path: root/doc/registry.n

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'\" Copyright (c) 1997 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
'\" Copyright (c) 2002 ActiveState Corporation.
'\"
'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
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'\" RCS: @(#) $Id: registry.n,v 1.14.8.3 2008/01/23 16:42:17 dgp Exp $
'\" 
.so man.macros
.TH registry n 1.1 registry "Tcl Bundled Packages"
.BS
'\" Note:  do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
.SH NAME
registry \- Manipulate the Windows registry
.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
\fBpackage require registry 1.1\fR
.sp
\fBregistry \fIoption\fR \fIkeyName\fR ?\fIarg arg ...\fR?
.BE
.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
The \fBregistry\fR package provides a general set of operations for
manipulating the Windows registry.  The package implements the
\fBregistry\fR Tcl command.  This command is only supported on the
Windows platform.  Warning: this command should be used with caution
as a corrupted registry can leave your system in an unusable state.
.PP
\fIKeyName\fR is the name of a registry key.  Registry keys must be
one of the following forms:
.RS
.PP
\fB\e\e\fIhostname\fB\e\fIrootname\fB\e\fIkeypath\fR
.PP
\fIrootname\fB\e\fIkeypath\fR
.PP
\fIrootname\fR
.RE
.PP
\fIHostname\fR specifies the name of any valid Windows
host that exports its registry.  The \fIrootname\fR component must be
one of \fBHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\fR, \fBHKEY_USERS\fR,
\fBHKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\fR, \fBHKEY_CURRENT_USER\fR,
\fBHKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG\fR, \fBHKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA\fR, or
\fBHKEY_DYN_DATA\fR.  The \fIkeypath\fR can be one or more
registry key names separated by backslash (\fB\e\fR) characters.
.PP
\fIOption\fR indicates what to do with the registry key name.  Any
unique abbreviation for \fIoption\fR is acceptable.  The valid options
are:
.TP
\fBregistry broadcast \fIkeyName\fR ?\fB\-timeout \fImilliseconds\fR?
.
Sends a broadcast message to the system and running programs to notify them
of certain updates.  This is necessary to propagate changes to key registry
keys like Environment.  The timeout specifies the amount of time, in
milliseconds, to wait for applications to respond to the broadcast message.
It defaults to 3000.  The following example demonstrates how to add a path
to the global Environment and notify applications of the change without
requiring a logoff/logon step (assumes admin privileges):
.RS
.PP
.CS
set regPath [join {
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    SYSTEM
    CurrentControlSet
    Control
    {Session Manager}
    Environment
} "\e\e"]
set curPath [\fBregistry get\fR $regPath "Path"]
\fBregistry set\fR $regPath "Path" "$curPath;$addPath"
\fBregistry broadcast\fR "Environment"
.CE
.RE
.TP
\fBregistry delete \fIkeyName\fR ?\fIvalueName\fR?
.
If the optional \fIvalueName\fR argument is present, the specified
value under \fIkeyName\fR will be deleted from the registry.  If the
optional \fIvalueName\fR is omitted, the specified key and any subkeys
or values beneath it in the registry hierarchy will be deleted.  If
the key could not be deleted then an error is generated.  If the key
did not exist, the command has no effect.
.TP
\fBregistry get \fIkeyName valueName\fR
.
Returns the data associated with the value \fIvalueName\fR under the key
\fIkeyName\fR.  If either the key or the value does not exist, then an
error is generated.  For more details on the format of the returned
data, see \fBSUPPORTED TYPES\fR, below.
.TP
\fBregistry keys \fIkeyName\fR ?\fIpattern\fR?
.
If \fIpattern\fR is not specified, returns a list of names of all the
subkeys of \fIkeyName\fR.  If \fIpattern\fR is specified, only those
names matching \fIpattern\fR are returned.  Matching is determined
using the same rules as for \fBstring\fR \fBmatch\fR.  If the
specified \fIkeyName\fR does not exist, then an error is generated.
.TP
\fBregistry set \fIkeyName\fR ?\fIvalueName data \fR?\fItype\fR??
.
If \fIvalueName\fR is not specified, creates the key \fIkeyName\fR if
it does not already exist.  If \fIvalueName\fR is specified, creates
the key \fIkeyName\fR and value \fIvalueName\fR if necessary.  The
contents of \fIvalueName\fR are set to \fIdata\fR with the type
indicated by \fItype\fR.  If \fItype\fR is not specified, the type
\fBsz\fR is assumed.  For more details on the data and type arguments,
see \fBSUPPORTED TYPES\fR below.
.TP
\fBregistry type \fIkeyName valueName\fR
.
Returns the type of the value \fIvalueName\fR in the key
\fIkeyName\fR.  For more information on the possible types, see
\fBSUPPORTED TYPES\fR, below.
.TP
\fBregistry values \fIkeyName\fR ?\fIpattern\fR?
.
If \fIpattern\fR is not specified, returns a list of names of all the
values of \fIkeyName\fR.  If \fIpattern\fR is specified, only those
names matching \fIpattern\fR are returned.  Matching is determined
using the same rules as for \fBstring\fR \fBmatch\fR.
.SH "SUPPORTED TYPES"
Each value under a key in the registry contains some data of a
particular type in a type-specific representation.  The \fBregistry\fR
command converts between this internal representation and one that can
be manipulated by Tcl scripts.  In most cases, the data is simply
returned as a Tcl string.  The type indicates the intended use for the
data, but does not actually change the representation.  For some
types, the \fBregistry\fR command returns the data in a different form to
make it easier to manipulate.  The following types are recognized by the
registry command:
.TP 17
\fBbinary\fR
.
The registry value contains arbitrary binary data.  The data is represented
exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
.TP
\fBnone\fR
.
The registry value contains arbitrary binary data with no defined
type.  The data is represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded
nulls.
.TP
\fBsz\fR
.
The registry value contains a null-terminated string.  The data is 
represented in Tcl as a string.
.TP
\fBexpand_sz\fR
.
The registry value contains a null-terminated string that contains
unexpanded references to environment variables in the normal Windows
style (for example,
.QW %PATH% ).
The data is represented in Tcl as a string.
.TP
\fBdword\fR
.
The registry value contains a little-endian 32-bit number.  The data is
represented in Tcl as a decimal string.
.TP
\fBdword_big_endian\fR
.
The registry value contains a big-endian 32-bit number.  The data is
represented in Tcl as a decimal string.
.TP
\fBlink\fR
.
The registry value contains a symbolic link.  The data is represented
exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
.TP
\fBmulti_sz\fR
.
The registry value contains an array of null-terminated strings.  The
data is represented in Tcl as a list of strings.
.TP
\fBresource_list\fR
.
The registry value contains a device-driver resource list.  The data
is represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
.PP
In addition to the symbolically named types listed above, unknown
types are identified using a 32-bit integer that corresponds to the
type code returned by the system interfaces.  In this case, the data
is represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
.SH "PORTABILITY ISSUES"
The registry command is only available on Windows.
.SH EXAMPLE
Print out how double-clicking on a Tcl script file will invoke a Tcl
interpreter:
.PP
.CS
package require registry
set ext .tcl

# Read the type name
set type [\fBregistry get\fR HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\e\e$ext {}]
# Work out where to look for the command
set path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\e\e$type\e\eShell\e\eOpen\e\ecommand
# Read the command!
set command [\fBregistry get\fR $path {}]

puts "$ext opens with $command"
.CE
.SH KEYWORDS
registry