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diff --git a/doc/Eval.3 b/doc/Eval.3 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f100697 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/Eval.3 @@ -0,0 +1,114 @@ +'\" +'\" Copyright (c) 1989-1993 The Regents of the University of California. +'\" Copyright (c) 1994-1997 Sun Microsystems, Inc. +'\" +'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution +'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. +'\" +'\" SCCS: @(#) Eval.3 1.21 97/01/22 14:22:03 +'\" +.so man.macros +.TH Tcl_Eval 3 7.0 Tcl "Tcl Library Procedures" +.BS +.SH NAME +Tcl_Eval, Tcl_VarEval, Tcl_EvalFile, Tcl_GlobalEval \- execute Tcl commands +.SH SYNOPSIS +.nf +\fB#include <tcl.h>\fR +.sp +int +\fBTcl_Eval\fR(\fIinterp, cmd\fR) +.sp +int +\fBTcl_VarEval\fR(\fIinterp, string, string, ... \fB(char *) NULL\fR) +.sp +int +\fBTcl_EvalFile\fR(\fIinterp, fileName\fR) +.sp +int +\fBTcl_GlobalEval\fR(\fIinterp, cmd\fR) +.SH ARGUMENTS +.AS Tcl_Interp **termPtr; +.AP Tcl_Interp *interp in +Interpreter in which to execute the command. +A string result will be stored in \fIinterp->result\fR. +.AP char *cmd in +Command (or sequence of commands) to execute. Must be in writable +memory (\fBTcl_Eval\fR makes temporary modifications to the command). +.AP char *string in +String forming part of Tcl command. +.AP char *fileName in +Name of file containing Tcl command string. +.BE + +.SH DESCRIPTION +.PP +All four of these procedures execute Tcl commands. +\fBTcl_Eval\fR is the core procedure and is used by all the others. +It executes the commands in the script held by \fIcmd\fR +until either an error occurs or it reaches the end of the script. +.PP +Note that \fBTcl_Eval\fR and \fBTcl_GlobalEval\fR +have been largely replaced by the +object-based procedures \fBTcl_EvalObj\fR and \fBTcl_GlobalEvalObj\fR. +Those object-based procedures evaluate a script held in a Tcl object +instead of a string. +The object argument can retain the bytecode instructions for the script +and so avoid reparsing the script each time it is executed. +\fBTcl_Eval\fR is implemented using \fBTcl_EvalObj\fR +but is slower because it must reparse the script each time +since there is no object to retain the bytecode instructions. +.PP +The return value from \fBTcl_Eval\fR is one of the Tcl return codes +\fBTCL_OK\fR, \fBTCL_ERROR\fR, \fBTCL_RETURN\fR, \fBTCL_BREAK\fR, or +\fBTCL_CONTINUE\fR, and \fIinterp->result\fR will point to +a string with additional information (a result value or error message). +If an error occurs during compilation, this return information +describes the error. +Otherwise, this return information corresponds to the last command +executed from \fIcmd\fR. +.PP +\fBTcl_VarEval\fR takes any number of string arguments +of any length, concatenates them into a single string, +then calls \fBTcl_Eval\fR to execute that string as a Tcl command. +It returns the result of the command and also modifies +\fIinterp->result\fR in the usual fashion for Tcl commands. +The last argument to \fBTcl_VarEval\fR must be NULL to indicate the end +of arguments. +.PP +\fBTcl_EvalFile\fR reads the file given by \fIfileName\fR and evaluates +its contents as a Tcl command by calling \fBTcl_Eval\fR. It returns +a standard Tcl result that reflects the result of evaluating the file. +If the file couldn't be read then a Tcl error is returned to describe +why the file couldn't be read. +.PP +During the processing of a Tcl command it is legal to make nested +calls to evaluate other commands (this is how procedures and +some control structures are implemented). +If a code other than \fBTCL_OK\fR is returned +from a nested \fBTcl_Eval\fR invocation, +then the caller should normally return immediately, +passing that same return code back to its caller, +and so on until the top-level application is reached. +A few commands, like \fBfor\fR, will check for certain +return codes, like \fBTCL_BREAK\fR and \fBTCL_CONTINUE\fR, and process them +specially without returning. +.PP +\fBTcl_Eval\fR keeps track of how many nested \fBTcl_Eval\fR +invocations are in progress for \fIinterp\fR. +If a code of \fBTCL_RETURN\fR, \fBTCL_BREAK\fR, or \fBTCL_CONTINUE\fR is +about to be returned from the topmost \fBTcl_Eval\fR +invocation for \fIinterp\fR, +it converts the return code to \fBTCL_ERROR\fR +and sets \fIinterp->result\fR +to point to an error message indicating that +the \fBreturn\fR, \fBbreak\fR, or \fBcontinue\fR command was +invoked in an inappropriate place. +This means that top-level applications should never see a return code +from \fBTcl_Eval\fR other then \fBTCL_OK\fR or \fBTCL_ERROR\fR. + +.SH "SEE ALSO" +Tcl_EvalObj, Tcl_GlobalEvalObj + +.SH KEYWORDS +command, execute, file, global, object, object result, variable |