NAME

       Tcl_TraceVar,  Tcl_TraceVar2, Tcl_UntraceVar, Tcl_Untrace­
       Var2,  Tcl_VarTraceInfo,   Tcl_VarTraceInfo2   -   monitor
       accesses to a variable


SYNOPSIS

       #include <tcl.h>

       int
       Tcl_TraceVar(interp, varName, flags, proc, clientData)

       int
       Tcl_TraceVar2(interp, name1, name2, flags, proc, clientData)

       Tcl_UntraceVar(interp, varName, flags, proc, clientData)

       Tcl_UntraceVar2(interp, name1, name2, flags, proc, clientData)

       ClientData
       Tcl_VarTraceInfo(interp, varName, flags, proc, prevClientData)

       ClientData
       Tcl_VarTraceInfo2(interp, name1, name2, flags, proc, prevClientData)


ARGUMENTS

       Tcl_Interp         *interp          (in)      Interpreter
                                                     containing
                                                     variable.

       char               *varName         (in)      Name      of
                                                     variable.
                                                     May refer to
                                                     a     scalar
                                                     variable, to
                                                     an     array
                                                     variable
                                                     with      no
                                                     index, or to
                                                     an     array
                                                     variable
                                                     with       a
                                                     parenthe­
                                                     sized index.
                                                     If  the name
                                                     references
                                                     an   element
                                                     of an array,
                                                     then it must
                                                     be        in
                                                     writable
                                                     memory:  Tcl
                                                     will    make

                                                     modifica­
                                                     tions to  it
                                                     while  look­
                                                     ing  up  the
                                                     name.

       int                flags            (in)      OR-ed combi­
                                                     nation    of
                                                     the   values
                                                     TCL_TRACE_READS,
                                                     TCL_TRACE_WRITES,
                                                     and
                                                     TCL_TRACE_UNSETS,
                                                     TCL_TRACE_ARRAY,
                                                     and
                                                     TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY.
                                                     Not      all
                                                     flags    are
                                                     used  by all
                                                     procedures.
                                                     See    below
                                                     for     more
                                                     information.

       Tcl_VarTraceProc   *proc            (in)      Procedure to
                                                     invoke when­
                                                     ever one  of
                                                     the   traced
                                                     operations
                                                     occurs.

       ClientData         clientData       (in)      Arbitrary
                                                     one-word
                                                     value     to
                                                     pass      to
                                                     proc.

       char               *name1           (in)      Name      of
                                                     scalar    or
                                                     array  vari­
                                                     able  (with­
                                                     out    array
                                                     index).

       char               *name2           (in)      For a  trace
                                                     on  an  ele­
                                                     ment  of  an
                                                     array, gives
                                                     the index of
                                                     the element.
                                                     For   traces
                                                     on    scalar
                                                     variables or

                                                     arrays,   is
                                                     NULL.

       ClientData         prevClientData   (in)      If non-NULL,
                                                     gives   last
                                                     value
                                                     returned  by
                                                     Tcl_VarTra­
                                                     ceInfo    or
                                                     Tcl_VarTra­
                                                     ceInfo2,  so
                                                     this    call
                                                     will  return
                                                     information
                                                     about   next
                                                     trace.    If
                                                     NULL,   this
                                                     call    will
                                                     return
                                                     information
                                                     about  first
                                                     trace.
_________________________________________________________________


DESCRIPTION

       Tcl_TraceVar  allows  a C procedure to monitor and control
       access to a Tcl variable,  so  that  the  C  procedure  is
       invoked whenever the variable is read or written or unset.
       If the trace is  created  successfully  then  Tcl_TraceVar
       returns TCL_OK.  If an error occurred (e.g. varName speci­
       fies an element of an array, but the actual variable isn't
       an  array) then TCL_ERROR is returned and an error message
       is left in the interpreter's result.

       The flags argument  to  Tcl_TraceVar  indicates  when  the
       trace  procedure is to be invoked and provides information
       for setting up the trace.  It consists of an OR-ed  combi­
       nation of any of the following values:

       TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY
              Normally,  the  variable  will  be looked up at the
              current level of procedure call;  if  this  bit  is
              set  then  the variable will be looked up at global
              level, ignoring any active procedures.

       TCL_TRACE_READS
              Invoke proc whenever an attempt is made to read the
              variable.

       TCL_TRACE_WRITES
              Invoke  proc  whenever an attempt is made to modify
              the variable.

              Invoke proc whenever  the  variable  is  unset.   A
              variable may be unset either explicitly by an unset
              command, or implicitly  when  a  procedure  returns
              (its  local  variables  are automatically unset) or
              when the interpreter is deleted (all variables  are
              automatically unset).

       TCL_TRACE_ARRAY
              Invoke  proc whenever the array command is invoked.
              This gives the trace procedure a chance  to  update
              the  array  before  array  names  or  array  get is
              called.  Note that this is called before  an  array
              set, but that will trigger write traces.

       Whenever  one  of  the  specified operations occurs on the
       variable, proc will be invoked.  It should have  arguments
       and result that match the type Tcl_VarTraceProc:
              typedef char *Tcl_VarTraceProc(
                ClientData clientData,
                Tcl_Interp *interp,
                char *name1,
                char *name2,
                int flags);
       The  clientData  and  interp parameters will have the same
       values as those passed to Tcl_TraceVar when the trace  was
       created.   ClientData  typically points to an application-
       specific data structure that describes  what  to  do  when
       proc  is  invoked.   Name1  and name2 give the name of the
       traced variable in  the  normal  two-part  form  (see  the
       description of Tcl_TraceVar2 below for details).  Flags is
       an OR-ed combination of bits providing several  pieces  of
       information.     One    of   the   bits   TCL_TRACE_READS,
       TCL_TRACE_WRITES,  TCL_TRACE_ARRAY,  or   TCL_TRACE_UNSETS
       will  be set in flags to indicate which operation is being
       performed on the variable.  The bit  TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY  will
       be  set  whenever  the variable being accessed is a global
       one not accessible from the  current  level  of  procedure
       call:   the  trace  procedure  will need to pass this flag
       back to variable-related procedures like Tcl_GetVar if  it
       attempts    to    access    the    variable.     The   bit
       TCL_TRACE_DESTROYED will be set in flags if the  trace  is
       about  to be destroyed;  this information may be useful to
       proc so that it can clean up its own internal data  struc­
       tures  (see the section TCL_TRACE_DESTROYED below for more
       details).  Lastly, the bit  TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED  will  be
       set  if  the  entire interpreter is being destroyed.  When
       this bit is set, proc must be especially  careful  in  the
       things  it  does  (see  the  section  TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED
       below).  The trace procedure's return  value  should  nor­
       mally be NULL;  see ERROR RETURNS below for information on
       other possibilities.

       Tcl_UntraceVar may be used to  remove  a  trace.   If  the

       trace set with flags, proc, and clientData, then the  cor­
       responding  trace  is  removed.   If no such trace exists,
       then the call to Tcl_UntraceVar has no effect.   The  same
       bits are valid for flags as for calls to Tcl_TraceVar.

       Tcl_VarTraceInfo may be used to retrieve information about
       traces set on a given variable.   The  return  value  from
       Tcl_VarTraceInfo  is the clientData associated with a par­
       ticular trace.  The trace must be on the  variable  speci­
       fied by the interp, varName, and flags arguments (only the
       TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY bit from flags is used;   other  bits  are
       ignored) and its trace procedure must the same as the proc
       argument.  If the prevClientData argument is NULL then the
       return  value corresponds to the first (most recently cre­
       ated) matching trace, or NULL if  there  are  no  matching
       traces.   If  the prevClientData argument isn't NULL, then
       it should be the return value  from  a  previous  call  to
       Tcl_VarTraceInfo.  In this case, the new return value will
       correspond to the next matching trace after the one  whose
       clientData  matches  prevClientData,  or  NULL if no trace
       matches prevClientData or if there are  no  more  matching
       traces after it.  This mechanism makes it possible to step
       through all of the traces for a given variable  that  have
       the same proc.


TWO-PART NAMES

       The   procedures   Tcl_TraceVar2,   Tcl_UntraceVar2,   and
       Tcl_VarTraceInfo2   are   identical    to    Tcl_TraceVar,
       Tcl_UntraceVar, and Tcl_VarTraceInfo, respectively, except
       that the name of  the  variable  consists  of  two  parts.
       Name1  gives  the  name of a scalar variable or array, and
       name2 gives the name of an element within an array.   When |
       name2 is NULL, name1 may contain both an array and an ele­ |
       ment name: if the name contains an  open  parenthesis  and |
       ends  with a close parenthesis, then the value between the |
       parentheses is treated as an element name (which can  have |
       any string value) and the characters before the first open |
       parenthesis are treated as the name of an array  variable. |
       If name2 is NULL and name1 does not refer to an array ele­ |
       ment it means that either the variable is a scalar or  the
       trace  is  to  be  set  on the entire array rather than an
       individual element (see WHOLE-ARRAY TRACES below for  more
       information).


ACCESSING VARIABLES DURING TRACES

       During  read, write, and array traces, the trace procedure
       can read,  write,  or  unset  the  traced  variable  using
       Tcl_GetVar2,  Tcl_SetVar2,  and  other  procedures.  While
       proc is executing, traces are temporarily disabled for the
       variable,  so  that  calls  to Tcl_GetVar2 and Tcl_SetVar2

       invoked  again.   Disabling  only  occurs for the variable
       whose trace procedure is active;  accesses to other  vari­
       ables  will  still  be  traced.  However, if a variable is
       unset during a read or write trace then unset traces  will
       be invoked.

       During  unset  traces  the  variable has already been com­
       pletely expunged.  It is possible for the trace  procedure
       to read or write the variable, but this will be a new ver­
       sion of the variable.   Traces  are  not  disabled  during
       unset  traces  as  they are for read and write traces, but
       existing traces have been removed from the variable before
       any  trace  procedures are invoked.  If new traces are set
       by unset trace procedures, these traces will be invoked on
       accesses to the variable by the trace procedures.


CALLBACK TIMING

       When  read  tracing has been specified for a variable, the
       trace procedure will be invoked  whenever  the  variable's
       value is read.  This includes set Tcl commands, $-notation
       in Tcl commands, and invocations  of  the  Tcl_GetVar  and
       Tcl_GetVar2  procedures.   Proc is invoked just before the
       variable's value is returned.  It may modify the value  of
       the  variable  to  affect  what  is returned by the traced
       access.  If it unsets the variable then  the  access  will
       return an error just as if the variable never existed.

       When  write tracing has been specified for a variable, the
       trace procedure will be invoked  whenever  the  variable's
       value  is  modified.  This includes set commands, commands
       that modify variables as side effects (such as  catch  and
       scan),  and calls to the Tcl_SetVar and Tcl_SetVar2 proce­
       dures).  Proc will be invoked after the  variable's  value
       has  been  modified, but before the new value of the vari­
       able has been returned.  It may modify the  value  of  the
       variable to override the change and to determine the value
       actually returned by the traced access.  If it deletes the
       variable  then  the  traced  access  will  return an empty
       string.

       When array tracing has been specified, the trace procedure
       will  be  invoked  at  the  beginning of the array command
       implementation, before any of  the  operations  like  get,
       set,  or names have been invoked.  The trace procedure can
       modify the array elements with Tcl_SetVar and Tcl_SetVar2.

       When unset tracing has been specified, the trace procedure
       will be invoked whenever the variable is  destroyed.   The
       traces  will  be  called  after the variable has been com­
       pletely unset.

       If a call to Tcl_TraceVar or Tcl_TraceVar2  specifies  the
       name of an array variable without an index into the array,
       then the trace will be set on the array as a whole.   This
       means  that  proc  will be invoked whenever any element of
       the array is accessed in  the  ways  specified  by  flags.
       When  an  array  is  unset,  a  whole-array  trace will be
       invoked just once, with name1 equal to  the  name  of  the
       array  and  name2  NULL;   it will not be invoked once for
       each element.


MULTIPLE TRACES

       It is possible for multiple traces to exist  on  the  same
       variable.   When this happens, all of the trace procedures
       will be invoked  on  each  access,  in  order  from  most-
       recently-created  to  least-recently-created.   When there
       exist whole-array traces for an array as well as traces on
       individual  elements,  the  whole-array traces are invoked
       before the individual-element traces.  If a read or  write
       trace  unsets  the  variable  then all of the unset traces
       will be invoked but the remainder of the  read  and  write
       traces will be skipped.


ERROR RETURNS

       Under  normal  conditions  trace  procedures should return
       NULL, indicating successful completion.  If proc returns a
       non-NULL  value  it signifies that an error occurred.  The
       return value must be  a  pointer  to  a  static  character
       string  containing an error message.  If a trace procedure
       returns an error, no further traces are  invoked  for  the
       access  and  the  traced access aborts with the given mes­
       sage.  Trace procedures can  use  this  facility  to  make
       variables  read-only, for example (but note that the value
       of the variable will already have been modified before the
       trace  procedure  is  called,  so the trace procedure will
       have to restore the correct value).

       The return value from proc is only used  during  read  and
       write  tracing.   During unset traces, the return value is
       ignored and all relevant trace procedures will  always  be
       invoked.


RESTRICTIONS

       A  trace  procedure  can  be called at any time, even when
       there is a partially-formed result  in  the  interpreter's
       result  area.   If  the trace procedure does anything that
       could damage this result (such as calling  Tcl_Eval)  then
       it  must  save  the  original  values of the interpreter's
       result and freeProc fields  and  restore  them  before  it
       returns.

       It  is legal to set a trace on an undefined variable.  The
       variable will still appear to be undefined until the first
       time its value is set.  If an undefined variable is traced
       and then unset, the unset will fail with  an  error  (``no
       such  variable''),  but  the trace procedure will still be
       invoked.


TCL_TRACE_DESTROYED FLAG

       In an unset callback to proc, the TCL_TRACE_DESTROYED  bit
       is  set  in flags if the trace is being removed as part of
       the deletion.  Traces on a  variable  are  always  removed
       whenever   the   variable   is  deleted;   the  only  time
       TCL_TRACE_DESTROYED isn't set is for a  whole-array  trace
       invoked when only a single element of an array is unset.


TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED

       When  an interpreter is destroyed, unset traces are called
       for all of its variables.   The  TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED  bit
       will be set in the flags argument passed to the trace pro­
       cedures.  Trace procedures must be  extremely  careful  in
       what  they  do if the TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED bit is set.  It
       is not safe for the procedures to invoke  any  Tcl  proce­
       dures  on  the  interpreter,  since its state is partially
       deleted.  All that trace procedures should do under  these
       circumstances  is  to clean up and free their own internal
       data structures.


BUGS

       Tcl doesn't do any error checking to prevent trace  proce­
       dures  from  misusing  the  interpreter during traces with
       TCL_INTERP_DESTROYED set.

       Array traces are not yet integrated  with  the  Tcl  "info
       exists"  command,  nor  is there Tcl-level access to array
       traces.


KEYWORDS

       clientData, trace, variable


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