NAME

       Tcl_CreateInterp,  Tcl_DeleteInterp,  Tcl_InterpActive,  Tcl_InterpDeleted  -  create  and
       delete Tcl command interpreters

SYNOPSIS

       #include <tcl.h>

       Tcl_Interp *
       Tcl_CreateInterp()

       Tcl_DeleteInterp(interp)

       int
       Tcl_InterpDeleted(interp)

       int                                                                                        │
       Tcl_InterpActive(interp)                                                                   │

ARGUMENTS

       Tcl_Interp *interp (in)          Token for interpreter to be destroyed or queried.
_________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       Tcl_CreateInterp creates a new interpreter structure and returns a token for it. The token
       is  required  in  calls to most other Tcl procedures, such as Tcl_CreateCommand, Tcl_Eval,
       and Tcl_DeleteInterp.  The token returned by Tcl_CreateInterp may only be  passed  to  Tcl
       routines  called  from  the  same thread as the original Tcl_CreateInterp call.  It is not
       safe for multiple threads to pass the same token to Tcl's routines.  The  new  interpreter
       is   initialized  with  the  built-in  Tcl  commands  and  with  standard  variables  like
       tcl_platform and env. To bind in  additional  commands,  call  Tcl_CreateCommand,  and  to
       create additional variables, call Tcl_SetVar.

       Tcl_DeleteInterp  marks  an  interpreter  as  deleted;  the interpreter will eventually be
       deleted when all calls to Tcl_Preserve for it have been matched by calls  to  Tcl_Release.
       At  that  time,  all of the resources associated with it, including variables, procedures,
       and application-specific command bindings, will be deleted. After Tcl_DeleteInterp returns
       any  attempt  to use Tcl_Eval on the interpreter will fail and return TCL_ERROR. After the
       call to Tcl_DeleteInterp it is safe to examine the interpreter's result, query or set  the
       values  of  variables,  define,  undefine  or retrieve procedures, and examine the runtime
       evaluation stack. See below,  in  the  section  INTERPRETERS  AND  MEMORY  MANAGEMENT  for
       details.

       Tcl_InterpDeleted  returns  nonzero  if  Tcl_DeleteInterp  was  called  with interp as its
       argument; this indicates that the interpreter will eventually be deleted,  when  the  last
       call  to  Tcl_Preserve for it is matched by a call to Tcl_Release. If nonzero is returned,
       further calls to Tcl_Eval in this interpreter will return TCL_ERROR.

       Tcl_InterpDeleted is useful in deletion callbacks to distinguish  between  when  only  the
       memory  the callback is responsible for is being deleted and when the whole interpreter is
       being deleted. In the former case the callback may recreate the data  being  deleted,  but
       this would lead to an infinite loop if the interpreter were being deleted.

       Tcl_InterpActive  is  useful  for  determining  whether  there is any execution of scripts │
       ongoing in an interpreter, which is a useful piece of information when Tcl is embedded  in │
       a  garbage-collected  environment  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  determine  whether the │
       interpreter is a candidate for  deletion.  The  function  returns  a  true  value  if  the │
       interpreter  has  at  least  one  active  execution  running  inside it, and a false value │
       otherwise.

INTERPRETERS AND MEMORY MANAGEMENT

       Tcl_DeleteInterp can be called at any time on an interpreter that may be  used  by  nested
       evaluations  and  C  code  in  various  extensions. Tcl implements a simple mechanism that
       allows callers to use interpreters without worrying about the interpreter being deleted in
       a  nested  call,  and  without  requiring special code to protect the interpreter, in most
       cases.  This mechanism ensures that nested uses of  an  interpreter  can  safely  continue
       using it even after Tcl_DeleteInterp is called.

       The  mechanism  relies  on matching up calls to Tcl_Preserve with calls to Tcl_Release. If
       Tcl_DeleteInterp has been called, only when the last call to Tcl_Preserve is matched by  a
       call  to Tcl_Release, will the interpreter be freed. See the manual entry for Tcl_Preserve
       for a description of these functions.

       The rules for when the user of an interpreter must call Tcl_Preserve and  Tcl_Release  are
       simple:

       Interpreters Passed As Arguments
              Functions  that  are  passed  an  interpreter  as  an  argument  can safely use the
              interpreter without any special protection.  Thus,  when  you  write  an  extension
              consisting  of  new Tcl commands, no special code is needed to protect interpreters
              received as arguments. This covers the majority of all uses.

       Interpreter Creation And Deletion
              When a new interpreter is created and used in  a  call  to  Tcl_Eval,  Tcl_VarEval,
              Tcl_GlobalEval,  Tcl_SetVar,  or  Tcl_GetVar,  a  pair of calls to Tcl_Preserve and
              Tcl_Release should be wrapped around all uses of the interpreter.  Remember that it
              is  unsafe  to use the interpreter once Tcl_Release has been called. To ensure that
              the  interpreter  is  properly  deleted  when  it  is  no   longer   needed,   call
              Tcl_InterpDeleted  to  test  if some other code already called Tcl_DeleteInterp; if
              not, call Tcl_DeleteInterp before calling Tcl_Release in your own code.

       Retrieving An Interpreter From A Data Structure
              When an interpreter is retrieved from a data structure (e.g. the client data  of  a
              callback)  for  use  in  one  of  the  evaluation functions (Tcl_Eval, Tcl_VarEval,
              Tcl_GlobalEval, Tcl_EvalObjv,  etc.)  or  variable  access  functions  (Tcl_SetVar,
              Tcl_GetVar,  Tcl_SetVar2Ex,  etc.), a pair of calls to Tcl_Preserve and Tcl_Release
              should be wrapped around all uses of the interpreter; it is  unsafe  to  reuse  the
              interpreter  once Tcl_Release has been called. If an interpreter is stored inside a
              callback data structure, an appropriate deletion cleanup mechanism should be set up
              by the code that creates the data structure so that the interpreter is removed from
              the data structure (e.g. by setting the field to  NULL)  when  the  interpreter  is
              deleted.  Otherwise,  you may be using an interpreter that has been freed and whose
              memory may already have been reused.

       All uses of interpreters in Tcl and Tk have already  been  protected.   Extension  writers
       should  ensure that their code also properly protects any additional interpreters used, as
       described above.

       Note that the protection mechanisms do not work well with conventional garbage  collection │
       systems.  When in such a managed environment, Tcl_InterpActive should be used to determine │
       when an interpreter is a candidate for deletion due to inactivity.

SEE ALSO

       Tcl_Preserve(3tcl), Tcl_Release(3tcl)

KEYWORDS

       command, create, delete, interpreter