upvar(n) Tcl ( ) upvar(n)
_________________________________________________________________
NAME
upvar - Create link to variable in a different stack frame
SYNOPSIS
upvar ?level? otherVar myVar ?otherVar myVar ...?
_________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
This command arranges for one or more local variables in the
current procedure to refer to variables in an enclosing
procedure call or to global variables. Level may have any
of the forms permitted for the uplevel command, and may be
omitted if the first letter of the first otherVar isn't # or
a digit (it defaults to 1). For each otherVar argument,
upvar makes the variable by that name in the procedure frame
given by level (or at global level, if level is #0)
accessible in the current procedure by the name given in the
corresponding myVar argument. The variable named by
otherVar need not exist at the time of the call; it will be
created the first time myVar is referenced, just like an
ordinary variable. Upvar may only be invoked from within
procedures. MyVar may not refer to an element of an array, |
but otherVar may refer to an array element. Upvar returns
an empty string.
The upvar command simplifies the implementation of call-by-
name procedure calling and also makes it easier to build new
control constructs as Tcl procedures. For example, consider
the following procedure:
proc add2 name {
upvar $name x
set x [expr $x+2]
}
Add2 is invoked with an argument giving the name of a
variable, and it adds two to the value of that variable.
Although add2 could have been implemented using uplevel
instead of upvar, upvar makes it simpler for add2 to access
the variable in the caller's procedure frame.
If an upvar variable is unset (e.g. x in add2 above), the |
unset operation affects the variable it is linked to, not |
the upvar variable. There is no way to unset an upvar |
variable except by exiting the procedure in which it is |
defined. However, it is possible to retarget an upvar |
variable by executing another upvar command.
Page 1 (printed 11/11/93)
upvar(n) Tcl ( ) upvar(n)
KEYWORDS
context, frame, global, level, procedure, variable
Page 2 (printed 11/11/93)