Provided by: tcl8.5-doc_8.5.19-4_all 
NAME
registry - Manipulate the Windows registry
SYNOPSIS
package require registry 1.1
registry option keyName ?arg arg ...?
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DESCRIPTION
The registry package provides a general set of operations for manipulating the Windows registry. The
package implements the registry Tcl command. This command is only supported on the Windows platform.
Warning: this command should be used with caution as a corrupted registry can leave your system in an
unusable state.
KeyName is the name of a registry key. Registry keys must be one of the following forms:
\\hostname\rootname\keypath
rootname\keypath
rootname
Hostname specifies the name of any valid Windows host that exports its registry. The rootname component
must be one of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG,
HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA, or HKEY_DYN_DATA. The keypath can be one or more registry key names separated by
backslash (\) characters.
Option indicates what to do with the registry key name. Any unique abbreviation for option is
acceptable. The valid options are:
registry broadcast keyName ?-timeout milliseconds?
Sends a broadcast message to the system and running programs to notify them of certain updates.
This is necessary to propagate changes to key registry keys like Environment. The timeout
specifies the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait for applications to respond to the
broadcast message. It defaults to 3000. The following example demonstrates how to add a path to
the global Environment and notify applications of the change without requiring a logoff/logon step
(assumes admin privileges):
set regPath [join {
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CurrentControlSet
Control
{Session Manager}
Environment
} "\\"]
set curPath [registry get $regPath "Path"]
registry set $regPath "Path" "$curPath;$addPath"
registry broadcast "Environment"
registry delete keyName ?valueName?
If the optional valueName argument is present, the specified value under keyName will be deleted
from the registry. If the optional valueName is omitted, the specified key and any subkeys or
values beneath it in the registry hierarchy will be deleted. If the key could not be deleted then
an error is generated. If the key did not exist, the command has no effect.
registry get keyName valueName
Returns the data associated with the value valueName under the key keyName. If either the key or
the value does not exist, then an error is generated. For more details on the format of the
returned data, see SUPPORTED TYPES, below.
registry keys keyName ?pattern?
If pattern is not specified, returns a list of names of all the subkeys of keyName. If pattern is
specified, only those names matching pattern are returned. Matching is determined using the same
rules as for string match. If the specified keyName does not exist, then an error is generated.
registry set keyName ?valueName data ?type??
If valueName is not specified, creates the key keyName if it does not already exist. If valueName
is specified, creates the key keyName and value valueName if necessary. The contents of valueName
are set to data with the type indicated by type. If type is not specified, the type sz is
assumed. For more details on the data and type arguments, see SUPPORTED TYPES below.
registry type keyName valueName
Returns the type of the value valueName in the key keyName. For more information on the possible
types, see SUPPORTED TYPES, below.
registry values keyName ?pattern?
If pattern is not specified, returns a list of names of all the values of keyName. If pattern is
specified, only those names matching pattern are returned. Matching is determined using the same
rules as for string match.
SUPPORTED TYPES
Each value under a key in the registry contains some data of a particular type in a type-specific
representation. The registry command converts between this internal representation and one that can be
manipulated by Tcl scripts. In most cases, the data is simply returned as a Tcl string. The type
indicates the intended use for the data, but does not actually change the representation. For some
types, the registry command returns the data in a different form to make it easier to manipulate. The
following types are recognized by the registry command:
binary The registry value contains arbitrary binary data. The data is represented exactly in
Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
none The registry value contains arbitrary binary data with no defined type. The data is
represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
sz The registry value contains a null-terminated string. The data is represented in Tcl as
a string.
expand_sz The registry value contains a null-terminated string that contains unexpanded references
to environment variables in the normal Windows style (for example, “%PATH%”). The data
is represented in Tcl as a string.
dword The registry value contains a little-endian 32-bit number. The data is represented in
Tcl as a decimal string.
dword_big_endian The registry value contains a big-endian 32-bit number. The data is represented in Tcl
as a decimal string.
link The registry value contains a symbolic link. The data is represented exactly in Tcl,
including any embedded nulls.
multi_sz The registry value contains an array of null-terminated strings. The data is
represented in Tcl as a list of strings.
resource_list The registry value contains a device-driver resource list. The data is represented
exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
In addition to the symbolically named types listed above, unknown types are identified using a 32-bit
integer that corresponds to the type code returned by the system interfaces. In this case, the data is
represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
The registry command is only available on Windows.
EXAMPLE
Print out how double-clicking on a Tcl script file will invoke a Tcl interpreter:
package require registry
set ext .tcl
# Read the type name
set type [registry get HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$ext {}]
# Work out where to look for the command
set path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$type\\Shell\\Open\\command
# Read the command!
set command [registry get $path {}]
puts "$ext opens with $command"
KEYWORDS
registry