_ParseVarName, Tcl_ParseVar, Tcl_FreeParse, Tcl_EvalTokens, Tcl_EvalTokensStandard - parse Tcl scripts and expressions

Synopsis

#include <tcl.h>

int
Tcl_ParseCommand(interp, start, numBytes, nested, parsePtr)

int
Tcl_ParseExpr(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr)

int
Tcl_ParseBraces(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append, termPtr)

int
Tcl_ParseQuotedString(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append, termPtr)

int
Tcl_ParseVarName(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append)

const char *
Tcl_ParseVar(interp, start, termPtr)

Tcl_FreeParse(usedParsePtr)

Tcl_Obj *
Tcl_EvalTokens(interp, tokenPtr, numTokens)

int
Tcl_EvalTokensStandard(interp, tokenPtr, numTokens)

Description

Tcl_ParseCommand(3tcl)      Tcl Library Procedures      Tcl_ParseCommand(3tcl)



______________________________________________________________________________

NAME
       Tcl_ParseCommand,   Tcl_ParseExpr,   Tcl_ParseBraces,  Tcl_ParseQuoted-
       String, Tcl_ParseVarName, Tcl_ParseVar, Tcl_FreeParse,  Tcl_EvalTokens,
       Tcl_EvalTokensStandard - parse Tcl scripts and expressions

SYNOPSIS
       #include <tcl.h>

       int
       Tcl_ParseCommand(interp, start, numBytes, nested, parsePtr)

       int
       Tcl_ParseExpr(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr)

       int
       Tcl_ParseBraces(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append, termPtr)

       int
       Tcl_ParseQuotedString(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append, termPtr)

       int
       Tcl_ParseVarName(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr, append)

       const char *
       Tcl_ParseVar(interp, start, termPtr)

       Tcl_FreeParse(usedParsePtr)

       Tcl_Obj *
       Tcl_EvalTokens(interp, tokenPtr, numTokens)

       int
       Tcl_EvalTokensStandard(interp, tokenPtr, numTokens)

ARGUMENTS
       Tcl_Interp *interp (out)               For    procedures   other   than
                                              Tcl_FreeParse,    Tcl_EvalTokens
                                              and Tcl_EvalTokensStandard, used
                                              only  for  error  reporting;  if
                                              NULL, then no error messages are
                                              left    after    errors.     For
                                              Tcl_EvalTokens  and  Tcl_EvalTo-
                                              kensStandard,   determines   the
                                              context   for   evaluating   the
                                              script  and  also  is  used  for
                                              error  reporting;  must  not  be
                                              NULL.

       const char *start (in)                 Pointer to  first  character  in
                                              string to parse.

       int numBytes (in)                      Number  of  bytes  in  string to
                                              parse, not including any  termi-
                                              nating  null character.  If less
                                              than 0 then the script  consists
                                              of   all   characters  following
                                              start up to the first null char-
                                              acter.

       int nested (in)                        Non-zero  means  that the script
                                              is part of a  command  substitu-
                                              tion   so   an   unquoted  close
                                              bracket should be treated  as  a
                                              command  terminator.   If  zero,
                                              close brackets have  no  special
                                              meaning.

       int append (in)                        Non-zero  means  that  *parsePtr
                                              already contains  valid  tokens;
                                              the   new   tokens   should   be
                                              appended   to   those    already
                                              present.     Zero   means   that
                                              *parsePtr is uninitialized;  any
                                              information  in  it  is ignored.
                                              This argument is normally 0.

       Tcl_Parse *parsePtr (out)              Points to structure to  fill  in
                                              with   information   about   the
                                              parsed   command,    expression,
                                              variable  name, etc.  Any previ-
                                              ous information in  this  struc-
                                              ture  is  ignored, unless append
                                              is  non-zero  in   a   call   to
                                              Tcl_ParseBraces,  Tcl_ParseQuot-
                                              edString, or Tcl_ParseVarName.

       const char **termPtr (out)             If not NULL, points to  a  loca-
                                              tion    where   Tcl_ParseBraces,
                                              Tcl_ParseQuotedString,       and
                                              Tcl_ParseVar    will   store   a
                                              pointer to  the  character  just
                                              after  the terminating character
                                              (the close-brace, the last char-
                                              acter  of  the variable name, or
                                              the close-quote  (respectively))
                                              if the parse was successful.

       Tcl_Parse *usedParsePtr (in)           Points  to  structure  that  was
                                              filled in by a previous call  to
                                              Tcl_ParseCommand, Tcl_ParseExpr,
                                              Tcl_ParseVarName, etc.
______________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION
       These procedures parse Tcl commands or portions of Tcl commands such as
       expressions or references to variables.  Each procedure takes a pointer
       to a script (or portion thereof) and fills in the structure pointed  to
       by parsePtr with a collection of tokens describing the information that
       was parsed.  The procedures normally return  TCL_OK.   However,  if  an
       error  occurs  then  they  return  TCL_ERROR, leave an error message in
       interp's result (if interp is not NULL), and leave nothing in parsePtr.

       Tcl_ParseCommand is a procedure  that  parses  Tcl  scripts.   Given  a
       pointer  to  a script, it parses the first command from the script.  If
       the command was parsed successfully,  Tcl_ParseCommand  returns  TCL_OK
       and  fills  in  the  structure  pointed to by parsePtr with information
       about the structure of the command (see  below  for  details).   If  an
       error  occurred  in  parsing the command then TCL_ERROR is returned, an
       error message is left in interp's result, and no information is left at
       *parsePtr.

       Tcl_ParseExpr parses Tcl expressions.  Given a pointer to a script con-
       taining an expression, Tcl_ParseExpr parses  the  expression.   If  the
       expression  was  parsed  successfully, Tcl_ParseExpr returns TCL_OK and
       fills in the structure pointed to by parsePtr  with  information  about
       the  structure  of the expression (see below for details).  If an error
       occurred in parsing the command then TCL_ERROR is  returned,  an  error
       message  is  left  in  interp's  result,  and no information is left at
       *parsePtr.

       Tcl_ParseBraces parses a string or command argument enclosed in  braces
       such  as  {hello} or {string \t with \t tabs} from the beginning of its
       argument start.  The first character of start must be {.  If the braced
       string  was  parsed successfully, Tcl_ParseBraces returns TCL_OK, fills
       in the structure pointed to by  parsePtr  with  information  about  the
       structure  of  the string (see below for details), and stores a pointer
       to the character just after the terminating } in the location given  by
       *termPtr.   If  an error occurs while parsing the string then TCL_ERROR
       is returned, an error message is left in interp's result, and no infor-
       mation is left at *parsePtr or *termPtr.

       Tcl_ParseQuotedString  parses  a  double-quoted  string such as "sum is
       [expr {$a+$b}]" from the beginning of the argument  start.   The  first
       character  of  start must be ".  If the double-quoted string was parsed
       successfully, Tcl_ParseQuotedString returns TCL_OK, fills in the struc-
       ture pointed to by parsePtr with information about the structure of the
       string (see below for details), and stores a pointer to  the  character
       just  after the terminating " in the location given by *termPtr.  If an
       error occurs while parsing the string then TCL_ERROR  is  returned,  an
       error message is left in interp's result, and no information is left at
       *parsePtr or *termPtr.

       Tcl_ParseVarName parses a  Tcl  variable  reference  such  as  $abc  or
       $x([expr  {$index + 1}]) from the beginning of its start argument.  The
       first character of start must be $.  If a variable name was parsed suc-
       cessfully,  Tcl_ParseVarName  returns TCL_OK and fills in the structure
       pointed to by parsePtr with information  about  the  structure  of  the
       variable  name (see below for details).  If an error occurs while pars-
       ing the command then TCL_ERROR is returned, an error message is left in
       interp's  result (if interp is not NULL), and no information is left at
       *parsePtr.

       Tcl_ParseVar parse a Tcl variable reference such as  $abc  or  $x([expr
       {$index  +  1}])  from  the beginning of its start argument.  The first
       character of start must be $.  If the variable name is parsed  success-
       fully,  Tcl_ParseVar returns a pointer to the string value of the vari-
       able.  If an error occurs while parsing, then NULL is returned  and  an
       error message is left in interp's result.

       The  information  left at *parsePtr by Tcl_ParseCommand, Tcl_ParseExpr,
       Tcl_ParseBraces,  Tcl_ParseQuotedString,   and   Tcl_ParseVarName   may
       include dynamically allocated memory.  If these five parsing procedures
       return TCL_OK then the caller must invoke Tcl_FreeParse to release  the
       storage at *parsePtr.  These procedures ignore any existing information
       in *parsePtr (unless append is non-zero),  so  if  repeated  calls  are
       being made to any of them then Tcl_FreeParse must be invoked once after
       each call.

       Tcl_EvalTokensStandard evaluates a sequence  of  parse  tokens  from  a
       Tcl_Parse structure.  The tokens typically consist of all the tokens in
       a word or all the tokens that make up the index for a reference  to  an
       array  variable.   Tcl_EvalTokensStandard  performs  the  substitutions
       requested by the tokens and concatenates  the  resulting  values.   The
       return  value from Tcl_EvalTokensStandard is a Tcl completion code with
       one of the values TCL_OK, TCL_ERROR, TCL_RETURN, TCL_BREAK, or TCL_CON-
       TINUE,  or  possibly  some other integer value originating in an exten-
       sion.  In addition, a result value or error message is left in interp's
       result; it can be retrieved using Tcl_GetObjResult.

       Tcl_EvalTokens  differs  from Tcl_EvalTokensStandard only in the return
       convention used: it returns the result in a new Tcl_Obj.  The reference
       count  of  the  value  returned  as result has been incremented, so the
       caller must invoke Tcl_DecrRefCount when it is finished with the value.
       If an error or other exception occurs while evaluating the tokens (such
       as a reference to a non-existent variable) then  the  return  value  is
       NULL  and  an  error  message  is  left  in interp's result. The use of
       Tcl_EvalTokens is deprecated.

TCL_PARSE STRUCTURE
       Tcl_ParseCommand,  Tcl_ParseExpr,   Tcl_ParseBraces,   Tcl_ParseQuoted-
       String,  and  Tcl_ParseVarName  return  parse  information  in two data
       structures, Tcl_Parse and Tcl_Token:

              typedef struct Tcl_Parse {
                  const char *commentStart;
                  int commentSize;
                  const char *commandStart;
                  int commandSize;
                  int numWords;
                  Tcl_Token *tokenPtr;
                  int numTokens;
                  ...
              } Tcl_Parse;

              typedef struct Tcl_Token {
                  int type;
                  const char *start;
                  int size;
                  int numComponents;
              } Tcl_Token;

       The first five fields of a Tcl_Parse structure are filled  in  only  by
       Tcl_ParseCommand.   These fields are not used by the other parsing pro-
       cedures.

       Tcl_ParseCommand fills in a Tcl_Parse structure with  information  that
       describes  one  Tcl  command and any comments that precede the command.
       If there are comments, the commentStart field points to the # character
       that  begins  the first comment and commentSize indicates the number of
       bytes in all of the comments preceding the command, including the  new-
       line character that terminates the last comment.  If the command is not
       preceded by any comments, commentSize is 0.  Tcl_ParseCommand also sets
       the  commandStart  field  to  point to the first character of the first
       word in the command (skipping any comments and leading space) and  com-
       mandSize  gives the total number of bytes in the command, including the
       character pointed to by commandStart up to and including  the  newline,
       close bracket, or semicolon character that terminates the command.  The
       numWords field gives the total number of words in the command.

       All parsing procedures set the remaining fields,  tokenPtr  and  numTo-
       kens.   The tokenPtr field points to the first in an array of Tcl_Token
       structures that describe the components of  the  entity  being  parsed.
       The  numTokens  field  gives  the total number of tokens present in the
       array.  Each token contains four fields.  The type field selects one of
       several  token  types that are described below.  The start field points
       to the first character in the token and the size field gives the  total
       number  of  characters  in  the  token.   Some  token  types,  such  as
       TCL_TOKEN_WORD and TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE,  consist  of  several  component
       tokens,  which  immediately  follow the parent token; the numComponents
       field describes how many of these there are.  The type field has one of
       the following values:

       TCL_TOKEN_WORD      This  token ordinarily describes one word of a com-
                           mand but it may also describe a  quoted  or  braced
                           string  in  an  expression.   The token describes a
                           component of the script that is the result of  con-
                           catenating  together  a  sequence of subcomponents,
                           each described by a separate subtoken.   The  token
                           starts  with  the  first non-blank character of the
                           component (which may  be  a  double-quote  or  open
                           brace) and includes all characters in the component
                           up to but not including the space, semicolon, close
                           bracket,  close  quote,  or close brace that termi-
                           nates  the  component.   The  numComponents   field
                           counts  the total number of sub-tokens that make up
                           the word, including sub-tokens  of  TCL_TOKEN_VARI-
                           ABLE and TCL_TOKEN_BS tokens.

       TCL_TOKEN_SIMPLE_WORD
                           This  token has the same meaning as TCL_TOKEN_WORD,
                           except that the word is guaranteed to consist of  a
                           single TCL_TOKEN_TEXT sub-token.  The numComponents
                           field is always 1.

       TCL_TOKEN_EXPAND_WORD
                           This token has the same meaning as  TCL_TOKEN_WORD,
                           except  that  the  command  parser  notes this word
                           began with the  expansion  prefix  {*},  indicating
                           that  after  substitution,  the  list value of this
                           word should be expanded to form multiple  arguments
                           in command evaluation.  This token type can only be
                           created by Tcl_ParseCommand.

       TCL_TOKEN_TEXT      The token describes a range of literal text that is
                           part  of a word.  The numComponents field is always
                           0.

       TCL_TOKEN_BS        The token describes a backslash sequence such as \n
                           or \0xa3.  The numComponents field is always 0.

       TCL_TOKEN_COMMAND   The  token describes a command whose result must be
                           substituted into the word.  The token includes  the
                           square  brackets  that  surround  the command.  The
                           numComponents field is always 0 (the nested command
                           is not parsed; call Tcl_ParseCommand recursively if
                           you want to see its tokens).

       TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE  The  token  describes  a   variable   substitution,
                           including the $, variable name, and array index (if
                           there is one) up through the close parenthesis that
                           terminates  the  index.   This token is followed by
                           one or more additional  tokens  that  describe  the
                           variable  name  and  array index.  If numComponents
                           is 1 then the variable is a  scalar  and  the  next
                           token  is  a  TCL_TOKEN_TEXT  token  that gives the
                           variable name.  If numComponents is greater than  1
                           then  the variable is an array: the first sub-token
                           is a TCL_TOKEN_TEXT token giving the array name and
                           the   remaining   sub-tokens   are  TCL_TOKEN_TEXT,
                           TCL_TOKEN_BS,        TCL_TOKEN_COMMAND,         and
                           TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE tokens that must be concatenated
                           to produce the array index. The numComponents field
                           includes   nested   sub-tokens  that  are  part  of
                           TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE tokens in the array index.

       TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR  The token describes one subexpression of an expres-
                           sion  (or  an  entire expression).  A subexpression
                           may consist of a value such as an integer  literal,
                           variable  substitution, or parenthesized subexpres-
                           sion; it may also consist of an  operator  and  its
                           operands.   The  token  starts  with the first non-
                           blank character of the subexpression up to but  not
                           including the space, brace, close-paren, or bracket
                           that terminates the subexpression.  This  token  is
                           followed  by  one  or  more  additional tokens that
                           describe the subexpression.  If the first sub-token
                           after    the    TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR   token   is   a
                           TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR token,  the  subexpression  con-
                           sists  of  an  operator and its token operands.  If
                           the operator has  no  operands,  the  subexpression
                           consists  of  just  the  TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR  token.
                           Each operand is described by  a  TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR
                           token.   Otherwise,  the  subexpression  is a value
                           described by one of the token types TCL_TOKEN_WORD,
                           TCL_TOKEN_TEXT,   TCL_TOKEN_BS,  TCL_TOKEN_COMMAND,
                           TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE,  and  TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR.   The
                           numComponents field counts the total number of sub-
                           tokens  that  make  up  the   subexpression;   this
                           includes    the    sub-tokens    for   any   nested
                           TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR tokens.

       TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR  The token describes one operator of  an  expression
                           such as && or hypot.  A TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR token is
                           always preceded by a TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR token  that
                           describes   the  operator  and  its  operands;  the
                           TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR token's numComponents field  can
                           be  used  to  determine  the number of operands.  A
                           binary operator  such  as  *  is  followed  by  two
                           TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR  tokens  that describe its oper-
                           ands.  A unary operator like -  is  followed  by  a
                           single  TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR  token  for its operand.
                           If the operator is a math function such  as  log10,
                           the TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR token will give its name and
                           the  following   TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR   tokens   will
                           describe its operands; if there are no operands (as
                           with rand), no  TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR  tokens  follow.
                           There  is  one trinary operator, ?, that appears in
                           if-then-else subexpressions such as x?y:z; in  this
                           case, the ? TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR token is followed by
                           three TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR tokens for the operands x,
                           y,   and   z.    The   numComponents  field  for  a
                           TCL_TOKEN_OPERATOR token is always 0.

       After Tcl_ParseCommand returns, the  first  token  pointed  to  by  the
       tokenPtr   field   of   the   Tcl_Parse   structure   always  has  type
       TCL_TOKEN_WORD or TCL_TOKEN_SIMPLE_WORD or  TCL_TOKEN_EXPAND_WORD.   It
       is  followed by the sub-tokens that must be concatenated to produce the
       value  of  that  word.   The  next  token  is  the  TCL_TOKEN_WORD   or
       TCL_TOKEN_SIMPLE_WORD  of  TCL_TOKEN_EXPAND_WORD  token  for the second
       word, followed by sub-tokens for that word, and so on  until  all  num-
       Words have been accounted for.

       After Tcl_ParseExpr returns, the first token pointed to by the tokenPtr
       field of the Tcl_Parse structure always  has  type  TCL_TOKEN_SUB_EXPR.
       It  is followed by the sub-tokens that must be evaluated to produce the
       value of the expression.  Only the token information in  the  Tcl_Parse
       structure is modified: the commentStart, commentSize, commandStart, and
       commandSize fields are not modified by Tcl_ParseExpr.

       After Tcl_ParseBraces returns, the array of tokens pointed  to  by  the
       tokenPtr  field  of  the  Tcl_Parse  structure  will  contain  a single
       TCL_TOKEN_TEXT token if the braced string does not  contain  any  back-
       slash-newlines.   If  the  string  does contain backslash-newlines, the
       array of tokens will contain one or more TCL_TOKEN_TEXT or TCL_TOKEN_BS
       sub-tokens  that  must  be  concatenated  to  produce  the value of the
       string.  If the braced string was just {}  (that  is,  the  string  was
       empty), the single TCL_TOKEN_TEXT token will have a size field contain-
       ing zero; this ensures that at least one token appears to describe  the
       braced  string.   Only the token information in the Tcl_Parse structure
       is modified: the commentStart, commentSize, commandStart, and  command-
       Size fields are not modified by Tcl_ParseBraces.

       After  Tcl_ParseQuotedString returns, the array of tokens pointed to by
       the tokenPtr field of the Tcl_Parse structure depends on  the  contents
       of  the  quoted string.  It will consist of one or more TCL_TOKEN_TEXT,
       TCL_TOKEN_BS,  TCL_TOKEN_COMMAND,  and  TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE  sub-tokens.
       The array always contains at least one token; for example, if the argu-
       ment  start  is  empty,  the  array  returned  consists  of  a   single
       TCL_TOKEN_TEXT  token  with a zero size field.  Only the token informa-
       tion in the Tcl_Parse structure is modified: the commentStart, comment-
       Size, commandStart, and commandSize fields are not modified.

       After  Tcl_ParseVarName  returns,  the  first  token  pointed to by the
       tokenPtr  field  of   the   Tcl_Parse   structure   always   has   type
       TCL_TOKEN_VARIABLE.   It is followed by the sub-tokens that make up the
       variable name as described above.  The total  length  of  the  variable
       name  is  contained  in  the  size  field  of  the  first token.  As in
       Tcl_ParseExpr, only the token information in the Tcl_Parse structure is
       modified  by  Tcl_ParseVarName: the commentStart, commentSize, command-
       Start, and commandSize fields are not modified.

       All of the character pointers in the Tcl_Parse and Tcl_Token structures
       refer  to  characters in the start argument passed to Tcl_ParseCommand,
       Tcl_ParseExpr, Tcl_ParseBraces, Tcl_ParseQuotedString,  and  Tcl_Parse-
       VarName.

       There are additional fields in the Tcl_Parse structure after the numTo-
       kens field, but these are for  the  private  use  of  Tcl_ParseCommand,
       Tcl_ParseExpr,  Tcl_ParseBraces,  Tcl_ParseQuotedString, and Tcl_Parse-
       VarName; they should not be referenced by code outside of these  proce-
       dures.

KEYWORDS
       backslash  substitution,  braces,  command,  expression,  parse, token,
       variable substitution



ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE  |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Availability   | runtime/tcl-8    |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Stability      | Uncommitted      |
       +---------------+------------------+

NOTES
       Source code for open source software components in Oracle  Solaris  can
       be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
       code-downloads.html.

       This    software    was    built    from    source     available     at
       https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland.    The  original  community
       source was downloaded from  http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/tcl/tcl-
       core8.6.7-src.tar.gz.

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at https://www.tcl.tk/.



Tcl                                   8.3               Tcl_ParseCommand(3tcl)