| '\" |
| '\" Copyright (c) 1995-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc. |
| '\" |
| '\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution |
| '\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. |
| '\" |
| '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: filename.n,v 1.7 2001/09/04 18:06:34 vincentdarley Exp $ |
| '\" |
| '\" The definitions below are for supplemental macros used in Tcl/Tk |
| '\" manual entries. |
| '\" |
| '\" .AP type name in/out ?indent? |
| '\" Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure. |
| '\" type is type of argument (int, etc.), in/out is either "in", "out", |
| '\" or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg, |
| '\" and indent is equivalent to second arg of .IP (shouldn't ever be |
| '\" needed; use .AS below instead) |
| '\" |
| '\" .AS ?type? ?name? |
| '\" Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops. Type and |
| '\" name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed |
| '\" to .AP later. If args are omitted, default tab stops are used. |
| '\" |
| '\" .BS |
| '\" Start box enclosure. From here until next .BE, everything will be |
| '\" enclosed in one large box. |
| '\" |
| '\" .BE |
| '\" End of box enclosure. |
| '\" |
| '\" .CS |
| '\" Begin code excerpt. |
| '\" |
| '\" .CE |
| '\" End code excerpt. |
| '\" |
| '\" .VS ?version? ?br? |
| '\" Begin vertical sidebar, for use in marking newly-changed parts |
| '\" of man pages. The first argument is ignored and used for recording |
| '\" the version when the .VS was added, so that the sidebars can be |
| '\" found and removed when they reach a certain age. If another argument |
| '\" is present, then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar. |
| '\" |
| '\" .VE |
| '\" End of vertical sidebar. |
| '\" |
| '\" .DS |
| '\" Begin an indented unfilled display. |
| '\" |
| '\" .DE |
| '\" End of indented unfilled display. |
| '\" |
| '\" .SO |
| '\" Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The |
| '\" options follow on successive lines, in four columns separated |
| '\" by tabs. |
| '\" |
| '\" .SE |
| '\" End of list of standard options for a Tk widget. |
| '\" |
| '\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass |
| '\" Start of description of a specific option. cmdName gives the |
| '\" option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives |
| '\" the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives |
| '\" the option's class in the option database. |
| '\" |
| '\" .UL arg1 arg2 |
| '\" Print arg1 underlined, then print arg2 normally. |
| '\" |
| '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: man.macros,v 1.4 2000/08/25 06:18:32 ericm Exp $ |
| '\" |
| '\" # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages. |
| .if t .wh -1.3i ^B |
| .nr ^l \n(.l |
| .ad b |
| '\" # Start an argument description |
| .de AP |
| .ie !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4 |
| .el \{\ |
| . ie !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu |
| . el .TP 15 |
| .\} |
| .ta \\n()Au \\n()Bu |
| .ie !"\\$3"" \{\ |
| \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP (\\$3) |
| .\".b |
| .\} |
| .el \{\ |
| .br |
| .ie !"\\$2"" \{\ |
| \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP |
| .\} |
| .el \{\ |
| \&\\fI\\$1\\fP |
| .\} |
| .\} |
| .. |
| '\" # define tabbing values for .AP |
| .de AS |
| .nr )A 10n |
| .if !"\\$1"" .nr )A \\w'\\$1'u+3n |
| .nr )B \\n()Au+15n |
| .\" |
| .if !"\\$2"" .nr )B \\w'\\$2'u+\\n()Au+3n |
| .nr )C \\n()Bu+\\w'(in/out)'u+2n |
| .. |
| .AS Tcl_Interp Tcl_CreateInterp in/out |
| '\" # BS - start boxed text |
| '\" # ^y = starting y location |
| '\" # ^b = 1 |
| .de BS |
| .br |
| .mk ^y |
| .nr ^b 1u |
| .if n .nf |
| .if n .ti 0 |
| .if n \l'\\n(.lu\(ul' |
| .if n .fi |
| .. |
| '\" # BE - end boxed text (draw box now) |
| .de BE |
| .nf |
| .ti 0 |
| .mk ^t |
| .ie n \l'\\n(^lu\(ul' |
| .el \{\ |
| .\" Draw four-sided box normally, but don't draw top of |
| .\" box if the box started on an earlier page. |
| .ie !\\n(^b-1 \{\ |
| \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' |
| .\} |
| .el \}\ |
| \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' |
| .\} |
| .\} |
| .fi |
| .br |
| .nr ^b 0 |
| .. |
| '\" # VS - start vertical sidebar |
| '\" # ^Y = starting y location |
| '\" # ^v = 1 (for troff; for nroff this doesn't matter) |
| .de VS |
| .if !"\\$2"" .br |
| .mk ^Y |
| .ie n 'mc \s12\(br\s0 |
| .el .nr ^v 1u |
| .. |
| '\" # VE - end of vertical sidebar |
| .de VE |
| .ie n 'mc |
| .el \{\ |
| .ev 2 |
| .nf |
| .ti 0 |
| .mk ^t |
| \h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\L'|\\n(^Yu-1v\(bv'\v'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu'\h'-|\\n(^lu+3n' |
| .sp -1 |
| .fi |
| .ev |
| .\} |
| .nr ^v 0 |
| .. |
| '\" # Special macro to handle page bottom: finish off current |
| '\" # box/sidebar if in box/sidebar mode, then invoked standard |
| '\" # page bottom macro. |
| .de ^B |
| .ev 2 |
| 'ti 0 |
| 'nf |
| .mk ^t |
| .if \\n(^b \{\ |
| .\" Draw three-sided box if this is the box's first page, |
| .\" draw two sides but no top otherwise. |
| .ie !\\n(^b-1 \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c |
| .el \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c |
| .\} |
| .if \\n(^v \{\ |
| .nr ^x \\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu |
| \kx\h'-\\nxu'\h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\ky\L'-\\n(^xu'\v'\\n(^xu'\h'|0u'\c |
| .\} |
| .bp |
| 'fi |
| .ev |
| .if \\n(^b \{\ |
| .mk ^y |
| .nr ^b 2 |
| .\} |
| .if \\n(^v \{\ |
| .mk ^Y |
| .\} |
| .. |
| '\" # DS - begin display |
| .de DS |
| .RS |
| .nf |
| .sp |
| .. |
| '\" # DE - end display |
| .de DE |
| .fi |
| .RE |
| .sp |
| .. |
| '\" # SO - start of list of standard options |
| .de SO |
| .SH "STANDARD OPTIONS" |
| .LP |
| .nf |
| .ta 5.5c 11c |
| .ft B |
| .. |
| '\" # SE - end of list of standard options |
| .de SE |
| .fi |
| .ft R |
| .LP |
| See the \\fBoptions\\fR manual entry for details on the standard options. |
| .. |
| '\" # OP - start of full description for a single option |
| .de OP |
| .LP |
| .nf |
| .ta 4c |
| Command-Line Name: \\fB\\$1\\fR |
| Database Name: \\fB\\$2\\fR |
| Database Class: \\fB\\$3\\fR |
| .fi |
| .IP |
| .. |
| '\" # CS - begin code excerpt |
| .de CS |
| .RS |
| .nf |
| .ta .25i .5i .75i 1i |
| .. |
| '\" # CE - end code excerpt |
| .de CE |
| .fi |
| .RE |
| .. |
| .de UL |
| \\$1\l'|0\(ul'\\$2 |
| .. |
| .TH filename n 7.5 Tcl "Tcl Built-In Commands" |
| .BS |
| '\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below! |
| .SH NAME |
| filename \- File name conventions supported by Tcl commands |
| .BE |
| .SH INTRODUCTION |
| .PP |
| All Tcl commands and C procedures that take file names as arguments |
| expect the file names to be in one of three forms, depending on the |
| current platform. On each platform, Tcl supports file names in the |
| standard forms(s) for that platform. In addition, on all platforms, |
| Tcl supports a Unix-like syntax intended to provide a convenient way |
| of constructing simple file names. However, scripts that are intended |
| to be portable should not assume a particular form for file names. |
| Instead, portable scripts must use the \fBfile split\fR and \fBfile |
| join\fR commands to manipulate file names (see the \fBfile\fR manual |
| entry for more details). |
| |
| .SH "PATH TYPES" |
| .PP |
| File names are grouped into three general types based on the starting point |
| for the path used to specify the file: absolute, relative, and |
| volume-relative. Absolute names are completely qualified, giving a path to |
| the file relative to a particular volume and the root directory on that |
| volume. Relative names are unqualified, giving a path to the file relative |
| to the current working directory. Volume-relative names are partially |
| qualified, either giving the path relative to the root directory on the |
| current volume, or relative to the current directory of the specified |
| volume. The \fBfile pathtype\fR command can be used to determine the |
| type of a given path. |
| |
| .SH "PATH SYNTAX" |
| .PP |
| The rules for native names depend on the value reported in the Tcl |
| array element \fBtcl_platform(platform)\fR: |
| .TP 10 |
| \fBmac\fR |
| On Apple Macintosh systems, Tcl supports two forms of path names. The |
| normal Mac style names use colons as path separators. Paths may be |
| relative or absolute, and file names may contain any character other |
| than colon. A leading colon causes the rest of the path to be |
| interpreted relative to the current directory. If a path contains a |
| colon that is not at the beginning, then the path is interpreted as an |
| absolute path. Sequences of two or more colons anywhere in the path |
| are used to construct relative paths where \fB::\fR refers to the |
| parent of the current directory, \fB:::\fR refers to the parent of the |
| parent, and so forth. |
| .RS |
| .PP |
| In addition to Macintosh style names, Tcl also supports a subset of |
| Unix-like names. If a path contains no colons, then it is interpreted |
| like a Unix path. Slash is used as the path separator. The file name |
| \fB\&.\fR refers to the current directory, and \fB\&..\fR refers to the |
| parent of the current directory. However, some names like \fB/\fR or |
| \fB/..\fR have no mapping, and are interpreted as Macintosh names. In |
| general, commands that generate file names will return Macintosh style |
| names, but commands that accept file names will take both Macintosh |
| and Unix-style names. |
| .PP |
| The following examples illustrate various forms of path names: |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB:\fR |
| Relative path to the current folder. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBMyFile\fR |
| Relative path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR in the current folder. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBMyDisk:MyFile\fR |
| Absolute path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR on the device named \fBMyDisk\fR. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB:MyDir:MyFile\fR |
| Relative path to a file name \fBMyFile\fR in a folder named |
| \fBMyDir\fR in the current folder. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB::MyFile\fR |
| Relative path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR in the folder above the |
| current folder. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB:::MyFile\fR |
| Relative path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR in the folder two levels above the |
| current folder. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB/MyDisk/MyFile\fR |
| Absolute path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR on the device named |
| \fBMyDisk\fR. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&../MyFile\fR |
| Relative path to a file named \fBMyFile\fR in the folder above the |
| current folder. |
| .RE |
| .TP |
| \fBunix\fR |
| On Unix platforms, Tcl uses path names where the components are |
| separated by slashes. Path names may be relative or absolute, and |
| file names may contain any character other than slash. The file names |
| \fB\&.\fR and \fB\&..\fR are special and refer to the current directory |
| and the parent of the current directory respectively. Multiple |
| adjacent slash characters are interpreted as a single separator. |
| The following examples illustrate various forms of path names: |
| .RS |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB/\fR |
| Absolute path to the root directory. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB/etc/passwd\fR |
| Absolute path to the file named \fBpasswd\fR in the directory |
| \fBetc\fR in the root directory. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&.\fR |
| Relative path to the current directory. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBfoo\fR |
| Relative path to the file \fBfoo\fR in the current directory. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBfoo/bar\fR |
| Relative path to the file \fBbar\fR in the directory \fBfoo\fR in the |
| current directory. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&../foo\fR |
| Relative path to the file \fBfoo\fR in the directory above the current |
| directory. |
| .RE |
| .TP |
| \fBwindows\fR |
| On Microsoft Windows platforms, Tcl supports both drive-relative and UNC |
| style names. Both \fB/\fR and \fB\e\fR may be used as directory separators |
| in either type of name. Drive-relative names consist of an optional drive |
| specifier followed by an absolute or relative path. UNC paths follow the |
| general form \fB\e\eservername\esharename\epath\efile\fR, but must at |
| the very least contain the server and share components, i.e. |
| \fB\e\eservername\esharename\fR. In both forms, |
| the file names \fB.\fR and \fB..\fR are special and refer to the current |
| directory and the parent of the current directory respectively. The |
| following examples illustrate various forms of path names: |
| .RS |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&\e\eHost\eshare/file\fR |
| Absolute UNC path to a file called \fBfile\fR in the root directory of |
| the export point \fBshare\fR on the host \fBHost\fR. Note that |
| repeated use of \fBfile dirname\fR on this path will give |
| \fB//Host/share\fR, and will never give just /fB//Host/fR. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBc:foo\fR |
| Volume-relative path to a file \fBfoo\fR in the current directory on drive |
| \fBc\fR. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBc:/foo\fR |
| Absolute path to a file \fBfoo\fR in the root directory of drive |
| \fBc\fR. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fBfoo\ebar\fR |
| Relative path to a file \fBbar\fR in the \fBfoo\fR directory in the current |
| directory on the current volume. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&\efoo\fR |
| Volume-relative path to a file \fBfoo\fR in the root directory of the current |
| volume. |
| .TP 15 |
| \fB\&\e\efoo\fR |
| Volume-relative path to a file \fBfoo\fR in the root directory of the current |
| volume. This is not a valid UNC path, so the assumption is that the |
| extra backslashes are superfluous. |
| .RE |
| |
| .SH "TILDE SUBSTITUTION" |
| .PP |
| In addition to the file name rules described above, Tcl also supports |
| \fIcsh\fR-style tilde substitution. If a file name starts with a |
| tilde, then the file name will be interpreted as if the first element |
| is replaced with the location of the home directory for the given |
| user. If the tilde is followed immediately by a separator, then the |
| \fB$HOME\fR environment variable is substituted. Otherwise the |
| characters between the tilde and the next separator are taken as a |
| user name, which is used to retrieve the user's home directory for |
| substitution. |
| .PP |
| The Macintosh and Windows platforms do not support tilde substitution |
| when a user name follows the tilde. On these platforms, attempts to |
| use a tilde followed by a user name will generate an error that the |
| user does not exist when Tcl attempts to interpret that part of the |
| path or otherwise access the file. The behaviour of these paths |
| when not trying to interpret them is the same as on Unix. File |
| names that have a tilde without a user name will be correctly |
| substituted using the \fB$HOME\fR environment variable, just like |
| for Unix. |
| |
| .SH "PORTABILITY ISSUES" |
| .PP |
| Not all file systems are case sensitive, so scripts should avoid code |
| that depends on the case of characters in a file name. In addition, |
| the character sets allowed on different devices may differ, so scripts |
| should choose file names that do not contain special characters like: |
| \fB<>:"/\e|\fR. The safest approach is to use names consisting of |
| alphanumeric characters only. Also Windows 3.1 only supports file |
| names with a root of no more than 8 characters and an extension of no |
| more than 3 characters. |
| .PP |
| On Windows platforms there are file and path length restrictions. |
| Complete paths or filenames longer than about 260 characters will lead |
| to errors in most file operations. |
| |
| .SH KEYWORDS |
| current directory, absolute file name, relative file name, |
| volume-relative file name, portability |
| |
| .SH "SEE ALSO" |
| file(n), glob(n) |