TCL-TK Quick Guide

5/22/2016
TclTkQuickGuide
TclTkQuickGuide
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TclOverview
TclisshortenedformofToolCommandLanguage.JohnOusterhoutoftheUniversityof
California, Berkeley, designed it. It is a combination of a scripting language and its
owninterpreterthatgetsembeddedtotheapplicationwedevelopwithit.
Tcl was developed initially for Unix. It was then ported to Windows, DOS, OS/2 and
MacOSX.TclismuchsimilartootherunixshelllanguageslikeBourneShell(Sh),the
CShell(csh),theKornShell(sh),andPerl.
Itaimsatprovidingabilityforprogramstointeractwithotherprogramsandalsofor
acting as an embeddable interpreter. Even though, the original aim was to enable
programstointeract,youcanfindfullfledgedapplicationswritteninTcl/Tk.
FeaturesofTcl
ThefeaturesofTCLareasfollows:
Reduceddevelopmenttime.
PowerfulandsimpleuserinterfacekitwithintegrationofTK.
Write once, run anywhere. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X and almost every
Unixplatform.
Quiteeasytogetstartedforexperiencedprogrammerssincethelanguageis
sosimplethattheycanlearnTclinfewhoursordays.
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/tcltk/tcl_tk_quick_guide.htm
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You can easily extend existing applications with Tcl. Also, it is possible to
includeTclinC,C++orJavatoTclorviceversa.
Haveapowerfulsetofnetworkingfunctions.
Finally, its open source, free and can be used for commercial applications
withoutanylimit.
Applications
TclisageneralpurposelanguageandyoucanfindTcleverywhere.Itincludes,
Scalablewebsitesthatareoftenbackedbydatabases.
HighperformancewebserversbuildwithTclHttpd.
TclwithCGIbasedwebsites.
DesktopGUIapplications.
Embeddedapplications.
TclEnvironmentSetup
TryitOption
You really do not need to set up your own environment to start learning Tcl
programming. Reason is very simple, we already have set up Tcl Programming
environmentonline,sothatyoucanexecutealltheTclexamplesonlineatthesame
timewhenyouaredoingyourtheorywork.Thisgivesyouconfidenceinwhatyouare
readingandtochecktheresultwithdifferentoptions.Feelfreetomodifyanyexample
andexecuteitonline.
TryfollowingexampleusingTryitoptionavailableatthetoprightcornerofthebelow
samplecodebox:
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"Hello,World!"
FormostoftheTclexamplesgiveninthistutorial,youwillfindTryitoption,sojust
make use of it and enjoy your learning. For Tk examples you will need to have a
consoletoseegraphicalresultssowerecommendtohaveyourownTksetup.
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LocalEnvironmentSetup
If you are willing to set up your environment for Tcl, you need the following two
softwaresapplicationsavailableonyourcomputer,(a)TextEditor,(b)TclInterpreter.
TextEditor
This will be used to type your program. Examples of few editors include Windows
Notepad,OSEditcommand,Brief,Epsilon,EMACS,andvimorvi.
Name and version of text editor can vary on different operating systems. For
example,NotepadwillbeusedonWindows,andvimorvicanbeusedonwindowsas
wellasLinuxorUNIX.
The files you create with your editor are called source files and contain program
sourcecode.ThesourcefilesforTclprogramsarenamedwiththeextension".tcl".
Beforestartingyourprogramming,makesureyouhaveonetexteditorinplaceand
youhaveenoughexperiencetowriteacomputerprogram,saveitinafile,builditand
finallyexecuteit.
TheTclInterpreter
It is just a small program that enables you to type Tcl commands and have them
executed line by line. It stops execution of a tcl file in case it encounters an error
unlikeacompilerthatexecutesfully.
LetshaveahelloWorld.tclfileasfollows.Wewillusethisasfirstprogramwerunon
platformyouchoose.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"HelloWorld!"
InstallationonWindows
Downloadthelatestversionforwindowsinstaller
fromthelistofActiveTclbinaries
available.ActiveTclcommunityeditionisfreeforpersonaluse.
RunthedownloadedexecutabletoinstalltheTclwhichcanbedonebyfollowingthe
onscreeninstructions.
NowwecanbuildandrunaTclfilesayhelloWorld.tclbyswitchingtofoldercontaining
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thefileusingcdcommandandthenexecutetheprogramusingthefollowingsteps
C:\Tcl>tclshhelloWorld.tcl
Wecanseethefollowingoutput.
C:\Tcl>helloWorld
C:\Tclisthefolder,Iamusingtosavemysamples.Youcanchangeittothefolderin
whichyouhavesavedTclprograms.
InstallationonLinux
Most Linux operating systems comes with Tcl inbuilt and you can get started right
awayinthosesystems.Incase,itsnotavailable,youcanusethefollowingcommand
todownloadandinstallTclTk.
$yuminstalltcltk
$tclshhelloWorld.tcl
$helloworld
InstallationonDebianbasedsystems
Incase,itsnotavailableinyourOS,youcanusethefollowingcommandtodownload
andinstallTclTk.
$sudoaptgetinstalltcltk
$helloworld
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InstallationonMacOSX
Download the latest version for Mac OS X package
from the list of Active Tcl
binariesavailable.ActiveTclcommunityeditionisfreeforpersonaluse.
RunthedownloadedexecutabletoinstalltheActiveTclwhichcanbedonebyfollowing
theonscreenintsructions.
thefileusingcdandthenexecutetheprogramusingthefollowingsteps
$helloworld
Installationfromsourcefiles
You can use the option of installing from source files when a binary package is not
available.ItisgenerallypreferredtouseTclbinariesforWindowsandMacOSX,so
onlycompilationofsourcesonunixbasedsystemisshownbelow.
Downloadthesourcefiles.
Nowusethefollowingcommandstoextract,compileandbuildafterswitching
tothedownloadedfolder.
$tarzxftcl8.6.1src.tar.gz
$cdtcl8.6.1
$cdunix
$./configureprefix=/optenablegcc
$make
$sudomakeinstall
Note : Make sure, you change the file name to the version you downloaded on
commands1and2intheabove.
TclSpecialVariables
In Tcl, we classify some of the variables as special variables and they have a
predefinedusage/functionality.Thelistofspecialsvariablesislistedbelow.
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SpecialVariable
Description
argc
Referstonumberofcommandlinearguments.
argv
Referstothelistcontainingthecommandlinearguments.
argv0
Referstothefilenameofthefilebeinginterpretedorthenameby
whichweinvokethescript.
env
Usedforrepresentingthearrayofelementsthatareenvironmental
variables.
errorCode
ProvidestheerrorcodeforlastTclerror.
errorInfo
ProvidesthestacktraceforlastTclerror.
tcl_interactive
Usedtoswitchbetweeninteractiveandnoninteractivemodesby
settingthisto1and0respectively.
tcl_library
UsedforsettingthelocationofstandardTcllibraries.
tcl_pkgPath
Providesthelistofdirectorieswherepackagesaregenerallyinstalled.
tcl_patchLevel
ReferstothecurrentpatchleveloftheTclinterpreter.
tcl_platform
Usedforrepresentingthearrayofelementswithobjectsincluding
byteOrder,machine,osVersion,platform,andos.
tcl_precision
Referstotheprecisioni.e.numberofdigitstoretainwhen
convertingtofloatingpointnumberstostrings.Thedefaultvalueis
12.
tcl_prompt1
Referstotheprimaryprompt.
tcl_prompt2
Referstothesecondarypromptwithinvalidcommands.
tcl_rcFileName
Providestheuserspecificstartupfile.
tcl_traceCompile
Usedforcontrollingthetracingofbytecodecompilation.Use0forno
output,1forsummary,and2fordetailed.
tcl_traceExec
Usedforcontrollingthetracingofbytecodeexecution.Use0forno
output,1forsummary,and2fordetailed.
tcl_version
ReturnsthecurrentversionoftheTclinterpreter.
TheabovespecialvariableshavetheirspecialmeaningsfortheTclinterpreter.
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ExamplesforusingTclspecialvariables
Let'sseesomeexamplesforspecialvariables.
Tclversion
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_version
Whenyouruntheprogram,youwillgetasimilaroutputasshownbelow.
8.5
TclEnvironmentPath
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$env(PATH)
/web/com/GNUstep/Tools:/usr/GNUstep/Local/Tools:/usr/GNUstep/System/Tools:/usr/local/sml/bin:/usr/local/fle
TclPackagePath
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_pkgPath
/usr/lib64/tcl8.5/usr/share/tcl8.5/usr/lib64/tk8.5/usr/share/tk8.5
TclLibrary
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_library
/usr/share/tcl8.5
TclPatchlevel
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_patchLevel
8.5.7
TclPrecision
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_precision
0
TclStartupFile
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$tcl_rcFileName
~/.tclshrc
TclBasicSyntax
Tclisquitesimpletolearnandlet'sstartcreatingourfirstTclprogram!
FirstTclProgram
Let us write a simple Tcl program. All Tcl files will have extension .tcl. So put the
followingsourcecodeinatest.tclfile.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"Hello,World!"
Assuming,Tclenvironmentissetupcorrectlylet'sruntheprogramafterswitchingto
file'sdirectoryandthenexecutetheprogramusing:
$tclshtest.tcl
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Wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
Hello,World!
Let us now see the basic structure of Tcl program, so that it will be easy for you to
understand basic building blocks of the Tcl language. In Tcl, we use new line or
semicolon to terminate the previous line of code. But semicolon is not necessary, if
youareusingnewlineforeachcommand.
Comments
CommentsarelikehelpingtextinyourTclprogramandtheinterpreterignoresthem.
Commentscanbewrittenusingahash_(#)signinbeginning.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
#myfirstprograminTcl
puts"HelloWorld!"
Multilineorblockcommentiswrittenusingifwithcondition0.Anexampleisshown
below.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
if0{
myfirstprograminTclprogram
Itsverysimple
}
puts"HelloWorld!"
Inlinecommentsuse#.Anexampleisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"HelloWorld!";#myfirstprintinTclprogram
Identifiers
A Tcl identifier is a name used to identify a variable, function, or any other user
defined item. An identifier starts with a letter A to Z or a to z or an underscore (_)
followedbyzeroormoreletters,underscores,dollars($)anddigits(0to9).
Tcldoesnotallowpunctuationcharacterssuchas@,and%withinidentifiers.Tclisa
case sensitive_ language. Thus Manpower and manpower are two different
identifiersinTcl.Herearesomeexamplesofacceptableidentifiers:
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mohdzaraabcmove_namea_123
myname50_tempja23b9retVal
ReservedWords
ThefollowinglistshowsfewofthereservedwordsinTcl.Thesereservedwordsmay
notbeusedasconstantorvariableoranyotheridentifiernames.
after
append
array
auto_execok
auto_import
auto_load
auto_load_index
auto_qualify
binary
Bgerror
break
catch
cd
Clock
close
concat
continue
Dde
default
else
elseif
Encoding
eof
error
eval
Exec
exit
expr
fblocked
Fconfigure
fcopy
file
fileevent
Flush
for
foreach
format
Gets
glob
global
history
If
info
interp
join
Lappend
lindex
linsert
list
Llength
load
lrange
lreplace
Lsearch
lsort
namespace
open
Package
pid
pkg_mkIndex
proc
Puts
pwd
read
regexp
Regsub
rename
resource
return
Scan
seek
set
socket
Source
split
string
subst
Switch
tclLog
tell
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time
Trace
unknown
unset
update
Uplevel
upvar
variable
vwait
While
WhitespaceinTcl
Alinecontainingonlywhitespace,possiblywithacomment,isknownasablankline,
andaTclinterpretertotallyignoresit.
Whitespace is the term used in Tcl to describe blanks, tabs, newline characters and
comments.Whitespaceseparatesonepartofastatementfromanotherandenables
theinterpretertoidentifywhereoneelementinastatement,suchasputs,endsand
thenextelementbegins.Therefore,inthefollowingstatement:
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"HelloWorld!"
Theremustbeatleastonewhitespacecharacter(usuallyaspace)betweenputsand
"HelloWorld!"fortheinterpretertobeabletodistinguishthem.Ontheotherhand,in
thefollowingstatement
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[expr3+2];#printsumofthe3and2
No whitespace characters are necessary between 3 and +, or between + and 2,

althoughyouarefreetoincludesomeifyouwishforreadabilitypurpose.
TclCommands
Asyouknow,TclisToolcommandlanguage,commandsarethemostvitalpartofthe
language. Tcl commands are built into the language with each having its own
predefined function. These commands form the reserved words of the language and
cannotbeusedforothervariablenamings.TheadvantagewiththeseTclcommandsis
that,youcandefineyourownimplementationforanyofthesecommandstoreplace
theoriginalbuiltinfunctionality.
Each of the Tcl commands validates the input and it reduces the work of the
interpreter.
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Tclcommandisactuallyalistofwords,withthefirstwordrepresentingthecommand
tobeexecuted.Thenextwordsrepresentthearguments.Inordertogroupwordsinto
asingleargument,weenclosemultiplewordswith""or{}.
ThesyntaxofTclcommandisasfollows.
commandNameargument1argument2...argumentN
Let'sseeansimpleexampleofTclcommand.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"Hello,world!"
Whenabovecodeisexecuted,itproducesfollowingresult.
Hello,world!
Intheabovecode,putsistheTclcommandand"HelloWorld"isargument1.Assaid
before,wehaveused""togrouptwowords.
Let'sseeanotherexampleofTclcommandwithtwoarguments.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
putsstdout"Hello,world!"
Hello,world!
Intheabovecode,putsistheTclcommand,stdoutisargument1and"HelloWorld"is
argument2.Herestdoutmakestheprogramtoprintinthestandardoutputdevice.
Commandsubstitution
Incommandsubstitutions,squarebracketsareusedtoevaluatethescriptsinsidethe
squarebrackets.Asimpleexampletoaddtwonumbersisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[expr1+6+9]
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Variablesubstitution
In variable substitutions, $ is used before the variable name and this returns the
contentsofthevariable.Asimpleexampletosetavaluetoavariableandprintitis
shownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta3
puts$a
3
Backslashsubstitution
Thesearecommonlycalledescapesequenceswitheachbackslashfollowedbyletter
havingitsownmeaning.Asimpleexamplefornewlinesubstitutionisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts"Hello\nWorld"
Hello
World
TclDataTypes
TheprimitivedatatypeofTclisstringandoftenwecanfindquotesonTclasstring
onlylanguage.Theseprimitivedatatypesinturncreatecompositedatatypesforlist
andassociativearray.InTcl,datatypescanrepresentnotonlysimpleTclobjects,but
alsocanrepresentcomplexobjectslikehandles,graphicobjects(mostlywidgets),and
I/Ochannels.Let'slookindetailabouteachoftheabove.
SimpleTclObjects
In Tcl, whether it is an integer number, boolean, floating point number, or a string.
Whenyouwanttouseavariable,youcandirectlyassignvaluetoit,thereisnostep
ofdeclarationinTcl.Therecanbeinternalrepresentationsforthesedifferenttypesof
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objects. It can transform one datatype to an other when required. The syntax for
assigningvaluetovariableisasfollows.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariable18
puts$myVariable
18
TheabovestatementwillcreateavariablenamemyVariableandstoresitasastring
even though, we have not used double quotations. Now, if we try to make an
arithmeticonthevariable,itisautomaticallyturnedtoaninteger.Asimpleexample
isshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariable18
puts[expr$myVariable+6+9]
33
Oneimportantthingtonoteisthat,thesevariablesdon'thaveanydefaultvaluesand
mustbeassignedvaluebeforetheyareused.
Ifwetrytoprintusingputs,thenumberistransformedtoproperstring.Havingtwo
representations, internal and external, help Tcl to create complex data structures
easily compared to other languages. Also, Tcl is more efficient due to its dynamic
objectnature.
Stringrepresentations
Unlike other languages, in Tcl, you need not include double quotes when it's only a
singleword.Anexamplecanbe,
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariablehello
puts$myVariable
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hello
Whenwewanttorepresentmultiplestrings,wecanuseeitherdoublequotesorcurly
braces.Itisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariable"helloworld"
puts$myVariable
setmyVariable{helloworld}
puts$myVariable
helloworld
helloworld
Lists
Listisnothingbutagroupofelements.Agroupofwordseitherusingdoublequotesor
curlybracescanbeusedtorepresentasimplelist.Asimplelistisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariable{redgreenblue}
puts[lindex$myVariable2]
setmyVariable"redgreenblue"
puts[lindex$myVariable1]
blue
green
AssociativeArray
Associative arrays have an index (key) that is not necessarily an integer. It is
generallyastringthatactslikekeyvaluepairs.Asimpleexampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmarks(english)80
puts$marks(english)
setmarks(mathematics)90
puts$marks(mathematics)
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80
90
Handles
Tcl handles are commonly used to represent files and graphics objects. These can
include handles to network requests and also other channels like serial port
communication, sockets or I/O devices. The following is an example where a file
handleiscreated.
setmyfile[open"filename"r]
YouwillseemoredetailonfilesintheTclfileI/O
chapter.
TclVariables
In Tcl, there is no concept of variable declaration. Once, a new variable name is
encountered,Tclwilldefineanewvariable.
VariableNaming
The name of variables can contain any characters and length. You can even have
whitespacesbyenclosingthevariableincurlybraces,butitisnotpreferred.
The set command is used for assigning value to a variable. The syntax for set
commandis,
setvariableNamevalue
Afewexamplesofvariablesareshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvariableA10
set{variableB}test
puts$variableA
puts${variableB}
10
test
Asyoucanseeintheaboveprogram,the$variableNameisusedtogetthevalueof
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thevariable.
DynamicTyping
Tcl is a dynamically typed language. The value of the variable can be dynamically
convertedtotherequiredtypewhenrequired.Forexample,anumber5thatisstored
asstringwillbeconvertedtonumberwhendoinganarithmeticoperation.Itisshown
below.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvariableA"10"
puts$variableA
setsum[expr$variableA+20];
puts$sum
10
30
Mathematicalexpressions
As you can see in the above example, expr is used for representing mathematical
expression. The default precision of Tcl is 12 digits. In order to get floating point
results,weshouldaddatleastasingledecimaldigit.Asimpleexampleexplainsthe
above.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvariableA"10"
setresult[expr$variableA/9];
puts$result
setresult[expr$variableA/9.0];
puts$result
setvariableA"10.0"
setresult[expr$variableA/9];
puts$result
1
1.1111111111111112
1.1111111111111112
Intheaboveexample,youcanseethreecases.Inthefirstcase,thedividendandthe
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divisorarewholenumbersandwegetawholenumberasresult.Inthesecondcase,
thedivisoraloneisadecimalnumberandinthethirdcase,thedividendisadecimal
number.Inbothsecondandthirdcases,wegetadecimalnumberasresult.
In the above code, you can change the precision by using tcl_precision special
variable.Itisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvariableA"10"
settcl_precision5
setresult[expr$variableA/9.0];
puts$result
1.1111
TclOperators
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or
logical manipulations. Tcl language is rich in builtin operators and provides the
followingtypesofoperators:
ArithmeticOperators
RelationalOperators
LogicalOperators
BitwiseOperators
TernaryOperator
Thistutorialwillexplainthearithmetic,relational,logical,bitwise,andotheroperators
onebyone.
ArithmeticOperators
FollowingtableshowsallthearithmeticoperatorssupportedbyTcllanguage.Assume
variableAholds10andvariableBholds20then:
ShowExamples
Operator
Description
Example
Addstwooperands
A+Bwillgive30
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Subtractssecondoperandfromthefirst
ABwillgive10
Multipliesbothoperands
A*Bwillgive200
Dividesnumeratorbydenumerator
B/Awillgive2
ModulusOperatorandremainderofafteran
integerdivision
B%Awillgive0
RelationalOperators
FollowingtableshowsalltherelationaloperatorssupportedbyTcllanguage.Assume
variableAholds10andvariableBholds20,then:
ShowExamples
Operator
Description
Example
==
Checksifthevaluesoftwooperandsare
equalornot,ifyesthenconditionbecomes
true.
(A==B)isnottrue.
!=
Checksifthevaluesoftwooperandsare
equalornot,ifvaluesarenotequalthen
conditionbecomestrue.
(A!=B)istrue.
>
Checksifthevalueofleftoperandisgreater
thanthevalueofrightoperand,ifyesthen
(A>B)isnottrue.
<
Checksifthevalueofleftoperandisless
thanthevalueofrightoperand,ifyesthen
(A<B)istrue.
>=
Checksifthevalueofleftoperandisgreater
thanorequaltothevalueofrightoperand,
ifyesthenconditionbecomestrue.
(A>=B)isnottrue.
<=
Checksifthevalueofleftoperandisless
thanorequaltothevalueofrightoperand,
ifyesthenconditionbecomestrue.
(A<=B)istrue.
LogicalOperators
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Following table shows all the logical operators supported by Tcl language. Assume
variableAholds1andvariableBholds0,then:
ShowExamples
Operator
Description
Example
&&
CalledLogicalANDoperator.Ifboththe
operandsarenonzero,thencondition
becomestrue.
(A&&B)isfalse.
||
CalledLogicalOROperator.Ifanyofthetwo
operandsisnonzero,thencondition
becomestrue.
(A||B)istrue.
CalledLogicalNOTOperator.Usetoreverses
thelogicalstateofitsoperand.Ifacondition
istruethenLogicalNOToperatorwillmake
false.
!(A&&B)istrue.
BitwiseOperators
Bitwiseoperatorworksonbitsandperformbitbybitoperation.Thetruthtablesfor&,
|,and^areasfollows:
p
p&q
p|q
p^q
AssumeifA=60andB=13nowinbinaryformattheywillbeasfollows:
A=00111100
B=00001101
A&B=00001100
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A|B=00111101
A^B=00110001
The Bitwise operators supported by Tcl language are listed in the following table.
AssumevariableAholds60andvariableBholds13,then:
ShowExamples
Operator
Description
Example
&
BinaryANDOperatorcopiesabittothe
resultifitexistsinbothoperands.
(A&B)willgive12,whichis
00001100
BinaryOROperatorcopiesabitifitexistsin
eitheroperand.
(A|B)willgive61,whichis
00111101
BinaryXOROperatorcopiesthebitifitisset
inoneoperandbutnotboth.
(A^B)willgive49,whichis
00110001
<<
BinaryLeftShiftOperator.Theleftoperands
valueismovedleftbythenumberofbits
specifiedbytherightoperand.
A<<2willgive240whichis
11110000
>>
BinaryRightShiftOperator.Theleft
operandsvalueismovedrightbythe
numberofbitsspecifiedbytheright
operand.
A>>2willgive15whichis
00001111
TernaryOperator
ShowExamples
Operator
Description
Example
?:
Ternary
IfConditionistrue?ThenvalueX:OtherwisevalueY
OperatorsPrecedenceinTcl
Operatorprecedencedeterminesthegroupingoftermsinanexpression.Thisaffects
how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than
others for example, the multiplication operator has higher precedence than the
additionoperator.
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Forexample:x=7+3*2here,xisassigned13,not20becauseoperator*has
higherprecedencethan+,soitfirstgetsmultipliedwith3*2andthenaddsinto7.
Here,operatorswiththehighestprecedenceappearatthetopofthetable,thosewith
thelowestappearatthebottom.Withinanexpression,higherprecedenceoperators
willbeevaluatedfirst.
ShowExamples
Category
Operator
Associativity
Unary
Righttoleft
Multiplicative
*/%
Lefttoright
Additive
Lefttoright
Shift
<<>>
Lefttoright
Relational
<<=>>=
Lefttoright
BitwiseAND
&
Lefttoright
BitwiseXOR
Lefttoright
BitwiseOR
Lefttoright
LogicalAND
&&
Lefttoright
LogicalOR
||
Lefttoright
Ternary
?:
Righttoleft
TclDecisions
Decision making structures require that the programmer specifies one or more
conditions to be evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or
statements to be executed if the condition is determined to be true, and optionally,
otherstatementstobeexecutediftheconditionisdeterminedtobefalse.
Followingisthegeneralformofatypicaldecisionmakingstructurefoundinmostof
theprogramminglanguages:
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Tcl language uses the expr command internally and hence its not required for us to
useexprstatementexplicitly.
Tcllanguageprovidesfollowingtypesofdecisionmakingstatements.
Statement
Description
ifstatement
Anifstatementconsistsofabooleanexpression
followedbyoneormorestatements.
if...elsestatement
Anifstatementcanbefollowedbyanoptionalelse
statement,whichexecuteswhenthebooleanexpression
isfalse.
nestedifstatements
Youcanuseoneiforelseifstatementinsideanotherif
orelseifstatement(s).
switchstatement
Aswitchstatementallowsavariabletobetestedfor
equalityagainstalistofvalues.
nestedswitchstatements
Youcanuseoneswitchstatementinsideanother
switchstatement(s).
TclifStatement
Anifstatementconsistsofabooleanexpressionfollowedbyoneormorestatements.
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Syntax
ThesyntaxofanifstatementinTcllanguageis:
if{boolean_expression}{
#statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionistrue
}
If the boolean expression evaluates to true, then the block of code inside the if
statement will be executed. If boolean expression evaluates to false, then the first
set of code after the end of the if statement(after the closing curly brace) will be
executed.
Tcllanguageusestheexprcommandinternallyandhenceit'snotrequiredforusto
FlowDiagram
Example
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta10
#checkthebooleanconditionusingifstatement
if{$a<20}{
#ifconditionistruethenprintthefollowing
puts"aislessthan20"
}
puts"valueofais:$a"
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult:
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aislessthan20
valueofais:10
TclifelseStatement
Anifstatementcanbefollowedbyanoptionalelsestatement,whichexecuteswhen
thebooleanexpressionisfalse.
Syntax
Thesyntaxofanif...elsestatementinTcllanguageis:
if{boolean_expression}{
#statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionistrue
}else{
#statement(s)willexecuteifthebooleanexpressionisfalse
}
If the boolean expression evaluates to true, then the if block of code will be
executed,otherwiseelseblockofcodewillbeexecuted.
Tcllanguageusestheexprcommandinternallyandhenceit'snotrequiredforusto
FlowDiagram
Example
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta100
#checkthebooleancondition
if{$a<20}{
puts"aislessthan20"
}else{
#ifconditionisfalsethenprintthefollowing
puts"aisnotlessthan20"
}
puts"valueofais:$a"
aisnotlessthan20;
valueofais:100
Theif...elseif...elseStatement
Anifstatementcanbefollowedbyanoptionalelseif...elsestatement,whichisvery
usefultotestvariousconditionsusingsingleif...elseifstatement.
Whenusingif,elseif,elsestatementstherearefewpointstokeepinmind:
Anifcanhavezerooroneelse'sanditmustcomeafteranyelseif's.
Anifcanhavezerotomanyelseif'sandtheymustcomebeforetheelse.
Once an else if succeeds, none of the remaining else if's or else's will be
tested.
Syntax
Thesyntaxofanif...elseif...elsestatementinTcllanguageis:
if{boolean_expression1}{
#Executeswhenthebooleanexpression1istrue
}elseif{boolean_expression2}{
}elseif{boolean_expression3}{
}else{
#executeswhenthenoneoftheaboveconditionistrue
}
Example
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta100
if{$a==10}{
puts"Valueofais10"
}elseif{$a==20}{
#ifelseifconditionistrue
puts"Valueofais20"
}elseif{$a==30}{
#ifelseifconditionistrue
puts"Valueofais30"
}else{
#ifnoneoftheconditionsistrue
puts"Noneofthevaluesismatching"
}
puts"Exactvalueofais:$a"
Noneofthevaluesismatching
Exactvalueofais:100
TclNestedifStatement
ItisalwayslegalinTcltonestifelsestatements,whichmeansyoucanuseoneifor
elseifstatementinsideanotheriforelseifstatement(s).
Syntax
Thesyntaxforanestedifstatementisasfollows:
}
}
Youcannestelseif...elseinthesimilarwayasyouhavenestedifstatement.
Example
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta100
setb200
if{$a==100}{
#ifconditionistruethencheckthefollowing
if{$b==200}{
puts"Valueofais100andbis200"
}
}
puts"Exactvalueofbis:$b"
Valueofais100andbis200
Exactvalueofais:100
Exactvalueofbis:200
TclSwitchStatement
Aswitchstatementallowsavariabletobetestedforequalityagainstalistofvalues.
Each value is called a case, and the variable being switched on is checked for each
switchcase.
Syntax
ThesyntaxforunquotedswitchstatementinTcllanguageisasfollows:
switchswitchingStringmatchString1{body1}matchString2{body2}...matchStringn{bodyn}
ThesyntaxforunquotedswitchstatementinTcllanguageisasfollows:
switchswitchingString{
matchString1{
body1
}
matchString2{
body2
}
...
matchStringn{
bodyn
}
}
Thefollowingrulesapplytoaswitchstatement:
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The switchingString used in a switch statement is used between the

differentblocksbycomparingtothematchString.
YoucanhaveanynumberofmatchStringblockswithinaswitch.
Aswitchstatementcanhaveanoptionaldefaultblock,whichmustappear
attheendoftheswitch.Thedefaultcasecanbeusedforperformingatask
whennoneofthecasesistrue.
FlowDiagram
Example:Unquotedversion
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setgradeC;
switch$gradeA{puts"Welldone!"}B{puts"Excellent!"}C{puts"Youpassed!"}F{puts
puts"Yourgradeis$grade"
Youpassed!
YourgradeisC
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Example:Quotedversion
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setgradeB;
switch$grade{
A{
puts"Welldone!"
}
B{
puts"Excellent!"
}
C{
puts"Youpassed!"
}
F{
puts"Bettertryagain"
}
default{
puts"Invalidgrade"
}
}
puts"Yourgradeis$grade"
Welldone
YourgradeisB
TclNestedswitchStatement
Itispossibletohaveaswitchaspartofthestatementsequenceofanouterswitch.
Evenifthecaseconstantsoftheinnerandouterswitchcontaincommonvalues,no
conflictswillarise.
Syntax
Thesyntaxforanestedswitchstatementisasfollows:
matchString1{
body1
matchString1{
body1
}
matchString2{
body2
}
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...
matchStringn{
bodyn
}
}
}
matchString2{
body2
}
...
matchStringn{
bodyn
}
}
Example
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta100
setb200
switch$a{
100{
puts"Thisispartofouterswitch"
switch$b{
200{
puts"Thisispartofinnerswitch!"
}
}
}
}
puts"Exactvalueofais:$b"
Thisispartofouterswitch
Thisispartofinnerswitch!
Exactvalueofais:100
Exactvalueofais:200
The?:Operator
Wehavecoveredconditionaloperator?:inpreviouschapterwhichcanbeusedto
replaceif...elsestatements.Ithasthefollowinggeneralform:
Exp1?Exp2:Exp3;
Where Exp1, Exp2, and Exp3 are expressions. Notice the use and placement of the
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colon.
The value of a ? expression is determined like this: Exp1 is evaluated. If it is true,
thenExp2isevaluatedandbecomesthevalueoftheentire?expression.IfExp1is
false,thenExp3isevaluatedanditsvaluebecomesthevalueoftheexpression.An
exampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta10;
setb[expr$a==1?20:30]
puts"Valueofbis$b\n"
setb[expr$a==10?20:30]
puts"Valueofbis$b\n"
Whenyoucompileandexecutetheaboveprogramitproducesthefollowingresult:
Valueofbis30
Valueofbis20
TclLoops
Theremaybeasituation,whenyouneedtoexecuteablockofcodeseveralnumber
oftimes.Ingeneral,statementsareexecutedsequentially:Thefirststatementina
functionisexecutedfirst,followedbythesecond,andsoon.
Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more
complicatedexecutionpaths.
Aloopstatementallowsustoexecuteastatementorgroupofstatementsmultiple
times and following is the general form of a loop statement in most of the
programminglanguages:
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Tcllanguageprovidesthefollowingtypesofloopstohandleloopingrequirements.
LoopType
Description
whileloop
Repeatsastatementorgroupofstatementswhileagivenconditionis
true.Itteststheconditionbeforeexecutingtheloopbody.
forloop
Executeasequenceofstatementsmultipletimesandabbreviatesthe
codethatmanagestheloopvariable.
nestedloops
Youcanuseoneormoreloopinsideanyanotherwhile,forordo..while
loop.
TclwhileLoop
A while loop statement in Tcl language repeatedly executes a target statement as
longasagivenconditionistrue.
Syntax
ThesyntaxofawhileloopinTcllanguageis:
while{condition}{
statement(s)
}
Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements. The

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condition may be any expression, and true is any nonzero value. The loop iterates
whiletheconditionistrue.
When the condition becomes false, program control passes to the line immediately
followingtheloop.
FlowDiagram
Here, key point of the while loop is that the loop might not ever run. When the
conditionistestedandtheresultisfalse,theloopbodywillbeskippedandthefirst
statementafterthewhileloopwillbeexecuted.
Example
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta10
#whileloopexecution
while{$a<20}{
puts"valueofa:$a"
incra
}
valueofa:10
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valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19
TclforLoops
Aforloopisarepetitioncontrolstructurethatallowsyoutoefficientlywriteacode
thatneedstobeexecutedforaspecificnumberoftimes.
Syntax
ThesyntaxofaforloopinTcllanguageis:
for{initialization}{condition}{increment}{
statement(s);
}
Hereistheflowofcontrolinaforloop:
Theinitializationstepisexecutedfirst,andonlyonce.Thisstepallowsyou
todeclareandinitializeanyloopcontrolvariables.Youarenotrequiredtoput
astatementhere,aslongasasemicolonappears.
Next, the condition is evaluated. If it is true, the body of the loop is
executed. If it is false, the body of the loop does not execute and flow of
controljumpstothenextstatementjustaftertheforloop.
Afterthebodyoftheforloopexecutes,theflowofcontroljumpsbackupto
the increment statement. This statement allows you to update any loop
control variables. This statement can be left blank, as long as a semicolon
appearsafterthecondition.
Theconditionisnowevaluatedagain.Ifitistrue,theloopexecutesandthe
process repeats itself (body of loop, then increment step, and then again
condition).Aftertheconditionbecomesfalse,theforloopterminates.
FlowDiagram
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Example
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
#forloopexecution
for{seta10}{$a<20}{incra}{
puts"valueofa:$a"
}
valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
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valueofa:19
TclNestedLoops
Tclallowstouseoneloopinsideanotherloop.Followingsectionshowsfewexamples
toillustratetheconcept.
Syntax
ThesyntaxforanestedforloopstatementinTcllanguageisasfollows:
statement(s);
}
statement(s);
}
ThesyntaxforanestedwhileloopstatementinTcllanguageisasfollows:
while{condition}{
while{condition}{
statement(s);
}
statement(s);
}
Afinalnoteonloopnestingisthatyoucanputanytypeofloopinsideofanyother
typeofloop.Forexample,aforloopcanbeinsideawhilelooporviceversa.
Example
The following program uses a nested for loop to find the prime numbers from 2 to
100:
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setj0;
for{seti2}{$i<100}{incri}{
for{setj2}{$j<=[expr$i/$j]}{incrj}{
if{[expr$i%$j]==0}{
break
}
}
if{$j>[expr$i/$j]}{
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puts"$iisprime"
}
}
2isprime
3isprime
5isprime
7isprime
11isprime
13isprime
17isprime
19isprime
23isprime
29isprime
31isprime
37isprime
41isprime
43isprime
47isprime
53isprime
59isprime
61isprime
67isprime
71isprime
73isprime
79isprime
83isprime
89isprime
97isprime
LoopControlStatements
Loopcontrolstatementschangeexecutionfromitsnormalsequence.Whenexecution
leavesascope,allautomaticobjectsthatwerecreatedinthatscopearedestroyed.
Tclsupportsthefollowingcontrolstatements.
ControlStatement
Description
breakstatement
Terminatesthelooporswitchstatementandtransfers
executiontothestatementimmediatelyfollowingtheloopor
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switch.
continuestatement
Causesthelooptoskiptheremainderofitsbodyand
immediatelyretestitsconditionpriortoreiterating.
TclbreakStatement
ThebreakstatementinTcllanguageisusedforterminatingaloop.Whenthebreak
statement is encountered inside a loop, the loop is immediately terminated and
programcontrolresumesatthenextstatementfollowingtheloop.
Ifyouareusingnestedloops(i.e.,oneloopinsideanotherloop),thebreakstatement
willstoptheexecutionoftheinnermostloopandstartexecutingthenextlineofcode
aftertheblock.
Syntax
ThesyntaxforabreakstatementinTclisasfollows:
break;
FlowDiagram
Example
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta10
#whileloopexecution
while{$a<20}{
puts"valueofa:$a"
incra
if{$a>15}{
#terminatetheloopusingbreakstatement
break
}
}
valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:15
TclcontinueStatement
ThecontinuestatementinTcllanguageworkssomewhatlikethebreakstatement.
Insteadofforcingtermination,however,continueforcesthenextiterationoftheloop
totakeplace,skippinganycodeinbetween.
For the for loop, continue statement causes the conditional test and increment
portionsofthelooptoexecute.Forthewhileloop,continuestatementpassesthe
programcontroltotheconditionaltests.
Syntax
ThesyntaxforacontinuestatementinTclisasfollows:
continue;
FlowDiagram
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Example
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
seta10
#doloopexecution
while{$a<20}{
if{$a==15}{
#skiptheiteration
incra
continue
}
puts"valueofa:$a"
incra
}
valueofa:10
valueofa:11
valueofa:12
valueofa:13
valueofa:14
valueofa:16
valueofa:17
valueofa:18
valueofa:19
TheInfiniteLoop
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A loop becomes infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. The while loop is
traditionally used for this purpose. You can make an endless loop by leaving the
conditionalexpressionas1.
while{1}{
puts"Thisloopwillrunforever."
}
Whentheconditionalexpressionisabsent,itisassumedtobetrue.Tclprogrammers
morecommonlyusethewhile{1}constructtosignifyaninfiniteloop.
NOTE:YoucanterminateaninfiniteloopbypressingCtrl+Ckeys.
TclArrays
Anarrayisasystematicarrangementofgroupofelementsusingindices.Thesyntax
fortheconventionalarrayisshownbelow.
setArrayName(Index)value
Anexampleforcreatingsimplearrayisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setlanguages(0)Tcl
setlanguages(1)"CLanguage"
puts$languages(0)
puts$languages(1)
Tcl
CLanguage
Sizeofarray
Thesyntaxforcalculatingsizearrayisshownbelow.
[arraysizevariablename]
Anexampleforprintingthesizeisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setlanguages(0)Tcl
puts[arraysizelanguages]
2
ArrayIteration
Though, array indices can be non continuous like values specified for index 1 then
index 10 and so on. But, in case they are continuous, we can use array iteration to
access elements of the array. A simple array iteration for printing elements of the
arrayisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setlanguages(0)Tcl
for{setindex0}{$index<[arraysizelanguages]}{incrindex}{
puts"languages($index):$languages($index)"
}
languages(0):Tcl
languages(1):CLanguage
AssociativeArrays
In Tcl, all arrays by nature are associative. Arrays are stored and retrieved without
anyspecificorder.Associativearrayshaveanindexthatisnotnecessarilyanumber,
and can be sparsely populated. A simple example for associative array with non
numberindicesisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setpersonA(Name)"Dave"
setpersonA(Age)14
puts$personA(Name)
puts$personA(Age)
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Dave
14
Indicesofarray
Thesyntaxforretrievingindicesofarrayisshownbelow.
[arraynamesvariablename]
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setpersonA(Age)14
puts[arraynamespersonA]
AgeName
Iterationofassociativearray
Youcanusetheindicesofarraytoiteratethroughtheassociativearray.Anexample
isshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setpersonA(Age)14
foreachindex[arraynamespersonA]{
puts"personA($index):$personA($index)"
}
personA(Age):14
personA(Name):Dave
TclStrings
TheprimitivedatatypeofTclisstringandoftenwecanfindquotesonTclasstring
only language. These strings can contain alphanumeric character, just numbers,
boolean, or even binary data. Tcl uses 16 bit unicode characters and alphanumeric
characterscancontainlettersincludingnonLatincharacters,numberorpunctuation.
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Boolean value can be represented as 1, yes or true for true and 0, no, or false for
false.
StringRepresentations
Unlike other languages, in Tcl, you need not include double quotes when it's only a
singleword.Anexamplecanbe,
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariablehello
puts$myVariable
hello
Whenwewanttorepresentmultiplestrings,wecanuseeitherdoublequotesorcurly
braces.Itisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setmyVariable"helloworld"
puts$myVariable
setmyVariable{helloworld}
puts$myVariable
helloworld
helloworld
Stringescapesequence
Acharacterliteralcanbeaplaincharacter(e.g.,'x'),anescapesequence(e.g.,'\t'),
orauniversalcharacter(e.g.,'\u02C0').
There are certain characters in Tcl when they are preceded by a backslash they will
have special meaning and they are used to represent like newline (\n) or tab (\t).
Here,youhavealistofsomeofsuchescapesequencecodes:
Escapesequence
Meaning
\\
\character
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\'
'character
\"
"character
\?
?character
\a
Alertorbell
\b
Backspace
\f
Formfeed
\n
Newline
\r
Carriagereturn
\t
Horizontaltab
\v
Verticaltab
Followingistheexampletoshowfewescapesequencecharacters:
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts("Hello\tWorld\n\n");
HelloWorld
Stringcommand
Thelistofsubcommandsforstringcommandarelistedinthefollowingtable.
SN
MethodswithDescription
comparestring1string2
Comparesstring1andstring2lexographically.Returns0ifequal,1ifstring1
comesbeforestring2,else1.
string1string2
Returnstheindexfirstoccurrenceofstring1instring2.Ifnotfound,returns1.
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indexstringindex
Returnsthecharacteratindex.
laststring1string2
Returnstheindexlastoccurrenceofstring1instring2.Ifnotfound,returns1.
lengthstring
Returnsthelengthofstring.
matchpatternstring
Returns1ifthestringmatchesthepattern.
rangestringindex1index2
Returntherangeofcharactersinstringfromindex1toindex2.
tolowerstring
Returnsthelowercasestring.
toupperstring
Returnstheuppercasestring.
10
trimstring?trimcharacters?
Removes trimcharacters in both ends of string. The default trimcharacters is
whitespace.
11
trimleftstring?trimcharacters?
Removestrimcharactersinleftbeginningofstring.Thedefaulttrimcharacters
iswhitespace.
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trimrightstring?trimcharacters?
Removes trimcharacters in left end of string. The default trimcharacters is
whitespace.
13
wordendfindstringindex
Return the index in findstring of the character after the word containing the
characteratindex.
14
wordstartfindstringindex
Returntheindexinfindstringofthefirstcharacterinthewordcontainingthe
characteratindex.
ExamplesofsomethecommonlyusedTclstringsubcommandsaregivenbelow.
Stringcomparison
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"Hello"
sets2"World"
sets3"World"
puts[stringcompares1s2]
if{[stringcompares2s3]==0}{
puts"String\'s1\'and\'s2\'aresame.";
}
puts"String\'s1\'comesbefore\'s2\'.";
}
puts"String\'s2\'comesbefore\'s1\'.";
}
1
String's1'comesbefore's2'.
String's2'comesbefore's1'.
Indexofstring
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"HelloWorld"
sets2"o"
puts"Firstoccurrenceof$s2ins1"
puts[stringfirst$s2$s1]
puts"Characteratindex0ins1"
puts[stringindex$s10]
puts"Lastoccurrenceof$s2ins1"
puts[stringlast$s2$s1]
puts"Wordendindexins1"
puts[stringwordend$s120]
puts"Wordstartindexins1"
puts[stringwordstart$s120]
Firstoccurrenceofoins1
4
Characteratindex0ins1
H
Lastoccurrenceofoins1
7
Wordendindexins1
11
Wordstartindexins1
6
Lengthofstring
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"HelloWorld"
puts"Lengthofstrings1"
puts[stringlength$s1]
Lengthofstrings1
11
Handlingcases
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"HelloWorld"
puts"Uppercasestringofs1"
puts[stringtoupper$s1]
puts"Lowercasestringofs1"
puts[stringtolower$s1]
Uppercasestringofs1
HELLOWORLD
Lowercasestringofs1
helloworld
Trimmingcharacters
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"HelloWorld"
sets2"World"
puts"Trimright$s2in$s1"
puts[stringtrimright$s1$s2]
sets2"Hello"
puts"Trimleft$s2in$s1"
puts[stringtrimleft$s1$s2]
sets1"HelloWorld"
sets2""
puts"Trimcharacterss1onbothsidesofs2"
puts[stringtrim$s1$s2]
TrimrightWorldinHelloWorld
Hello
TrimleftHelloinHelloWorld
World
Trimcharacterss1onbothsidesofs2
HelloWorld
Matchingstrings
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"test@test.com"
sets2"*@*.com"
puts"Matchingpatterns2ins1"
puts[stringmatch"*@*.com"$s1]
puts"Matchingpatterntclins1"
puts[stringmatch{tcl}$s1]
Matchingpatterns2ins1
1
Matchingpatterntclins1
0
Appendcommand
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
sets1"Hello"
appends1"World"
puts$s1
HelloWorld
Formatcommand
ThefollowingtableshowsthelistofformatspecifiersavailableinTcl.
Specifier
Use
%s
Stringrepresentation
%d
Integerrepresentation
%f
Floatingpointrepresentation
%e
Floatingpointrepresentationwithmantissaexponentform
%x
Hexadecimalrepresentation
Somesimpleexamplesaregivenbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[format"%f"43.5]
puts[format"%e"43.5]
puts[format"%d%s"4tuts]
puts[format"%s""TclLanguage"]
puts[format"%x"40]
43.500000
4.350000e+01
4tuts
TclLanguage
28
Scancommand
scan command is used for parsing a string based to the format specifier. Some
examplesareshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[scan"90"{%[09]}m]
puts[scan"abc"{%[az]}m]
puts[scan"abc"{%[AZ]}m]
puts[scan"ABC"{%[AZ]}m]
1
1
0
1
TclLists
ListisoneofthebasicdatatypeavailableinTcl.Itisusedforrepresentinganordered
collectionofitems.Itcanincludedifferenttypesofitemsinthesamelist.Further,a
listcancontainanotherlist.
An important thing that needs to be noted is that these lists are represented as
strings completely and processed to form individual items when required. So avoid
largelistsandinsuchcasesusearray.
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Creatingalist
Thegeneralsyntaxforlistisgivenbelow.
setlistName{item1item2item3..itemn}
#or
setlistName[listitem1item2item3]
#or
setlistName[split"itemsseparatedbyacharacter"split_character]
Someexamplesaregivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setcolorList1{redgreenblue}
setcolorList2[listredgreenblue]
setcolorList3[split"red_green_blue"_]
puts$colorList1
puts$colorList2
puts$colorList3
redgreenblue
redgreenblue
redgreenblue
Appendingitemtoalist
Thesyntaxforappendingitemtoalistisgivenbelow.
appendlistNamesplit_charactervalue
#or
lappendlistNamevalue
Someexamplesaregivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvarorange
appendvar"""blue"
lappendvar"red"
lappendvar"green"
puts$var
orangeblueredgreen
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Lengthoflist
Thesyntaxforlengthoflistisgivenbelow.
llengthlistName
Exampleforlengthoflistisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvar{orangeblueredgreen}
puts[llength$var]
4
Listitematindex
Thesyntaxforselectinglistitematspecificindexisgivenbelow.
lindexlistnameindex
Exampleforlistitematindexisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[lindex$var1]
blue
Insertitematindex
Thesyntaxforinsertinglistitemsatspecificindexisgivenbelow.
linsertlistnameindexvalue1value2..valuen
Exampleforinsertinglistitematspecificindexisgivenbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvar[linsert$var3blackwhite]
puts$var
orangeblueredblackwhitegreen
Replaceitemsatindices
Thesyntaxforreplacinglistitemsatspecificindicesisgivenbelow.
lreplacelistnamefirstindexlastindexvalue1value2..valuen
Exampleforreplacinglistitemsatspecificindicesisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvar[lreplace$var23blackwhite]
puts$var
orangeblueblackwhite
Setitematindex
Thesyntaxforsettinglistitematspecificindexisgivenbelow.
lsetlistnameindexvalue
Exampleforsettinglistitematspecificindexisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
lsetvar0black
puts$var
blackblueredgreen
Transformlisttovariables
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Thesyntaxforcopyingvaluestovariablesisgivenbelow.
lassignlistnamevariable1variable2..variablen
Examplefortransforminglistintovariablesisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
lassign$varcolour1colour2
puts$colour1
puts$colour2
orange
blue
Sortingalist
Thesyntaxforsortingalistisgivenbelow.
lsortlistname
Exampleforsortingalistisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvar[lsort$var]
puts$var
bluegreenorangered
TclDictionary
A dictionary is an arrangement for mapping values to keys. The syntax for the
conventionaldictionaryisshownbelow.
dictsetdictnamekeyvalue
#or
dictcreatedictnamekey1value1key2value2..keynvaluen
Someexamplesforcreatingdictionaryisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
dictsetcolourscolour1red
puts$colours
dictsetcolourscolour2green
puts$colours
setcolours[dictcreatecolour1"black"colour2"white"]
puts$colours
colour1red
colour1redcolour2green
colour1blackcolour2white
Sizeofdict
Thesyntaxforgettingsizeofdictisshownbelow.
[dictsizedictname]
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts[dictsize$colours]
2
DictionaryIteration
A simple dictionary iteration for printing keys and valued of the dictionary is shown
below.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
foreachitem[dictkeys$colours]{
setvalue[dictget$colours$item]
puts$value
}
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black
white
Valueforkeyindict
Thesyntaxforretrievingvalueforkeyindictisshownbelow.
[dictget$dictname$keyname]
Anexampleforretrievingvalueforkeyisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvalue[dictget$colourscolour1]
puts$value
black
Allkeysindict
Thesyntaxforretrievingallkeysindictisshownbelow.
[dictkeys$dictname]
Anexampleforprintingallkeysisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setkeys[dictkeys$colours]
puts$keys
colour1colour2
Allvaluesindict
Thesyntaxforretrievingallvaluesindictisshownbelow.
[dictvalues$dictname]
Anexampleforprintingallvaluesisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setvalues[dictvalues$colours]
puts$values
blackwhite
Keyexistsindict
Thesyntaxforcheckingifakeyexistsindictisshownbelow.
[dictvalues$dictname]
Anexampleforcheckingifakeyexistsindictisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setresult[dictexists$colourscolour1]
puts$result
1
TclProcedures
Procedures are nothing but code blocks with series of commands that provides a
specific reusable functionality. It is used to avoid same code being repeated in
multiple locations. Procedures are equivalent to the functions used in many
programming languages and are made available in Tcl with the help of proc
command.
Thesyntaxofcreatingasimpleprocedureisshownbelow.
procprocedureName{arguments}{
body
}
Asimpleexampleforprocedureisgivenbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
prochelloWorld{}{
puts"Hello,World!"
}
helloWorld
Hello,World!
Procedureswithmultiplearguments
Anexampleforprocedurewithargumentsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
procadd{ab}{
return[expr$a+$b]
}
puts[add1030]
40
Procedureswithvariablearguments
Anexampleforprocedurewithargumentsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
procavg{numbers}{
setsum0
foreachnumber$numbers{
setsum[expr$sum+$number]
}
setaverage[expr$sum/[llength$numbers]]
return$average
}
puts[avg{70805060}]
puts[avg{708050}]
65
66
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Procedureswithdefaultarguments
Defaultargumentsareusedtoprovidedefaultvaluesthatcanbeusedifnovalueis
provided. An example for procedure with default arguments which is sometimes
referredasimplicitargumentsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
procadd{a{b100}}{
return[expr$a+$b]
}
puts[add1030]
puts[add10]
40
110
Recursiveprocedures
Anexampleforrecursiveproceduresisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
procfactorial{number}{
if{$number<=1}{
return1
}
return[expr$number*[factorial[expr$number1]]]
}
puts[factorial3]
puts[factorial5]
6
120
TclPackages
Packages are used for creating reusable units of code. A package consists of a
collectionoffilesthatprovidespecificfunctionality.Thiscollectionoffilesisidentified
byapackagenameandcanhavemultipleversionsofsamefiles.Thepackagecanbe
acollectionofTclscripts,binarylibraryoracombinationofboth.
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Package uses the concept of namespace to avoid collision of variable names and
procedurenames.Checkoutmoreinournextnamespace
tutorial.
Creatingpackage
Package can be created with the help of minimum two files. One file contains the
packagecode.Otherfilecontainstheindexpackagefilefordeclaringyourpackage.
Thelistofstepsforcreatingandusingpackageisgivenbelow.
STEP1:CREATINGCODE
Create code for package inside a folder say HelloWorld. Let the file be named
HelloWorld.tclwithcodeasshownbelow.
#/Users/rajkumar/Desktop/helloworld/HelloWorld.tcl
#Createthenamespace
namespaceeval::HelloWorld{
#ExportMyProcedure
namespaceexportMyProcedure
#MyVariables
setversion1.0
setMyDescription"HelloWorld"
#Variableforthepathofthescript
variablehome[filejoin[pwd][filedirname[infoscript]]]
#DefinitionoftheprocedureMyProcedure
proc::HelloWorld::MyProcedure{}{
puts$HelloWorld::MyDescription
}
packageprovideHelloWorld$HelloWorld::version
packagerequireTcl8.0
STEP2:CREATINGPACKAGEINDEX
Open tclsh. Switch to HelloWorld directory and use the pkg_mkIndex command to
createtheindexfileasshownbelow.
%cd/Users/rajkumar/Desktop/helloworld
%pkg_mkIndex.*.tcl
STEP3:ADDINGDIRECTORYTOAUTOPATH
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Usethelappendcommandtoaddthepackagetothegloballistasshownbelow.
%lappendauto_path"/Users/rajkumar/Desktop/helloworld"
STEP4:ADDINGPACKAGE
Nextaddpackagetoprogramusingpackagerequirestatementasshownbelow.
%packagerequireHelloWorld1.0
STEP5:INVOKINGPROCEDURE
Now,everythingbeingsetup,wecaninvokeourprocedureasshownbelow.
%puts[HelloWorld::MyProcedure]
Youwillgetthefollowingresult.
HelloWorld
Firsttwostepscreatethepackage.Oncepackageiscreated,youcanuseitinanyTcl
filebyaddingthelastthreestatementsasshownbelow.
lappendauto_path"/Users/rajkumar/Desktop/helloworld"
packagerequireHelloWorld1.0
puts[HelloWorld::MyProcedure]
Youwillgetthefollowingresult.
HelloWorld
TclNamespaces
Namespace is a container for set of identifiers that is used to group variables and
procedures.NamespacesareavailablefromTclversion8.0.Beforetheintroductionof
namespaces, there was single global scope. Now with namespaces, we have
additionalpartitionsofglobalscope.
Creatingnamespace
Namespaces are created using the namespace command. A simple example for
creatingnamespaceisshownbelow
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
namespaceevalMyMath{
#Createavariableinsidethenamespace
variablemyResult
}
#Createproceduresinsidethenamespace
procMyMath::Add{ab}{
set::MyMath::myResult[expr$a+$b]
}
MyMath::Add1023
puts$::MyMath::myResult
33
Intheaboveprogram,youcanseethereisanamespacewithavariablemyResult
andaprocedureAdd.Thismakesitpossibletocreatevariablesandprocedureswith
samenamesunderdifferentnamespaces.
Nestednamespaces
Tclallowsnestingofnamespaces.Asimpleexamplefornestingnamespacesisgiven
below.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
variablemyResult
}
namespaceevalextendedMath{
variablemyResult
}
}
set::MyMath::myResult"test1"
puts$::MyMath::myResult
set::extendedMath::MyMath::myResult"test2"
puts$::extendedMath::MyMath::myResult
Whentheabovecodeisexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult.
test1
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test2
Importingandexportingnamespace
You can see in the previous namespace examples, we use lot of scope resolution
operatorandit'smorecomplextouse.Wecanavoidthisbyimportingandexporting
namespaces.Anexampleisgivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
variablemyResult
namespaceexportAdd
}
return[expr$a+$b]
}
namespaceimportMyMath::*
puts[Add1030]
40
Forgetnamespace
You can remove an imported namespace by using forget subcommand. A simple
exampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
variablemyResult
namespaceexportAdd
}
return[expr$a+$b]
}
namespaceimportMyMath::*
puts[Add1030]
namespaceforgetMyMath::*
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40
TclFileI/O
Tclsupportsfilehandlingwiththehelpofthebuiltincommandsopen,read,puts,gets
andclose.
Afilerepresentsasequenceofbytes,doesnotmatterifitisatextfileorbinaryfile.
OpeningFiles
Tcl uses the open command to open files in Tcl. The syntax for opening a file is as
follows.
openfileNameaccessMode
Here,filenameisstringliteral,whichyouwillusetonameyourfileandaccessMode
canhaveoneofthefollowingvalues:
Mode
Description
Opensanexistingtextfileforreadingpurposeandthefilemustexist.Thisis
thedefaultmodeusedwhennoaccessModeisspecified.
Opensatextfileforwriting,ifitdoesnotexistthenanewfileiscreatedelse
existingfileistruncated.
Opensatextfileforwritinginappendingmodeandfilemustexist.Hereyour
programwillstartappendingcontentintheexistingfilecontent.
r+
Opensatextfileforreadingandwritingboth.Filemustexistalready.
w+
Opensatextfileforreadingandwritingboth.Itfirsttruncatethefiletozero
lengthifitexistsotherwisecreatethefileifitdoesnotexist.
a+
Opensatextfileforreadingandwritingboth.Itcreatesthefileifitdoesnot
exist.Thereadingwillstartfromthebeginningbutwritingcanonlybe
appended.
ClosingaFile
Tocloseafile,usetheclosecommand.Thesyntaxforcloseisasfollows.
closefileName
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Any file that has been opened by a program must be closed when the program
finishesusingthatfile.Inmostcasesthefilesneednotbeclosedexplicitlytheyare
closedautomaticallywhenFileobjectsareterminatedautomatically.
WritingaFile
putscommandisusedtowritetoanopenfile.
puts$filename"texttowrite"
Asimpleexampleforwritingtoafileisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
setfp[open"input.txt"w+]
puts$fp"test"
close$fp
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itcreatesanewfileinput.txtinthe
directorythatithasbeenstartedunder(intheprogram'sworkingdirectory).
ReadingaFile
Followingisthesimplecommandtoreadfromafile:
setfile_data[read$fp]
Acompleteexampleofreadandwriteisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$fp"test"
close$fp
setfp[open"input.txt"r]
setfile_data[read$fp]
puts$file_data
close$fp
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itreadsthefilecreatedinprevious
sectionandproducesthefollowingresult:
test
Hereisanotherexampleforreadingfiletillendoffilelinebyline.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
puts$fp"test\ntest"
close$fp
setfp[open"input.txt"r]
while{[gets$fpdata]>=0}{
puts$data
}
close$fp
Whentheabovecodeiscompiledandexecuted,itreadsthefilecreatedinprevious
sectionandproducesthefollowingresult:
test
test
TclErrorHandling
Error handling in Tcl is provided with the help of error and catch commands. The
syntaxforeachofthesecommandsisshownbelow.
Errorsyntax
errormessageinfocode
Intheaboveerrorcommandsyntax,messageistheerrormessage,infoissetinthe
globalvariableerrorInfoandcodeissetintheglobalvariableerrorCode.
Catchsyntax
catchscriptresultVarName
In the above catch command syntax, script is the code to be executed,

resultVarName is variable that holds the error or the result. The catch command
returns0ifthereisnoerrorand1ifthereisanerror.
Anexampleforsimpleerrorhandlingisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
procDiv{ab}{
if{$b==0}{
error"Errorgeneratedbyerror""InfoStringforerror"401
}else{
return[expr$a/$b]
}
}
if{[catch{puts"Result=[Div100]"}errmsg]}{
puts"ErrorMsg:$errmsg"
puts"ErrorCode:$errorCode"
puts"ErrorInfo:\n$errorInfo\n"
}
if{[catch{puts"Result=[Div102]"}errmsg]}{
puts"ErrorMsg:$errmsg"
}
ErrorMsg:Errorgeneratedbyerror
ErrorCode:401
ErrorInfo:
InfoStringforerror
(procedure"Div"line1)
invokedfromwithin
"Div100"
Result=5
Asyoucanseeintheaboveexample,wecancreateourowncustomerrormessages.
Similarly, it is possible to catch the error generated by Tcl. An example is shown
below.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
catch{setfile[openmyNonexistingfile.txt]}result
puts"ErrorMsg:$result"
ErrorMsg:couldn'topen"myNonexistingfile.txt":nosuchfileordirectory
ErrorCode:POSIXENOENT{nosuchfileordirectory}
ErrorInfo:
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couldn'topen"myNonexistingfile.txt":nosuchfileordirectory
whileexecuting
"openmyNonexistingfile.txt"
TclBuiltinFunctions
Tcl provides a number of builtin functions (procedures) for various operations. This
includes,
Functionsforlist
handling.
Functionsforstring
handling.
Functionsforarray
handling.
Functionsfordictionary
FunctionsforFileI/O
handling.
handling.
Functionsforcreatingnamespaces
andpackages.
FunctionsforMathoperations.
FunctionsforSystemoperations.
Each of the above except for math and system functions are covered in earlier
chapters.Mathandsystembuiltinfunctionsareexplainedbelow.
MathFunctions
ThemathfunctionsavailableinTclarelistedinthefollowingtable.
SN
MethodName
Description
absarg
Calculatestheabsolutevalueofarg.
acosarg
Calculatesthearccosineofarg.
asinarg
Calculatesthearcsineofarg.
atanarg
Calculatesthearctangentofarg.
atan2yx
Calculatesthearctangentofthequotientofitsarguments(y/x).
ceilarg
Calculatesthesmallestintegergreaterthanorequaltoa
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number.
7
cosarg
Calculatesthecosineofarg.
cosharg
Calculatesthehyperboliccosineofarg.
doublearg
Calculatesifargisafloatingpointvalue,returnsarg,otherwise
convertsargtofloatingpointandreturnstheconvertedvalue.
10
exparg
Calculatesanexponentialfunction(eraisedtothepowerof
arg).
11
floorarg
Calculatesthelargestintegerlessthanorequaltoarg.
12
fmodxy
Calculatesthefloatingpointremainderofthedivisionofxbyy.
Ifyis0,anerrorisreturned.
13
hypotxy
Calculatesthelengthofthehypotenuseofarightangled
trianglesqrt(x*x+y*y).
14
intarg
Calculatesifargisanintegervalueofthesamewidthasthe
machineword,returnsarg,otherwiseconvertsargtoan
integer.
15
logarg
Calculatesthenaturallogarithmofarg.
16
log10arg
Calculatesthebase10logarithmofarg.
17
powxy
Calculatesthevalueofxraisedtothepowery.Ifxisnegative,
ymustbeanintegervalue.
18
rand
Calculatesapseudorandomnumberbetween0and1.
19
roundarg
Calculatesthevalueofargroundedtothenearestinteger.
20
sinarg
Calculatesthesineofarg.
21
sinharg
Calculatesthehyperbolicsineofarg.
22
sqrtarg
Calculatesthesquarerootofarg.argmustbepositive.
23
srandarg
Calculatesapseudorandomnumberbetween0and1.Thearg,
whichmustbeaninteger,isusedtoresettheseedforthe
randomnumbergeneratorofrand.
24
tanarg
Calculatesthetangentofarg.
25
tanharg
Calculatesthehyperbolictangentofarg.
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widearg
Calculatesintegervalueatleast64bitswide(bysign
extensionifargisa32bitnumber)forargifitisnotone
already.
Someexamplesusingmathfunctionsaregivenbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
namespaceimport::tcl::mathfunc::*
puts[tan10]
puts[pow102]
puts[ceil10.34]
puts[hypot1020]
puts[srand45]
puts[log10]
puts[srand45]
Whentheabovecodeisexecuted,itproducesthefollowingresult.
0.6483608274590866
100.0
11.0
22.360679774997898
0.0003521866166741525
2.302585092994046
0.0003521866166741525
SystemFunctions
TheimportantsystemfunctionsinTclincludes,
clocksecondsfunctionwhichreturnscurrenttimeinseconds.
clockformatfunctionwhichformatsthesecondsintodateandtime.
clockscanfunctionwhichscanstheinputstringandconvertittoseconds.
openfunctionwhichisusedtoopenafile.
execfunctionwhichisusedtoexecuteasystemcommand.
closefunctionwhichisusedtocloseafile.
Someexamplesfortheabovefunctionsarelistedbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/tclsh
#getseconds
setcurrentTime[clockseconds]
puts$currentTime
#getformat
puts"Thetimeis:[clockformat$currentTimeformat%H:%M:%S]"
puts"Thedateis:[clockformat$currentTimeformat%D]"
setdate"Jun15,2014"
puts[clockscan$dateformat{%b%d,%Y}]
puts[execls]
puts[execdir]
seta[openinput.txt]
puts[read$a];
puts$a
close$a
1402819756
Thetimeis:03:09:16
Thedateis:06/15/2014
1402808400
input.txt
main.tcl
input.txtmain.tcl
Thisisthefileyoucanusetoprovideinputtoyourprogramandlateronopenitinsideyourprogramtop
file3
Thefollowingtableprovidestheliststringsthatcanbeusedtoformatthedateand
time.
SN
Format
Description
%a
Dayinshortform,eg:Sun.
%A
Dayinfullformeg:Sunday.
%b
Monthinshortform.
%B
Monthinfullform.
%d
Dayofmonth
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%j
Juliandayofyear.
%m
Monthinnumber.
%y
Yearintwodigits.
%Y
Yearinfourdigits.
10
%H
Hourin24hourclock.
11
%I
Hourin12hourclock.
12
%M
Minutes.
13
%S
Seconds.
14
%p
AMorPM.
15
%D
Dateinnumber,mm/dd/yy.
16
%r
Timein12hourclock.
17
%R
Timein24hourclockwithoutseconds.
18
%T
Timein24hourclockwithseconds.
19
%Z
TimeZoneNamelikeGMT,IST,ESTandsoon.
TclRegularExpressions
The "regexp" command is used to match a regular expression in Tcl. A regular
expressionisasequenceofcharactersthatcontainsasearchpattern.Itconsistsof
multiplerulesandthefollowingtableexplainstheserulesandcorrespondinguse.
SN
Rule
Description
Exactmatch.
[az]
Anylowercaseletterfromaz.
Anycharacter.
Beginningstringshouldmatch.
Endingstringshouldmatch
\^
Backlashsequencetomatchspecialcharacter^.Similarlyyou
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canuseforothercharacters.
7
()
Addtheabovesequencesinsideparenthesistomakearegular
expression.
x*
Shouldmatch0ormoreoccurrencesoftheprecedingx.
x+
Shouldmatch1ormoreoccurrencesoftheprecedingx.
10
[az]?
Shouldmatch0or1occurrenceoftheprecedingx.
11
{digit}
Matchesexactlydigitoccurrencesofpreviousregexexpression.
Digitthatcontain09.
12
{digit,}
Matches3ormoredigitoccurrencesofpreviousregex
expression.Digitthatcontain09.
13
{digit1,digit2}
Occurrencesmatchestherangebetweendigit1anddigit2
occurrencesofpreviousregexexpression.
Syntax
Thesyntaxforregexisgivenbelow.
regexpoptionalSwitchespatternssearchStringfullMatchsubMatch1...subMatchn
Here,regexisthecommand.Wewillseeaboutoptionalswitcheslater.Patternsare
therulesasmentionedearlier.Searchstringistheactualstringonwhichtheregexis
performed. Full match is any variable to hold the result of matched regex result.
Submatch1toSubMatchnareoptionalsubMatchvariablethatholdstheresultofsub
matchpatterns.
Let's look at some simple examples before diving into complex ones. A simple
exampleforastringwithanyalphabets.Whenanyothercharacterisencounteredthe
regexsearchwillbestoppedandreturned.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
regexp{([AZ,az]*)}"TclTutorial"ab
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
FullMatch:Tcl
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SubMatch1:Tcl
Multiplepatterns
The following example shows how to search for multiple patterns. This is example
patternforanyalphabetsfollowedbyanycharacterfollowedbyanyalphabets.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
regexp{([AZ,az]*).([AZ,az]*)}"TclTutorial"abc
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
puts"SubMatch2:$c"
FullMatch:TclTutorial
SubMatch1:Tcl
SubMatch2:Tutorial
Amodifiedversionoftheabovecodetoshowthatasubpatterncancontainmultiple
patternsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
regexp{([AZ,az]*.([AZ,az]*))}"TclTutorial"abc
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
puts"SubMatch2:$c"
SubMatch1:TclTutorial
SubMatch2:Tutorial
SwitchesforRegexcommand
ThelistofswitchesavailableinTclare,
nocase:Usedtoignorecase.
indices : Stores location of matched sub patterns instead of matched
characters.
line:Newlinesensitivematching.Ignoresthecharactersafternewline.
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startindex:Settheoffsetofstartofsearchpattern
:Markstheendofswitches
Intheaboveexamples,Ihavedeliberatelyused[AZ,az]forallalphabets,youcan
easilyusenocaseinsteadasshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
regexpnocase{([AZ]*.([AZ]*))}"TclTutorial"abc
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
puts"SubMatch2:$c"
SubMatch1:TclTutorial
SubMatch2:Tutorial
Anotherexampleusingswitchesisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/tclsh
regexpnocaseline{([AZ]*.([AZ]*))}"Tcl\nTutorial"ab
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
regexpnocasestart4line{([AZ]*.([AZ]*))}"Tcl\nTutorial"ab
puts"FullMatch:$a"
puts"SubMatch1:$b"
FullMatch:Tcl
SubMatch1:Tcl
FullMatch:Tutorial
SubMatch1:Tutorial
TkOverview
Tk refers to Toolkit and it provides cross platform GUI widgets which helps you in
buildingaGraphicalUserInterface.ItwasdevelopedasanextensiontoTclscripting
language by John Ousterhout. Tk remained in development independently from Tcl
withversionbeingdifferenttoeachother,before,itwasmadeinsyncwithTclinv8.0.
FeaturesofTk
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It is cross platform with support for Linux, Mac OS, Unix, and Microsoft Windows
operatingsystems.
Itisanopensource.
Itprovideshighlevelofextendibility.
Itiscustomizable.
Itisconfigurable.
Itprovidesalargenumberofwidgets.
ItcanbeusedwithmultipleotherdynamiclanguagesandnotjustTcl
GUIlooksidenticalacrossplatforms.
ApplicationsbuiltinTk
LargesuccessfulapplicationshavebeenbuiltinTcl/Tk.
DashboardSoftUserInterface
FormsGUIforRelationalDB
AdHocGUIforRelationalDB
Software/HardwareSystemDesign
XtaskTaskManagement
MusicologywithTclandTk
Calenderapp
Tkmail
TkDebugger
TkEnvironment
GenerallyallMacandLinuxmaccomewithTkpreinstalled.Incaseit'snotavailable
oryouneedthelatestversion,thenyoumayneedtoinstallit.Windowsdon'tcome
withTcl/Tkandyoumayneedtouseitsspecificbinarytoinstallit.
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TheTkInterpreter
It is just a small program that enables you to type Tk commands and have them
executed line by line. It stops execution of a tcl file in case it encounters an error
unlikeacompilerthatexecutesfully.
Let'shaveahelloWorld.tclfileasfollows.Wewillusethisasfirstprogramwerunon
platformyouchoose.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[ttk::button.mybuttontext"HelloWorld"]
The following section explains only how to install Tcl/Tk on each of the available
platforms.
InstallationonWindows
Download the latest version for windows installer
from the list of Active Tcl/Tk
binariesavailable.ActiveTcl/Tkcommunityeditionisfreeforpersonaluse.
Run the downloaded executable to install the Tcl and Tk which can be done by
followingtheonscreeninstructions.
thefileusingcdandthenusingthefollowingstep
C:\Tcl>wishhelloWorld.tcl
Pressenterandwewillseeanoutputasshownbelow.
InstallationonLinux
Most Linux operating systems comes with Tk inbuilt and you can get started right
awayinthosesystems.Incase,it'snotavailable,youcanusethefollowingcommand
todownloadandinstallTclTk.
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$yuminstalltcltk
thefileusingcdcommandandthenusingthefollowingstep
$wishhelloWorld.tcl
Pressenterandwewillseeanoutputsimilartothefollowing.
InstallationonDebianbasedsystems
Incase,it'snotavailableprebuiltinyourOS,youcanusethefollowingcommandto
downloadandinstallTclTk.
$sudoaptgetinstalltcltk
thefileusingcdcommandandthenusingthefollowingsteps
$wishhelloWorld.tcl
Pressenterandwewillseeanoutputsimilartothefollowing.
InstallationonMacOSX
Download the latest version for Mac OS X package
from the list of Active Tcl/Tk
binariesavailable.ActiveTclcommunityeditionisfreeforpersonaluse.
RunthedownloadedexecutabletoinstalltheActiveTclwhichcanbedonebyfollowing
theonscreeninstructions.
thefileusingcdcommandandthenusingthefollowingstep
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$wishhelloWorld.tcl
Pressenterandwewillseeanoutputasshownbelow.
Installationfromsourcefiles
You can use the option of installing from source files when a binary package is not
available.ItisgenerallypreferredtouseTkbinariesforWindowsandMacOSX,so
onlycompilationofsourcesonunixbasedsystemisshownbelow.
Downloadthesourcefiles.
Nowusethefollowingcommandstoextract,compileandbuildafterswitching
tothedownloadedfolder.
$tarzxftk8.6.1src.tar.gz
$cdtcl8.6.1
$cdunix
$./configurewithtcl=../../tcl8.6.1/unixprefix=/optenablegcc
$make
$sudomakeinstall
Note : Make sure, you change the file name to the version you downloaded on
commands1and2intheabove.
TkSpecialVariables
In Tk, we classify some of the variables as special variables and they have a
predefinedusage/functionality.Thelistofspecialvariablesislistedbelow.
SpecialVariable
Description
tk_library
UsedforsettingthelocationofstandardTklibraries.
tk_patchLevel
ReferstothecurrentpatchleveloftheTkinterpreter.
tk_strictMotif
Whennonzero,TktriestoadheretoMotiflookandfeelasclosely
aspossible.
tk_version
DisplaystheTkversion.
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TheabovespecialvariableshavetheirspecialmeaningsfortheTkinterpreter.
ExamplesforusingTkspecialvariables
Letsseetheexamplesforspecialvariables.
TKVERSION
#!/usr/bin/wish
puts$tk_version
8.5
TKLIBRARYPATH
#!/usr/bin/wish
puts$tk_library
/Library/Frameworks/Tk.framework/Versions/8.6/Resources/Scripts
TKPATCHLEVEL
#!/usr/bin/wish
puts$tk_patchLevel
8.6.1
TKSTRICTMOTIF
#!/usr/bin/wish
puts$tk_strictMotif
0
TkWidgetsOverview
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ThebasiccomponentofaTkbasedapplicationiscalledawidget.Acomponentisalso
sometimes called a window, since, in Tk, "window" and "widget" are often used
interchangeably.Tkisapackagethatprovidesarichsetofgraphicalcomponentsfor
creatinggraphicalapplicationswithTcl.
Tk provides a range of widgets ranging from basic GUI widgets like buttons and
menustodatadisplaywidgets.Thewidgetsareveryconfigurableastheyhavedefault
configurationsmakingthemeasytouse.
Tkapplicationsfollowawidgethierarchywhereanynumberofwidgetsmaybeplaced
withinanotherwidget,andthosewidgetswithinanotherwidget.Themainwidgetina
Tk program is referred to as the root widget and can be created by making a new
instanceoftheTkRootclass.
Creatingawidget
Thesyntaxforcreatingawidgetisgivenbelow.
typevariableNameargumentsoptions
Thetypeherereferstothewidgettypelikebutton,labelandsoon.Argumentscanbe
optional and required based on individual syntax of each widget. The options range
fromsizetoformattingofeachcomponent.
WidgetNamingconvention
Widgetusesastructuresimilartonamingpackages.InTk,therootwindowisnamed
withaperiod(.)andanelementinwindow,forexamplebuttonisnamed.myButton1.
The variable name should start with a lowercase letter, digit, or punctuation mark
(except a period). After the first character, other characters may be uppercase or
lowercase letters, numbers, or punctuation marks (except periods). It is
recommendedtousealowercaselettertostartthelabel.
ColorNamingconvention
The colors can be declared using name like red, green and so on. It can also use
hexadecimalrepresentingwith#.Thenumberofhexadecimaldigitscanbe3,6,9or
12.
Dimensionconvention
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The default unit is pixels and it is used when we specify no dimension. The other
dimensionsareiforinches,mformillimeters,cforcentimetersandpforpoints.
CommonOptions
Therearesomanycommonoptionsavailabletoallwidgetsandtheyarelistedbelow
intable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
Usedtosetbackgroundcolorforwidget.
borderwidthwidth
Usedtodrawwithborderin3Deffects.
fontfontDescriptor
Usedtosetfontforwidget.
foregroundcolor
Usedtosetforegroundcolorforwidget.
heightnumber
Usedtosetheightforwidget.
highlightbackgroundcolor
Usedtosetthecolorrectangletodrawarounda
widgetwhenthewidgetdoesnothaveinput
focus.
highlightcolorcolor
Usedtosetthecolorrectangletodrawarounda
widgetwhenthewidgethasinputfocus.
padxnumber
Setsthepadxforthewidget.
padynumber
Setsthepadyforthewidget.
10
reliefcondition
Setsthe3Dreliefforthiswidget.Thecondition
mayberaised,sunken,flat,ridge,solid,or
groove.
11
texttext
Setsthetextforthewidget.
12
textvariablevarName
Variableassociatedwiththewidget.Whenthe
textofwidgetchanges,thevariableissetwith
textofwidget.
13
widthnumber
Setsthewidthforwidget.
Asimpleexampleforoptionsisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[label.myLabelbackgroundredtext"HelloWorld"reliefridgeborderwidth3]padx100pady
Whenweruntheaboveprogram,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
Thelistofavailablewidgetsarecategorizedbelow.
Basicwidgets
SN
Widget
Description
Label
Widgetfordisplayingsinglelineoftext.
Button
Widgetthatisclickableandtriggersanaction.
Entry
Widgetusedtoacceptasinglelineoftextasinput.
Message
Widgetfordisplayingmultiplelinesoftext.
Text
Widgetfordisplayingandoptionallyeditmultiplelinesoftext.
Toplevel
WindowwithallbordersanddecorationsprovidedbytheWindow
manager.
Layoutwidgets
SN
Widget
Description
Frame
Containerwidgettoholdotherwidgets.
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Place
Widgettoholdotherwidgetsinspecificplacewithcoordinatesofits
originandanexactsize.
Pack
Simplewidgettoorganizewidgetsinblocksbeforeplacingtheminthe
parentwidget.
Grid
Widgettonestwidgetspackingindifferentdirections.
Selectionwidgets
SN
Widget
Description
Radiobutton
Widgetthathasasetofon/offbuttonsandlabels,oneofwhich
maybeselected.
Checkbutton
Widgetthathasasetofon/offbuttonsandlabels,manyofwhich
maybeselected..
Menu
Widgetthatactsasholderformenuitems.
Listbox
Widgetthatdisplaysalistofcells,oneormoreofwhichmaybe
selected.
Megawidgets
SN
Widget
Description
Dialog
Widgetfordisplayingdialogboxes.
Spinbox
Widgetthatallowsuserstochoosenumbers.
Combobox
Widgetthatcombinesanentrywithalistofchoicesavailabletothe
use.
Notebook
Tabbedwidgetthathelpstoswitchbetweenoneofseveralpages,
usinganindextab.
Progressbar
Widgettoprovidevisualfeedbacktotheprogressofalong
operationlikefileupload.
Treeview
Widgettodisplayandallowbrowsingthroughahierarchyofitems
moreinformoftree.
Scrollbar
Scrollingwidgetswithoutatextorcanvaswidgets.
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Scale
Scalewidgettochooseanumericvaluethroughsliders.
Otherwidgets
SN
Widget
Description
Canvas
Drawingwidgetfordisplayinggraphicsandimages..
Wewillcoverabouteachofthesewidgetsinupcomingchapters.
TkBasicWidgets
BasicwidgetsarecommonwidgetsavailableinalmostallTkapplications.Thelistof
availablebasicwidgetsareasshownbelow.
1
Label
Widgetfordisplayingsinglelineoftext.
Button
Widgetthatisclickableandtriggersanaction.
Entry
Widgetusedtoacceptasinglelineoftextasinput.
Message
Widgetfordisplayingmultiplelinesoftext.
Text
Widgetfordisplayingandoptionallyeditmultiplelinesoftext.
Toplevel
Widgetusedtocreateaframethatisanewtoplevelwindow.
TkLabelWidget
AlabelwidgetisacommonwidgetusedinalmostallTkapplicationsthatisusedto
displaysimpletext.Thesyntaxforlabelwidgetisshownbelow.
labellabelNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthelabelwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
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borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
heightnumber
padxnumber
padynumber
reliefcondition
Setsthe3Dreliefforthiswidget.Theconditionmay
beraised,sunken,flat,ridge,solid,orgroove.
texttext
10
textvariablevarName
Variableassociatedwiththewidget.Whenthetextof
widgetchanges,thevariableissettotextofwidget.
11
widthnumber
12
justifyalignment
Setsthealignmentoftextwhichcanbeleft,centeror
right.
Asimpleexampleforlabelwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[label.myLabelbackgroundredforegroundwhitetext"HelloWorld"reliefridgeborderwidth
setmyvariable"TestHello"
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TkButtonWidget
Tk button widget is a clickable widget that triggers an action. The syntax for button
widgetisshownbelow.
buttonbuttonNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthebuttonwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
fontfontDescriptor
heightnumber
commandaction
Setsthecommandactionforbutton.
texttext
widthnumber
Asimplebuttonwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[label.myLabeltext"Clickthebuttons"textvariablelabelText]
grid[button.myButton1text"Button1"font{Helvetica18bold}height5width10command
grid[button.myButton2text"Button2"font{Helvetica18bold}height5width10command"setlabe
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WhenweclicktheButton1,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
WhenweclicktheButton2,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
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TkEntryWidget
Entry widgets are used to accept a single line of text as input. Getting user input is
almostmandatoryinallTkapplications.Thesyntaxforentrywidgetisshownbelow.
entryentryNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortheentrywidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
padynumber
reliefcondition
textvariablevarName
widthnumber
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justifyside
Setsthejustificationside.Thevalidsidesareleftand
right.
10
showcharacter
Setsthecharacterforsecureentry.
Asimpleexampleusingentrywidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[entry.myEntrybackgroundredforegroundwhitereliefridgeborderwidth8font{Helvetica
setmyvariable"HelloWorld"
Anexampleforsecureentryisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[entry.myEntrybackgroundredforegroundwhitereliefridgeborderwidth8font{Helvetica
setmyvariable"HelloWorld"
TkMessageWidget
Amessagewidgetisusedfordisplayingmultiplelinesoftext.Thesyntaxformessage
widgetisshownbelow.
messagemessageNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthemessagewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
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borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
padxnumber
padynumber
reliefcondition
texttext
textvariablevarName
10
justifyalignment
Setsthealignmentoftextwhichcanbeleft,centeror
right.
11
aspectratio
Setstheaspectratioinpercent.Thedefaultis150.It
isavailablewhenwidthoptionisnotused.
12
widthnumber
Asimpleexampleformessagewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[message.myMessagebackgroundredforegroundwhitetext"Hello\nWorld"reliefridgeborderwidth
TkTextWidget
Tk text widget is a general purpose editable text widget with features for multiple
options.Thesyntaxfortextwidgetisshownbelow.
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texttextNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthetextwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
reliefcondition
Setsthe3Dreliefforthiswidget.Theconditionmaybe
raised,sunken,flat,ridge,solid,orgroove.
widthnumber
heightnumber
Asimpleexamplefortextwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[text.myTextbackgroundredforegroundwhitereliefridgeborderwidth8padx10pady10
.myTextinsert1.0"Hello\nWorld\n"
.myTextinsertend"Anewline\n"
.myTexttagconfigureparaspacing10.15ispacing20.05i\
lmargin10.25ilmargin20.2irmargin0.25i
.myTexttagconfigurehanglmargin10.30ilmargin20.25i
.myTexttagaddpara1.02.end
.myTexttagaddhang3.03.end
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As you can see, text widgets works with the help of procedures like tag, insert and
delete.Mostofthetagusageshavebeencoveredintheaboveexample.
TkTopLevelWidgets
Toplevelwidgetisusedtocreateaframethatisanewtoplevelwindow.Thesyntax
fortoplevelwidgetisshownbelow.
topleveltopLevelNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthetoplevelwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
heightnumber
padxnumber
padynumber
reliefcondition
widthnumber
Asimpleexamplefortoplevelwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
toplevel.topwidth400height100backgroundredreliefridgeborderwidth8padx10pady10
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AsimpleTkexampleisshownbelowusingbasicwidgets.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[label.myLabeltext"LabelWidget"textvariablelabelText]
grid[text.myTextwidth20height5]
.myTextinsert1.0"Text\nWidget\n"
grid[entry.myEntrytext"EntryWidget"]
grid[message.myMessagebackgroundredforegroundwhitetext"Message\nWidget"]
grid[button.myButton1text"Button"command"setlabelTextclicked"]
TkLayoutWidgets
LayoutwidgetsareusedtohandlelayoutsfortheTkapplication.Framewidgetisused
group other widgets and place, pack, and grid are layout manager to give you total
controloveryouraddingtowindows.Thelistofavailablelayoutwidgetsareasshown
below.
1
Frame
Containerwidgettoholdotherwidgets.
Place
Widgettoholdotherwidgetsinspecificplacewithcoordinatesofitsorigin
andanexactsize.
Pack
Simplewidgettoorganizewidgetsinblocksbeforeplacingtheminthe
parentwidget.
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Grid
Widgettonestwidgetspackingindifferentdirections.
TkFrameWidget
Theframewidgetisarectangularcontainerwidgetthatgroupswidgetsfordesigning
GUI.Thesyntaxforframewidgetisshownbelow.
frameframeNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortheframewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
heightnumber
padxnumber
padynumber
reliefcondition
widthnumber
Asimpleexampleforframewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
frame.myFrame1backgroundredreliefridgeborderwidth8padx10pady10height100width
frame.myFrame2backgroundbluereliefridgeborderwidth8padx10pady10height100width
pack.myFrame1
pack.myFrame2
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TkPlaceWidget
The place widget is used to locate a widget at an absolute location or a relative
locationbasedonthesizeofthewindow.Thesyntaxforplacewidgetisshownbelow.
placeplaceNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortheplacewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
xxLocation
Setstheabsolutexpositionforwidget.
yyLocation
Setstheabsoluteypositionforwidget.
relxxFraction
Setstherelativexpositionasfractionofwidthforwidget.
relyyFraction
Setstherelativeypositionasfractionofheightforwidget.
Asimpleexampleforplacewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
.configurewidth250height300
place.myFrame1x0y20
place.myFrame2x50y150
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TkPackWidget
The pack widget is a rectangular container widget that groups widgets for designing
GUI.Thesyntaxforpackwidgetisshownbelow.
packpackNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthepackwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
sideside
Packsthewidgettogivensideoftheparentwindow.It
canbetop,bottom,leftandright.Thedefaultistop.
anchoredge
Packwidgetwillbeanchoredtospecificsideifthewidthis
lessthanspaceisassigned.Thevalidedgesaren,e,w,s
expandboolean
Usedtomakethewidgettheavailablespace.
padxnumber
padynumber
filldirection
Widgetmayexpandtofillextraspaceinitsparcel.The
defaultisnone.Thedirectionmaybenone,xtofill
vertically,ytofillhorizontally,bothtofillbothways.
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afterwidgetName
PackthiswidgetafterwidgetName,generallyontopofit.
Asimplepackexampleforpackwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
label.label1backgroundgreentext"HelloWorld1"width30
label.label2backgroundgraytext"HelloWorld2"
pack.label1sidetopanchors
pack.label2sidetopanchors
pack.myFrame2padx10fillxsidebottomanchornafter.label2
TkGridWidget
Thegridwidgetusedtolayoutwidgetsinspecificrowsandcolumns.Thesyntaxfor
gridwidgetisshownbelow.
gridgridNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthegridwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
columnnumber
Setsthecolumnpositionforwidget.
rownumber
Setstherowpositionforwidget.
columnspannumber
Numberofcolumnstobeusedforthiswidget.Defaults
to1.
rowspannumber
Numberofrowstobeusedforthiswidget.Defaultsto
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1.
5
stickyside
Setstheedgeofthecelltowhichthewidgetshould
stickto.Validvaluescanbenfortop,sforbottom,e
forright,wforleft,oracombinationoftheseletters.
Asimpleexampleforgridwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid.myFrame1columnspan10rowspan10stickyw
grid.myFrame2column10row2
AsimpleTkexampleisshownbelowforlayoutwidgets.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myFrame1
pack.myFrame2
TkSelectionWidget
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TkSelectionWidget
Selection widgets are used to select different options in a Tk application. The list of
availableselectionwidgetsareasshownbelow.
1
Radiobutton
Widgetthathasasetofon/offbuttonsandlabels,oneofwhich
maybeselected
Checkbutton
Widgetthathasasetofon/offbuttonsandlabels,manyofwhich
maybeselected.
Menu
Widgetthatactsasholderformenuitems.
Listbox
Widgetthatdisplaysalistofcells,oneormoreofwhichmaybe
selected.
TkRadioButtonWidget
Radio button widget implements a multiplechoice button, which is a way to offer
many possible selections to the user and lets user choose only one of them. The
syntaxforradiobuttonwidgetisshownbelow.
radiobuttonradiobuttonNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortheradiobuttonwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
fontfontDescriptor
heightnumber
commandaction
texttext
widthnumber
variablevariableName
Setsthevariableforwidget.
valuevariableValue
Setsthevariablewithvariablevalue.
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Asimpleradiobuttonwidgetexampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[frame.gender]
grid[label.myLabeltext"Male"textvariablemyLabel1]
grid[radiobutton.gender.maleBtntext"Male"variablegendervalue"Male"command"setmyLabel1Mal
grid[radiobutton.gender.femaleBtntext"Female"variablegendervalue"Female"command"setmyLabel1
.gender.maleBtnselect
TkCheckButtonWidget
Tk check button is used to create multiple selectable items in the form of check
boxes.Thesyntaxforcheckbuttonwidgetisshownbelow.
checkbuttoncheckbuttonNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthecheckbuttonwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
fontfontDescriptor
heightnumber
commandaction
texttext
widthnumber
variablevariableName
Setsthevariableforwidget.
AsimpleTkexampleforcheckbuttonisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[label.myLabel1text"Range2030notselected"textvariablemyLabelValue1]
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grid[checkbutton.chk1text"Range2030"variableoccupied1command{if{$occupied1}{
setmyLabelValue1{Range2030selected}
}else{
setmyLabelValue1{Range2030notselected}
}}]
grid[label.myLabel2text"Range30+notselected"textvariablemyLabelValue2]
setmyLabelValue2{Range30+selected}
}else{
setmyLabelValue2{Range30+notselected}
}}]
Whenweclickthecheckbutton1andcheckbutton2,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
TkMenuWidget
TkmenuwidgetisusedalongwithTkwidgetmenubutton.So,wewillseemenubutton
first.Thesyntaxformenubuttonwidgetisshownbelow.
menubuttonmenubuttonNameoptions
MenuButtonOptions
Theoptionsavailableforthemenubuttonwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
commandaction
texttext
textvariablevarName
Variableassociatedwiththewidget.Whenthetext
ofwidgetchanges,thevariableissettotextof
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widget.
4
widthnumber
menumenuName
Specifiesthenameofassociatedmenuwidget.
underlinecharPosition
Setsthepositionforhotkey.
Thesyntaxformenuisshownbelow.
menumenuNameoptions
MenuOptions
Theoptionsavailableforthemenuwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
fontfontDescriptor
postcommandaction
Setsthecommandactiontobedonebeforeamenuis
posted.
menumenuName
tearoffboolean
Allowsordisallowsamenutoberemovedfromthe
menubuttonanddisplayedinapermanentwindow.
Defaultisenabled.
Thesyntaxforaddingmenubuttonisshownbelow.
menuNameaddtypemenubuttonTypeoptions
Thetypeincludesseparator,cascade,checkbutton,radiobuttonandcommand.
MenuNameAddOptions
TheoptionsavailableforthemenuNameaddarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
commandaction
Setsthecommandactionforthemenubutton.
menumenuName
labelstring
Setthetextofthemenu.
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variablevarName
Setsthevariabletobesetwhenthisentryisselected.
valuestring
Thevalueissetforthevariable.
underlineposition
Setsthepositionforhotkey.
AsimpleTkmenuisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
menubutton.myMenubuttonmenu.myMenubutton.myMenutext"ChangeText"
menu.myMenubutton.myMenu
.myMenubutton.myMenuaddcommandlabelHellocommand{setmyvariable"Hello"}
.myMenubutton.myMenuaddcommandlabelWorldcommand{setmyvariable"World"}
pack.myMenubutton
pack[label.myLabeltext"SelectAnoption"font{Helvetica18bold}height5width15textvariable
Whenweselectamenuoption,wewillgetaoutputasshownbelow.
TkListboxWidget
Tk listbox widgets are scrollable lists that can be selected. The syntax for listbox
widgetisshownbelow.
listboxbuttonNameoptions
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SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
heightnumberOfLines
Usedtosetnumberoflinesforheightofwidget.
selectmodemode
Modecanbesingle,browse,multipleandextended.
exportselectionbool
Tousemultiplelistboxwidgets,setthisoptionto
FALSE.ThedefaultisTRUE.
widthnumber
Asimpleexampleforlistboxisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procsetLabel{text}{
.labelconfiguretext$text
}
listbox.myList
label.labeltext"NoChoiceselected"
bind.myList{setLabel[.myListgetactive]}
grid.myListrow0column0stickynews
grid.labelrow1column0columnspan2
.myListinsert0Choice1Choice2Choice3
Whenweselectanoption,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
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AsimpleTkexampleisshownbelowusingselectionwidgets.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[frame.gender]
grid[label.label1text"Male"textvariablemyLabel1]
grid[radiobutton.gender.maleBtntext"Male"variablegendervalue"Male"command"setmyLabel1Mal
grid[radiobutton.gender.femaleBtntext"Female"variablegendervalue"Female"command"setmyLabel1
.gender.maleBtnselect
grid[label.myLabel2text"Range1notselected"textvariablemyLabelValue2]
setmyLabelValue2{Range1selected}
}else{
setmyLabelValue2{Range1notselected}
}}]
procsetLabel{text}{
.labelconfiguretext$text
}
TkCanvasWidgets
Canvas is used for providing drawing areas. The syntax for canvas widget is shown
below.
canvascanvasNameoptions
Options
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Theoptionsavailableforthecanvaswidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
closeenoughdistance
Setstheclosenessofmousecursortoa
displayableitem.Thedefaultis1.0pixel.This
valuemaybeafractionandmustbepositive.
scrollregionboundingBox
Theboundingboxforthetotalareaofthiscanvas.
heightnumber
widthnumber
xscrollincrementsize
Theamounttoscrollhorizontallywhenscrollingis
requested.
yscrollincrementsize
Theamounttoscrollverticallywhenscrollingis
requested.
Asimpleexampleforcanvaswidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
canvas.myCanvasbackgroundredwidth100height100
pack.myCanvas
Widgetsfordrawingincanvas
Thelistoftheavailablewidgetsfordrawingincanvasislistedbelow.
SN
Widget
Description
Line
Drawsaline.
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Arc
Drawsanarc.
Rectangle
Drawsarectangle.
Oval
Drawsanoval.
Polygon
Drawsapolygon.
Text
Drawsatext.
Bitmap
Drawsabitmap.
Image
Drawsanimage.
TkCanvasLineWidget
Linewidgetisusedtodrawalineincanvas.Thesyntaxforlinewidgetisshownbelow.
canvasNamecreatelinex1y1x2y2...xnynoptions
x1y1,x2y2...xnynareusedtodeterminetheendpointsoflinesegments.
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthelinewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
arrowend
Determineswhetherlineshouldhavearrowonends.
Theendcanbeboth,first,lastandnone.
fillcolor
Thefillcolorfillsthelinesegmentwiththecolor.
smoothboolean
Thiscanbesettotruemakethelinesegmentstobe
renderedwithasetofBeziersplines.
splinestepsnumber
Determinesthenumberoflinesegmentforbezier
splines.
Asimpleexampleforlinewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreateline1010505030100arrowbothfillyellowsmoothtruesplinesteps2
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TkCanvasArcWidget
Arcwidgetisusedtodrawaarcincanvas.Thesyntaxforarcwidgetisshownbelow.
canvasNamecreatearcx1y1x2y2options
x1y1,x2y2aretheendpointsofarc.
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthearcwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
fillcolor
Thefillcolorfillsthearcwiththecolor.
startangle
Thestartlocationindegreesforthisarc.Thedefaultis0.
extentangle
Thenumberofdegreestoextendthearcfromthestart
position.Thedefaultis90degrees.
stylestyleType
Thestyleofarctodraw.Theoptionsarepieslice,chordand
arc.
Asimpleexampleforarcwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreatearc10108080fillyellow
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TkCanvasRectangleWidget
Rectangle widget is used to draw a rectangle shape in canvas. The syntax for
rectanglewidgetisshownbelow.
canvasNamecreaterectanglex1y1x2y2options
x1y1,x2y2aretheendpointsofrectangle.
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortherectanglewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
outlinecolor
Determinestheoutlinecolor.
fillcolor
Thefillcolorfillstheovalwiththecolor.
stipplebitmap
Thestipplepatterntouseifthefilloptionisbeingused.
widthnumber
Determinesthewidth.
Asimpleexampleforrectanglewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreaterectangle505010080fillyellow
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TkCanvasOvalWidget
Oval widget is used to draw a oval shape in canvas. The syntax for oval widget is
shownbelow.
canvasNamecreateovalx1y1x2y2options
x1y1,x2y2aretheendpointsofoval.
Options
Theoptionsavailablefortheovalwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
outlinecolor
fillcolor
stipplebitmap
Thestipplepatterntouseifthefilloptionisbeingused.
widthnumber
Determinesthewidth.
Asimpleexampleforovalwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreateoval505010080fillyellow
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TkCanvasPolygonWidget
Polygon widget is used to draw a polygon shape in canvas. The syntax for polygon
widgetisshownbelow.
canvasNamecreatepolygonx1y1x2y2...xnynoptions
x1y1,x2y2...xnynareusedtodeterminetheendpointsofpolygon.
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthepolygonwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
outlinecolor
fillcolor
stipplebitmap
Thestipplepatterntouseifthefilloptionisbeing
used.
widthnumber
Determinesthewidth.
smoothboolean
Thiscanbesettotruemakethelinesegmentstobe
renderedwithasetofBeziersplines.
splinestepsnumber
Determinesthenumberoflinesegmentforbezier
splines.
Asimpleexampleforpolygonwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
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pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreatepolygon505010080120120100190fillyellowoutlinegreen
TkCanvasTextWidget
Canvastextwidgetisusedtodrawtextincanvas.Thesyntaxforcanvastextwidget
isshownbelow.
canvasNamecreatetextxyoptions
xandyareusedtodeterminethepositionoftext.
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthecanvastextwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
anchorposition
Thetextwillbepositionedrelativetothexandylocations.
Centerisdefaultandotheroptionsaren,s,e,w,ne,se,sw
andnw.
justifystyle
Determinesthemultilineshouldberightjustified,left
justified,orcenterjustified.Thedefaultisleft.
fillcolor
texttext
Thetextfortextwidget.
fontfontStyle
Thefonttouseforthistext.
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Asimpleexampleforcanvastextwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreatetext100100fillyellowjustifycentertext"HelloWorld.\nHowareyou?"font
TkCanvasBitmapWIdget
Bitmap widget is used to add bitmap to canvas. The syntax for bitmap widget is
shownbelow.
canvasNamecreatebitmapxyoptions
xandysetthelocationofbitmap.
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthebitmapwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
anchorposition
Thebitmapwillbepositionedrelativetothexandy
locations.Centerisdefaultanotheroptionsaren,s,e,w,
ne,se,swandnw.
bitmapname
Definesthebitmaptodisplay.TheavailablebitmapsinTk
includewarning,question,questhead,info,hourglass,error,
gray12,gray25,gray50andgray75.
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Asimpleexampleforbitmapwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreatebitmap5050bitmapinfo
TkCanvasImageWidget
Imagewidgetisusedcreateadisplayedimageitem.Animagecanbecreatedfroma
GIF, PNG, PPM, PGM, or XBitmap image. The syntax for image widget is shown
below.
canvasNamecreateimagexyoptions
xandysetthelocationofbitmap.
Option
Theoptionavailablefortheimagewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
imageimageName
Thevariablethatholdsimagetodisplay.
Asimpleexampleforimagewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
setmyImage[imagecreatephoto]
$myImageread"/Users/myImages/myImage1.png"
.myCanvascreateimage5050image$myImage
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Anexampleusingdifferentcanvaswidgetsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack.myCanvas
.myCanvascreatearc10105050fillyellow
.myCanvascreateline1030505010010arrowbothfillyellowsmoothtruesplinesteps2
.myCanvascreateoval505010080fillyellow
.myCanvascreatepolygon5015010080120120100190fillyellowoutlinegreen
.myCanvascreaterectangle150150170170fillyellow
.myCanvascreatetext17020fillyellowtext"Hello"font{Helvetica18bold}
.myCanvascreatebitmap18050bitmapinfo
TkMegaWidgets
Mega widgets include many complex widgets which is often required in some large
scaleTkapplications.Thelistofavailablemegawidgetsareasshownbelow.
SN
Widget
Description
Dialog
Widgetfordisplayingdialogboxes.
Spinbox
Widgetthatallowsuserstochoosenumbers.
Combobox
Widgetthatcombinesanentrywithalistofchoicesavailabletothe
use.
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Notebook
Tabbedwidgetthathelpstoswitchbetweenoneofseveralpages,
usinganindextab.
Progressbar
Widgettoprovidevisualfeedbacktotheprogressofalong
operationlikefileupload.
Treeview
Widgettodisplayandallowbrowsingthroughahierarchyofitems
moreinformoftree.
Scrollbar
Scrollingwidgetswithoutatextorcanvaswidgets.
Scale
Scalewidgettochooseanumericvaluethroughsliders.
TkDialogWidget
Adialogwidgetisusedfordisplayingdialogboxes.
tk_dialogwindowtitledetailTextbitmapdefaultstring1...stringn
The use of each of the above option of the widget is listed below in table and they
needtousedinthesameorder.
SN
Syntax
Description
window
Determinesthenameoftoplevelwindowfordialogandany
existingwindowbythisnameisdestroyed.
title
Titleforthewidget.
detailText
Detailtextforthewidget.
bitmap
Bitmap(intheformsuitableforTk_GetBitmap)todisplayin
thetopportionofthedialog,totheleftofthetext.Ifthisis
anemptystringthennobitmapisdisplayedinthedialog.
TheavailablebitmapsinTkincludewarning,question,
questhead,info,hourglass,error,gray12,gray25,gray50
andgray75.
default
Theindexofbuttontobeselected.
string1...stringn
Thestringsforbuttonsanditdeterminesthenumberof
buttons.
Asimpleexamplefordialogwidgetisshownbelow.
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#!/usr/bin/wish
seta[tk_dialog.myDialog"myTitle""myDetailText"questhead0"Yes""No"]
TkSpinboxWidget
Spinbox widget allows users to choose numbers or arbitrary values. The syntax for
spinboxwidgetisshownbelow.
spinboxspinboxNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthespinboxwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
fromnumber
Rangestartvalueforspinbox.
incrementnumber
Rangeincrementvalueforspinbox.
reliefcondition
textvariablevarName
tonumber
Rangeendvalueforspinbox.
10
valuesarray
Arbitraryvaluesforspinboxwidget.
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widthnumber
Asimpleexampleforspinboxwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
setmylist[listCC++LuaTcl]
pack[spinbox.s1textvariablespinval1values$mylistbackgroundyellowborderwidth5font{
pack[spinbox.s2textvariablespinval2from1.0to100.0increment5backgroundyellowborderwidth
TkComboboxWIdget
Comboboxwidgetisawidgetthatcombinesanentrywithalistofchoicesavailableto
theuse.Thesyntaxforcomboboxwidgetisshownbelow.
comboboxcomboboxNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthecomboboxwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
textvariablevarName
Variableassociatedwiththewidget.Whenthetext
ofwidgetchanges,thevariableissettotextof
widget.
valuesarray
Arbitraryvaluesforcomboboxwidget.
widthnumber
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justifyalignment
Setsthealignmentoftextwhichcanbeleft,center
orright.
staterequiredState
Setsthestatewhichcanbereadonly,disabledor
normal.
10
postcommandcommand
Proceduretobeexecutedpostaction.
Asimpleexampleforcomboboxwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
setmylist[listCC++LuaTcl]
pack[ttk::combobox.s1textvariablecombovaluevalues$mylistbackgroundyellowfont{Helvetica
setcombovalue"C"
TkNotebookWidget
A tabbed widget that helps to switch between one of several pages, using an index
tab.Thesyntaxfornotebookwidgetisshownbelow.
ttk::notebooknotebookNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthenotebookwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
heightnumber
widthnumber
Asimpleexamplefornotebookwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
ttk::notebook.nwidth100height100
ttk::frame.n.f1;
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ttk::frame.n.f2;
.nadd.n.f1text"TabOne"
.nadd.n.f2text"TabTwo"
pack[label.n.f1.f2backgroundredforegroundwhitetext"TabOne"]
pack[label.n.f2.f2backgroundredforegroundwhitetext"TabTwo"]
pack.n
Theprocedureaddisusedtoaddframestothenotebookwidgetasshownabove.
TkProgressbarWidget
Progressbar widget is used to provide visual feedback of the progress of a long
operationlikefileupload.Thesyntaxforprogressbarwidgetisshownbelow.
progressbarprogressbarNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailabletoprogressbarwidgetislistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
lengthnumber
Setsthelengthforwidget.
maximumnumber
Setthemaximumpossiblevalue.Defaultis100.
modemode
Modecanbeindeterminateordeterminate.
orienorientation
Setstheorientationforwidget.Itcanbeeitherhorizontal
andvertical.
valuenumber
Thecurrentprogressoftheprogressbar.
variablevarName
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Asimpleexampleforprogressbarwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
pack[ttk::progressbar.p1orienthorizontallength200modeindeterminatevalue90]
pack[ttk::progressbar.p2orienthorizontallength200modedeterminatevariableamaximum75
TkTreeview
Treeview widget is used to choose a numeric value through sliders. The syntax for
treeviewwidgetisshownbelow.
treeviewtreeviewNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthetreeviewwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
columnscolumnNames
Anarrayofcolumnnamesforwidget.
displaycolumnscolumns
Anarrayofcolumnnamesorindicesspecifying
columnstobedisplayed.Use#allforall.
heightnumber
Heightforwidget.
selectmodemode
Selectionmodewhichcanbeextended,browse,or
none.
Asimpleexamplefortreeviewwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
ttk::treeview.treecolumns"CreatorYear"displaycolumns"YearCreator"
.treeheadingCreatortext"Creator"anchorcenter
.treeheadingYeartext"Year"anchorcenter
pack.tree
.treeinsert{}endidLanguagestext"Languages"
.treeinsertLanguagesendtextCvalues[list"DennisRitchie""1990"]
.treeinsert""endidDirecttext"Direct"
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Tomovetheelements,wecanusethefollowingcommand.
.treemoveLanguagesDirectend
Wewillgetthefollowingoutputwhentheabovecommandisexecuted.
Similarly,wecanusethedeletecommandtodeleteavaluesfromtreeview.
TkScrollbarWidget
Scrollbarwidgetisascrollingwidgetthatcanworkwithoutatextorcanvaswidgets.
Thesyntaxforscrollbarwidgetisshownbelow.
scrollbarscrollbarNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthescrollbarwidgetarelistedbelowintable.
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SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
orienorientation
Setstheorientationforwidget.Itcanbeeither
horizontalandvertical.
reliefcondition
commandcommand
Commandlinksviewtoscrollbarwidget.
Asimpleexampleforscrollbarwidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
grid[tk::listbox.lyscrollcommand".s1set"xscrollcommand".s2set"height5width20]column
grid[ttk::scrollbar.s1command".lyview"orientverticalbackgroundyellowborderwidth5reliefrid
grid[ttk::scrollbar.s2command".lxview"orienthorizontalbackgroundyellowborderwidth5
for{setindex0}{$index<100}{incrindex}{
.linsertend"Alonglineoftextfortestingscrollbar."
}
TkScaleWidget
Scalewidgetisusedtochooseanumericvaluethroughsliders.Thesyntaxforscale
widgetisshownbelow.
scalescaleNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthescalewidgetarelistedbelowintable.
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SN
Syntax
Description
backgroundcolor
borderwidthwidth
fontfontDescriptor
foregroundcolor
fromnumber
Rangestartvalueforwidget.
variablevarName
lengthnumber
Setsthelengthforwidget.
orienorientation
Setstheorientationforwidget.Itcanbeeither
horizontalandvertical.
reliefcondition
10
tonumber
Rangeendvalueforwidget.
11
commandcommand
Proceduretobeexecutedonaction.
Asimpleexampleforscalewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procscaleMe{mywidgetscaleValue}{
$mywidgetconfigurelength$scaleValue
}
pack[scale.s2from100.0to200.0length100backgroundyellowborderwidth5font{Helvetica
Whenwescrollthescaletomaximum,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
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AsimpleTkexampleisshownbelowusingsomemegawidgets.
#!/usr/bin/wish
ttk::treeview.treecolumns"CreatorYear"displaycolumns"YearCreator"
.treeheadingCreatortext"Creator"anchorcenter
.treeheadingYeartext"Year"anchorcenter
pack.tree
.treeinsert{}endidLanguagestext"Languages"
.treeinsertLanguagesendtextCvalues[list"DennisRitchie""1990"]
procscaleMe{mywidgetscaleValue}{
$mywidgetconfigurelength$scaleValue
}
pack[scale.s2from100.0to200.0length100backgroundyellowborderwidth5font{Helvetica
pack[ttk::progressbar.p1orienthorizontallength200modeindeterminatevalue90]
pack[ttk::progressbar.p2orienthorizontallength200modedeterminatevariableamaximum75
TkFonts
Thereareanumberofwidgetsthatsupportsdisplayingtext.Mostoftheseprovides
theoptionoffontattribute.Thesyntaxforcreatingafontisshownbelow.
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fontcreatefontNameoptions
Options
Theoptionsavailableforthefontcreatearelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
familyfamilyName
Thenameoffontfamily.
sizenumber
Thesizeoffont.
weightlevel
Theweightforfont.
Asimpleexampleforfontcreationisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
fontcreatemyFontfamilyHelveticasize18weightbold
pack[label.myLabelfontmyFonttext"HelloWorld"]
Togetallthefontsavailable,wecanusethefollowingcommand.
#!/usr/bin/wish
puts[fontfamilies]
Whenweruntheabovecommand,wewillgetthefollowingoutput.
{AbadiMTCondensedExtraBold}{AbadiMTCondensedLight}{AlBayan}{AlNile}{AlTarikh}{American
TkImages
Theimagewidgetisusedtocreateandmanipulateimages.Thesyntaxforcreating
imageisasfollows.
imagecreatetypenameoptions
Intheabovesyntaxtypeisphotoorbitmapandnameistheimageidentifier.
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Options
Theoptionsavailableforimagecreatearelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
filefileName
Thenameoftheimagefilename.
heightnumber
widthnumber
datastring
Imageinbase64encodedstring.
Asimpleexampleforimagewidgetisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
imagecreatephotoimgobjfile"/Users/rajkumar/Desktop/FDrive/pictur/vb/Forests/680049.png"width
pack[label.myLabel]
.myLabelconfigureimageimgobj
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Theavailablefunctionforimagearelistedbelowintable.
SN
Syntax
Description
imagedeleteimageName
Deletestheimagefrommemoryandrelated
widgetsvisually.
imageheightimageName
Returnstheheightforimage.
imagewidthimageName
Returnsthewidthforimage.
imagetypeimageName
Returnsthetypeforimage.
imagenames
Returnsthelistofimagesliveinmemory.
Asimpleexampleforusingtheaboveimagewidgetcommandsisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
imagecreatephotoimgobjfile"/Users/rajkumar/images/680049.png"width400height400
pack[label.myLabel]
.myLabelconfigureimageimgobj
puts[imageheightimgobj]
puts[imagewidthimgobj]
puts[imagetypeimgobj]
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puts[imagenames]
imagedeleteimgobj
The image will be deleted visually and from memory once "image delete imgobj"
commandexecutes.Inconsole,theoutputwillbelikethefollowing.
400
400
photo
imgobj::tk::icons::information::tk::icons::error::tk::icons::warning::tk::icons::question
TkEvents
Eventsinitssimplestformishandledwiththehelpofcommands.Asimpleexample
foreventhandlingiseventhandlingwithbuttonandisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procmyEvent{}{
puts"Eventtriggered"
}
pack[button.myButton1text"Button1"commandmyEvent]
Asimpleprogramtoshowdelaytextanimationeventisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procdelay{}{
for{setj0}{$j<100000}{incrj}{
}
}
label.myLabeltext"Hello................"width25
pack.myLabel
setstr"Hello................"
for{seti[stringlength$str]}{$i>2}{seti[expr$i1]}{
.myLabelconfiguretext[stringrange$str0$i]
update
delay
}
Whenweruntheprogram,wewillgetthefollowingoutputinanimatedway.
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Eventafterdelay
Thesyntaxforeventafterdelayisshownbelow.
aftermillisecondsnumbercommand
Asimpleprogramtoshowafterdelayeventisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procaddText{}{
pack.myLabel
}
after1000addText
Whenweruntheprogram,wewillgetthefollowingoutputinafteronesecond.
Youcancancelaneventusingtheaftercancelcommandasshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
procaddText{}{
pack.myLabel
}
after1000addText
aftercanceladdText
EventBinding
Thesyntaxforeventbindingisasshownbelow.
bindarguments
Keyboardeventsexample
#!/usr/bin/wish
bind.{puts"KeyPressed:%K"}
WhenweruntheprogramandpressaletterXwewillgetthefollowingoutput.
KeyPressed:X
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Mouseeventsexample
#!/usr/bin/wish
bind.{puts"Button%bPressed:%x%y"}
When we run the program and press the left mouse button we will get an output
similartofollowing.
Button1Pressed:8990
Linkingeventswithbuttonexample
#!/usr/bin/wish
procmyEvent{}{
puts"Eventtriggered"
}
pack[button.myButton1text"Button1"commandmyEvent]
bind.".myButton1invoke"
Whenweruntheprogramandpressenterwewillgetthefollowingoutput.
Eventtriggered
TkWindowsManager
Window manager is used to handle the top level window. It helps in controlling the
size, position and other attributes of the window. In Tk, . is used to refer the main
window.Thesyntaxforwindowcommandisshownbelow.
wmoptionwindowarguments
ThelistofoptionsavailableforTkwmcommandisshowninfollowingtable.
SN
Syntax
Description
aspectwindowNameabcd
Trytomaintaintheratioofwidth/height
tobebetweena/bandc/d.
geometrywindowName
geometryParams
Usedtosetgeometryforwindow.
gridwindowNamewhdxdy
Setsthegridsize.
groupwindowNameleaderName
leaderNamegivestheleaderofagroupof
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relatedwindows.
5
deiconifywindowName
Bringsthescreentonormalifminimized.
iconifywindowName
Minimizesthewindow.
statewindowName
Returnsthecurrentstateofwindow.
withdrawwindowName
Unmapsthewindowandremovesits
detailsinmemory.
iconbitmapwindowNameimage
Setsorreturnstheiconbitmap.
10
iconPhotowindowNameimage
Setsorreturnstheiconphoto.
11
commandwindowName
commandString
Recordthestartupcommandinthe
WM_COMMANDproperty.
12
protocolwindowNamearguments
Registeracommandtohandlethe
protocolrequestname,whichcanbe
WM_DELETE_WINDOW,
WM_SAVE_YOURSELF,WM_TAKE_FOCUS.
Eg:wmprotocol.WM_DELETE_WINDOW
Quit
13
minsizewindowNamesize
Determinestheminimumwindowsize.
14
maxsizewindowNamesize
Determinesthemaximumwindowsize.
15
titlewindowNametitleText
Determinesthetitleforwindow.
16
attributessubOptions
Therearelotofattributesavailablelike
alpha,fullscreenandsoon.
Someoftheabovecommandsareusedinthefollowingexample.
#!/usr/bin/wish
wmmaxsize.800800
wmminsize.300300
wmtitle."Hello"
wmattributes.alpha".90"
wmgeometry.300x200+100+100
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As you can see alpha is one of the attributes available. The list of commonly used
subcommandsarelistedbelow.
SN
Syntax
Description
alphanumber
Setsthealphaforwindow.
fullscreennumber
Numbercanbe0fornormalscreenor1forfullscreen.
topmostnumber
Setsorreturnwhetherwindowistopmost.Valuecanbe0
or1.
CreatingWindow
Wecanusetoplevelcommandtocreateanwindowandanexampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
toplevel.t
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DestroyingWindow
Wecanusedestroycommandtodestroyanwindowandanexampleisshownbelow.
#!/usr/bin/wish
destroy.t
Theabovecommandwilldestroywindownamed.t.
TkGeometryManager
The geometry manager is used to manage the geometry of the window and other
frames. We can use it handle the position and size of the window and frames. The
layoutwidgets
areusedforthispurpose.
Positioningandsizing
Thesyntaxforpositioningandsizingwindowisshownbelow.
wmgeometry.wxh+/x+/y
Here w refers to width and h refers to height. It is followed by a '+' or '' sign with
numbernextreferringtothexpositiononscreen.Similarlythefollowing'+'or''sign
withnumberreferstotheypositiononscreen
Asimpleexampleisshownbelowfortheabove.
#!/usr/bin/wish
wmgeometry.300x200+100+100
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GridGeometry
Thesyntaxforgridgeometryisshownbelow.
gridgridNamecolumnnumberrownumbercolumnspannumberrowspannumber
Thecolumn,row,columnspan,rowspanhelpsinprovidingthegridgeometry.
Asimpleexampleisshownbelowfortheabove.
#!/usr/bin/wish
frame.myFrame1backgroundredheight100width100
frame.myFrame2backgroundblueheight100width50
grid.myFrame1columnspan10rowspan10stickyw
grid.myFrame2column10row2
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TCL-TK Quick Guide

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5/22/2016

from the list of Active Tcl

No whitespace characters are necessary between 3 and +, or between + and 2,

The switchingString used in a switch statement is used between the

Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements. The

In the above catch command syntax, script is the code to be executed,

from the list of Active Tcl/Tk

from the list of Active Tcl/Tk

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