Provided by: critcl_3.1.18.1+dfsg-3_amd64 
NAME
critcl::literals - CriTcl Utilities: Constant string pools
SYNOPSIS
package require Tcl 8.4
package require critcl ?3.1.11?
package require critcl::literals ?1.3?
::critcl::literals::def name definition ?mode?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
C Runtime In Tcl, or CriTcl , is a system for compiling C code embedded in Tcl on the fly and either
loading the resulting objects into Tcl for immediate use or packaging them for distribution. Use CriTcl
to improve performance by rewriting in C those routines that are performance bottlenecks.
This document is the reference manpage for the critcl::literals package. This package provides
convenience commands for advanced functionality built on top of both critcl core and package
critcl::iassoc.
Many packages will have a fixed set of string constants occuring in one or places. Most of them will be
coded to create a new string Tcl_Obj* from a C char* every time the constant is needed, as this is easy
to to, despite the inherent waste of memory.
This package was written to make declaration and management of string pools which do not waste memory as
easy as the wasteful solution, hiding all attendant complexity from the user.
Its intended audience are mainly developers wishing to write Tcl packages with embedded C code.
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
::critcl::literals::def name definition ?mode?
This command defines a C function with the given name which provides access to a pool of constant
strings with a Tcl interpreter.
The definition dictionary provides the mapping from the C-level symbolic names to the string
themselves.
The mode-list configures the output somewhat. The three allowed modes are c, +list and tcl. All
modes can be used together. The default mode is tcl. Using mode +list implies tcl as well.
For mode tcl the new function has two arguments, a Tcl_Interp* pointer refering to the interpreter
holding the string pool, and a code of type "name_names" (see below), the symbolic name of the
literal to return. The result of the function is a Tcl_Obj* pointer to the requested string
constant.
For mode c the new function has one argument, a code of type "name_names" (see below), the
symbolic name of the literal to return. The result of the function is a const char* pointer to the
requested string constant.
For mode +list all of tcl applies, plus an additional function is generated which takes three
arguments, in order, a Tcl_Interp* pointer refering to the interpreter holding the string pool, an
int holding the size of the last argument, and an array of type "name_names" holding the codes
(see below), the symbolic names of the literals to return. The result of the function is a
Tcl_Obj* pointer to a Tcl list holding the requested string constants.
The underlying string pool is automatically initialized on first access, and finalized on
interpreter destruction.
The package generates multiple things (declarations and definitions) with names derived from name,
which has to be a proper C identifier.
name The mode tcl function providing access to the string pool. Its signature is
Tcl_Obj* name (Tcl_Interp* interp, name_names literal);
name_list
The mode +list function providing multi-access to the string pool. Its signature is
Tcl_Obj* name_list (Tcl_Interp* interp, int c, name_names* literal);
name_cstr
The mode c function providing access to the string pool. Its signature is
const char* name_cstr (name_names literal);
name_names
A C enumeration type containing the symbolic names of the strings provided by the pool.
name.h A header file containing the declarations for the accessor functions and the enumeration
type, for use by other parts of the system, if necessary.
The generated file is stored in a place where it will not interfere with the overall system
outside of the package, yet also be available for easy inclusion by package files
(csources).
name New in version 1.1: For mode tcl the command registers a new result-type for critcl::cproc
with critcl, which takes an integer result from the function and converts it to the
equivalent string in the pool for the script.
EXAMPLE
The example shown below is the specification of the string pool pulled from the draft work on a Tcl
binding to Linux's inotify APIs.
package require Tcl 8.5
package require critcl 3.1.11
critcl::buildrequirement {
package require critcl::literals
}
critcl::literals::def tcl_inotify_strings {
w_create "create"
w_directory"directory"
w_events "events"
w_file "file"
w_handler "handler"
w_remove "remove"
} {c tcl}
# Declarations: tcl_inotify_strings.h
# Type: tcl_inotify_strings_names
# Accessor: Tcl_Obj* tcl_inotify_strings (Tcl_Interp* interp,
# tcl_inotify_strings_names literal);
# Accessor: const char* tcl_inotify_strings_cstr (tcl_inotify_strings_names literal);
# ResultType: tcl_inotify_strings
AUTHORS
Andreas Kupries
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please
report such at https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl. Please also report any ideas for enhancements
you may have for either package and/or documentation.
KEYWORDS
C code, Embedded C Code, Tcl Interp Association, code generator, compile & run, compiler, dynamic code
generation, dynamic compilation, generate package, linker, literal pool, on demand compilation, on-the-
fly compilation, singleton, string pool
CATEGORY
Glueing/Embedded C code
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2011-2018 Andreas Kupries
doc 1.3 critcl::literals(3tcl)