Exercises, examples and other material relating to training module T207. This topic is presented on public courses Learning to program in Tcl, Tcl Programming, Tcl Programming

As your code grows from 1 to 10 to 100 lines, you'll find that it's helpful to split it into a series of logical blocks, each of which can be run as a command. You'll learn how to define such procedures, how to pass information in and out of them, and how to access information that's held in your main program and in the calling procedure too.

Articles and tips on this subject		updated
4398	Accessing variables across subroutine boundaries - Perl, Python, Java and Tcl In a perfect programming world, code is broken into named blocks (methods, functions, subroutines, classes, procedures, commands, modules, packages etc) and data is passed around between the blocks purely as parameters and return values. And variables are local to the block in which they're used. This ...	2015-01-18
3629	Sharing lots of values in Tcl without having lots of global declarations Q: How can I make a lot of values defined in my Tcl main program available in various procs, without having to pass them all down the chain or declare them as global all over the place? A question from today's Tcl course - to which my first reaction was "why do you want to do that?". However, having ...	2012-03-03
3414	Passing back multiple results in Tcl - upvar and uplevel What's the effect of having a meal? There are many. "You're not hungry any more" is the obvious answer, but also "there's washing up to do", "there's a gap on the shelves" and so on. And yet when programming with an assignment statement (or a set command in Tcl - I am running a Tcl course this week) ...	2011-09-02
3192	Tcl - Some example of HOW TO in handling data files and formats During the Tcl course I was running earlier this week, we got involved in a number of interesting topics such as • How to clean up input lines into lists of fields (use split) • How to reformat awkward fields (use regexp and regsub) • How to combine files that vary in format from year ...	2011-03-04
1404	Tcl - global, upvar and uplevel. In Tcl, variables are "scoped" to the procedure in which they're used. That's a sensible default, since you want to be able to write main applications without the risk of interfering with variables within your procs. A global command in a proc allows you to refer to a variable in the main code from ...	2011-03-01
2929	Passing a variable number of parameters in to a function / method How many columns are there in each row in a table? It will vary, depending on the table! If I want to write a "row" function in PHP, passing in as parameters each of my columns, I don't know the parameter count. But I can find out using the fun_num_args function, and I can then get each of them using ...	2010-08-20
2520	Global and Enable - two misused words! The word global is used in declaring variables in some languages such as Tcl and Python to indicate that the variable being referred to is shared with the variable of the same name at the top scope. To use the word global, which implies that the declaration makes the variable visible everywhere, is misleading The ...	2009-12-09
2476	Tcl - uplevel to run code at calling level Tcl procs (they're Tcl's functions) can pass information back via the return command, and they can access data in the top level of code via the global commands. Incoming parameters can be passed in 'by name' so that any values altered within the proc are also altered in the calling code - there's an ...	2009-10-24
2466	Tcl - passing arrays and strings in and back out of procs When you want to pass data INTO a proc in Tcl from a regular variable, you write the variable name with a $ in front of it in the code and the value is substituted. But this doesn't work if (a) you are passing an array (which cannot be expanded into a string or (b) you want to change the value in a ...	2009-10-22
1782	Calling procs in Tcl and how it compares to Perl In languages such as Java, you must call your named blocks of code (methods) with the correct number and type of parameters, but in Perl you may call them with as many or as few parameters as you like ... then write the named block of code (a sub) to handle (or ignore) whatever it gets. This week, I'm ...	2008-09-04
96	Variable Scope One of the vital topics on all our programming courses is that of variable scope. Variable Scope may be defined as the area of a program in which a variable is visible, and how long that variable is accessible for. Why do I describe variable scope as a vital subject when you can write simple programs ...	2008-05-11
1163	A better alternative to cutting and pasting code If you're new to coding, you'll be so concerned to be writing code that works that you may not take a look at coding technique. Your nose will be so close to the grindstone as you work that you won't take the time to look and ask "Do I need to keep grinding anyway?" If you find yourself writing a piece ...	2007-04-26
775	Do not duplicate your code If you've writing or maintaining a program and you find yourself cutting and pasting a chunk of code, STOP and think again. By duplicating a block of code, you're duplicating your maintainance task from that point onwards - any fixes applied to the original much be applied to the copy too. And that's ...	2006-06-30
122	Passing arrays to procs in Tcl If you're writing a Tcl proc, you'll normally pass in parameters by value, specifying a $ in front of the variable whos contents you want to pass in in the calling sequence: dojob $passin If, however, passin is a Tcl array, tis won't work since $passin cannot be expanded to string. So you'll ...	2006-06-05

add2	Answer to final exercise
addindemo	Sample code to complete - final exercise
another	upvar to return a second value
cbn	Using upvar to call by name
doublit	Another upvar example for learners
dr2	Optional parameter in Tcl
dresser	Changing a value within a proc and returning the altered value
gsc	The global scope
knots	Unloading an array of inputs as local variables in a proc
p1	Sharing a variable using global
p2	Sharing a variable using upvar
p3	Sharing a variable using upvar and call by name - RECOMMENED
p4	returning a variable - RECOMMENED for passing 1 piece of data back
p5	Sharing a variable using uplevel - obscure!
pr1	Defining a proc (command) and using it
pr3	loading a file of procs shared with other applications
scope1	Variable default to being local
tied	Using an array of inputs as if they were local variables in a proc
up1	Using upvar to effect a variable in the calling code
uquery	Shared file of procs
uv	Call by value and call by name
vardemo	Calling a proc with a variable number of arguments
whatandwhen	Exercise - please write the proc to complete
wwanswer	First sample answer - "getnumber"
wwbetter	Better sample answer - "getnumber"
yetan	uplevel to store a value in parent

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