Provided by: tcl8.4-doc_8.4.20-7_all 

NAME
Tcl_Exit, Tcl_Finalize, Tcl_CreateExitHandler, Tcl_DeleteExitHandler, Tcl_ExitThread, Tcl_FinalizeThread,
Tcl_CreateThreadExitHandler, Tcl_DeleteThreadExitHandler - end the application or thread (and invoke exit
handlers)
SYNOPSIS
#include <tcl.h>
Tcl_Exit(status)
Tcl_Finalize()
Tcl_CreateExitHandler(proc, clientData)
Tcl_DeleteExitHandler(proc, clientData)
Tcl_ExitThread(status)
Tcl_FinalizeThread()
Tcl_CreateThreadExitHandler(proc, clientData)
Tcl_DeleteThreadExitHandler(proc, clientData)
ARGUMENTS
int status (in) Provides information about why the application or thread exited.
Exact meaning may be platform-specific. 0 usually means a normal
exit, any nonzero value usually means that an error occurred.
Tcl_ExitProc *proc (in) Procedure to invoke before exiting application.
ClientData clientData (in) Arbitrary one-word value to pass to proc.
_________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
The procedures described here provide a graceful mechanism to end the execution of a Tcl application.
Exit handlers are invoked to cleanup the application's state before ending the execution of Tcl code.
Invoke Tcl_Exit to end a Tcl application and to exit from this process. This procedure is invoked by the
exit command, and can be invoked anyplace else to terminate the application. No-one should ever invoke
the exit system procedure directly; always invoke Tcl_Exit instead, so that it can invoke exit handlers.
Note that if other code invokes exit system procedure directly, or otherwise causes the application to
terminate without calling Tcl_Exit, the exit handlers will not be run. Tcl_Exit internally invokes the
exit system call, thus it never returns control to its caller.
Tcl_Finalize is similar to Tcl_Exit except that it does not exit from the current process. It is useful
for cleaning up when a process is finished using Tcl but wishes to continue executing, and when Tcl is
used in a dynamically loaded extension that is about to be unloaded. On some systems Tcl is
automatically notified when it is being unloaded, and it calls Tcl_Finalize internally; on these systems
it not necessary for the caller to explicitly call Tcl_Finalize. However, to ensure portability, your
code should always invoke Tcl_Finalize when Tcl is being unloaded, to ensure that the code will work on
all platforms. Tcl_Finalize can be safely called more than once.
Tcl_ExitThread is used to terminate the current thread and invoke per-thread exit handlers. This 2
finalization is done by Tcl_FinalizeThread, which you can call if you just want to clean up per-thread 2
state and invoke the thread exit handlers. Tcl_Finalize calls Tcl_FinalizeThread for the current thread 2
automatically.
Tcl_CreateExitHandler arranges for proc to be invoked by Tcl_Finalize and Tcl_Exit.
Tcl_CreateThreadExitHandler arranges for proc to be invoked by Tcl_FinalizeThread and Tcl_ExitThread.
This provides a hook for cleanup operations such as flushing buffers and freeing global memory. Proc
should match the type Tcl_ExitProc:
typedef void Tcl_ExitProc(ClientData clientData);
The clientData parameter to proc is a copy of the clientData argument given to Tcl_CreateExitHandler or
Tcl_CreateThreadExitHandler when the callback was created. Typically, clientData points to a data
structure containing application-specific information about what to do in proc.
Tcl_DeleteExitHandler and Tcl_DeleteThreadExitHandler may be called to delete a previously-created exit
handler. It removes the handler indicated by proc and clientData so that no call to proc will be made.
If no such handler exists then Tcl_DeleteExitHandler or Tcl_DeleteThreadExitHandler does nothing.
Tcl_Finalize and Tcl_Exit execute all registered exit handlers, in reverse order from the order in which 2
they were registered. This matches the natural order in which extensions are loaded and unloaded; if 2
extension A loads extension B, it usually unloads B before it itself is unloaded. If extension A 2
registers its exit handlers before loading extension B, this ensures that any exit handlers for B will be 2
executed before the exit handlers for A. 2
Tcl_Finalize and Tcl_Exit call Tcl_FinalizeThread and the thread exit handlers after the process-wide 2
exit handlers. This is because thread finalization shuts down the I/O channel system, so any attempt at 2
I/O by the global exit handlers will vanish into the bitbucket.
KEYWORDS
callback, cleanup, dynamic loading, end application, exit, unloading, thread
Tcl 8.1 Tcl_Exit(3tcl)