Provided by: critcl_3.1.9-1build1_all bug

NAME

       critcl - Critcl - Package Reference

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.4

       package require critcl  ?3.1.8?

       package require platform  ?1.0.2?

       package require md5  ?2?

       ::critcl::ccode text

       ::critcl::ccommand tclname cfunname

       ::critcl::ccommand tclname arguments body ?option value...?

       ::critcl::cdata tclname data

       ::critcl::cdefines definitions ?namespace?

       ::critcl::cproc name arguments resulttype body ?option value...?

       ::critcl::cproc name arguments resulttype

       ::critcl::cinit text externals

       ::critcl::api import name version

       ::critcl::api function resulttype name arguments

       ::critcl::api header ?pattern...?

       ::critcl::api extheader ?file...?

       ::critcl::license author ?text...?

       ::critcl::summary text

       ::critcl::description text

       ::critcl::subject ?key...?

       ::critcl::meta key ?word...?

       ::critcl::meta? key

       ::critcl::buildrequirement script

       ::critcl::cheaders ?arg...?

       ::critcl::csources ?pattern...?

       ::critcl::clibraries ?arg...?

       ::critcl::source path

       ::critcl::tsources pattern...

       ::critcl::owns pattern...

       ::critcl::cflags ?arg...?

       ::critcl::ldflags ?arg...?

       ::critcl::framework ?arg...?

       ::critcl::tcl version

       ::critcl::tk

       ::critcl::preload lib...

       ::critcl::debug area...

       ::critcl::check ?label? text

       ::critcl::checklink ?label? text

       ::critcl::msg ?-nonewline? msg

       ::critcl::print ?-nonewline? ?chan? msg

       ::critcl::compiled

       ::critcl::compiling

       ::critcl::done

       ::critcl::failed

       ::critcl::load

       ::critcl::config option ?val?

       ::critcl::cache ?path?

       ::critcl::clean_cache ?pattern...?

       ::critcl::readconfig path

       ::critcl::showconfig ?chan?

       ::critcl::showallconfig ?chan?

       ::critcl::chooseconfig target ?nomatcherr?

       ::critcl::setconfig target

       ::critcl::actualtarget

       ::critcl::buildforpackage ?flag?

       ::critcl::cnothingtodo file

       ::critcl::cresults ?file?

       ::critcl::crosscheck

       ::critcl::error msg

       ::critcl::knowntargets

       ::critcl::sharedlibext

       ::critcl::targetconfig

       ::critcl::buildplatform

       ::critcl::targetplatform

       ::critcl::cobjects ?arg...?

       ::critcl::scan path

       ::critcl::name2c name

       ::critcl::argnames arguments

       ::critcl::argcnames arguments

       ::critcl::argcsignature arguments

       ::critcl::argvardecls arguments

       ::critcl::argconversion arguments ?n?

       ::critcl::argoptional arguments

       ::critcl::argdefaults arguments

       ::critcl::argsupport arguments

       ::critcl::userconfig define name description type ?default?

       ::critcl::userconfig query name

       ::critcl::userconfig set name value

       ::critcl::at::caller

       ::critcl::at::caller offset

       ::critcl::at::caller offset level

       ::critcl::at::here

       ::critcl::at::get*

       ::critcl::at::get

       ::critcl::at::= file line

       ::critcl::at::incr n...

       ::critcl::at::incrt str...

       ::critcl::at::caller!

       ::critcl::at::caller! offset

       ::critcl::at::caller! offset level

       ::critcl::at::here!

       ::critcl::collect_begin

       ::critcl::collect_end

       ::critcl::collect script

       ::critcl::resulttype name body ?ctype?

       ::critcl::resulttype name = origname

       ::critcl::argtype name body ?ctype? ?ctypefun?

       ::critcl::argtype name = origname

       ::critcl::argtypesupport name code

       ::preload library

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       Welcome  to the C Runtime In Tcl, CriTcl for short, a system to build C extension packages
       for Tcl on the fly, from C code embedded within Tcl scripts, for  all  who  wish  to  make
       their code go faster.

       This  document  is  the  reference  manpage  for  the  critcl package. This package is the
       system's core, i.e. it provides the essential functionality on  top  of  which  everything
       else  is built.  Its intended audience are mainly developers wishing to write Tcl packages
       with embedded C code.  Some  of  its  sections  are  however  for  developers  wishing  to
       understand the package internals, and the API it provides to the CriTcl Application. These
       sections will be marked, allowing package writers to skip them.  Users of  critcl  on  the
       other  hand  are hereby refered to the applications' manpage, i.e. CriTcl Application.  If
       you are in need of an overview of the  whole  system  instead,  please  go  and  read  the
       Introduction To CriTcl.

       This package resides in the Core Package Layer of CriTcl.

       +----------------+
       |Applications    |
       | critcl         |
       | critcl::app    |
       +----------------+

       *================*
       |Core Packages   |
       | critcl         |
       | critcl::util   |
       *================*

       +----------------+
       |Support Packages|
       | stubs::*       |
       | md5, platform  |
       |  ...           |
       +----------------+

API

       A  short  note  ahead  of the documentation: Instead of repeatedly talking about "a ".tcl"
       with embbedded C code", or "a ".tcl" containing critcl commands", etc.  we use a shorthand
       and simply call them ".critcl" files, regardless of their file extension.

   EMBEDDED C CODE
       The  package  provides  five  commands to declare various types of C code fragments. These
       are:

       ::critcl::ccode text
              This command compiles the C code  in  text  and  makes  the  contained  definitions
              (variables,  functions,  macros,  etc.) available to all C code fragments specified
              after it. It itself can assume  to  have  access  to  all  definitions  which  were
              specified before it.  See section Runtime Behaviour for more details.

              The result of the command is the empty string.

       ::critcl::ccommand tclname cfunname
              This  command creates a new Tcl command named tclname which is implemented by the C
              function cfunname.  It is expected that cfunname has the proper signature for a Tcl
              command function, and was declared already.

              The result of ::critcl::ccommand itself is the empty string.

       ::critcl::ccommand tclname arguments body ?option value...?
              This  form  of  critcl::ccommand  creates  a new Tcl command named tclname which is
              implemented by the C code in body.

              The command wraps the body in an invisible C function, compiles it  and  makes  the
              resulting definition available to all C code fragments declared later on. It itself
              can assume to have access to all definitions which came  before  it.   See  section
              Runtime Behaviour for more details.

              The result of critcl::ccommand itself is the empty string.

              The  list  of arguments contain the names for the four parameters required by a Tcl
              command function. Superfluous list elements (i.e. beyond the fourth)  are  ignored.
              Missing  elements  (parameters), and empty parameter names are handled by replacing
              them with standard names. These are, in order of usage

              [1]    clientdata

              [2]    interp

              [3]    objc

              [4]    objv

              The only options accepted by this command are:

              -clientdata c-expression
                     The value of this option is the text of a single C expression. The value  of
                     expression  is  used  in  the  generated  C statement registering tclname to
                     initialize the client data of the new Tcl command.   If  not  specified  the
                     expression defaults to NULL, i.e. no client data.

              -delproc c-expression
                     The  value of this option is the text of a single C expression. The value of
                     this expression has to be a function pointer  of  type  "Tcl_CmdDeleteProc",
                     which is used in the generated C statement registering tclname to initialize
                     a deletion function for the new Tcl command, i.e. a function which is run by
                     Tcl  when the Tcl command is deleted again.  If not specified the expression
                     defaults to NULL, i.e. no deletion function.

              -cname boolean
                     The value of this option is a boolean flag. If true the name of the  command
                     is  the  C identifier of the command function.  Namespaces, etc. are in that
                     case not relevant at all. The default value of this option is false, causing
                     the  system  to derive a name from the Tcl level command name, including its
                     namespace.

              A ccommand is, in comparison to functions defined  via  critcl::cproc,  more  lower
              level.   Its  advantage is that the developer can do their own argument processing,
              enabling things like variable number of arguments, options, etc., i.e. much  higher
              flexibility.   Their  disadvantage  is  that  you  have  to  do  your  own argument
              processing. Where a critcl::cproc generates the code to convert from Tcl values  to
              C  values  and back a critcl::ccommand forces the writer to do all of this on their
              own. I.e. the cost of the aforementioned flexibility is a higher complexity seen by
              the user.

       ::critcl::cdata tclname data
              This  command  a  new  Tcl  command named tclname which returns data as a ByteArray
              result.

              The result of critcl::cdata itself is the empty string.

       ::critcl::cdefines definitions ?namespace?
              This command creates Tcl variables in the specified namespace which are  linked  to
              the  C  enum values and #defines named as glob patterns in the list of definitions.
              Each variable has the same name as the definition which gave rise to  it,  and  its
              value  is  the  value  of  the  corresponding  enum value or #define. The namespace
              defaults to the global namespace, i.e. "::", if it wasn't specified explicitly.

              Please note that this command is only for the lifting  of  existing  C  definitions
              into Tcl. The command does not create the definitions in C. It actually goes so far
              to check for the presence of the named definitions and not performing  the  mapping
              for any which do not exist. Which is sensible, given that non-existing defines have
              no value which could be used in the mapping.

              As these checks are run at the time the embedded C code  of  a  ".critcl"  file  is
              actually  compiled  they  have  access  to  and  check all C fragments defined with
              critcl::ccode, plus all the headers it has access to via critcl::cheaders, for that
              file.

       ::critcl::cproc name arguments resulttype body ?option value...?
              This  command creates a new Tcl command named tclname which is implemented by the C
              code in body.  In contrast to the low-level critcl::ccommand here the arguments and
              result  are typed and critcl generates the code converting from Tcl_Obj's to C data
              types, and vice versa.  The command creates two invisible C functions, one wrapping
              the  body, the other a shim containing the necessary conversions, compiles them and
              makes the resulting definitions available to all C code  fragments  declared  later
              on.  It  itself  can assume to have access to all definitions which came before it.
              See section Runtime Behaviour for more details.

              The result of critcl::cproc itself is the empty string.

              The only options accepted by this command are:

              -cname boolean
                     The value of this option is a boolean flag. If true the name of the  command
                     is  the  C identifier of the command function.  Namespaces, etc. are in that
                     case not relevant at all. The default value of this option is false, causing
                     the  system  to derive a name from the Tcl level command name, including its
                     namespace.

              -pass-cdata boolean
                     The value of this option is a boolean flag. If specified and  set  the  shim
                     translating  from Tcl to C level and back will pass the command's ClientData
                     to the function.  If not specified the  flag  defaults  to  false,  i.e.  no
                     passing of client data.

              -arg-offset int
                     The  value of this option is a positive integer number specifying the number
                     of hidden arguments  preceding  the  actual  procedure  arguments.   If  not
                     specified  the  flag  defaults  to  0.   This is useful to higher-order code
                     generator using the command in settings with prefix arguments which are  not
                     directly   seen  by  the  function,  but  influence  argument  counting  and
                     extraction.

              The list below shows the values which are legal for resulttype, and  details  their
              semantics:

              Tcl_Obj*

              object The  function  returns  a  value of type "Tcl_Obj*".  This value becomes the
                     interpreter result, if not 0.  The Tcl status  is  TCL_ERROR  when  a  0  is
                     returned, and TCL_OK otherwise.

                     Attention:  The  conversion assumes that the value belonged to the function,
                     with an associated reference count, and decrements the  reference  count  to
                     indicate  the  loss  of  ownership by the function. This means that it is an
                     error to return a value whose reference count is zero.

              char*

              vstring
                     The function returns a value  of  type  "char*".   This  value  becomes  the
                     interpreter  result,  wrapped in a String.  It is assumed that the string is
                     volatile in some way, with the wrapping in a String  duplicating  it  before
                     making it the result, ensuring that we will not access a dangling pointer in
                     the future.  The Tcl status is always TCL_OK.

              const char*
                     Like type char* above, except that the returned string is const-qualified.

              string

              dstring
                     The function returns a value of type  "char*".   Contrary  to  the  previous
                     string types here it is assumed that the value is dynamically allocated, via
                     Tcl_Alloc.  This value becomes the interpreter result, as usual, but is  not
                     copied.  The Tcl status is always TCL_OK.

              double The  function  returns  a  value  of  type "double".  This value becomes the
                     interpreter result, properly  wrapped  (Int).   The  Tcl  status  is  always
                     TCL_OK.

              float  The  function  returns  a  value  of  type  "float".  This value becomes the
                     interpreter result, properly wrapped (Double).  The  Tcl  status  is  always
                     TCL_OK.

              boolean

              bool   The  function  returns  a value of type "int", interpreted as boolean.  This
                     value becomes the interpreter  result,  properly  wrapped  (Int).   The  Tcl
                     status is always TCL_OK.

              int    The  function  returns  a  value  of  type  "int".   This  value becomes the
                     interpreter result, properly  wrapped  (Int).   The  Tcl  status  is  always
                     TCL_OK.

              long   The  function  returns  a  value of type "long int".  This value becomes the
                     interpreter result, properly wrapped  (Long).   The  Tcl  status  is  always
                     TCL_OK.

              ok     The  function  returns  a value of type "int".  It is interpreted as the Tcl
                     status code.  The interpreter result is left untouched (empty).

              void   The function does not return  a  value.   The  interpreter  result  is  left
                     untouched (empty).  The Tcl status is always TCL_OK.

       Please  note  that it is possible to extend the above with custom types if these types are
       not enough. See section Advanced: Extending cproc for details.

       The arguments parameter has the overall syntax of a Tcl dictionary value, except that keys
       (argument  names) and values (argument types) are specified in reverse order. Consider the
       example

              int x int y

       where  mapped to type/value int.

              The argument names must be valid C identifiers.

              A limited form of variadic arguments is possible, through optional  arguments  with
              default  values.  For  these  the  argument name is a 2-element list containing the
              actual name, and the default value.  For example, in the declaration

               int {x 1}

       x      optional argument of type int and default value 1.

              One limitation, and one caveat!

              First, the set of optional arguments must be a single  contiguous  segment  in  the
              argument  list.  This  limits  them to a series of optional arguments at either the
              beginning, end, or middle of the list. Multiple segments separated by  non-optional
              arguments  are  rejected,  as  the  system  cannot  determine  in these cases which
              arguments are present and what to set where.

              Second, the default value is assigned unconditionally. If a  custom  argument  type
              uses  more complex validation, and the default may be invalid according to it, then
              the relevant checks have to be done in the procedure body. The argument  conversion
              cannot  do  it  as  it  is  completely  bypassed  when the argument is not present.
              Overcoming this requires the separation of argument conversion and validation code.

              The list below shows the values which are legal for  argument  types,  and  details
              their semantics:

              Tcl_Obj*

              object The  function takes an argument of type "Tcl_Obj*".  No argument checking is
                     done.  The Tcl level word is passed to the argument as-is.

              bytearray

              rawchar*

              rawchar
                     The function takes an argument of type "char*".  The Tcl  argument  must  be
                     convertible  to  ByteArray,  an  error  is  thrown otherwise.  Note that the
                     length of the ByteArray is not passed to the function.

              char*  The function takes an argument of type "char*".  The  string  representation
                     of the Tcl argument is passed in.

              double The  function  takes an argument of type "double".  The Tcl argument must be
                     convertible to Double, an error is thrown otherwise.

              float  The function takes an argument of type "float".  The Tcl  argument  must  be
                     convertible to Double, an error is thrown otherwise.

              boolean

              bool   The  function  takes  an  argument  of type "int".  The Tcl argument must be
                     convertible to Boolean, an error is thrown otherwise.

              int    The function takes an argument of type "int".   The  Tcl  argument  must  be
                     convertible to Int, an error is thrown otherwise.

              long   The function takes an argument of type "long int".  The Tcl argument must be
                     convertible to Long, an error is thrown otherwise.

              void*

              double*

              float*

              int*   The function takes an argument of the same-named C type.  The  Tcl  argument
                     must  be  convertible to ByteArray, an error is thrown otherwise.  The bytes
                     in the ByteArray are then re-interpreted as the raw representation  of  a  C
                     pointer  of the given type which is then passed as argument to the function.
                     In other words, this is for Tcl values somehow holding raw C pointers,  i.e.
                     memory addresses.

                     Attention:  These  types are considered DEPRECATED.  It is planned to remove
                     their documentation in release 3.2, and their implementation in release 3.3.
                     Their deprecation can be undone if good use cases are shown.

       Note that optional arguments are not possible. This restriction is inherited from C.

       Further  note  that  the  type of the first argument is allowed to be Tcl_Interp*. In that
       case the argument in question is not counted as an argument of the new Tcl command.

       ::critcl::cproc name arguments resulttype
              This variant  of  critcl::cproc  assumes  that  the  functionality  to  connect  is
              implemented  by  the  C  function  name  which  has  the signature described by the
              arguments and resulttype.

              It creates only the shim performing  the  conversions  required  by  arguments  and
              result.

       ::critcl::cinit text externals
              This command compiles the C code in text and externals.

              Both  have  access  to  all  definitions created by the previously listed commands,
              regardless of their and its placement in the ".critcl" file.  See  section  Runtime
              Behaviour for more details.

              The  C  code  in  text  is  put into the body of the initialization function of the
              shared library backing the ".critcl" file, and is executed  when  this  library  is
              loaded into the interpreter.

              The  code  in  externals  on  the  other hand is placed outside and just before the
              initialization function, making this is a  good  place  for  any  external  symbols
              required  by  initialization  function  which should not be accessible by any other
              parts of the C code.

              The result of the command is the empty string.

   STUBS TABLE MANAGEMENT
       Newly introduced with critcl version 3 is the support  for  stubs  tables,  Tcl's  dynamic
       linking  mechanism  handling  the resolution of symbols between C extensions.  We won't go
       into its details here. See http://wiki.tcl.tk/285 for  an  introduction  in  general,  and
       section Stubs Tables for the details of critcl's particular variant.

       Critcl supports this via a single command, critcl::api, and its methods.

       First, importing stubs tables, i.e. APIs, from another extension:

       ::critcl::api import name version
              Critcl  prepares  the  ".critcl" file and its companion ".c" files by including the
              headers

              [1]    "name/nameDecls.h"

              [2]    "name/nameStubLib.h"

              in the appropriate places. It is checked that the compiler will  be  able  to  find
              these header files somewhere on the include search path, using the paths defined so
              far  (See  critcl::cheaders,  and  the  critcl  application's  -I  and  -includedir
              options).  Note  how  critcl expects the headers of package foo to reside in a sub-
              directory "foo" of the known include search paths.

              Important: If foo is a namespaced package name, like, for example "c::stack",  then
              the namespace separators "::" are converted into underscores ("_") in path names, C
              code, etc.

              The first header is expected to contain contains all the necessary stubs table type
              declarations,  mapping  macros, etc., and may include package specific headers (See
              critcl::api header below).  This header is included at the beginning of the C  code
              backing  the ".critcl" file, and at the beginning of all companion ".c" files. This
              means that the writer of these files doesn't have to write the  necessary  #include
              directory, critcl does it for them.

              The  second  header is expected to contain the stubs table variable definition, and
              the C code, i.e. definition, of the function to initialize it.  This, and a call to
              this initializer function are added to the ".critcl" file's initialization code.

              If  the  directory  containing  the  aforementioned  headers also contains the file
              "name/name.decls"  then  it  is  assumed  that  this  file  contains  the  external
              representation  of  the  stubs table used to generate the headers. The file is read
              and the internal representation of the  stubs  table  returned  as  result  of  the
              command,  for  the  importing  package  to  use  as it sees fit. If no such file is
              present the command returns the empty string as its result.

              One possible use would be the  automatic  generation  of  C  code  calling  on  the
              functions listed in the imported API.

              When  generating  a  TEA wrapper the names of the imported APIs are used to declare
              configure options with which the user can declare a non-standard location  for  the
              headers of the API. Any API FOO is translated a single configure option --with-FOO-
              include.

       Second, declaration and export of a stubs table, i.e. API, for the current package, foo:

       ::critcl::api function resulttype name arguments
              This method declares that the function name is in the public API  of  the  package,
              and  its  signature (type of the result, number, names and types of its arguments).
              Using this method automatically causes critcl to generate both the code for a stubs
              table in the package, the headers needed by packages using this API, and a ".decls"
              file containing the stubs table implied  by  the  exports,  usable  by  critcl::api
              import.

              arguments  is  a  list of C types and associated argument names. Like a dictionary,
              except that keys (argument names) and values  (argument  types)  are  swapped.  The
              resulttype is a C type as well.

       ::critcl::api header ?pattern...?
              This  method  notifies  critcl  of companion header files which have to be exported
              together with the generated stubs headers.

              All arguments are interpreted as glob pattern and the  matching  files  are  copied
              into  the  directory containing the generated headers well. As an importing package
              uses only "fooDecls.h" to access the API this generated  header  will  contain  the
              necessary  #include  directives  to  make  these  companion  header files and their
              declarations available too.  Patterns matching no file or non-existing files  cause
              the command to throw an error.

              Note  that  patterns  which are not beginning with an absolute path are interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

       ::critcl::api extheader ?file...?
              This method is  similar  ::critcl::api  header,  in  that  it  notifies  critcl  of
              companion  header files which have to be exported together with the generated stubs
              headers.

              The difference is that these headers will be expected  to  exist  in  the  external
              development  environment.   As  such they will be #included in the generated header
              for the package, but not copied to the  package  header  directory.  Nor  are  they
              allowed  to  be glob patterns, as critcl has no context, i.e directory, in which to
              expand such patterns.

       Note that the generated headers for an exported API are included in the package like it is
       done when importing it somewhere else. To repeat:

       The  "fooDecls.h"  header is included at the beginning of the C code backing the ".critcl"
       file, and at the beginning of all companion ".c" files. This  means  that  the  writer  of
       these  files  doesn't  have  to write the necessary #include directory, critcl does it for
       them.

       In mode "compile & run" the generated header files, and their companion headers,  if  any,
       are  placed  in the subdirectory "foo" of the Result Cache. As this location is implicitly
       added to the include search path any other package importing this API  and  and  build  in
       mode "compile & run" as well will find the these headers.

       For  mode  "generate  package"  the application was extended with a new option -includedir
       which specifies the location to place the generated  headers  in  (again  in  subdirectory
       "foo" of that path). This path is also be added to the include search paths, ensuring that
       a package importing an API will find it if the package exporting that API  used  the  same
       setting for -includedir.

       For mode "generate TEA" the static scanner was extended to recognize critcl::api header as
       a source of companion files.  It further uses data about critcl::api  import  commands  to
       put  proper  support  for --with-foo-include options into the generate "configure(.in)" so
       that a user may specify custom locations for the headers of any imported API.

   PACKAGE META DATA
       Newly introduced with critcl version 3 is support for TEApot meta-data.

       While, from the package developer's  perspective,  some  meta  data  support  was  already
       present  in  critcl  v2,  through  the  command  ::critcl::license,  this was only used to
       generate and place a file "license.txt" into the built package.

       Now critcl supports the declaration of arbitrary meta data, which will be  placed  into  a
       file    "teapot.txt"    in   a   format   suitable   for   use   by   the   TEApot   tools
       [http://docs.activestate.com/activetcl/8.5/tpm/toc.html].

       ::critcl::license author ?text...?
              This command provides information about the author of the package, and its license.

              If no text is present the command expects to find a  file  "license.terms"  in  the
              same directory as the ".critcl" file and reads the license from that. Otherwise the
              license is the joined texts.

              This information, the license, is ignored  in  mode  "compile  &  run",  only  mode
              "generate  package"  uses  it.  In  that  case the information is written to a file
              "license.terms", a sibling to the "pkgIndex.tcl" file in the directory hierarchy of
              the generated package.

              This information is additionally placed into the meta data file "teapot.txt", under
              the keys as::author and license.

              The data specified by this command has  priority  over  any  information  specified
              through the generic API ::critcl::meta.

       ::critcl::summary text
              Declares a short (one line is recommended) description of the package.

              This  information  is ignored in mode "compile & run", only mode "generate package"
              uses it.  In  that  case  the  information  is  placed  into  the  meta  data  file
              "teapot.txt", under the key summary.

              The  data  specified  by  this  command has priority over any information specified
              through the generic API ::critcl::meta.

       ::critcl::description text
              Declares a longer description of the package.

              This information is ignored in mode "compile & run", only mode  "generate  package"
              uses  it.  In  that  case  the  information  is  placed  into  the  meta  data file
              "teapot.txt", under the key description.

              The data specified by this command has  priority  over  any  information  specified
              through the generic API ::critcl::meta.

       ::critcl::subject ?key...?
              Declares one or more keywords and key-phrases describing the package, for an index.

              Multiple calls of this command accumulate keywords and phrases.

              This  information  is ignored in mode "compile & run", only mode "generate package"
              uses it.  In  that  case  the  information  is  placed  into  the  meta  data  file
              "teapot.txt", under the key subject.

              The  data  specified  by  this  command has priority over any information specified
              through the generic API ::critcl::meta.

       ::critcl::meta key ?word...?
              This command is for the declaration of arbitrary meta data outside of the  reserved
              keys  as::author,  as::build::date,  description,  license, name, platform, require
              subject, summary, and version, Its behaviour is like ::critcl::subject, in that  it
              treats  all  keys  as list of words, with each call declaring one or more words for
              the key, and multiple calls  extending  the  data  for  an  existing  key,  if  not
              reserved.

              While  it is possible to declare information for one of the reserved keys with this
              command such data is ignored when the final meta data is assembled and written.

              Use  the  commands  ::critcl::license,   ::critcl::summary,   ::critcl::description
              ::critcl::subject,  package  require,  and  package provide to declare data for the
              reserved keys.

              The information for the reserved keys as::build::date and platform is automatically
              generated by critcl itself.

       ::critcl::meta? key
              This  command  enables  the  retrieval  of meta data information from with the code
              defining a critcl based package. Given the key the associated value is returned  as
              the result of the command.

              The  envisioned main use is the retrieval of the package's name from within utility
              packages having to adapt C code templates to their environment.  An  example  of  a
              package using this command for exactly this purpose is critcl::class.

       ::critcl::buildrequirement script
              This  command  provides  control  over  the  capturing of dependencies declared via
              package require. It runs the script,  and  any  dependencies  declared  within  are
              ignored, i.e. not recorded in the meta data.

   CONTROL & INTERFACE
       The  package provides thirteen commands to control the details of compilation and linking,
       enabling ".critcl" files  to  provide  custom  information  about  their  environment  and
       dependencies.

       In  important  thing  to  note  about all these commands is that the package manages their
       information on a per-file basis.  I.e. information provided by and in a file "FOO.tcl"  is
       kept  separate  from  the information provided by and in a file "BAR.tcl", preventing them
       from interfering with each other.

       The commands are:

       ::critcl::cheaders ?arg...?
              This command provides the compile step with  additional  header  files  and  header
              locations.

              All  arguments matching the glob pattern -* are forwarded to the compiler's command
              line when it is invoked for the current ".critcl" file.

              All other arguments are interpreted as glob pattern and the matching files are made
              available  to  the  compiler  when  it  is  invoked for the current ".critcl" file.
              Patterns matching no file or non-existing files  cause  the  command  to  throw  an
              error.

              Note  that  patterns  which are not beginning with an absolute path are interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

              Note further that this declaration does not cause the specified header files to  be
              #include'd  automatically.  This  still  has  to  be  done  via critcl::ccode where
              necessary.  It does simply ensure that the compiler will  be  able  to  find  these
              files  when  invoked,  by  providing the necessary command line flags extending the
              compiler's search paths.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::csources ?pattern...?
              This command provides the compile step with additional C source files.

              All arguments are intepreted as glob patterns. Patterns matching no  file  or  non-
              existing files cause the command to throw an error. The files matching the patterns
              are made available to the compiler when it is invoked  for  the  current  ".critcl"
              file.  This  means  that  the files in question are compiled together with the ".c"
              file backing the ".critcl" file into a single object.

              Note that patterns which are not beginning with an absolute  path  are  interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::clibraries ?arg...?
              This  command  provides the link step with additional libraries to link and library
              locations.

              All arguments matching the glob pattern -* are forwarded to the  linkers's  command
              line when it is invoked for the current ".critcl" file.

              All  other  arguments  are  interpreted glob patterns. Patterns matching no file or
              non-existing files cause the command to throw an  error.  The  files  matching  the
              patterns  are  made  available  to  the  linker  when it is invoked for the current
              ".critcl" file. This means that the files in question are linked together with  the
              object file backing the ".critcl" file into a single shared library.

              Note  that  patterns  which are not beginning with an absolute path are interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::source path
              This command evaluates the critcl commands in the file specified  by  path  in  the
              context of the current ".critcl" file.

              The  argument  is  actually  considered  as glob pattern and all matching files are
              evaluated. A pattern matching no file or non-existing files cause  the  command  to
              throw an error.

              Note  that a pattern not beginning with an absolute path is interpreted relative to
              the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

       ::critcl::tsources pattern...
              This command provides the critcl package  with  information  about  additional  Tcl
              script files to source when the shared library is loaded.

              All  arguments  are  considered  as  glob  patterns and the matching files are made
              available to generated shared library when it is loaded for the  current  ".critcl"
              file. Patterns matching no file or non-existing files cause the command to throw an
              error.

              Note that patterns which are not beginning with an absolute  path  are  interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

              The  declared  files  are  sourced after the shared library has been loaded, in the
              same order they were provided to critcl::tsources.

       ::critcl::owns pattern...
              This command is ignored by the regular build modes, i.e. both  "compile  and  run",
              and  "generate package". It is present to support the static code scanner of critcl
              v3's new mode to "generate TEA" packages.

              In that situation it provides the critcl package with information about  any  files
              which  have  to  be wrapped and could not be figured out from the previous commands
              (i.e. critcl::csources, critcl::tsources) because of getting specified dynamically,
              or getting directly sourced and this not visible to critcl in any other way.

       ::critcl::cflags ?arg...?
              This command provides the compile step with additional compiler flags.

              All  arguments  are forwarded to the compiler's command line when it is invoked for
              the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::ldflags ?arg...?
              This command provides the link step with additional linker flags.

              All arguments are forwarded to the linkers's command line when it  is  invoked  for
              the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::framework ?arg...?
              This command provides the link step with the names of additional frameworks to link
              on MacOS X. The command is ignored if we are not building for OS X. This means that
              it is possible to declare the OS X specific frameworks unconditionally. The package
              itself takes care to not use them when building for non-OS X platforms.

              All arguments are forwarded to the linkers's command line when it  is  invoked  for
              the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::tcl version
              This  command  tells  critcl for what minimum version of the Tcl runtime to compile
              and link the package for. If not specified critcl falls back to the default of 8.4.

       ::critcl::tk
              This command informs critcl that the package  in  question  is  based  on  Tk,  and
              therefore needs the Tk headers for compilation, and the Tk stubs for linking.

       ::critcl::preload lib...
              This  command  arranges  that the named dependent external shared library is loaded
              before the generated package's shared library.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

              Each library FOO named for preload will be searched at the locations listed  below,
              in  the  order  listed,  and  the  search  will  stop  on  the first existing path.
              Additional notes:

              •      platform is the placeholder for the target platform of the package.

              •      The extension ".so" is the placeholder for whatever actual extension is used
                     by the target platform for its shared libraries.

              •      Note how the search is relative to the current working directory.

              And now the paths, depending on the exact form of the library name:

              FOO

                     [1]    FOO.so

                     [2]    FOO/FOO.so

                     [3]    FOO/platform/FOO.so

              PATH/FOO
                     For  this  form the exact set searched depends on the existence of directory
                     "PATH/FOO". If it does not exist critcl searches

                     [1]    FOO.so

                     [2]    PATH/FOO.so

                     [3]    PATH/platform/FOO.so

                     Otherwise it searches

                     [1]    FOO.so

                     [2]    PATH/FOO/FOO.so

                     [3]    PATH/FOO/platform/FOO.so

                     instead.

              /PATH/FOO
                     Even when specifying FOO with an absolute path the first  path  searched  is
                     relative to the current working directory.

                     [1]    FOO.so

                     [2]    /PATH/FOO.so

                     [3]    /PATH/platform/FOO.so

              If  you are a developer wishing to understand or modify the internals of the critcl
              package then you possibly should read the section  explaining  how  the  Preloading
              functionality is implemented.

       ::critcl::debug area...
              This  tells  critcl if the package is to be compiled for debugging, and which areas
              to activate. Internally each area is translated into area-specific  flags  for  the
              compiler which are then handed over to critcl::cflags.

              memory Specification  of  this  area activates Tcl memory debugging for the package
                     code.

              symbols
                     Specification of this area activates compilation and linking with  debugging
                     symbols, for use by a debugger or other tool.

              all    Specification  of this area translates ino the activation of all other legal
                     areas.

   INTROSPECTION
       The package provides six commands to control compilation and linking.  These are:

       ::critcl::check ?label? text
              This command is useful to test if some functionality  is  available  in  the  build
              environment,  and then select other C code fragments based on that information.  It
              immediately compiles the C code in text and returns a boolean value  based  on  the
              result  of  the  compilation.   The  command  returns  true  on  success, and false
              otherwise.  If specified, the label is used to  uniquely  mark  the  check  in  the
              generated log.

       ::critcl::checklink ?label? text
              This  command  is  an  extenson  of  critcl::check  above,  useful  to test if some
              functionality is available in the build environment, and then select other  C  code
              fragments  based on that information.  It immediately compiles and links the C code
              in text and returns a boolean value based on the result of compilation and linking.
              The  command returns true on success, and false otherwise.  If specified, the label
              is used to uniquely mark the check in the generated log.

       ::critcl::msg ?-nonewline? msg
              This command can be used by critc-based code to report results  from  critcl::check
              and  critcl::checklink.  The  default  implementation  used  by  mode compile & run
              ignores any calls.

              Tools like the CriTcl Application are allowed to redefine this procedure to perform
              their  own way of message reporting. The package critcl::app and the application on
              top print such messages to stdout, for example.

       ::critcl::print ?-nonewline? ?chan? msg
              This command is used by the critcl internals to report its activity.  Its signature
              is  equivalent  to  the  Tcl builtin command ::puts.  The default implementation is
              effectively ::puts.

              Tools directly using either the critcl package, or the critcl  application  package
              are allowed to redefine this procedure to perform their own way of printing.

              An            example            of            this            is            Kettle
              [https://chiselapp.com/user/andreas_kupries/repository/Kettle/index]   where    the
              newest revisions use this to highlight build warnings.

       ::critcl::compiled
              This  command returns a boolean value. It returns true if the C code of the current
              ".critcl" file is already compiled, and false otherwise.

              This predicate effectively enables a ".critcl" file used as its own  Tcl  companion
              file  (see critcl::tsources) to distinguish between sourced by mode "compile & run"
              for compilation and sourced from either the result of mode  "generate  package"  or
              during  the load phase of "compile & run".  In case of the two latter possibilities
              the result is true, and false for the first.

       ::critcl::compiling
              This command returns a boolean value. It returns true if C code can be compiled  on
              this platform in general, i.e. if a C compiler is available, and false otherwise.

       ::critcl::done
              This  command  returns  a  boolean value. It returns true when critcl has built the
              embedded C code, and false otherwise.

              This enables the Tcl code of a  critcl-based  package  to  distinguish  between  it
              getting  used  as a prebuilt package, versus dynamic compile & run, and take action
              based on that.

              Note that this command is only useful from within a ".critcl" file. The  result  is
              managed  on  a  per-file  basis, like is done for the commands embedding C code and
              controlling the behaviour of compiler and linker.

              See also section Modes Of Operation/Use.

       ::critcl::failed
              This command returns a boolean value. It returns true if critcl has failed to build
              the  package.  As  part  of this it forces the building of the package, but not its
              loading. Note that it will attempt to build the package only  on  the  first  call;
              future calls for the same package will return a cached result.

              This  enables  a critcl-based package to check itself for availability and throw an
              error if it could not be built.

              Note that this command is only useful from within in a ".critcl" file.  The  result
              is  managed on a per-file basis, like is done for the commands embedding C code and
              controlling the behaviour of compiler and linker.

       ::critcl::load
              This command is like critcl::failed, except that it also forces the loading of  the
              generated shared library, if it was built, and that its result has reversed sense.

              It returns true if critcl succeeded in building and loading the package.

              This  enables  a  critcl-based package to to not only check itself for availability
              and throw an error if it could not be built, but  also  force  an  immediate  load,
              circumventing  the  default  behaviour,  which  is  lazy.  See also section Runtime
              Behaviour.

              Note that this command is only useful from within in a ".critcl" file.  The  result
              is  managed on a per-file basis, like is done for the commands embedding C code and
              controlling the behaviour of compiler and linker.

   BUILD MANAGEMENT
       The package provides a  single  command  for  the  management  of  global  settings,  i.e.
       configuration options which are independent of any ".critcl" file.

       It  is  expected  that  this  command  is  irrelevant  to  anybody just wishing to write a
       ".critcl" file. It is a management command which is only useful to the CriTcl  Application
       or similar tools.

       ::critcl::config option ?val?
              This command sets and returns critcl's global configuration options. These are

              force bool
                     This  flag tells the package whether it should force the building of C files
                     despite having a cached shared library (when true, or not.  The  default  is
                     off.

              lines bool
                     This  flag  tells  the  package  whether  to embed #line directives into the
                     generated C code (when true) or not. By default this is on.

                     Side note: This facility requires the use of a tclsh supporting the  builtin
                     info frame command. If critcl is run by a tclsh not supporting this no #line
                     directives will be emitted. The command is supported by Tcl 8.5 and  higher.
                     It  is  also  supported  by  Tcl  8.4 provided that it was compiled with the
                     define -DTCL_TIP280. An example of such is ActiveState's ActiveTcl.

                     Developers of higher-level packages generating  their  own  C  code,  either
                     directly,  or indirectly, by using critcl commands, should also read section
                     Advanced: Location management to see how critcl  helps  them  in  generating
                     their  directives.   Examples  of such packages come with critcl itself, see
                     the packages critcl::iassoc and critcl::class.

              I path A single global include path to use for all files. Not set by default.

              combine enum

                     dynamic
                            Object files have the suffix _pic.

                     static Object files have the suffix _stub.

                     standalone
                            Object files have no suffix, and the generated C files  are  compiled
                            without  using  Tcl/Tk  stubs. The result are object files usable for
                            static linking into a big shell.

                     The default is dynamic.

              language string

              keepsrc bool
                     This flag tells the package whether to keep the generated ".c"  files  after
                     it has build their ".o" files (when true), or not. The default is off.

              outdir path
                     The  path  where  to  place  a generated shared library. Not set by default,
                     causing placement into the Result Cache.

   RESULT CACHE MANAGEMENT
       This package provides two commands for the  management  of  the  Result  Cache.  See  that
       section for background information.

       NOTE  that  these commands are irrelevant to anybody just wishing to write a package using
       critcl for the C parts. They are management commands which are only useful to  the  CriTcl
       Application or similar tools.

       ::critcl::cache ?path?
              This  command  sets  and returns the path to the directory for the package's result
              cache.

              The default  location  is  "~/.critcl/[platform::generic]"  and  usually  does  not
              require any changes.

       ::critcl::clean_cache ?pattern...?
              This  command  cleans  the  result  cache,  i.e.  removes  any  and  all  files and
              directories in it. If one or more patterns are specified then only  the  files  and
              directories matching them are removed.

   BUILD CONFIGURATION
       This  package  provides  four commands for the management of the build configuration, i.e.
       the per-platform information about compilers, linkers, and their commandline options.

       NOTE that these commands are irrelevant to anybody just wishing to write a  package  using
       critcl  for  the C parts. They are management commands which are only useful to the CriTcl
       Application or similar tools.

       ::critcl::readconfig path
              This command reads the build configuration file at path and configures the  package
              using the information for the currently set target platform.

       ::critcl::showconfig ?chan?
              This  command  converts  the  currently  active  build  configuration into a human-
              readable string and prints the result to the channel chan.  If chan is not  present
              the string is instead returned as the result of the command.

       ::critcl::showallconfig ?chan?
              This command converts the set of all known build configurations (from the currently
              active build configuration file last set with critcl::readconfig) into a string and
              print the result to the channel chan.  If chan is not present the string is instead
              returned as the result of the command.

       ::critcl::chooseconfig target ?nomatcherr?
              This command takes a target identifier and matches it against  all  known  targets,
              returning  a list containing all the matching ones. This search is first done on an
              exact basis, and then via glob matching. If no known target  matches  the  argument
              the  default  is  to  return  an  empty list. However, if the boolean nomatcherr is
              specified and set, and error will be thrown instead, using critcl::error.

       ::critcl::setconfig target
              This command takes a target identifier and configures the package to  use  all  its
              settings.

   TOOL API
       The  twelve commands in this section provide tools like CriTcl Application or similar with
       deeper access to the package's internals.  These commands are irrelevant to  anybody  just
       wishing to write a ".critcl" file.

       ::critcl::actualtarget
              This  command  returns  the  platform  identifier  of the target platform, i.e. the
              platform   the   generated   code   will   be   built   for.   In    contrast    to
              ::critcl::targetplatform  this  is  the  true  target,  with  any cross-compilation
              information resolved.

       ::critcl::buildforpackage ?flag?
              This command signals whether the next file to be build is built for inclusion  into
              a  package  or not. If not specified the flag defaults to true, i.e. building for a
              package. This disables a number of things in the backend,  namely  the  linking  of
              that  file  into  a shared library, and loading such. It is expected that the build
              results are later wrapped into a larger collection.

       ::critcl::cnothingtodo file
              This command checks whether there is anything to build for file.

       ::critcl::cresults ?file?
              This command returns the build result information for the specified  file.   If  no
              file  is  specified  the  information  is  taken  from  info script.  The result in
              question is a Tcl dictionary with the following keys, and their meanings:

              clibraries
                     The list of external shared libraries, and/or locations thereof to link  the
                     file needs for successful linking.

              ldflags
                     The list of linker flags needed by the file for successful linking.

              license
                     The license the package in the file is under. A string.

              mintcl The  minimum  version  of  Tcl  required  by  the package in the file to run
                     successfully. A proper Tcl version number.

              objects
                     The list of object files backing the file, to be linked.

              preload
                     The list of libraries the generated package has  to  preload  to  allow  the
                     package in the file to run successfully.

              tk     A  boolean  indicating  whether  the  package  in  the file has to be linked
                     against Tk or not.

              tsources
                     The list of companion  ".tcl"  files  to  source  for  the  package  in  the
                     ".critcl" file to run successfully.

              log    The  build  log  in  case  of  failure, and ::critcl::buildforpackage having
                     signaled the build of a package. Otherwise the empty string.

       ::critcl::crosscheck
              This command checks if the package is configured for cross-compilation and prints a
              message to the standard error channel if so.

       ::critcl::error msg
              This  command  is  used  by  the  package  to  report  internal errors. The default
              implementation simply throws the error.  Tools  like  the  CriTcl  Application  are
              allowed  to  redefine  this  procedure to perform their own way of error reporting.
              There is one constraint they are not allowed to  change:  The  procedure  must  not
              return to the caller.

       ::critcl::knowntargets
              This  command returns a list containing the identifiers of all targets found during
              the last invocation of critcl::readconfig.

       ::critcl::sharedlibext
              This command returns the file extension used by  shared  libraries  on  the  target
              platform.

       ::critcl::targetconfig
              This  command  returns  the target identifier chosen to by either system or user to
              build code for.

       ::critcl::buildplatform
              This command returns the platform identifier of the build platform, i.e. where  the
              package is running on.

       ::critcl::targetplatform
              This  command  returns  the  platform  identifier  of the target platform, i.e. the
              platform   the   generated   code   will   be   built   for.   In    contrast    to
              ::critcl::actualtarget this may be the name of a cross-compilation target.

       ::critcl::cobjects ?arg...?
              This  command  is like ::critcl::clibraries, provides the link step with additional
              information. Instead of libraries the arguments are object files however.   Despite
              this similarity it is not listed in section Control & Interface because it is of no
              use to package writers. Only tools like the CriTcl Application have need of it.

              All arguments are interpreted glob patterns. Patterns  matching  no  file  or  non-
              existing files cause the command to throw an error. The files matching the patterns
              are made available to the linker when it is invoked for the current ".critcl" file.
              This  means  that  the  files  in question are linked together with the object file
              backing the ".critcl" file into a single shared library.

              Note that patterns which are not beginning with an absolute  path  are  interpreted
              relative to the directory containing the current ".critcl" file.

              Multiple invocations of this command accumulate their information.

       ::critcl::scan path
              This  command is the main entry point to critcl's static code scanner.  Invoked for
              a single ".critcl" file it returns a  dictionary  providing  the  following  pieces
              information about it:

              version
                     Package version.

              org    Author(ing organization).

              files  List  of the companion files. The paths in this list are all relative to the
                     location (directory) of the input file.

              This command and the information it returns can  be  used  by  tools  to  implement
              processing  modes  like  the  assembly  of  a directory hierarchy containing a TEA-
              lookalike buildystem, etc.

       ::critcl::name2c name
              This command exposes the conversion of a Tcl  level  identifier  of  commands  into
              various  C-level  pieces,  i.e.  Tcl namespace prefix, C namespace prefix, Tcl base
              name, and C base name.

              The result of the command is a list of 4 elements  providing  the  above  mentioned
              information, in the named order.

              The  envisioned  main  use  is  from within utility packages providing Tcl commands
              without  going  through  the   standard   commands,   i.e.   critcl::ccommand,   or
              critcl::cproc.  An example of a package using this command for exactly this purpose
              is critcl::class.

   ADVANCED: EMBEDDED C CODE
       For the advanced user five commands used inside of critcl::cproc are exposed. These are:

       ::critcl::argnames arguments
              This command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns  a
              list of the user visible arguments found in the declaration.

       ::critcl::argcnames arguments
              This  command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns a
              list of the C side variable names for the  user  visible  arguments  found  in  the
              declaration.  The  names returned here match the names used in the declarations and
              code returned by ::critcl::argvardecls and ::critcl::argconversion.

       ::critcl::argcsignature arguments
              This command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns  a
              list of C parameter declarations for all arguments found in the declaration.

       ::critcl::argvardecls arguments
              This  command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns a
              list of C side variable declarations for the user visible arguments  found  in  the
              declaration.  The  names  used  in  these  declarations match the names returned by
              ::critcl::argcnames.

       ::critcl::argconversion arguments ?n?
              This command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns  a
              list  of  C  code  fragments  converting  the  user  visible arguments found in the
              declaration from Tcl_Obj* to C types. The names used in these statements match  the
              names returned by ::critcl::argcnames.

              The  generated  code  assumes  that the procedure arguments start at index n of the
              objv array. If this argument is not specified 1 will be assumed.

       ::critcl::argoptional arguments
              This command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns  a
              list  of  boolean  values  indicating  which  arguments are optional (true) and not
              (false).

       ::critcl::argdefaults arguments
              This command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns  a
              list containing the default values for all optional arguments.

       ::critcl::argsupport arguments
              This  command takes an argument declaration as taken by critcl::cproc and returns a
              list of C code fragments needed to define the necessary supporting types.

   CUSTOM BUILD CONFIGURATION
       This package provides one command for the management of package-specific, i.e.  developer-
       specified custom build configuration options.

       ::critcl::userconfig define name description type ?default?
              This  command defines custom build configuration option, with description, type and
              optional default value.

              The type can be either bool, or a list of values.

              [1]    For bool the default value, if specified, must be a boolean. If  it  is  not
                     specified it defaults to true.

              [2]    For  a list of values the default value, if specified, must be a value found
                     in this list. If it is not specified it defaults to the first value  of  the
                     list.

       The  description  serves  as  in-code  documentation  of  the meaning of the option and is
       otherwise ignored. When generating a TEA wrapper the description is used for the configure
       option derived from the option declared by the command.

       A  boolean  option  FOO  are translated into a pair of configure options, --enable-FOO and
       --disable-FOO, whereas an option whose type is a list  of  values  is  translated  into  a
       single configure option --with-FOO.

       ::critcl::userconfig query name
              This  command  queries  the  database  of custom build configuration option for the
              current ".critcl" file and returns the chosen value.  This may be the default if no
              value was set via ::critcl::userconfig set.

              It  is at this point that definitions and set values are brought together, with the
              latter validated against the definition.

       ::critcl::userconfig set name value
              This command is for use by a tool, like the critcl application, to  specify  values
              for custom build configuration options.

              At the time this command is used only the association between option name and value
              is recorded, and nothing else is done. This behaviour is necessary  as  the  system
              may not know if an option of the specified name exists when the command is invoked,
              nor its type.

              Any and all validation is defered to when the value of an option is asked  for  via
              ::critcl::userconfig query.

              This  means that it is possible to set values for any option we like, and the value
              will take effect only if such an option is both defined and used later on.

   ADVANCED: LOCATION MANAGEMENT
       First a small introduction for whose asking themselves ´what is location management' ?

       By default critcl embeds #line directives into the generated C code so  that  any  errors,
       warnings  and notes found by the C compiler during compilation will refer to the ".critcl"
       file the faulty code comes from, instead of the generated ".c" file.

       Side note: This facility requires the use of a tclsh supporting  the  builtin  info  frame
       command.  If  critcl  is  run  by  a tclsh not supporting this no #line directives will be
       emitted. The command is supported by Tcl 8.5 and higher. It is also supported by  Tcl  8.4
       provided  that  it  was  compiled  with  the  define  -DTCL_TIP280.  An example of such is
       ActiveState's ActiveTcl.

       Most users will not care about this feature beyond simply wanting it to work  and  getting
       proper code references when reading compiler output.

       Developers  of higher-level packages generating their own C code however should care about
       this, to ensure that their generated code contains proper references as  well.  Especially
       as  this is key to separating bugs concerning code generated by the package itself and bug
       in the user's code going into the package, if any.

       Examples of such packages come with critcl itself,  see  the  implementation  of  packages
       critcl::iassoc and critcl::class.

       To  help  such developers eight commands are provided to manage such location information.
       These are listed below.

       A main concept is that they all operate on a single stored  location,  setting,  returning
       and  clearing  it.   Note  that this location information is completely independent of the
       generation of #line directives within critcl itself.

       ::critcl::at::caller
              This command stores the location of the caller of the current procedure as a  tuple
              of  file  name  and linenumber. Any previously stored location is overwritten.  The
              result of the command is the empty string.

       ::critcl::at::caller offset
              As above, the stored line number is modified by the specified offset. In essence an
              implicit call of critcl::at::incr.

       ::critcl::at::caller offset level
              As above, but the level the location information is taken from is modified as well.
              Level 0 is the caller, -1 its caller, etc.

       ::critcl::at::here
              This command stores the current location in the current procedure  as  a  tuple  of
              file  name  and  linenumber.  Any  previously  stored location is overwritten.  The
              result of the command is the empty string.

              In terms of ::critcl::at::caller] this is equivalent to

                critcl::at::caller 0 1

       ::critcl::at::get*
              This command takes the stored location and  returns  a  formatted  #line  directive
              ready  for embedding into some C code. The stored location is left untouched.  Note
              that the directive contains its own closing newline.

              For proper nesting and use it is recommended that such directives are always  added
              to  the  beginning of a code fragment. This way, should deeper layers add their own
              directives these will come before ours and thus be inactive. End result is that the
              outermost layer generating a directive will 'win', i.e. have its directive used. As
              it should be.

       ::critcl::at::get
              This command is like the above, except that it also clears the stored location.

       ::critcl::at::= file line
              This command allows the caller to set the stored location to  anything  they  want,
              outside of critcl's control.  The result of the command is the empty string.

       ::critcl::at::incr n...

       ::critcl::at::incrt str...
              These  commands  allow  the  user to modify the line number of the stored location,
              changing it incrementally. The increment is specified as either a series of integer
              numbers  (incr),  or a series of strings to consider (incrt). In case of the latter
              the delta is the number of lines endings found in the strings.

       ::critcl::at::caller!

       ::critcl::at::caller! offset

       ::critcl::at::caller! offset level

       ::critcl::at::here!
              These are convenience commands combining caller and here with get. I.e. they  store
              the  location  and  immediately return it formatted as proper #line directive. Also
              note that after their use the stored location is cleared.

   ADVANCED: DIVERSIONS
       Diversions are for higher-level packages generating their own C code, to make their use of
       critcl's commands generating Embedded C Code easier.

       These commands normally generate all of their C code for the current ".critcl" file, which
       may not be what is wanted by a higher-level package.

       With a diversion the generator output can be redirected into memory and from there on then
       handled and processed as the caller desires before it is committed to an actual ".c" file.

       An  example  of such a package comes with critcl itself, see the implementation of package
       critcl::class.

       To help such  developers  three  commands  are  provided  to  manage  diversions  and  the
       collection of C code in memory. These are:

       ::critcl::collect_begin
              This command starts the diversion of C code collection into memory.

              The result of the command is the empty string.

              Multiple  calls  are  allowed,  with  each  call  opening  a  new  nesting level of
              diversion.

       ::critcl::collect_end
              This command end the diversion of C code collection into  memory  and  returns  the
              collected C code.

              If  multiple levels of diversion are open the call only closes and returns the data
              from the last level.

              The command will throw an error if no diversion is active, indicating a mismatch in
              the pairing of collect_begin and collect_end.

       ::critcl::collect script
              This is a convenience command which runs the script under diversion and returns the
              collected C code, ensuring the correct pairing of collect_begin and collect_end.

   ADVANCED: EXTENDING CPROC
       While the critcl::cproc command understands the most common C types (see section  Embedded
       C Code), sometimes this is not enough.

       To  get  around  this  limitation  the  commands in this section enable users of critcl to
       extend the set of argument and result types understood by critcl::cproc. In  other  words,
       to define their own custom types.

       ::critcl::resulttype name body ?ctype?
              This  command defines the result type name, and associates it with the C code doing
              the conversion (body) from C to Tcl.  The C return type of the associated function,
              also  the C type of the result variable, is ctype. This type defaults to name if it
              is not specified.

              If name is declared already an error  will  be  thrown.   Attention!  The  standard
              result  type void is special as it has no accompanying result variable. This cannot
              be expressed by the this extension command.

              The body's responsibility is the conversion of the  functions  result  into  a  Tcl
              result  and  a  Tcl status. The first has to be set into the interpreter we are in,
              and the second has to be returned.

              The C code of body is guaranteed to be called last in the wrapper around the actual
              implementation   of  the  cproc  in  question  and  has  access  to  the  following
              environment:

              interp A Tcl_Interp* typed C variable referencing the interpreter the result has to
                     be stored into.

              rv     The C variable holding the result to convert, of type ctype.

              As examples here are the definitions of two standard result types:

                  resulttype int {
                Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(rv));
                return TCL_OK;
                  }

                  resulttype ok {
                /* interp result must be set by cproc body */
                return rv;
                  } int

       ::critcl::resulttype name = origname
              This  form  of  the  resulttype  command  declares  name as an alias of result type
              origname, which has to be defined already. If this is not  the  case  an  error  is
              thrown.

       ::critcl::argtype name body ?ctype? ?ctypefun?
              This  command  defines  the  argument  type name, and associates it with the C code
              doing the conversion (body) from Tcl to C The C type of the variable  to  hold  the
              conversion  result  is  ctype  and  the  type  of  the  function argument itself is
              ctypefun.  Both types default to name if they  are  not  specified  (or  the  empty
              string).

              If name is declared already an error will be thrown.

              The body's responsibility is the conversion of a command's Tcl_Obj* argument into a
              C value for the underlying function and its storage in a helper variable.

              The C code of body is guaranteed to be called inside of a  separate  C  code  block
              (thus  allowing  the  use  of  local  variables)  which has access to the following
              environment:

              interp A Tcl_Interp* typed C variable  referencing  the  interpreter  the  code  is
                     running in.

              @@     A  placeholder  for  the Tcl_Obj*-valued C expression providing the value of
                     the argument to convert.

              @A     A placeholder for the name of the C variable to store the converted argument
                     into.

              As examples here are the definitions of two standard argument types:

                  argtype int {
                if (Tcl_GetIntFromObj(interp, @@, &@A) != TCL_OK) return TCL_ERROR;
                  }

                  argtype float {
                double t;
                if (Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj(interp, @@, &t) != TCL_OK) return TCL_ERROR;
                @A = (float) t;
                  }

       ::critcl::argtype name = origname
              This  form  of  the  argtype  command  declares  name  as an alias of argument type
              origname, which has to be defined already. If this is not  the  case  an  error  is
              thrown.

       ::critcl::argtypesupport name code
              This  command  defines a C code fragment for the already defined argument type name
              which will be inserted before all functions using that type.  Its  purpose  is  the
              definition  of  any supporting C types needed by the argument type.  If the type is
              used by many functions the system ensure  that  only  the  first  of  the  multiple
              insertions of the code fragment is active, and the others disabled.

CONCEPTS

   MODES OF OPERATION/USE
       CriTcl can be used in three different modes of operation, called

       [1]    Compile & Run, and

       [2]    Generate Package

       [3]    Generate TEA Package

       Of  these  three  Compile  &  Run  came  first  and  is the default when using the package
       directly. In that case the package collects the C fragments, builds them  as  needed,  and
       caches the results for quick reuse when the same code is used in the future again.

       The  second  mode,  Generate  Package, was introduced to enable the creation of (prebuilt)
       deliverable packages which do not depend on the  existence  of  a  build  system,  i.e.  C
       compiler,  on  the  target  machine.   This  was  originally done through the experimental
       Critbind tool, and is now handled by the CriTcl Application, also named critcl.

       Newly introduced with Critcl version 3 is Generate TEA Package.  This  mode  constructs  a
       directory  hierarchy from the package which can later be built like a regular TEA package,
       i.e. using

                .../configure --prefix ...
                make all isntall

       Regarding the caching of results please read the section about the Result Cache fore  more
       details.

   RUNTIME BEHAVIOUR
       The  default  behaviour  of  critcl, the package is to defer the compilation, linking, and
       loading of any C code as much as possible, given that  this  is  an  expensive  operation,
       mainly in the time required.  In other words, the C code embedded into a ".critcl" file is
       built only when the first C command or procedure it provides is invoked.  This part of the
       system  uses  standard functionality built into the Tcl core, i.e. the auto_index variable
       to map from commands to  scripts  providing  them  and  the  unknown  command  using  this
       information when the command is needed.

       A  limitation of this behaviour is that it is not possible to just use info commands check
       for the existence of a critcl defined command. It is  also  necessary  to  search  in  the
       auto_index array, in case it has not been build yet.

       This behaviour can be changed by using the control command critcl::load. When invoked, the
       building, including loading of the result, is forced. After this command has been  invoked
       for a ".critcl" file further definition of C code in this file is not allowed any longer.

   FILE MAPPING
       Each ".critcl" file is backed by a single private ".c" file containing that code, plus the
       boilerplate necessary for its compilation and linking as a single shared library.

       The Embedded C Code fragments appear in that file  in  the  exact  same  order  they  were
       defined  in  the ".critcl" file, with one exception. The C code provided via critcl::cinit
       is put after all other fragments.  In other words all fragments have access to the symbols
       defined by earlier fragments, and the critcl::cinit fragment has access to all, regardless
       of its placement in the ".critcl" file.

       Note: A limitation of the current system is the  near  impossibility  of  C  level  access
       between  different  critcl-based  packages.  The issue is not the necessity of writing and
       sharing the proper extern statements, but that  the  management  (export  and  import)  of
       package-specific stubs-tables is not supported. This means that dependent parts have to be
       forcibly loaded before their user, with all that entails. See  section  Runtime  Behaviour
       for  the relevant critcl limitation, and remember that many older platforms do not support
       the necessary resolution of symbols, the reason why stubs were invented  for  Tcl  in  the
       first place.

   RESULT CACHE
       The compilation of C code is time-consuming critcl not only defers it as much as possible,
       as described in section Runtime Behaviour, but also caches the results.

       This means that on the first use of a ".critcl" file "FOO.tcl" the resulting  object  file
       and  shared  library are saved into the cache, and on future uses of the same file reused,
       i.e. loaded  directly  without  requiring  compilation,  provided  that  the  contents  of
       "FOO.tcl" did not change.

       The  change  detection  is  based MD5 hashes. A single hash is computed for each ".critcl"
       file, based on hashes for all C code fragments and configuration options, i.e.  everything
       which affects the resulting binary.

       As long as the input file doesn't change as per the hash a previously built shared library
       found in the cache is reused, bypassing the compilation and link stages.

       The command to manage the cache are  found  in  section  Result  Cache  Management.   Note
       however  that  they  are  useful  only  to  tools  based  on  the package, like the CriTcl
       Application. Package writers have no need of them.

       As a last note, the default directory for the cache is chosen based on  the  chosen  build
       target.  This  means  that  the  cache can be put on a shared (network) filesystem without
       having to fear interference between machines of different architectures.

   PRELOADING FUNCTIONALITY
       The audience of this section are developers wishing to understand and possibly modify  the
       internals of critcl package and application.  Package writers can skip this section.

       It explains how the preloading of external libraries is realized.

       Whenever a package declares libraries for preloading critcl will build a supporting shared
       library providing a  Tcl  package  named  "preload".   This  package  is  not  distributed
       separately,  but as part of the package requiring the preload functionality.  This support
       package exports a single Tcl command

       ::preload library
              which is invoked once per libraries to preload, with  the  absolute  path  of  that
              library. The command then loads the library.

              On  windows the command will further use the Tcl command ::critcl::runtime::precopy
              to copy the library to the disk, should its path be in a virtual  filesystem  which
              doesn't directly support the loading of a shared library from it.

       The  command  ::critcl::runtime::precopy  is  provided  by the file "critcl-rt.tcl" in the
       generated package, as  is  the  command  ::critcl::runtime::loadlib  which  generates  the
       ifneeded  script  expected  by  Tcl's  package  management. This generated ifneeded script
       contains the invocations of ::preload.

       The C code for the supporting library is found in the file "critcl_c/preload.c", which  is
       part of the critcl package.

       The   Tcl   code  for  the  supporting  runtime  "critcl-rt.tcl"  is  found  in  the  file
       "runtime.tcl", which is part of the critcl::app package.

   CONFIGURATION INTERNALS
       The audience of this section are developers wishing to understand and possibly modify  the
       internals of critcl package and application.  Package writers can skip this section.

       It explains the syntax of configuration files and the configuration keys used by critcl to
       configure its build backend, i.e. how this part of the system accesses  compiler,  linker,
       etc.

       It   is   recommended   to   open   the   file   containing  the  standard  configurations
       ("path/to/critcl/Config") in the editor of your choice when reading this  section  of  the
       documentation,  using  it  as an extended set of examples going beyond the simple defaults
       shown here.

       First, the keys and the meaning of their values, plus examples  drawn  from  the  standard
       configurations   distributed   with   the  package.   Note  that  when  writing  a  custom
       configuration it is not necessary to specify all the keys listed  below,  but  only  those
       whose default values are wrong or insufficient for the platform in question.

       version
              The command to print the compiler version number.  Defaults to

               gcc -v

       compile
              The command to compile a single C source file to an object file.  Defaults to

               gcc -c -fPIC

       debug_memory
              The list of flags for the compiler to enable memory debugging in Tcl.  Defaults to

               -DTCL_MEM_DEBUG

       debug_symbols
              The  list  of  flags  for  the  compiler to add symbols to the object files and the
              resulting library.  Defaults to

               -g

       include
              The compiler flag to add an include directory.  Defaults to

               -I

       tclstubs
              The compiler flag to set USE_TCL_STUBS.  Defaults to

               -DUSE_TCL_STUBS

       tkstubs
              The compiler flag to set USE_TK_STUBS.  Defaults to

               -DUSE_TK_STUBS

       threadflags
              The list of compiler flags to enable a threaded build.  Defaults to

                  -DUSE_THREAD_ALLOC=1 -D_REENTRANT=1 -D_THREAD_SAFE=1
                  -DHAVE_PTHREAD_ATTR_SETSTACKSIZE=1 -DHAVE_READDIR_R=1
                  -DTCL_THREADS=1

       .

       noassert
              The compiler flag to turn off assertions in Tcl code.  Defaults to

               -DNDEBUG

       optimize
              The compiler flag to specify optimization level.  Defaults to

               -O2

       output The compiler flags to set the output file of a compilation.  Defaults to

               -o [list $outfile]

       NOTE the use of Tcl commands and variables here.  At the time critcl  uses  the  value  of
       this  key  the value of the referenced variable is substituted into it. The named variable
       is the only variable whose value is defined for this substitution.

       object The file extension for object files on the platform.  Defaults to

               .o

       preproc_define
              The command to preprocess a  C  source  file  without  compiling  it,  but  leaving
              #define's in the output. Defaults to

               gcc -E -dM

       preproc_enum
              See preproc_define, except that #define's are not left in the output. Defaults to

               gcc -E

       link   The  command to link one or more object files and create a shared library. Defaults
              to

               gcc -shared

       link_preload
              The list of linker flags to use when dependent libraries are  pre-loaded.  Defaults
              to

               --unresolved-symbols=ignore-in-shared-libs

       strip  The flag to tell the linker to strip symbols from the shared library.  Defaults to

               -Wl,-s

       ldoutput
              Like output, but for the linker.  Defaults to the value of output.

       link_debug
              The list of linker flags needed to build a shared library with symbols. Defaults to
              the empty string.  One platform requiring this are all variants of  Windows,  which
              uses

               -debug:full -debugtype:cv

       link_release
              The  list  of linker flags needed to build a shared library without symbols, i.e. a
              regular build. Defaults to the empty string.  One platform requiring this  are  all
              variants of Windows, which uses

               -release -opt:ref -opt:icf,3 -ws:aggressive

       sharedlibext
              The file extension for shared library files on the platform.  Defaults to

               [info sharedlibextension]

       platform
              The identifier of the platform used in generated packages.  Defaults to

               [platform::generic]

       target The  presence of this key marks the configuration as a cross-compilation target and
              the value is the actual platform identifier of the target.  No default.

       The syntax expected from configuration files is governed by the rules below.  Again, it is
       recommended    to    open    the    file    containing    the    standard   configurations
       ("path/to/critcl/Config") in the editor of your choice when reading this  section  of  the
       documentation, using it as an extended set of examples for the syntax>

       [1]    Each logical line of the configuration file consists of one or more physical lines.
              In case of the latter the physical lines have to follow each other and all but  the
              first  must  be  marked  by  a  trailing  backslash.  This  is  the same marker for
              continuation lines as used by Tcl itself.

       [2]    A (logical) line starting with the character "#" (modulo whitespace) is  a  comment
              which runs until the end of the line, and is otherwise ignored.

       [3]    A  (logical) line starting with the word "if" (modulo whitespace) is interpreted as
              Tcl's if command and executed as such. I.e. this command has to follow Tcl's syntax
              for  the command, which may stretch across multiple logical lines. The command will
              be run in a save interpreter.

       [4]    A (logical) line starting with the word "set" (modulo whitespace) is interpreted as
              Tcl's  set  command  and  executed  as  such. I.e. this command has to follow Tcl's
              syntax for the command, which  may  stretch  across  multiple  logical  lines.  The
              command will be run in a save interpreter.

       [5]    A  line  of  the  form  "platform  variable  value"  defines  a  platform  specific
              configuration variable and value.  The variable has to be the name of  one  of  the
              configuration  keys  listed  earlier  in  this  section,  and  the  platform string
              identifies  the  platform  the  setting  is  for.  All  settings  with   the   same
              identification string form the configuration block for this platform.

       [6]    A  line  of  the special form "platform when expression" marks the platform and all
              the settings in its configuration block as conditional on the expression.

              If the build platform is not a prefix of platform, nor vice versa the  whole  block
              is  ignored.   Otherwise  the  expression  is  evaluated via expr, in the same safe
              interpreter used to run any set and if commands found  in  the  configuration  file
              (see above).

              If  the  expression  evaluates to true this configuration block is considered to be
              the build platform fo the host and chosen as the default configuration.   An  large
              example  of  of  this  feature  is  the  handling  of  OS  X  found in the standard
              configuration file, where it selects  the  architectures  to  build  based  on  the
              version  of  the  operating system, the available SDK, etc. I.e. it chooses whether
              the output is universal or not, and whether it is old-style  (ix86  +  ppc)  versus
              new-style (ix86 32+64) of universality.

       [7]    A  line of the special form "platform copy sourceplatform" copies the configuration
              variables  and  values  currently  defined   in   the   configuration   block   for
              sourceplatform  to  that  of  platform,  overwriting  existing values, and creating
              missing ones. Variables of platform  not  defined  by  by  sourceplatform  are  not
              touched.

              The  copied values can be overridden later in the configuration file. Multiple copy
              lines may exist  for  a  platform  and  be  intermixed  with  normal  configuration
              definitions.  If  a variable is defined multiple times, the last definition will be
              used.

       [8]    At last, a line of the  form  "variable  value"  defines  a  default  configuration
              variable and value.

   STUBS TABLES This section is for developers of extensions not based on critcl, yet
       also  wishing to interface with stubs as they are understood and used by critcl, either by
       exporting their own stubs table to a critcl-based extension, or importing a stubs table of
       a critcl-based extension into their own.

       To this end we describe the stubs table information of a package foo.

       [1]    Note  that the differences in the capitalization of "foo", "Foo", "FOO", etc. below
              demonstrate how to capitalize the actual package name in each context.

       [2]    All relevant files must be available in a sub-directory "foo" which can be found on
              the include search paths.

       [3]    The  above  directory  may  contain a file "foo.decls". If present it is assumed to
              contain the external representation of the stubs table the headers mentioned in the
              following items are based on.

              critcl is able to use such a file to give the importing package programmatic access
              to the imported API, for automatic code generation and the like.

       [4]    The above directory must contain a header file "fooDecls.h". This file declares the
              exported  API.   It is used by both exporting and importing packages. It is usually
              generated and must contain (in the order specified):

              [1]    the declarations of the exported, i.e. public, functions of foo,

              [2]    the declaration of structure "FooStubs" for the stub table,

              [3]    the C  preprocessor  macros  which  route  the  invocations  of  the  public
                     functions through the stubs table.

                     These  macros  must  be  defined  if,  and only if, the C preprocessor macro
                     USE_FOO_STUBS is defined. Package foo does not define this macro, as  it  is
                     allowed  to  use  the  exported  functions  directly. All importing packages
                     however must define this macro, to ensure that they do not use  any  of  the
                     exported functions directly, but only through the stubs table.

              [4]    If the exported functions need additional types for their proper declaration
                     then these types should be put into a separate  header  file  (of  arbitrary
                     name)  and  "fooDecls.h" should contain an #include directive to this header
                     at the top.

       A very reduced, yet also complete example, from a  package  for  low-level  random  number
       generator functions can be found at the end of this section.

       [5]    The  above  directory  must contain a header file "fooStubLib.h". This file defines
              everything needed to use the API of foo. Consequently it is used only by  importing
              packages. It is usually generated and must contain (in the order specified):

              [1]    An #include directive for "tcl.h", with USE_TCL_STUBS surely defined.

              [2]    An #include directive for "fooDecls.h", with USE_FOO_STUBS surely defined.

              [3]    A definition of the stubs table variable, i.e.

                     const FooStubs* fooStubsPtr;

              [4]    A definition of the stubs initializer function, like

                     char *
                     Foo_InitStubs(Tcl_Interp *interp, CONST char *version, int exact)
                     {
                         /*
                          * Boiler plate C code initalizing the stubs table variable,
                          * i.e. "fooStubsPtr".
                          */

                         CONST char *actualVersion;

                         actualVersion = Tcl_PkgRequireEx(interp, "foo", version,
                                    exact, (ClientData *) &fooStubsPtr);

                         if (!actualVersion) {
                       return NULL;
                         }

                         if (!fooStubsPtr) {
                       Tcl_SetResult(interp,
                                "This implementation of Foo does not support stubs",
                                TCL_STATIC);
                       return NULL;
                         }

                         return (char*) actualVersion;
                     }

              This  header file must be included by an importing package exactly once, so that it
              contains only one definition of both stubs table and stubs initializer function.

              The importing package's initialization function must further  contain  a  statement
              like

              if (!Foo_InitStubs (ip, "1", 0)) {
                  return TCL_ERROR;
              }

              which invokes foo's stubs initializer function to set the local stub table up.

              For a complete example of such a header file see below, at the end of this section.

       [6]    The  last  item  above,  about  "fooStubLib.h" differs from the regular stub stable
              system used by Tcl. The regular system assumes that a static library "libfoostub.a"
              was installed by package foo, and links it.

              IMVHO  critcl's  approach  is  simpler,  using  only header files found in a single
              location, vs.  header  files  and  static  library  found  in  multiple,  different
              locations.

              A second simplification is that we avoid having to extend critcl's compiler backend
              with settings for the creation of static libraries.

       Below is a complete set of example header files,  reduced,  yet  still  complete,  from  a
       package for low-level random number generator functions:

       "rngDecls.h":

              #ifndef rng_DECLS_H
              #define rng_DECLS_H

              #include <tcl.h>

              /*
               * Exported function declarations:
               */

              /* 0 */
              EXTERN void rng_bernoulli(double p, int*v);

              typedef struct RngStubs {
                  int magic;
                  const struct RngStubHooks *hooks;

                  void (*rng_bernoulli) (double p, int*v); /* 0 */
              } RngStubs;

              #ifdef __cplusplus
              extern "C" {
              #endif
              extern const RngStubs *rngStubsPtr;
              #ifdef __cplusplus
              }
              #endif

              #if defined(USE_RNG_STUBS)

              /*
               * Inline function declarations:
               */

              #define rng_bernoulli  (rngStubsPtr->rng_bernoulli) /* 0 */

              #endif /* defined(USE_RNG_STUBS) */
              #endif /* rng_DECLS_H */

       "rngStubLib.h":

              /*
               * rngStubLib.c --
               *
               * Stub object that will be statically linked into extensions that wish
               * to access rng.
               */

              #ifndef USE_TCL_STUBS
              #define USE_TCL_STUBS
              #endif
              #undef  USE_TCL_STUB_PROCS

              #include <tcl.h>

              #ifndef USE_RNG_STUBS
              #define USE_RNG_STUBS
              #endif
              #undef  USE_RNG_STUB_PROCS

              #include "rngDecls.h"

              /*
               * Ensure that Rng_InitStubs is built as an exported symbol.  The other stub
               * functions should be built as non-exported symbols.
               */

              #undef  TCL_STORAGE_CLASS
              #define TCL_STORAGE_CLASS DLLEXPORT

              const RngStubs* rngStubsPtr;

              /*
               *----------------------------------------------------------------------
               *
               * Rng_InitStubs --
               *
               * Checks that the correct version of Rng is loaded and that it
               * supports stubs. It then initialises the stub table pointers.
               *
               * Results:
               *  The actual version of Rng that satisfies the request, or
               *  NULL to indicate that an error occurred.
               *
               * Side effects:
               *  Sets the stub table pointers.
               *
               *----------------------------------------------------------------------
               */

              #ifdef Rng_InitStubs
              #undef Rng_InitStubs
              #endif

              char *
              Rng_InitStubs(Tcl_Interp *interp, CONST char *version, int exact)
              {
                  CONST char *actualVersion;

                  actualVersion = Tcl_PkgRequireEx(interp, "rng", version,
                             exact, (ClientData *) &rngStubsPtr);
                  if (!actualVersion) {
                return NULL;
                  }

                  if (!rngStubsPtr) {
                Tcl_SetResult(interp,
                         "This implementation of Rng does not support stubs",
                         TCL_STATIC);
                return NULL;
                  }

                  return (char*) actualVersion;
              }

EXAMPLES

       As  the  set  of  examples  is  a  bit large, and growing, it has been put into a separate
       document. Please see section "Embedding C" in the document about Using CriTcl.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 2.1

       [1]    Fixed bug where critcl::tsources interpreted relative  paths  as  relative  to  the
              current  working  directory  instead  of  relative  to the ".critcl" file using the
              command, as all other commands of this type do.

       [2]    Fixed internals, preventing information collected for multiple ".critcl"  files  to
              leak  between  them.  Notably,  critcl::tk  is  not  a  global configuration option
              anymore.

       [3]    Fixed the command critcl::license to be a null-operation in mode "compile  &  run",
              instead of throwing an error.

       [4]    Fixed  the  critcl application's interference with the "compile & run" result cache
              in -pkg mode by having  it  use  a  wholly  separate  (and  by  default  transient)
              directory for that mode.

       [5]    Fixed  bug  where  changes to a ".critcl" file did not result in a rebuild for mode
              "compile & run". All relevant API commands now ensure UUID changes.

       [6]    Fixed bug in the backend handling of critcl::debug where the companion c-sources of
              a  ".critcl" file were not compiled with debug options, although the ".critcl" file
              was.

       [7]    Fixed bug in critcl::debug which prevented recognition of mode "all"  when  it  was
              not the first argument to the command.

       [8]    Fixed bug in "preload.c" preventing its compilation on non-windows platforms.

       [9]    Fixed long-standing bug in the handling of namespace qualifiers in the command name
              argument of critcl::cproc and critcl::ccommand. It is now  possible  to  specify  a
              fully qualified command name without issues.

       [10]   Extended/reworked  critcl::tsources  to  be  the  canonical way of declaring ".tcl"
              companion files even for mode "compile & run".

       [11]   Extended/reworked critcl::tsources to allow the use of a ".critcl" file as its  own
              Tcl companion file.

       [12]   Extended critcl::framework to internally check for OS X build target, and to ignore
              the declaration if its not.

       [13]   Extended critcl::failed to be callable more than once  in  a  ".critcl"  file.  The
              first call forces the build, if it was not done already, to get the result. Further
              calls return the cached result of the first call.

       [14]   Extended the handling of environment  variable  CC  in  the  code  determining  the
              compiler  to  use  to  deal with (i.e. remove) paths to the compiler, compiler file
              extensions, and compiler options specified after the compiler itself, leaving  only
              the bare name of the compiler.

       [15]   Extended the code handling the search for preloaded libraries to print the paths it
              searched, making debugging of a search failure easier.

       [16]   A new command critcl::tcl can be used to  declare  the  version  of  Tcl  minimally
              needed  to  build  and  run  the ".critcl" file and package. Defaults to 8.4 if not
              declared. Extended critcl to have the stubs and headers for all of  Tcl  8.4,  8.5,
              and 8.6.

       [17]   A  new  command critcl::load forces the build and load of a ".critcl" file. This is
              the official way for overriding critcl's default lazy-build-&-load-on-demand scheme
              for mode "compile & run".

              Note  that  after using critcl::load / critcl::failed in a ".critcl" file it is not
              possible to use critcl commands in that file anymore. Doing so will throw an error.

       [18]   Extended the generation of '#line' pragmas to use  info  frame  (if  available)  to
              provide  the  C  compiler  with  exact line numbers into the ".critcl" file for the
              reporting of warnings and errors.

       [19]   Extended critcl::check with logging to help with debugging build-time checks of the
              environment, plus an additional optional argument to provide labeling.

       [20]   Added a new command critcl::checklink which not only tries to check the environment
              via compiling the code, but also its linkability.

       [21]   Added a new command critcl::msg for messaging, like command  critcl::error  is  for
              error  reporting.  Likewise  this  is  a  hook  a user of the package is allowed to
              override. The default implementation, used by mode compile & run does nothing.  The
              implementation for mode generate package prints the message to stdout.

              Envisioned  use  is  for  the  reporting of results determined by critcl::check and
              critcl::checklink during building, to help with debugging when something goes wrong
              with a check.

       [22]   Exposed  the  argument  processing  internals  of  critcl::proc for use by advanced
              users. The new commands are

              [1]    critcl::argnames

              [2]    critcl::argcnames

              [3]    critcl::argcsignature

              [4]    critcl::argvardecls

              [5]    critcl::argconversion

              Please see section Advanced Embedded C Code of the critcl package documentation for
              details.

       [23]   Extended  the  critcl  package  to intercept package provide and record the file ->
              package name mapping. Plus other internal changes now allow the use  of  namespaced
              package names while still using proper path names and init function.

       [24]   Dropped the unused commands critcl::optimize and critcl::include.

       [25]   Dropped -lib mode from the critcl application.

       [26]   Dropped remnants of support for Tcl 8.3 and before.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3

       [1]    The   command  critcl::platform  was  deprecated  in  version  2.1,  superceded  by
              critcl::targetplatform, yet kept for compatibility. Now it has been removed.

       [2]    The command critcl::compiled was  kept  with  in  version  2.1  with  semantics  in
              contradiction  to  its,  for  compatibility.  This  contradiction has been removed,
              changing the visible semantics of the command to be in line with its name.

       [3]    The change to version 3 became necessary because of the  two  incompatible  visible
              changes above.

       [4]    Extended  the  application package with code handling a new option -tea. Specifying
              this option invokes a special mode where critcl generates a TEA package, i.e. wraps
              the  input  into  a  directory  hierarchy  and  support files which provide it TEA-
              lookalike buildsystem.

              This new option, and -pkg, exclude each other. If both are specified the last  used
              option takes precedence.

              The  generated package directory hierarchy is mostly self-contained, but not fully.
              It requires not only a working installation of Tcl, but also working  installations
              of  the  packages md5 and cmdline. Both of these are provided by the Tcllib bundle.
              Not required, but recommended to have installed are any of the packages  which  can
              accelerate md5's operation, i.e. cryptkit, tcllibc, or Trf.

       [5]    Extended  the  critcl  package with a new command critcl::scan taking the path to a
              ".critcl" file, statically scanning it, and returning license, version, a  list  of
              its  companion files, list of imported APIs, and list of developer-specified custom
              configuration options. This data is the foundation for the TEA  wrapping  described
              above.

              Note that this is a static scan. While the other build modes can (must) execute the
              ".critcl" file and make platform-specific decisions regarding the assembled C code,
              companion  files,  etc.  the  TEA  wrap mode is not in a position to make platform-
              specific decisions. It has to wrap everything which  might  conceivably  be  needed
              when  actually  building.  Hence  the static scan.  This has however its own set of
              problems, namely the inability to figure out any dynamic construction of  companion
              file paths, at least on its own. Thus:

       [6]    Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command critcl::owns. While
              this command is ignored by the regular build modes  the  static  scanner  described
              above  takes its arguments as the names of companion files which have to be wrapped
              into the TEA package and could not  be  figured  by  the  scanner  otherwise,  like
              because  of  dynamic  paths  to critcl::tsources, critcl::csources, getting sourced
              directly, or simply being adjunct datafiles.

       [7]    Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command critcl::api for the
              management of stubs tables, be it their use, and/or declaration and export.

              Please  see  section Stubs Table Management of the critcl package documentation for
              details.

       [8]    Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command  critcl::userconfig
              for the management of developer-specified custom configuration options, be it their
              use and/or declaration.

              Please see section Custom Build Configuration of the critcl  package  documentation
              for details.

       [9]    Extended    the   API   used   by   critcl-based   packages   with   the   commands
              critcl::description,   critcl::summary,    critcl::subject,    critcl::meta,    and
              critcl::buildrequirement  for  the  declaration  of  TEApot meta data for/about the
              package.

              Please see section Package Meta  Data  of  the  critcl  package  documentation  for
              details.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.1

       [1]    Bugfixes all around. In detail:

       [2]    Fixed  recording  of  Tcl  version  requirements.  Keep  package  name  and version
              together, unbreaking generated meta data and generated package load command.

       [3]    Fixed the build scripts: When installing, or wrapping for TEA, generate any missing
              directories

       [4]    Modified  the  build  scripts  to  properly exit the application when the window of
              their GUI is closed through the (X) button.

       [5]    Removed an 8.5-ism (open wb) which had slipped into the main build script.

       [6]    Modified the example build  scripts  to  separate  the  output  for  the  different
              examples (and packages) by adding empty lines.

       [7]    stack::c example bugfix: Include API declarations for use in the companion files.

       [8]    Extended  the  documentation:  Noted  the  need  for  a working installation of a C
              compiler.

       [9]    Extended the Windows target definitions and code to handle the manifest files  used
              by   modern   MS  development  environments.  Note  that  this  code  handles  both
              possibilities, environment using manifests, and (old(er)) environments without.

       [10]   Extended the Windows 64bit target definitions and code to auto-detect the need  for
              the  helper  library  "bufferoverflowU.lib"  and  reconfigure  the compile and link
              commands appropriately. We assume that the library must  be  linked  when  present.
              This should be no harm if the library is present, yet not needed. Just superfluous.
              We search for the library in the paths specified by the environment variable LIB.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.2

       [1]    Fixed issue in compile-and-run mode where commands put into the auto_index are  not
              found by Tcl's [unknown] command.

       [2]    Fixed  an  array key mismatch breaking usage of client data and delete function for
              procedure. Reported by Jos DeCoster, with patch.

       [3]    Implemented a command line option -L, an equivalent of option -I, just for  library
              search paths.

       [4]    Fixed  github  issues  5  and  8. Working around a missing variable ::errorInfo. It
              should always be present, however there seem to be revisions of  Tcl  around  which
              violate this assumption.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.3

       [1]    Fixed  github  issues  5 and 8, for the example build.tcl scripts. Working around a
              missing variable ::errorInfo. It should always be present, however there seem to be
              revisions of Tcl around which violate this assumption.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.4

       [1]    Fixed  generation  of  the  package's  initname when the incoming code is read from
              stdin and has no proper path.

       [2]    Fixed github issue 11. Now using /LIBPATH instead  of  -L  on  Windows  (libinclude
              configuration setting).

       [3]    Extended  critcl to handle -l:path format of -l options.  GNU ld 2.22+ handles this
              by searching for the path as is. Good when specifying static libraries, as plain -l
              looks  for  shared  libraries  in preference over static. critcl handles it now, as
              older GNU ld's do not understand it, nor the various vendor-specific linkers.

       [4]    Fixed github issue #12. Critcl now determines the version of MSVC in use  and  uses
              it  to  switch  between  various  link  debug  options.  Simplified the handling of
              bufferoverflowU.lib also, making use of the same mechanism and collapsing  the  two
              configurations sections we had back into one.

       [5]    Reworked  the  insertion  of  #line  pragmas  into  the  generated  C code to avoid
              limitations on the line number argument imposed by various compilers, and  be  more
              accurate.

       [6]    Modified argument processing. Option -libdir now also implies -L for its argument.

       [7]    Extended  handling  of  option  -show  (critcl::showconfig) to list the path of the
              configuration file the data  is  coming  from.  Good  for  debugging  configuration
              processing.

       [8]    Extended  the  build  script with targets to regenerate the embedded documentation,
              and diagrams, and to generate a release.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.5

       [1]    Fixed bug in the new code for  #line  pragmas  triggered  when  specifying  C  code
              without leading whitespace.

       [2]    Extended  the  documentation  to  have  manpages for the license, source retrieval,
              installer, and developer's guides.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.6

       [1]    Fixed github issue 10. The critcl application now delivers a proper exit  code  (1)
              on build failure, instead of always indicating success (status 0).

       [2]    Fixed  github  issue  13.  Handling  of  bufferoverflowU.lib for release builds was
              inconsistent with  handling  for  debug  builds.  It  is  now  identically  handled
              (conditional) by both cases.

       [3]    Documentation cleanup, mainly in the installation guide, and the README.md shown by
              github

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.7

       [1]    Fixed the code generated by critcl::c++command.  The emitted  code  handed  a  non-
              static  string  table  to  Tcl_GetIndexFromObj, in violation of the contract, which
              requires the table to have a fixed address. This was  a  memory  smash  waiting  to
              happen. Thanks to Brian Griffin for alrerting us to the general problem.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1

       [1]    Added a new higher-level package critcl::iassoc.

              This  package  simplifies the creation of code associating data with an interpreter
              via Tcl's Tcl_(Get|Set)AssocData() APIs. The user can concentrate on his data while
              all the necessary boilerplate C code to support this is generated by the package.

              This  package  uses several of the new features which were added to the core critcl
              package, see below.

       [2]    Added the higher-level package critcl::class.

              This package simplifies the creation of C level objects  with  class  and  instance
              commands.  The user can write a class definition with class- and instance-variables
              and -methods similar to a TclOO class, with all the necessary boilerplate C code to
              support this generated by the package.

              This  package  uses several of the new features which were added to the core critcl
              package, see below.

       [3]    Extended the API for handling TEApot metadata. Added the command  critcl::meta?  to
              query  the  stored  information.  Main use currently envisioned is retrieval of the
              current package's name by utility commands, for  use  in  constructed  names.  This
              particular  information  is  always available due to the static scan of the package
              file on execution of the first critcl command.

              The new packages critcl::iassoc and critcl::class (see above)  are  users  of  this
              command.

       [4]    Extended the API with a command, critcl::name2c, exposing the process of converting
              a Tcl name into base name, namespace, and C namespace.  This  enables  higher-level
              code generators to generate the same type of C identifiers as critcl itself.

              The new package critcl::class (see above) is a user of this command.

       [5]    Extended the API with a command, critcl::source, executing critcl commands found in
              a separate file in the context of the current file. This enables easier  management
              of  larger  bodies  of  code  as it allows the user to split such up into easier to
              digest smaller chunks without causing the generation of multiple packages.

       [6]    Related to the previous item, extended the API with commands to  divert  collection
              of  generated  C  code  into  memory.  This makes it easier to use the commands for
              embedded C code in higher-level code generators.

              See the section Advanced: Diversions for details of the provided commands.

              The new package critcl::class (see above) is a user of these facilities.

       [7]    Extended the API with commands helping developers with the generation of  proper  C
              #line  directives.  This allows higher-level code generators to generate and insert
              their own directives, ensuring that compile  errors  in  their  code  are  properly
              attributed.

              See the section Advanced: Location management for details of the provided commands.

              The  new  packages  critcl::iassoc and critcl::class (see above) are users of these
              facilities.

       [8]    Extended the API with commands giving users the ability to define  custom  argument
              and result types for ::critcl::cproc.

              See the section Advanced: Extending cproc for details of the provided commands.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.1

       [1]    Bugfixes all around. In detail:

       [2]    Fixed  the  generation  of  wrong#args  errors  for  critcl::cproc and derived code
              (critcl::class cproc-based methods). Use NULL if there are no arguments,  and  take
              the offset into account.

       [3]    Fixed  the handling of package names by critcl::class. Forgot that they may contain
              namespace separators. Bumped to version 1.0.1.

       [4]    Extended a critcl::class generated error message in instance creation for  clarity.
              Bumped to version 1.0.2.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.2

       [1]    Enhancement. In detail:

       [2]    Extended  critcl::cproc  to be able to handle optional arguments, in a limited way.
              This is automatically available to critcl::class cproc-based methods as well.

       [3]    Bugfix in lassign emulation for Tcl 8.4.  Properly  set  unused  variables  to  the
              empty string.  Bumped version of emulation package lassign84 to 1.0.1.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.3

       [1]    Enhancement. In detail:

       [2]    Added  new  argument  type "pstring", for "Pascal String", a counted string, i.e. a
              combination of string pointer and string length.

       [3]    Added new methods critcl::argtypesupport and ::critcl::argsupport to define and use
              additional  supporting  code  for an argument type, here used by "pstring" above to
              define the necessary structure.

       [4]    Semi-bugfixes in the packages critcl::class and critcl::iassoc. Pragmas for the  AS
              meta  data  scanner to ensure that the template files are made part of the package.
              Versions bumped to 1.0.4 and 1.0.1 respectively.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.4

       [1]    Bugfix in package critcl::class. Generate a dummy field in the class  structure  if
              the class has no class variables. Without this change the structure would be empty,
              and a number of compilers are not able to handle such a type.

       [2]    Fixed a typo which broke the win64 configuration.

       [3]    Fixed issue #16, a typo in the documentation of command critcl::class.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.5

       [1]    Fixed issue #19. Made the regular expression extracting  the  MSVC  version  number
              more  general  to  make  it  work  on  german language systems. This may have to be
              revisited in the future, for other Windows locales.

       [2]    Fixed issue #20. Made option -tea work on windows, at least  in  a  unix  emulation
              environment like msys/mingw.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.6

       [1]    Fixed issue #21. While the multi-definition of the stub-table pointer variables was
              ok with for all the C linkers seen so far C++ linkers did not  like  this  at  all.
              Reworked  the  code to ensure that this set of variables is generated only once, in
              the wrapper around all the pieces to assemble.

       [2]    Fixed  issue  #22,  the  handling  of   the   command   identifier   arguments   of
              critcl::ccommand,  critcl::cproc,  and critcl::cdata. We now properly allow any Tcl
              identifier and generate proper internal C identifiers from them.

              As part of this the signature of command critcl::name2c changed.  The  command  now
              delivers  a  list  of  four values instead of three. The new value was added at the
              end.

              Further  adapted  the  implementation  of  package   critcl::class,   a   user   of
              critcl::name2c.  This package is now at version 1.0.6 and requires critcl 3.1.6

              Lastly   fixed   the   mis-handling  of  option  -cname  in  critcl::ccommand,  and
              critcl::cproc.

       [3]    Fixed issue #23.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.7

       [1]    Fixed issue #24. Extract and unconditionally display compiler warnings found in the
              build  log. Prevents users from missing warnings which, while not causing the build
              to fail, may still indicate problems.

       [2]    New feature. Output hook. All non-messaging user output is now routed  through  the
              command  critcl::print,  and users are allowed to override it when using the critcl
              application-as-package.

       [3]    New feature, by Ashok P. Nadkarni. Platform configurations can inherit values  from
              configurations defined before them.

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.8

       [1]    Fixed  issue with package indices generated for Tcl 8.4.  Join the list of commands
              with semi-colon, not newline.

       [2]    Fixed issue #26 which brought up use-cases I had forgotten to consider while fixing
              bug #21 (see critcl 3.1.6).

CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.9

       [1]    Fixed issue #27. Added missing platform definitions for various alternate linux and
              OS X targets.

       [2]    Fixed issue #28. Added missing  -mXX  flags  for  linking  at  the  linux-{32,64}-*
              targets.

       [3]    Fixed  issue  #29. Replaced the use of raw "cheaders" information in the processing
              of "cdefines" with the proper include directives derived from it.

       [4]    Fixed the issue behind rejected pull request #30  by  Andrew  Shadura.  Dynamically
              extract  the  stubs  variable  declarations  from the Tcl header files and generate
              matching variable definitions for use in the package code. The generated code  will
              now  be  always consistent with the headers, even when critcl's own copy of them is
              replaced by system headers.

       [5]    Fixed issue #31. Accepted patch by Andrew Shadura,  with  changes  (comments),  for
              easier  integration of critcl with OS package systems, replacing critcl's copies of
              Tcl headers with their own.

       [6]    Fixed issue  #32.  Merged  pull  request  by  Andrew  Shadura.   Various  typos  in
              documentation and comments.

       [7]    Fixed issue #33. Handle files starting with a dot better.

AUTHORS

       Jean Claude Wippler, Steve Landers, Andreas Kupries

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

       This  document,  and  the  package  it  describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other
       problems.  Please report them at https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues.   Ideas
       for  enhancements  you  may have for either package, application, and/or the documentation
       are  also  very  welcome   and   should   be   reported   at   https://github.com/andreas-
       kupries/critcl/issues as well.

KEYWORDS

       C code, Embedded C Code, code generator, compile & run, compiler, dynamic code generation,
       dynamic  compilation,  generate  package,  linker,  on  demand   compilation,   on-the-fly
       compilation

CATEGORY

       Glueing/Embedded C code

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) Jean-Claude Wippler
       Copyright (c) Steve Landers
       Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Andreas Kupries