Unable to pass a variable to a procedure using upvar in Tcl - tcl

I need a procedure that will be able to access, read and change a variable from the namespace of the caller. The variable is called _current_selection. I have tried to do it using upvar in several different ways, but nothing worked. (I've written small test proc just to test the upvar mechanism). Here are my attempts:
call to proc:
select_shape $this _current_selection
proc:
proc select_shape {main_gui var_name} {
upvar $var_name curr_sel
puts " previously changed: $curr_sel"
set curr_sel [$curr_sel + 1]
}
For my second attempt:
call to proc:
select_shape $this
proc:
proc select_shape {main_gui} {
upvar _current_selection curr_sel
puts " previously changed: $curr_sel"
set curr_sel [$curr_sel + 1]
}
In all the attempts, once it reaches this area in the code it says can't read "curr_sel": no such variable
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT:
The call for the function is made from a bind command:
$this/zinc bind current <Button-1> [list select_shape $this _current_selection]
at start I thought that it doesn't matter. but maybe It does.

I believe that bind commands operate in the global namespace, so that's where the variable is expected to be found. This might work:
$this/zinc bind current <Button-1> \
[list select_shape $this [namespace current]::_current_selection]

for upvar to work the variable must exist in the scope that you are calling it in. consider the following:
proc t {varName} {
upvar $varName var
puts $var
}
#set x 1
t x
If you run it as it is you'll get the error you are reporting, uncomment the set x 1 line and it will work.

In the example below I've tried to cover the most variants of changing variables from other namespace. It 100% works for me. Maybe it will help.
proc select_shape {main_gui var_name} {
upvar $var_name curr_sel
puts " previously changed: $curr_sel"
incr curr_sel
}
namespace eval N {
variable _current_selection 1
variable this "some_value"
proc testN1 {} {
variable _current_selection
variable this
select_shape $this _current_selection
puts " new: $_current_selection"
}
# using absolute namespace name
proc testN2 {} {
select_shape [set [namespace current]::this] [namespace current]::_current_selection
puts " new: [set [namespace current]::_current_selection]"
}
select_shape $this _current_selection
puts " new: $_current_selection"
}
N::testN1
N::testN2
#-------------------------------------
# Example with Itcl class
package require Itcl
itcl::class C {
private variable _current_selection 10
public method testC {} {
select_shape $this [itcl::scope _current_selection]
puts " new: $_current_selection"
}
}
set c [C #auto]
$c testC

Related

How do you access a procedure's local variables in a namespace eval {} inside that same procedure?

I'm sure I'm just being stupid but would you please tell me how to get access to $name inside the namespace in order to set variable n to $name? I can only find how to do this when the procedure is in the namespace but not the other way 'round. No matter what I try, this errors stating no such variable name. Thank you.
proc getNS {name} {
namespace eval ns::$name {
variable n $name
}
}
This works but isn't really an answer unless the answer is simply that it cannot be done directly. Got it from this SO question. Bryan Oakley gave the answer but used [list set...] instead of [list variable...] and that will fail if there is a global variable of the same name. (It will modify the global rather than creating a new variable in the namespace.) It may have been different, of course, in 2009 when that answer was provided.
proc getNS {name} {
namespace eval ns::$name [list variable n $name]
namespace eval ns::$name {
variable a abc
}
}
set n xyz
getNS WEBS
chan puts stdout "ns n: $ns::WEBS::n; a $ns::WEBS::a, global n: $n"
# => ns n: WEBS; a: abc; global n: xyz
You can just use set with a fully qualified variable name that uses the desired namespace:
proc getNS {name} {
namespace eval ns::$name {} ;# Create namespace if it doesn't already exist
set ns::${name}::n $name
}
getNS foo
puts $ns::foo::n ;# foo
Another way is to use uplevel to refer to the scope of the proc that calls namespace eval:
proc getNS {name} {
namespace eval ns::$name {
set n [uplevel 1 {set name}]
}
}

Tcl: How to get namespace and procedures of calling namespace?

I have some generic procedure. I would like this procedure to be able to get the name of the namespace and names of the procedures within the namespace where this procedure is called.
I have tried following code:
proc register {} {
puts [info procs]
puts [namespace current]
}
namespace eval Foo {
proc bar {} {
puts bar
}
proc _baz {} {
puts baz
}
register
}
However, this prints results for the namespace where register is defined, not for the namespace where it is executed. It looks like there are no dedicated commands for these tasks or at least these are not info or namespace commands.
To get information about the calling context, use uplevel:
proc register {} {
puts [uplevel 1 [list info procs]]
puts [uplevel 1 [list namespace current]]
}

How to reference a variable within a proc in another proc

I have a proc that evaluates an expr and appends to a particular list locally
proc a {} {
set mylist ""
set out [expr...
lappend mylist $out
}
I want to use the "mylist" list outside of the "a" proc without declaring it as global or without returning that list from within the proc using "return mylist". How do I go about doing that. I have two use cases, Use the variable within another proc:
proc b {} {
do something with the "mylist" from proc a
}
Use case 2 :
Just use it outside the proc [Not within another proc]
The "mylist" variable only exists as long as proc a is being executed. Whenever a proc finishes, all its local variables are cleaned up.
As long as a is in progress, you can access its variables using the upvar command.
For example: if you call b from a, b can access "mylist" using:
upvar 1 mylist othervar
puts $othervar
However, it is usually better practice to pass the variable (or at least its name) between procs, or make it a global or namespace variable.
Reference: https://www.tcl-lang.org/man/tcl/TclCmd/upvar.htm
Sample code snippet:
proc foo {ref_var} {
upvar $ref_var local_var
# do some operatins
lappend local_var 20
}
proc bar {} {
set a [list 10]
puts "Before: $a"
foo a
puts "After: $a"
}
# nested proc
bar
# without proc
set c [list 30]
puts "Initial: $c"
foo c
puts "Final: $c"
Output:
Before: 10
After: 10 20
Initial: 30
Final: 30 20

execute tcl commands line by line

I have a file like this:
set position {0.50 0.50}
set visibility false
set text {ID: {entity.id}\n Value: {entity.contour_val}}
And I want to do something similar to source, but I want to use a file handle only.
My current attempt looks like this:
proc readArray {fileHandle arrayName} {
upvar $arrayName arr
set cl 0
while {! [eof $fileHandle]} {
set cl [expr "$cl + 1"]
set line [gets $fileHandle]
if [$line eq {}] continue
puts $line
namespace eval ::__esg_priv "
uplevel 1 {*}$line
"
info vars ::__esg_priv::*
foreach varPath [info vars ::__esg_priv::*] {
set varName [string map { ::__esg_priv:: "" } $varPath]
puts "Setting arr($varName) -> [set $varPath]"
set arr($varName) [set $varPath]
}
namespace delete __esg_priv
}
puts "$cl number of lines read"
}
In place of uplevel I tried many combinations of eval and quoting.
My problem is, it either fails on the lines with lists or it does not actuall set the variables.
What is the right way to do it, if the executed commands are expected to be any valid code.
An extra question would be how to properly apply error checking, which I haven't tried yet.
After a call to
readArray [open "myFile.tcl" r] arr
I expect that
parray arr
issues something like:
arr(position) = 0.50 0.50
arr(text) = ID: {entity.id}\n Value: {entity.contour_val}
arr(visibility) = false
BTW: The last line contains internal {}, which are supposed to make it into the string variables. And there is no intent to make this a dict.
This code works, but there are still some problems with it:
proc readArray {fileHandle arrayName} {
upvar $arrayName arr
set cl 0
while {! [eof $fileHandle]} {
incr cl ;# !
set line [gets $fileHandle]
if {$line eq {}} continue ;# !
puts $line
namespace eval ::__esg_priv $line ;# !
foreach varPath [info vars ::__esg_priv::*] {
set varName [string map { ::__esg_priv:: "" } $varPath]
puts "Setting arr($varName) -> [set $varPath]"
set arr($varName) [set $varPath]
}
namespace delete __esg_priv
}
puts "$cl number of lines read"
}
I've taken out a couple of lines that didn't seem necessary, and changed some lines a bit.
You don't need set cl [expr "$cl + 1"]: incr cl will do.
if [$line eq {}] continue will fail because the [...] is a command substitution. if {$line eq {}} continue (braces instead of brackets) does what you intend.
Unless you are accessing variables in another scope, you won't need uplevel. namespace eval ::__esg_priv $line will evaluate one line in the designated namespace.
I didn't change the following, but maybe you should:
set varName [string map { ::__esg_priv:: "" } $varPath] works as intended, but set varName [namespace tail $varPath] is cleaner.
Be aware that if there exists a global variable with the same name as one of the variables in your file, no namespace variable will be created; the global variable will be updated instead.
If you intend to use the value in the text variable as a dictionary, you need to remove either the \n or the braces.
According to your question title, you want to evaluate the file line by line. If that requirement can be lifted, your code could be simplified by reading the whole script in one operation and then evaluating it with a single namespace eval.
ETA
This solution is a lot more robust in that it reads the script in a sandbox (always a good idea when writing code that will execute arbitrary external code) and redefines (within that sandbox) the set command to create members in your array instead of regular variables.
proc readArray {fileHandle arrayName} {
upvar 1 $arrayName arr
set int [interp create -safe]
$int alias set apply {{name value} {
uplevel 1 [list set arr($name) $value]
}}
$int eval [read $fileHandle]
interp delete $int
}
To make it even more safe against unexpected interaction with global variables etc, look at the interp package in the Tcllib. It lets you create an interpreter that is completely empty.
Documentation: apply, continue, eof, foreach, gets, if, incr, info, interp package, interp, list, namespace, proc, puts, set, string, uplevel, upvar, while

how do I update a variable via a tk window by name

Consider the following situation:
namespace eval ::mydialog {}
proc ::mydialog::show {w varName args} {
upvar 1 $varName theVar
# now I can access theVar
# (1)
# code defining/creating my window
# here some widgets for user interaction are created,
# some of which will call ::mydialog::_someCallback
wm protocol $w WM_DELETE_WINDOW [list ::mydialog::close $w]
}
proc ::mydialog::_someCallback {} {
# how do I access theVar here?
# (2)
}
proc ::mydialog::close { w } {
# here some changes are supposed to be written back into varName in the calling scope,
# how do I do that?!
# (3)
destroy $w
}
Im trying to figure out how to (a) get a variable from the calling scope (b) have it available in all three procs and (c) writing any changes back into said variable.
(a) I would normally solve using 'upvar 1 $varName theVar'
(b) I would normally solve with a namespace variable
(c) As long as we only have one proc that would happen automaticly with (a) due to the fact that we would be working on a local alias of that variable
The problem is that upvar only works (at least as intended) in (1).
I could use upvar in (1) and save/copy into a namespace variable, that would solve (a) and (b), but not (c).
I would be gratefull if someone could point me in the right direction here.
Also, as I'm relativly new to Tcl/Tk my concept might not be ideal, suggestions toward a better design are welcome too.
I suggest you use a namespace variable that keeps the name of the variable, and upvar using the global scope.
namespace eval ::mydialog {
variable varName
}
proc ::mydialog::show {w _varName args} {
variable varName $_varName
upvar #0 $varName theVar
}
proc ::mydialog::_someCallback {} {
variable varName
upvar #0 $varName theVar
puts $theVar
}
proc ::mydialog::close { w } {
variable varName
upvar #0 $varName theVar
set theVar newval
}
set globalvar oldval
# => oldval
::mydialog::show {} globalvar
::mydialog::_someCallback
# => oldval
::mydialog::close {}
# => newval
puts $globalvar
# => newval
Note that the syntax highlighting fails: #0 $varName theVar isn't really a comment.
This works with namespace variables too: if you have a variable called nsvar in the ::foobar namespace you can use it like this:
set ::foobar::nsvar oldval
::mydialog::show {} ::foobar::nsvar
::mydialog::_someCallback
::mydialog::close {}
puts $::foobar::nsvar
with the same effects.
You can't, however, use variables local to some procedure this way.
One way to make this really simple is to use Snit widgets instead of collections of Tcl procedures.
Documentation: namespace, proc, puts, set, upvar, variable
Snit documentation: man page, faq (the faq serves as a kind of introduction as well)