case(n)                     Tcl (7.0)                     case(n)



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     NAME
          case - Evaluate one of several scripts, depending on a given
          value

     SYNOPSIS
          case string ?in? patList body ?patList body ...?
          case string ?in? {patList body ?patList body ...?}
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     DESCRIPTION
          Note: the case command is obsolete and is supported only for
          backward  compatibility.  At some point in the future it may
          be removed entirely.  You  should  use  the  switch  command
          instead.

          The case command matches string against each of the  patList
          arguments  in order.  Each patList argument is a list of one
          or more patterns.  If any of these patterns  matches  string
          then  case  evaluates the following body argument by passing
          it recursively to the Tcl interpreter and returns the result
          of  that  evaluation.   Each  patList argument consists of a
          single pattern  or  list  of  patterns.   Each  pattern  may
          contain  any of the wild-cards described under string match.
          If a patList argument is  default,  the  corresponding  body
          will  be  evaluated  if  no  patList  matches string.  If no
          patList argument matches string and  no  default  is  given,
          then the case command returns an empty string.

          Two  syntaxes  are  provided  for  the  patList   and   body
          arguments.   The  first uses a separate argument for each of
          the patterns  and  commands;  this  form  is  convenient  if
          substitutions  are  desired  on  some  of  the  patterns  or
          commands.  The second form places all of  the  patterns  and
          commands  together into a single argument; the argument must
          have proper list structure, with the elements  of  the  list
          being  the  patterns and commands.  The second form makes it
          easy to construct multi-line case commands, since the braces
          around  the  whole  list  make  it  unnecessary to include a
          backslash at the  end  of  each  line.   Since  the  patList
          arguments  are  in  braces in the second form, no command or
          variable substitutions are performed on  them;   this  makes
          the  behavior  of  the  second form different than the first
          form in some cases.


     KEYWORDS
          case, match, regular expression





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