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Tcl_CreateCommand(3)	     Tcl Library Procedures	    Tcl_CreateCommand(3)

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NAME
     Tcl_CreateCommand - implement new commands in C

SYNOPSIS
     #include <tcl.h>

     Tcl_Command
     Tcl_CreateCommand(interp, cmdName, proc, clientData, deleteProc)

ARGUMENTS
     Tcl_Interp *interp (in)			 Interpreter  in which to create
						 new command.

     const char *cmdName (in)			 Name of command.

     Tcl_CmdProc *proc (in)			 Implementation of new	command:
						 proc  will  be  called whenever
						 cmdName is invoked  as  a  com-
						 mand.

     void *clientData (in)			 Arbitrary   one-word  value  to
						 pass to proc and deleteProc.

     Tcl_CmdDeleteProc *deleteProc (in) 	 Procedure to call  before  cmd-
						 Name is deleted from the inter-
						 preter; allows for command-spe-
						 cific	cleanup.   If NULL, then
						 no procedure is  called  before
						 the command is deleted.
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DESCRIPTION
     Tcl_CreateCommand	defines  a  new command in interp and associates it with
     procedure proc such that whenever cmdName is invoked as a Tcl command  (via
     a	call to Tcl_Eval) the Tcl interpreter will call proc to process the com-
     mand.  It differs from Tcl_CreateObjCommand in that a new string-based com-
     mand is defined; that is, a command procedure is defined that takes an  ar-
     ray  of argument strings instead of values.  The value-based command proce-
     dures registered by Tcl_CreateObjCommand can execute  significantly  faster
     than  the	string-based  command  procedures  defined by Tcl_CreateCommand.
     This is because they take Tcl values as arguments and those values can  re-
     tain  an  internal representation that can be manipulated more efficiently.
     Also, Tcl's interpreter now uses values internally.  In order to  invoke  a
     string-based  command  procedure  registered  by Tcl_CreateCommand, it must
     generate and fetch a string representation from each argument value  before
     the  call.   New commands should be defined using Tcl_CreateObjCommand.  We
     support Tcl_CreateCommand for backwards compatibility.

     The procedures Tcl_DeleteCommand, Tcl_GetCommandInfo,  and  Tcl_SetCommand-
     Info are used in conjunction with Tcl_CreateCommand.

     Tcl_CreateCommand	will  delete  an existing command cmdName, if one is al-
     ready associated with the interpreter.  It returns a token that may be used
     to refer to the command in subsequent calls to Tcl_GetCommandName.  If cmd-
     Name contains any :: namespace qualifiers, then the command is added to the
     specified namespace; otherwise the command is added  to  the  global  name-
     space.   If  Tcl_CreateCommand  is called for an interpreter that is in the
     process of being deleted, then it does not create a new command and it  re-
     turns  NULL.   Proc  should  have	arguments and result that match the type
     Tcl_CmdProc:

	    typedef int Tcl_CmdProc(
		    void *clientData,
		    Tcl_Interp *interp,
		    int argc,
		    const char *argv[]);

     When proc is invoked the clientData and interp parameters will be copies of
     the clientData and interp arguments given to Tcl_CreateCommand.  Typically,
     clientData points to an application-specific data structure that  describes
     what  to  do when the command procedure is invoked.  Argc and argv describe
     the arguments to the command, argc giving the number of arguments	(includ-
     ing  the  command	name)  and  argv  giving  the values of the arguments as
     strings.  The argv array will contain argc+1 values; the first argc  values
     point to the argument strings, and the last value is NULL.

     Note  that the argument strings should not be modified as they may point to
     constant strings or may be shared with  other  parts  of  the  interpreter.
     Note  also that the argument strings are encoded in normalized TUTF-8 since
     version 8.1 of Tcl.

     Proc must return an integer code that is expected	to  be	one  of  TCL_OK,
     TCL_ERROR,  TCL_RETURN, TCL_BREAK, or TCL_CONTINUE. See the return man page
     for details on what these codes mean and the use of extended values for  an
     extension's  private  use.  Most normal commands will only return TCL_OK or
     TCL_ERROR.

     In addition, proc must set the interpreter result; in the case of a  TCL_OK
     return  code  this  gives	the  result  of  the command, and in the case of
     TCL_ERROR it gives an error message.  The Tcl_SetResult procedure	provides
     an  easy  interface  for setting the return value;  for complete details on
     how the interpreter result field is managed, see the Tcl_Interp  man  page.
     Before  invoking  a command procedure, Tcl_Eval sets the interpreter result
     to point to an empty string, so simple commands can return an empty  result
     by doing nothing at all.

     The contents of the argv array belong to Tcl and are not guaranteed to per-
     sist once proc returns:  proc should not modify them, nor should it set the
     interpreter  result to point anywhere within the argv values.  Call Tcl_Se-
     tResult with status TCL_VOLATILE if you want to return something  from  the
     argv array.

     DeleteProc  will  be  invoked  when (if) cmdName is deleted. This can occur
     through a call to Tcl_DeleteCommand or Tcl_DeleteInterp,  or  by  replacing
     cmdName in another call to Tcl_CreateCommand.  DeleteProc is invoked before
     the command is deleted, and gives the application an opportunity to release
     any  structures  associated with the command.  DeleteProc should have argu-
     ments and result that match the type Tcl_CmdDeleteProc:

	    typedef void Tcl_CmdDeleteProc(
		    void *clientData);

     The clientData argument will be the same as the clientData argument  passed
     to Tcl_CreateCommand.

SEE ALSO
     Tcl_CreateObjCommand,  Tcl_DeleteCommand,	Tcl_GetCommandInfo,  Tcl_SetCom-
     mandInfo, Tcl_GetCommandName, Tcl_SetObjResult

KEYWORDS
     bind, command, create, delete, interpreter, namespace

Tcl							    Tcl_CreateCommand(3)

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