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+'\"
+'\" Copyright (c) 1993-1994 The Regents of the University of California.
+'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
+'\" Contributions from Don Porter, NIST, 2003. (not subject to US copyright)
+'\"
+'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
+'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
+'\"
+.TH catch n "8.5" Tcl "Tcl Built-In Commands"
+.so man.macros
+.BS
+'\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
+.SH NAME
+catch \- Evaluate script and trap exceptional returns
+.SH SYNOPSIS
+\fBcatch\fI script \fR?\fIresultVarName\fR? ?\fIoptionsVarName\fR?
+.BE
+.SH DESCRIPTION
+.PP
+The \fBcatch\fR command may be used to prevent errors from aborting command
+interpretation. The \fBcatch\fR command calls the Tcl interpreter recursively
+to execute \fIscript\fR, and always returns without raising an error,
+regardless of any errors that might occur while executing \fIscript\fR.
+.PP
+If \fIscript\fR raises an error, \fBcatch\fR will return a non-zero integer
+value corresponding to the exceptional return code returned by evaluation
+of \fIscript\fR. Tcl defines the normal return code from script
+evaluation to be zero (0), or \fBTCL_OK\fR. Tcl also defines four exceptional
+return codes: 1 (\fBTCL_ERROR\fR), 2 (\fBTCL_RETURN\fR), 3 (\fBTCL_BREAK\fR),
+and 4 (\fBTCL_CONTINUE\fR). Errors during evaluation of a script are indicated
+by a return code of \fBTCL_ERROR\fR. The other exceptional return codes are
+returned by the \fBreturn\fR, \fBbreak\fR, and \fBcontinue\fR commands
+and in other special situations as documented. Tcl packages can define
+new commands that return other integer values as return codes as well,
+and scripts that make use of the \fBreturn \-code\fR command can also
+have return codes other than the five defined by Tcl.
+.PP
+If the \fIresultVarName\fR argument is given, then the variable it names is
+set to the result of the script evaluation. When the return code from the
+script is 1 (\fBTCL_ERROR\fR), the value stored in \fIresultVarName\fR is an
+error message. When the return code from the script is 0 (\fBTCL_OK\fR), the
+value stored in \fIresultVarName\fR is the value returned from \fIscript\fR.
+.PP
+If the \fIoptionsVarName\fR argument is given, then the variable it
+names is set to a dictionary of return options returned by evaluation
+of \fIscript\fR. Tcl specifies two entries that are always
+defined in the dictionary: \fB\-code\fR and \fB\-level\fR. When
+the return code from evaluation of \fIscript\fR is not \fBTCL_RETURN\fR,
+the value of the \fB\-level\fR entry will be 0, and the value
+of the \fB\-code\fR entry will be the same as the return code.
+Only when the return code is \fBTCL_RETURN\fR will the values of
+the \fB\-level\fR and \fB\-code\fR entries be something else, as
+further described in the documentation for the \fBreturn\fR command.
+.PP
+When the return code from evaluation of \fIscript\fR is
+\fBTCL_ERROR\fR, four additional entries are defined in the dictionary
+of return options stored in \fIoptionsVarName\fR: \fB\-errorinfo\fR,
+\fB\-errorcode\fR, \fB\-errorline\fR, and
+.VS 8.6
+\fB\-errorstack\fR.
+.VE 8.6
+The value of the \fB\-errorinfo\fR entry is a formatted stack trace containing
+more information about the context in which the error happened. The formatted
+stack trace is meant to be read by a person. The value of the
+\fB\-errorcode\fR entry is additional information about the error stored as a
+list. The \fB\-errorcode\fR value is meant to be further processed by
+programs, and may not be particularly readable by people. The value of the
+\fB\-errorline\fR entry is an integer indicating which line of \fIscript\fR
+was being evaluated when the error occurred.
+.VS 8.6
+The value of the \fB\-errorstack\fR entry is an
+even-sized list made of token-parameter pairs accumulated while
+unwinding the stack. The token may be
+.QW \fBCALL\fR ,
+in which case the parameter is a list made of the proc name and arguments at
+the corresponding level; or it may be
+.QW \fBUP\fR ,
+in which case the parameter is
+the relative level (as in \fBuplevel\fR) of the previous \fBCALL\fR. The
+salient differences with respect to \fB\-errorinfo\fR are that:
+.IP [1]
+it is a machine-readable form that is amenable to processing with
+[\fBforeach\fR {tok prm} ...],
+.IP [2]
+it contains the true (substituted) values passed to the functions, instead of
+the static text of the calling sites, and
+.IP [3]
+it is coarser-grained, with only one element per stack frame (like procs; no
+separate elements for \fBforeach\fR constructs for example).
+.VE 8.6
+.PP
+The values of the \fB\-errorinfo\fR and \fB\-errorcode\fR entries of
+the most recent error are also available as values of the global
+variables \fB::errorInfo\fR and \fB::errorCode\fR respectively.
+.VS 8.6
+The value of the \fB\-errorstack\fR entry surfaces as \fBinfo errorstack\fR.
+.VE 8.6
+.PP
+Tcl packages may provide commands that set other entries in the
+dictionary of return options, and the \fBreturn\fR command may be
+used by scripts to set return options in addition to those defined
+above.
+.SH EXAMPLES
+.PP
+The \fBcatch\fR command may be used in an \fBif\fR to branch based on
+the success of a script.
+.PP
+.CS
+if { [\fBcatch\fR {open $someFile w} fid] } {
+ puts stderr "Could not open $someFile for writing\en$fid"
+ exit 1
+}
+.CE
+.PP
+There are more complex examples of \fBcatch\fR usage in the
+documentation for the \fBreturn\fR command.
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+break(n), continue(n), dict(n), error(n), errorCode(n), errorInfo(n), info(n),
+return(n)
+.SH KEYWORDS
+catch, error, exception
+'\" Local Variables:
+'\" mode: nroff
+'\" fill-column: 78
+'\" End: