Provided by: tcl8.6-doc_8.6.13+dfsg-2_all bug

NAME

       Tcl_LinkVar, Tcl_UnlinkVar, Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar - link Tcl variable to C variable

SYNOPSIS

       #include <tcl.h>

       int
       Tcl_LinkVar(interp, varName, addr, type)

       Tcl_UnlinkVar(interp, varName)

       Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar(interp, varName)

ARGUMENTS

       Tcl_Interp *interp (in)           Interpreter   that   contains  varName.   Also  used  by
                                         Tcl_LinkVar to return error messages.

       const char *varName (in)          Name of global variable.

       char *addr (in)                   Address of C variable that is to be linked to varName.

       int type (in)                     Type of  C  variable.   Must  be  one  of  TCL_LINK_INT,
                                         TCL_LINK_UINT,       TCL_LINK_CHAR,      TCL_LINK_UCHAR,
                                         TCL_LINK_SHORT,     TCL_LINK_USHORT,      TCL_LINK_LONG,
                                         TCL_LINK_ULONG,  TCL_LINK_WIDE_INT,  TCL_LINK_WIDE_UINT,
                                         TCL_LINK_FLOAT,  TCL_LINK_DOUBLE,  TCL_LINK_BOOLEAN,  or
                                         TCL_LINK_STRING,       optionally       OR'ed       with
                                         TCL_LINK_READ_ONLY to make Tcl variable read-only.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       Tcl_LinkVar uses variable traces to keep the Tcl variable named by varName  in  sync  with
       the  C variable at the address given by addr.  Whenever the Tcl variable is read the value
       of the C variable will be returned, and  whenever  the  Tcl  variable  is  written  the  C
       variable will be updated to have the same value.  Tcl_LinkVar normally returns TCL_OK;  if
       an error occurs while setting up the link (e.g. because varName is the name of array) then
       TCL_ERROR is returned and the interpreter's result contains an error message.

       The type argument specifies the type of the C variable, and must have one of the following
       values, optionally OR'ed with TCL_LINK_READ_ONLY:

       TCL_LINK_INT
              The C variable is of type int.  Any value written into the Tcl variable must have a
              proper integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetIntFromObj;  attempts to write non-integer
              values  into  varName  will  be  rejected  with  Tcl  errors.  Incomplete   integer
              representations  (like  the  empty string, '+', '-' or the hex/octal/binary prefix)
              are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_UINT
              The C variable is of type unsigned int.  Any value written into  the  Tcl  variable
              must have a proper unsigned integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj and in
              the platform's defined range for the unsigned int  type;  attempts  to  write  non-
              integer values (or values outside the range) into varName will be rejected with Tcl
              errors. Incomplete integer representations (like the empty string, '+', '-' or  the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_CHAR
              The  C variable is of type char.  Any value written into the Tcl variable must have
              a proper integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetIntFromObj and be in the  range  of  the
              char  datatype;  attempts  to write non-integer or out-of-range values into varName
              will be rejected with Tcl errors.  Incomplete  integer  representations  (like  the
              empty  string, '+', '-' or the hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are
              valid too.

       TCL_LINK_UCHAR
              The C variable is of type unsigned char.  Any value written into the  Tcl  variable
              must have a proper unsigned integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetIntFromObj and in the
              platform's defined range for the unsigned char type; attempts to write  non-integer
              values (or values outside the range) into varName will be rejected with Tcl errors.
              Incomplete integer  representations  (like  the  empty  string,  '+',  '-'  or  the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_SHORT
              The C variable is of type short.  Any value written into the Tcl variable must have
              a proper integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetIntFromObj and be in the  range  of  the
              short  datatype;  attempts to write non-integer or out-of-range values into varName
              will be rejected with Tcl errors.  Incomplete  integer  representations  (like  the
              empty  string, '+', '-' or the hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are
              valid too.

       TCL_LINK_USHORT
              The C variable is of type unsigned short.  Any value written into the Tcl  variable
              must have a proper unsigned integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetIntFromObj and in the
              platform's defined range for the unsigned short type; attempts to write non-integer
              values (or values outside the range) into varName will be rejected with Tcl errors.
              Incomplete integer  representations  (like  the  empty  string,  '+',  '-'  or  the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_LONG
              The  C variable is of type long.  Any value written into the Tcl variable must have
              a proper integer form acceptable to  Tcl_GetLongFromObj;  attempts  to  write  non-
              integer  or  out-of-range  values  into  varName  will be rejected with Tcl errors.
              Incomplete integer  representations  (like  the  empty  string,  '+',  '-'  or  the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_ULONG
              The  C  variable is of type unsigned long.  Any value written into the Tcl variable
              must have a proper unsigned integer form acceptable to Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj and in
              the  platform's  defined  range  for the unsigned long type; attempts to write non-
              integer values (or values outside the range) into varName will be rejected with Tcl
              errors.  Incomplete integer representations (like the empty string, '+', '-' or the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_DOUBLE
              The C variable is of type double.  Any value written into  the  Tcl  variable  must
              have a proper real form acceptable to Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj;  attempts to write non-
              real values into varName will be rejected with Tcl errors.  Incomplete  integer  or
              real  representations (like the empty string, '.', '+', '-' or the hex/octal/binary
              prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_FLOAT
              The C variable is of type float.  Any value written into the Tcl variable must have
              a  proper real form acceptable to Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj and must be within the range
              acceptable for a float; attempts to write non-real values (or  values  outside  the
              range)  into  varName  will be rejected with Tcl errors. Incomplete integer or real
              representations (like the empty string,  '.',  '+',  '-'  or  the  hex/octal/binary
              prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_WIDE_INT
              The  C  variable  is of type Tcl_WideInt (which is an integer type at least 64-bits
              wide on all platforms that can  support  it.)   Any  value  written  into  the  Tcl
              variable  must  have  a  proper  integer  form acceptable to Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj;
              attempts to write non-integer values into varName will be rejected with Tcl errors.
              Incomplete  integer  representations  (like  the  empty  string,  '+',  '-'  or the
              hex/octal/binary prefix) are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_WIDE_UINT
              The C variable is of type Tcl_WideUInt (which is an unsigned integer type at  least
              64-bits wide on all platforms that can support it.)  Any value written into the Tcl
              variable   must   have   a   proper   unsigned   integer   form    acceptable    to
              Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj  (it will be cast to unsigned); attempts to write non-integer
              values  into  varName  will  be  rejected  with  Tcl  errors.  Incomplete   integer
              representations  (like  the  empty string, '+', '-' or the hex/octal/binary prefix)
              are accepted as if they are valid too.

       TCL_LINK_BOOLEAN
              The C variable is of type int.  If its value is zero then it will read from Tcl  as
              “0”;  otherwise  it will read from Tcl as “1”.  Whenever varName is modified, the C
              variable will be set to a 0 or 1 value.  Any value written into  the  Tcl  variable
              must  have  a proper boolean form acceptable to Tcl_GetBooleanFromObj;  attempts to
              write non-boolean values into varName will be rejected with Tcl errors.

       TCL_LINK_STRING
              The C variable is of type char *.  If its value is not  NULL  then  it  must  be  a
              pointer to a string allocated with Tcl_Alloc or ckalloc.  Whenever the Tcl variable
              is modified the current C string will be freed and new memory will be allocated  to
              hold a copy of the variable's new value.  If the C variable contains a NULL pointer
              then the Tcl variable will read as “NULL”.

       If the TCL_LINK_READ_ONLY flag is present in type then the variable will be read-only from
       Tcl, so that its value can only be changed by modifying the C variable.  Attempts to write
       the variable from Tcl will be rejected with errors.

       Tcl_UnlinkVar removes the link previously set up for the variable given  by  varName.   If
       there does not exist a link for varName then the procedure has no effect.

       Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar  may  be  invoked  after  the  C variable has changed to force the Tcl
       variable to be updated immediately.  In many cases this procedure is not needed, since any
       attempt to read the Tcl variable will return the latest value of the C variable.  However,
       if a trace has been set on the Tcl variable (such as a Tk widget that  wishes  to  display
       the  value  of  the variable), the trace will not trigger when the C variable has changed.
       Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar ensures that any traces on the Tcl variable are invoked.

       Note that, as with any call to a Tcl interpreter, Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar must be called  from
       the same thread that created the interpreter. The safest mechanism is to ensure that the C
       variable is only ever updated from the same thread that created the interpreter  (possibly
       in  response  to  an  event posted with Tcl_ThreadQueueEvent), but when it is necessary to
       update the variable in a separate thread, it is advised  that  Tcl_AsyncMark  be  used  to
       indicate   to   the   thread   hosting   the   interpreter   that   it  is  ready  to  run
       Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar.

SEE ALSO

       Tcl_TraceVar(3tcl)

KEYWORDS

       boolean, integer, link, read-only, real, string, trace, variable