- NAME
- package - Facilities for package loading and version control
- SYNOPSIS
- package forget ?package package ...?
- package ifneeded package version ?script?
- package names
- package present ?-exact? package ?version?
- package provide package ?version?
- package require ?-exact? package ?version?
- package unknown ?command?
- package vcompare version1 version2
- package versions package
- package vsatisfies version1 version2
- DESCRIPTION
- package forget ?package package ...?
- package ifneeded package version ?script?
- package names
- package present ?-exact? package ?version?
- package provide package ?version?
- package require ?-exact? package ?version?
- package unknown ?command?
- package vcompare version1 version2
- package versions package
- package vsatisfies version1 version2
- VERSION NUMBERS
- PACKAGE INDICES
- SEE ALSO
- KEYWORDS
package - Facilities for package loading and version control
package forget ?package package ...?
package ifneeded package version ?script?
package names
package present ?-exact? package ?version?
package provide package ?version?
package require ?-exact? package ?version?
package unknown ?command?
package vcompare version1 version2
package versions package
package vsatisfies version1 version2
This command keeps a simple database of the packages available for
use by the current interpreter and how to load them into the
interpreter.
It supports multiple versions of each package and arranges
for the correct version of a package to be loaded based on what
is needed by the application.
This command also detects and reports version clashes.
Typically, only the package require and package provide
commands are invoked in normal Tcl scripts; the other commands are used
primarily by system scripts that maintain the package database.
The behavior of the package command is determined by its first argument.
The following forms are permitted:
- package forget ?package package ...?
-
Removes all information about each specified package from this interpreter,
including information provided by both package ifneeded and
package provide.
- package ifneeded package version ?script?
-
This command typically appears only in system configuration
scripts to set up the package database.
It indicates that a particular version of
a particular package is available if needed, and that the package
can be added to the interpreter by executing script.
The script is saved in a database for use by subsequent
package require commands; typically, script
sets up auto-loading for the commands in the package (or calls
load and/or source directly), then invokes
package provide to indicate that the package is present.
There may be information in the database for several different
versions of a single package.
If the database already contains information for package
and version, the new script replaces the existing
one.
If the script argument is omitted, the current script for
version version of package package is returned,
or an empty string if no package ifneeded command has
been invoked for this package and version.
- package names
-
Returns a list of the names of all packages in the
interpreter for which a version has been provided (via
package provide) or for which a package ifneeded
script is available.
The order of elements in the list is arbitrary.
- package present ?-exact? package ?version?
-
This command is equivalent to package require except that it
does not try and load the package if it is not already loaded.
- package provide package ?version?
-
This command is invoked to indicate that version version
of package package is now present in the interpreter.
It is typically invoked once as part of an ifneeded script,
and again by the package itself when it is finally loaded.
An error occurs if a different version of package has been
provided by a previous package provide command.
If the version argument is omitted, then the command
returns the version number that is currently provided, or an
empty string if no package provide command has been
invoked for package in this interpreter.
- package require ?-exact? package ?version?
-
This command is typically invoked by Tcl code that wishes to use
a particular version of a particular package. The arguments
indicate which package is wanted, and the command ensures that
a suitable version of the package is loaded into the interpreter.
If the command succeeds, it returns the version number that is
loaded; otherwise it generates an error.
If both the -exact
switch and the version argument are specified then only the
given version is acceptable. If -exact is omitted but
version is specified, then versions later than version
are also acceptable as long as they have the same major version
number as version.
If both -exact and version are omitted then any
version whatsoever is acceptable.
If a version of package has already been provided (by invoking
the package provide command), then its version number must
satisfy the criteria given by -exact and version and
the command returns immediately.
Otherwise, the command searches the database of information provided by
previous package ifneeded commands to see if an acceptable
version of the package is available.
If so, the script for the highest acceptable version number is invoked;
it must do whatever is necessary to load the package,
including calling package provide for the package.
If the package ifneeded database does not contain an acceptable
version of the package and a package unknown command has been
specified for the interpreter then that command is invoked; when
it completes, Tcl checks again to see if the package is now provided
or if there is a package ifneeded script for it.
If all of these steps fail to provide an acceptable version of the
package, then the command returns an error.
- package unknown ?command?
-
This command supplies a ``last resort'' command to invoke during
package require if no suitable version of a package can be found
in the package ifneeded database.
If the command argument is supplied, it contains the first part
of a command; when the command is invoked during a package require
command, Tcl appends two additional arguments giving the desired package
name and version.
For example, if command is foo bar and later the command
package require test 2.4 is invoked, then Tcl will execute
the command foo bar test 2.4 to load the package.
If no version number is supplied to the package require command,
then the version argument for the invoked command will be an empty string.
If the package unknown command is invoked without a command
argument, then the current package unknown script is returned,
or an empty string if there is none.
If command is specified as an empty string, then the current
package unknown script is removed, if there is one.
- package vcompare version1 version2
-
Compares the two version numbers given by version1 and version2.
Returns -1 if version1 is an earlier version than version2,
0 if they are equal, and 1 if version1 is later than version2.
- package versions package
-
Returns a list of all the version numbers of package
for which information has been provided by package ifneeded
commands.
- package vsatisfies version1 version2
-
Returns 1 if scripts written for version2 will work unchanged
with version1 (i.e. version1 is equal to or greater
than version2 and they both have the same major version
number), 0 otherwise.
Version numbers consist of one or more decimal numbers separated
by dots, such as 2 or 1.162 or 3.1.13.1.
The first number is called the major version number.
Larger numbers correspond to later versions of a package, with
leftmost numbers having greater significance.
For example, version 2.1 is later than 1.3 and version
3.4.6 is later than 3.3.5.
Missing fields are equivalent to zeroes: version 1.3 is the
same as version 1.3.0 and 1.3.0.0, so it is earlier than 1.3.1 or 1.3.0.2.
A later version number is assumed to be upwards compatible with
an earlier version number as long as both versions have the same
major version number.
For example, Tcl scripts written for version 2.3 of a package should
work unchanged under versions 2.3.2, 2.4, and 2.5.1.
Changes in the major version number signify incompatible changes:
if code is written to use version 2.1 of a package, it is not guaranteed
to work unmodified with either version 1.7.3 or version 3.1.
The recommended way to use packages in Tcl is to invoke package require
and package provide commands in scripts, and use the procedure
pkg_mkIndex to create package index files.
Once you've done this, packages will be loaded automatically
in response to package require commands.
See the documentation for pkg_mkIndex for details.
msgcat, packagens, pkgMkIndex
package, version
Copyright © 1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Copyright © 1995-1997 Roger E. Critchlow Jr.