critcl::app(3tcl)

📦 version 3.1.18.1, in debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble

🎀 NAME 🎀

critcl::app — Critcl — Application Package Reference. That's the whole vibe of this page, bestie. And hey, this is the critcl::app(3tcl) page from C Runtime In Tcl (CriTcl), so you're in exactly the right place. 💖

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay so here's the whole summoning ritual, verbatim:

package require Tcl  8.4

package require critcl::app  ?3.1.18?

package require critcl  ?2?

package require platform  ?1.0.2?

package require cmdline

::critcl::app::main commandline

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

C Runtime In Tcl, aka CriTcl, is a whole system for compiling C code that's embedded in Tcl, on the fly — and then either loading the resulting objects straight into Tcl so you can use them immediately, or packaging them up for distribution. Use CriTcl when you want to ✨glow up✨ performance by rewriting the routines that are your bottlenecks in C. It's giving "I know a girl who can do both." 💅

This document is the reference manpage for the critcl::app package. Its intended audience is developers working on critcl's internals. These commands are not needed to simply write a Critcl script — so if that's you, breathe, you don't need this. If you're in need of an overview of the whole system instead, please go and read the Introduction To CriTcl. 🫶

This package resides in the Application Layer of CriTcl. Behold the hierarchy:

*================*
|Applications    |
| critcl         |
| critcl::app    |
*================*

+----------------+
|Core Packages   |
| critcl         |
| critcl::util   |
+----------------+

+----------------+
|Support Packages|
| stubs::*       |
| md5, platform  |
|  ...           |
+----------------+

…and it implements the functionality of the CriTcl Application, and through this, the mode generate package. The actual application is (only) a shim wrapping around this package. It itself is built on top of the core package critcl. No cap. 🌸

🔥 API 🔥

The package exports exactly one single command. One. Iconic, honestly.

::critcl::app::main commandline — so the commandline here is a list of zero or more options, followed by zero or more Critcl script files. By default the Critcl script files get built and the results get cached. This cuts down on the time needed to load the package. The last occurrence of -pkg and -tea, if provided, selects the corresponding alternative mode of operations. For a larger set of examples please see section "Building Critcl Packages" in the document about Using CriTcl. 💜

And now, the options. Buckle up, there's a lot, and they're all getting their moment:

👑 OPTIONS 👑

The following options are understood:

-v, --version — prints the version to stdout and exits. That's it, that's the whole thing. 🎀
-I path — arranges for the compiler to search path for headers. Uses of this option are cumulative.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-L path — arranges for the linker to search path. Uses of this option are cumulative.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-cache path — sets path as the directory to use as the result cache. The default is "~/.critcl/<platform>", or "~/.critcl/<pid>.<epoch>" when generating a package. See option -pkg, below. 🍓

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-clean — arranges for all files and directories in the result cache to be deleted before compilation begins. It's giving fresh start, clean slate, no baggage.

Ignored when generating a package because this mode starts out with a unique and empty result cache. See option -pkg, below.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-config path — provides a custom configuration file. By default a configuration included in the system core is used. When specified multiple times the last value is used.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-debug mode — activates one of the following debugging modes:
- memory — track and report memory allocations made by the Tcl core.
- symbols — compile all ".c" files with debugging symbols.
- all — both memory and symbols.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below). Uses of this option are cumulative.

-disable name — sets the value of the custom build configuration option name to false. It is equivalent to "-with-name 0".

Validated only if one of the input files for the Critcl script actually defines and uses a custom build configuration option with that name. 👀

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-enable name — sets the value of the custom build configuration option name to true. It is equivalent to "-with-name 1".

Validated only if one of the input files for the Critcl script actually defines and uses a custom build configuration option with that name. 👀

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-force — forces compilation even if a shared library for the file already exists. Unlike cleaning the cache, this is lazy in the destruction of files and only affects relevant files. Minimal effort, maximum result. ✨

Ignored when generating a package (see option -pkg, below), which starts out with a unique and empty result cache.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-help — prints a short description of command line syntax and options and then exits the application. Your little helper. 🫶
-keep — causes the system to cache compiled ".c" files. Also prevents the deletion of the unique result cache used by the run when generating a package (see option -pkg below). Intended for debugging of critcl itself, where it may be necessary to inspect the generated C code. 🔍

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-libdir directory — adds directory to the list of directories the linker searches for libraries in (like -L). With -pkg, generated packages are saved in directory. When specified multiple times the last value is used. The default is "lib", resolved relative to the current working directory.
-includedir directory — adds directory to the list of directories the compiler searches for headers in. With -pkg, generated header files are saved in directory. Uses of this option are cumulative. The last value is used as the destination for generated header files. The default is the relative directory "include", resolved relative to the current working directory.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-pkg — generates a package from the Critcl script files. Input files are processed first as usual, but are then bundled into a single library, with additional generated files to form the library into a standard Tcl package. That's generation mode, bestie. If both options, i.e. -pkg and -tea are specified the last one specified wins. 🏆

Options -clean and -force are ignored. -libdir is relevant in both this and -tea mode.

The basename of the first file is the name of the package to generate. If its file extension indicates a shared library (".so", ".sl", ".dylib", and ".dll") it is also removed from the set of input files. Each Critcl script file is kept as part of the input. A single file without a suffix is assumed to be a Critcl script. A file without a suffix, but other input files following is treated like the name of a shared library proper, and removed from the set of input files.

Examples:

... -pkg ... foo

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   foo.tcl

... -pkg ... foo bar.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   bar.tcl

... -pkg ... foo.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   foo.tcl

... -pkg ... foo.so bar.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   bar.tcl

-show — prints the configuration of the chosen target to stdout and then exits. Set -target, below. 👑
-showall — prints the whole chosen configuration file to stdout and then exits. See -config, above. 🌈
-target name — overrides the default choice of build target. Only the last occurrence of this option is used. The named target must exist in the chosen configuration file. Use -targets (see below) to get a list of the acceptable targets. Use -config to select the configuration file.

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

-targets — prints the list of all known targets from the chosen configuration file to stdout and then exits. Use -config to select the configuration file. 📋
-tea — like -pkg, except no binaries are generated. Creates a directory hierarchy containing the Critcl script, its companion files, and a TEA-conformant build system with most of the needed support code, including copies of the critcl packages.

If both -pkg and -tea are specified the last occurrence wins. 🏆

-I, -L, -clean, -force, -cache, -includedir, -enable, -disable, and -with-FOO are ignored. In contrast, the option -libdir is relevant in both this and -pkg mode.

Examples:

... -tea ... foo

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   foo.tcl

... -tea ... foo bar.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   bar.tcl

... -tea ... foo.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   foo.tcl

... -tea ... foo.so bar.tcl

=> Package name is: foo
=> Input file is:   bar.tcl

-with- name value — this option sets the value of the custom build configuration option name to value.

The information is validated only if one of the ".critcl" input files actually defines and uses a custom build configuration option with that name. 👀

Ignored when generating a TEA package (see option -tea below).

🌸 MODES OF OPERATION/USE 🌸

Okay so bestie, CriTcl is a multitalented icon — she can be used in three different modes of operation, and they're called:

Compile & Run, and
Generate Package
Generate TEA Package

Compile & Run was the OG mode and it's the default for critcl_pkg. What does she do? She collects the C fragments from the Critcl script, builds them as needed, and caches the results so that load times later are, like, so much better. Caching queen 💅

The second mode, Generate Package, showed up to enable the creation of (prebuilt) deliverable packages which do not depend on the existence of a build system — meaning, no C compiler needed on the target machine. Iconic, honestly. This was originally done through the experimental Critbind tool, and now it's handled by the CriTcl Application, also named critcl. Glow up ✨

Newly introduced with Critcl version 3 is Generate TEA Package. This mode constructs a directory hierarchy from the package which can later be built like a regular TEA package, i.e. using

.../configure --prefix ...
make all isntall

(yes, isntall is exactly how it's written in the original, no cap, we do not correct the original here 🙈)

🎀 PACKAGE STRUCTURE 🎀

Packages generated by critcl have the following basic structure:

<TOP>
+- pkgIndex.tcl
+- critcl-rt.tcl
+- license.terms (optional)
|
+- tcl (optional)
|  +- <tsources files>
|
+- <platform>
   +- <shared library>

✨ Notes ✨

The file pkgIndex.tcl is the standard package index file expected by Tcl's package management. It is sourced during a search for packages, and declares the package to Tcl with its files, and how to handle them. Lowkey the whole front door of the package.
The file critcl-rt.tcl is a helper file containing the common code used by pkgIndex.tcl to perform its tasks. She's the bestie in the background making it all work.
The file license.terms is optional and only appears if the .critcl file the package is generated from used the command critcl::license to declare package author and license. 🫶
All files declared with the command critcl::tsources get put into the sub-directory tcl.
The shared library generated by critcl is put into a platform-specific sub-directory. Per platform, per vibe. 🌈

The whole structure — and especially that last point — enables us to later merge the results (for the same package, and version) for multiple target platforms into a single directory structure without conflict, by simply copying the top directories over each other. The only files which can conflict are in the <TOP> and tcl directories, and for these we know that they are identical across targets. The way that works out so cleanly?? Obsessed. The result of such a merge would look like:

<TOP>
+- pkgIndex.tcl
+- critcl-rt.tcl
+- license.terms (optional)
|
+- tcl (optional)
|  +- <tsources files>
|
+- <platform1>
|  +- <shared library1>
+- <platform2>
|  +- <shared library2>
...
+- <platformN>
   +- <shared libraryN>

The latest changes are found at the top. 👑

🦋 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.18.1 🦋

Attention: While the overall version (of the bundle) moves to 3.1.18.1 the versions of packages critcl and critcl::app are unchanged. (Yeah, the bundle leveled up, the packages stayed exactly as they were. No glow-up for them this round.)
Bugfix Generally removed a number of 8.5-isms which slipped into 3.1.18, breaking ability to use it with Tcl 8.4. 💀 They really just wandered in uninvited.
Bugfix Corrected broken build.tcl uninstall.
Bugfix Package critcl::class bumped to version 1.1.1. Fixed partial template substitution breaking compilation of the generated code. 🛠️

💜 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.18 💜

Feature (Developer support). Merged pull request #96 from sebres/main-direct-invoke. Enables direct invokation of the main.tcl file for starkits from within a dev checkout, i.e. outside of a starkit, or starpack.
Feature. Added channel types to the set of builtin argument and result types. The argument types are for simple channel access, access requiring unshared channels, and taking the channel fully into the C level, away from Tcl. The result type comes in variants for newly created channels, known channels, and to return taken channels back to Tcl. The first will register the returned value in the interpreter, the second assumes that it already is. So many flavours, all of them valid. 💅
Bugfix. Issue #96. Reworked the documentation around the argument type Tcl_Interp* to make its special status more visible, explain uses, and call it out from result types where its use will be necessary or at least useful. Main character type gets main character documentation energy.
Feature. Package critcl::class bumped to version 1.1. Extended with the ability to create a C API for classes, and the ability to disable the generation of the Tcl API.
Bugfix. Merged pull request #99 from pooryorick/master. Fixes to the target directory calculations done by the install code.
Merged pull request #94 from andreas-kupries/documentation. A larger documentation cleanup. The main work was done by pooryorick, followed by tweaks done by myself.
Extended the test suite with lots of cases based on the examples for the various generator packages. IOW the new test cases replicate/encapsulate the examples and demonstrate that the packages used by the examples generate working code. Testing era, fr fr. 🧪
Bugfix. Issue #95. Changed the field critcl_bytes.s to unsigned char* to match Tcl's type. Further constified the field to make clear that read-only usage is the common case for it.
Bugfix/Feature. Package critcl::cutil bumped to version 0.2. Fixed missing inclusion of header string.h in critcl_alloc.h, needed for memcpy in macro STREP. Added macros ALLOC_PLUS and STRDUP. Moved documentation of STREP... macros into proper place (alloc section, not assert). She finally sits where she belongs.
Merged pull request #83 from apnadkarni/vc-fixes. Removed deprecated -Gs for MSVC builds, and other Windows fixups. 🪟
Feature. Package critcl::iassoc bumped to version 1.1. Refactored internals to generate an include header for use by .c files. This now matches what other generator packages do. The template file is inlined and removed. Consistency?? We love to see it.
Merged pull request #82 from gahr/home-symlink Modified tests to handle possibility of $HOME a symlink.
Merged pull request #81 from gahr/test-not-installed Modified test support to find uninstalled critcl packages when running tests. Handles all but critcl::md5.
Merged pull request #85 from snoe925/issue-84 to fix Issue #84 breaking installation on OSX. 🍎
Merged pull request #87 from apnadkarni/tea-fixes to fix Issue #86, broken -tea option, generating an incomplete package.
Feature. New package critcl::callback providing C-level functions and data structures to manage callbacks from C to Tcl. 📞
Feature. Package critcl::literals bumped to version 1.3. Added mode +list enabling the conversion of multiple literals into a list of their strings.
Feature. Package critcl::enum bumped to version 1.1. Added basic mode handling, supporting tcl (default) and +list (extension enabling the conversion of multiple enum values into a list of their strings).
Feature. Package critcl::emap bumped to version 1.2. Extended existing mode handling with +list extension enabling the conversion of multiple emap values into a list of their strings.
Feature. Extended the set of available types by applying a few range restrictions to the scalar types (int, long, wideint, double, float).

Example: int > 0 is now a viable type name.

Heads up bestie: this is actually more limited than the description might let you believe.

See the package reference for the details. 👀

⭐ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.17 ⭐

Extension: Allow duplicate arg- and result-type definitions if they are fully identical. (Twins are fine, doppelgängers are not. 🫶)
Bugfix. The application mishandled the possibility of identical-named critcl::tsources. Possible because critcl::tsources can be in subdirectories, a structure which is not retained in the assembled package, causing such files to overwrite each other and at least one lost. Fixed by adding a serial number to the file names in the assembled package. Numbered them so nobody gets deleted, periodt.
Bugfix in the static scanner which made it loose requirement information. Further added code to generally cleanup results at the end (removal of duplicates, mainly).
Bugfix: Fixed issue #76. Support installation directories which are not in the auto_path. Without the patch the installed critcl will not find its own packages and fail. Thank you to Simon Bachmann [https://github.com/lupylucke] for the report and patch, and then his patience with me to getting to actually apply it. 💖
Bugfix: Fixed issue #75. Extended critcl::include to now take multiple paths.
Added new compatibility package lmap84.
Fixed typos in various documentation files. 📝
Fixed bug introduced by commit 86f415dd30 (3.1.16 release). The separation of critcl::ccode into user and work layers means that location retrieval has to go one more level up to find the user location. Just one more floor up, bestie.
New supporting package critcl::cutil. Provides common C level facilities useful to packages (assertions, tracing, memory allocation shorthands).
Modified package critcl to make use of the new tracing facilities to provide tracing of arguments and results for critcl::ccommand and critcl::cproc invokations.
Modified packages critcl and critcl::class to provide better function names for (class) method tracing. Bumped package critcl::class to version 1.0.7.
Extended the support package critcl::literals with limited configurability. It is now able to generate code for C-level access to the pool without Tcl types (Mode c). The previously existing functionality is accesssible under mode tcl, which also is the default. Both modes can be used together. ✨
Extended the support package critcl::emap with limited configurability. It is now able to generate code for C-level access to the mapping without Tcl types (Mode c). The previously existing functionality is accessible under mode tcl, which also is the default. Both modes can be used together. ✨

✨ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.16 ✨

okay bestie, this one is stacked, buckle up 💖

New feature. We extended critcl::cproc's argument handling so you can now mix required and optional arguments however you want — arbitrary mixing, no cap, slay. 🎀
New feature. Potential Incompatibility. We also extended critcl::cproc's argument handling so that an argument named args gets treated as variadic if it's the last argument of the procedure. iykyk, watch out for that one 🫶
New feature. Two new introspection commands dropped: critcl::hasargtype and critcl::has-resulttype. They let you test whether a specific (named) type conversion is actually implemented or not. iconic behavior honestly 💅
New result type added: Tcl_Obj*0, with the alias object0. The difference between it and Tcl_Obj* is all in the reference counting. ✨
Extended the command critcl::argtypesupport with a new optional argument, so you can explicitly specify the identifier used for guarding against multiple definitions.
Bugfix: Fixed a problem with the implementation of issue #54 (peep 3.1.14 for that lore). Now we always create the secondary log file — otherwise end-of-log handling can break, because it just assumes the file exists unconditionally. 😭
Bugfix: Fixed a problem with the internal change to the hook HandleDeclAfterBuild. The forgotten critcl::cconst got corrected. 🙈
Debugging aid: Added a comment holding the name of the result type when emitting result conversions.
Bugfix: Fixed issue #60. Unbundled the package directories that contained multiple packages — all directories under lib/ now contain exactly one package. periodt. 💀
Bugfix: Fixed issue #62, where a few dict exists commands were operating on a fixed string instead of a variable. oops 😭
Bugfix: Fixed issue #56. Release builders are reminded to run the tests. (run the tests bestie, please 🙏)
Bugfix: Fixed issue #55. For FreeBSD, critcl's platform package now identifies the Kernel ABI version. Initialization of the cache directory now also uses platform::identify for the default path, instead of platform::generic.
Bugfix: Fixed issue #58. Simplified the setup and use of md5. Critcl now makes use of its own package for md5, using itself to build it. And no, there's no chicken/egg problem here, because the -pkg mode used for this does not use md5 — that's limited to mode compile & run. 🐣

🌸 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.15 🌸

Fixed version number bogosity with 3.1.14. (we said 3.1.14, we meant it, but the number was lying 💀)

🦋 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.14 🦋

Fixed issue #36. Added a message to the all target of the Makefile generated for TEA mode. Also tweaked other parts of the output to be less noisy. 🤫
Accepted the request implied in issue #54. Now we unconditionally save the compiler/linker build log into the log key of the dictionary returned by cresults, and save a copy of only the execution output in the new key exl ("execution log"). 💖
Fixed issue #53. Clarified the documentation of commands critcl::load and critcl::failed with regard to their results and the throwing of errors (spoiler: it does not happen).
Fixed issue #48. Modified mode "compile & run" to allow new declarations in a file after it was built, instead of erroring out. The new decls get built when needed. Mode "precompile" is unchanged and will continue to trap that situation. ✨
Fixed issue #52. Updated the local Tcl/Tk headers to 8.4.20, 8.5.13, and 8.6.4. fresh headers, glowing skin 💅
Fixed issue #45. New feature: command critcl::cconst.
critcl::util: new command locate, which finds a file across a set of paths and reports an error when it's not found. This is for use in autoconf-like header-searches and similar configuration tests. 🎀
Modified 'AbortWhenCalledAfterBuild' to dump the entire stack (info frame!). This should make it way easier to determine the location of the troubling declaration. 🔍

🧚 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.13 🧚

Merged PR #43. Fixed a bug loading adjunct Tcl sources.
Fixes in documentation and generated code of package "critcl::enum". Bumped to version 1.0.1.
Fixes in documentation of package "critcl::bitmap".
New package "critcl::emap". In essence a variant or cross of "critcl::bitmap" with behaviour like "critcl::enum". it's giving crossover episode 👑
Merged PR #49. Fixed a documentation typo.
Merged PR #46. Fixed a documentation typo.
Merged PR #47. Fixes to test results to match the accumulated code changes. Also made portable across Tcl versions (because the error syntax varies). 🌈
New predefined argument- and result-type "wideint" mapping to Tcl_WideInt.
New predefined argument-type "bytes" mapping to a tuple of byte-array data and length. Note: the existing "bytearray" type (and its aliases) was left untouched, to keep backward compatibility. 🫶
Modified the internal interface between the Tcl shim and the C function underneath "critcl::cproc" with respect to the handling of optional arguments. An optional argument "X" now induces the use of two C arguments, "X" and "has_X". The new argument "has_X" is of boolean (int) type. It's set to true when X is set, and set to false when X has the default value. C code that cares about knowing if the argument is default or not can now check that quickly, without having to code the default value inside. NOTE: this change is visible in the output of the advanced commands "argcnames", "argcsignature", "argvardecls", and "argconversion". 💀
Fixed issue #50 and documented the availability of the variable "interp" (type Tcl_Interp*) within "critcl::cinit" C code fragments. Note that while the old, undocumented name of the variable, "ip", is still usable, it is deprecated. It will be fully removed in two releases, i.e. for release 3.1.15. The variable name was changed to be consistent with other code environments. ⚠️
Fixed issue #51. Disabled the generation of #line directives for "critcl::config lines 0" coming from template files, or code generated with them before the final value of this setting was known.
Fixed an issue with handling of namespaced package names in "critcl::iassoc". Equivalent to a bug in "critcl::class" fixed for critcl 3.1.1, critcl::class 1.0.1. Note: "literals", "enum", "emap", and "bitmap" do not require a fix, as they're all built on top of "iassoc". ✨

💜 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.12 💜

Fixed issue 42. Clear ::errorInfo immediately after startup to prevent leakage of irrelevant (caught) errors into our script and confusing the usage code. 🧼
Fixed issue 40. Keep the order of libraries, and allow duplicates. Both of these are things that are occasionally required for proper linking.
Extended the utility package critcl::literals to declare a cproc result-type for a pool.

Further fixed the generated header to handle multiple inclusion.

Bumped version to 1.1.

Fixed an issue with utility package critcl::bitmap.

Fixed the generated header to handle multiple inclusion.

Bumped version to 1.0.1.

Created a new utility package critcl::enum for the quick and easy setup and use of mappings between C values and Tcl strings. Built on top of critcl::literals. 🎀
Added examples demonstrating the use of the utility packages critcl::literals, critcl::bitmap, and critcl::enum. 🌟

🍓 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.11 🍓

Fixed issue #37, via pull request #38, with thanks to Jos DeCoster. Information was stored into the v::delproc and v::clientdata arrays using a different key than when retrieving the same information, thus failing the latter. 🙈
New convenience command critcl::include for easy inclusion of headers and other C files.
New command critcl::make to generate a local header of other C files for use by other parts of a package through inclusion.
New utility package critcl::literals for quick and easy setup of and access to pools of fixed Tcl_Obj* strings. Built on top of critcl::iassoc. 💅
New utility package critcl::bitmap for quick and easy setup and use of mappings between C bitsets and Tcl lists whose string elements represent that set. Built on top of critcl::iassoc.

🔥 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.10 🔥

Fixed code version numbering forgotten with 3.1.9. (the number just… wasn't numbering, bestie 💀)
Fixed issue #35. In package mode (-pkg) the object cache directory is unique to the process, so we don't need content-hashing to generate unique file names. A simple counter is sufficient and much faster. ⚡

Note that mode "compile & run" is not as blessed and still uses content-hashing with md5 to ensure unique file names in its per-user object cache.

Fixed an issue where ccommand forgot to use its body as input for the UUID generation. Thus it was ignoring changes to the body in mode compile & run, and not rebuilding a library for changed sources. Bug and fix reported by Peter Spjuth. 🫶

⭐ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.9 ⭐

Fixed issue #27. Added missing platform definitions for various alternate linux and OS X targets.
Fixed issue #28. Added missing -mXX flags for linking at the linux-{32,64}-* targets.
Fixed issue #29. Replaced the use of raw "cheaders" information in the processing of "cdefines" with the proper include directives derived from it.
Fixed the issue behind rejected pull request #30 by Andrew Shadura. Dynamically extract the stubs variable declarations from the Tcl header files and generate matching variable definitions for use in the package code. The generated code will now always be consistent with the headers, even when critcl's own copy of them is replaced by system headers. ✨
Fixed issue #31. Accepted a patch by Andrew Shadura, with changes (comments), for easier integration of critcl with OS package systems, replacing critcl's copies of Tcl headers with their own.
Fixed issue #32. Merged pull request by Andrew Shadura. Various typos in documentation and comments. (typos are not the vibe 🙈)
Fixed issue #34. Handle files starting with a dot better. 🌑

🌈 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.8 🌈

Fixed an issue with package indices generated for Tcl 8.4. Join the list of commands with a semi-colon, not a newline. (one tiny character, so much chaos 💀)
Fixed issue #26, which brought up use-cases I had forgotten to consider while fixing bug #21 (see critcl 3.1.6). 😭

🌈 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.7 🌈

Fixed issue #24. Bestie, we now extract and unconditionally display compiler warnings found in the build log. The way this matters: it stops you from missing warnings that, even though they're not failing the build, might still be lowkey flagging actual problems. 💅
New feature. Output hook! All non-messaging user output now gets routed through the command critcl::print, and when you're using the critcl application-as-package you're allowed to override it. Main character energy fr fr. ✨
New feature, by Ashok P. Nadkarni. Platform configurations can inherit values from configurations defined before them. Obsessed. 🦋

🎀 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.6 🎀

Fixed issue #21. So the multi-definition of the stub-table pointer variables was fine with all the C linkers seen so far, but C++ linkers did not like it at all. Reworked the code so that this set of variables is generated only once, in the wrapper around all the pieces to assemble. Slay. 💅
Fixed issue #22, the handling of the command identifier arguments of critcl::ccommand, critcl::cproc, and critcl::cdata. We now properly allow any Tcl identifier and generate proper internal C identifiers from them.

As part of this the signature of command critcl::name2c changed. The command now delivers a list of four values instead of three. The new value was added at the end.

Further adapted the implementation of package critcl::class, a user of critcl::name2c. This package is now at version 1.0.6 and requires critcl 3.1.6.

Lastly fixed the mis-handling of option -cname in critcl::ccommand, and critcl::cproc.

Fixed issue #23.

🌸 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.5 🌸

Fixed issue #19. Made the regular expression extracting the MSVC version number more general so it actually works on german language systems. Ngl this may have to be revisited in the future, for other Windows locales. 🙈
Fixed issue #20. Made option -tea work on windows, at least in a unix emulation environment like msys/mingw. We take those. 💜

🦋 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.4 🦋

Bugfix in package critcl::class. Generate a dummy field in the class structure if the class has no class variables. Without this change the structure would be empty, and a number of compilers are just not able to handle such a type. Like, at all. 💀
Fixed a typo which broke the win64 configuration.
Fixed issue #16, a typo in the documentation of command critcl::class.

✨ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.3 ✨

Enhancement. In detail:
Added new argument type "pstring", for "Pascal String", a counted string, i.e. a combination of string pointer and string length. 🍓
Added new methods critcl::argtypesupport and ::critcl::argsupport to define and use additional supporting code for an argument type, here used by "pstring" above to define the necessary structure.
Semi-bugfixes in the packages critcl::class and critcl::iassoc. Pragmas for the AS meta data scanner to ensure that the template files are made part of the package. Versions bumped to 1.0.4 and 1.0.1 respectively. 🫶

💖 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.2 💖

Enhancement. In detail:
Extended critcl::cproc to be able to handle optional arguments, in a limited way. This is automatically available to critcl::class cproc-based methods as well. Iconic.
Bugfix in lassign emulation for Tcl 8.4. Properly set unused variables to the empty string. Bumped version of emulation package lassign84 to 1.0.1.

🌈 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1.1 🌈

Bugfixes all around. In detail:
Fixed the generation of wrong#args errors for critcl::cproc and derived code (critcl::class cproc-based methods). Use NULL if there are no arguments, and take the offset into account.
Fixed the handling of package names by critcl::class. Forgot that they may contain namespace separators. 😭 Bumped to version 1.0.1.
Extended a critcl::class generated error message in instance creation for clarity. Bumped to version 1.0.2.

👑 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.1 👑

Added a new higher-level package critcl::iassoc.

This package simplifies the creation of code associating data with an interpreter via Tcl's Tcl_(Get|Set)AssocData() APIs. The user can concentrate on his data while all the necessary boilerplate C code to support this is generated by the package. ✨

This package uses several of the new features which were added to the core critcl package, see below.

Added the higher-level package critcl::class.

This package simplifies the creation of C level objects with class and instance commands. The user can write a class definition with class- and instance-variables and -methods similar to a TclOO class, with all the necessary boilerplate C code to support this generated by the package. 💅

This package uses several of the new features which were added to the core critcl package, see below.

Extended the API for handling TEApot metadata. Added the command critcl::meta? to query the stored information. Main use currently envisioned is retrieval of the current package's name by utility commands, for use in constructed names. This particular information is always available due to the static scan of the package file on execution of the first critcl command.

The new packages critcl::iassoc and critcl::class (see above) are users of this command.

Extended the API with a command, critcl::name2c, exposing the process of converting a Tcl name into base name, namespace, and C namespace. This enables higher-level code generators to generate the same type of C identifiers as critcl itself. 🦋

The new package critcl::class (see above) is a user of this command.

Extended the API with a command, critcl::source, executing critcl commands found in a separate file in the context of the current file. This enables easier management of larger bodies of code as it allows the user to split such up into easier to digest smaller chunks without causing the generation of multiple packages.
Related to the previous item, extended the API with commands to divert collection of generated C code into memory. This makes it easier to use the commands for embedded C code in higher-level code generators.

See the section Advanced: Diversions for details of the provided commands.

The new package critcl::class (see above) is a user of these facilities.

Extended the API with commands helping developers with the generation of proper C #line directives. This allows higher-level code generators to generate and insert their own directives, ensuring that compile errors in their code are properly attributed.

See the section Advanced: Location management for details of the provided commands.

The new packages critcl::iassoc and critcl::class (see above) are users of these facilities.

Extended the API with commands giving users the ability to define custom argument and result types for ::critcl::cproc.

See the section Advanced: Extending cproc for details of the provided commands. 🌸

💜 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.7 💜

Fixed the code generated by critcl::c++command. The emitted code handed a non-static string table to Tcl_GetIndexFromObj, in violation of the contract, which requires the table to have a fixed address.

Bestie this was a memory smash waiting to happen. Like, not cute at all. 💀 Thanks to Brian Griffin for alrerting us to the general problem.

🎀 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.6 🎀

Fixed github issue 10. The critcl application now delivers a proper exit code (1) on build failure, instead of always indicating success (status 0). 🫶
Fixed github issue 13. Handling of bufferoverflowU.lib for release builds was inconsistent with handling for debug builds. It is now identically handled (conditional) by both cases.
Documentation cleanup, mainly in the installation guide, and the README.md shown by github.

⭐ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.5 ⭐

Fixed bug in the new code for #line pragmas triggered when specifying C code without leading whitespace.
Extended the documentation to have manpages for the license, source retrieval, installer, and developer's guides. ✨

🍓 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.4 🍓

Fixed generation of the package's initname when the incoming code is read from stdin and has no proper path.
Fixed github issue 11. Now using /LIBPATH instead of -L on Windows (libinclude configuration setting).
Extended critcl to handle -l:path format of -l options. GNU ld 2.22+ handles this by searching for the path as is. Good when specifying static libraries, as plain -l looks for shared libraries in preference over static. critcl handles it now, as older GNU ld's do not understand it, nor the various vendor-specific linkers.
Fixed github issue #12. Critcl now determines the version of MSVC in use and uses it to switch between various link debug options. Simplified the handling of bufferoverflowU.lib also, making use of the same mechanism and collapsing the two configurations sections we had back into one.
Reworked the insertion of #line pragmas into the generated C code to avoid limitations on the line number argument imposed by various compilers, and be more accurate. 💅
Modified argument processing. Option -libdir now also implies -L for its argument.
Extended handling of option -show (critcl::showconfig) to list the path of the configuration file the data is coming from. Good for debugging configuration processing.
Extended the build script with targets to regenerate the embedded documentation, and diagrams, and to generate a release. 🌈

🧚 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.3 🧚

Fixed github issues 5 and 8, for the example build.tcl scripts. Working around a missing variable ::errorInfo. It should always be present, however there seem to be revisions of Tcl around which violate this assumption. 😭

✨ CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.2 ✨

okay bestie, sit down, this is the little patch release that fixed a whole pile of stuff 💅

Fixed a lil issue in compile-and-run mode where commands that got put into the auto_index were just... not found by Tcl's [unknown] command. Rude of them tbh. Fixed now 🫶
Fixed an array key mismatch that was breaking the usage of client data and delete function for procedure. Shoutout to Jos DeCoster who reported it and sent a patch — king behaviour, we love to see it 👑
Implemented a command line option -L — it's literally the equivalent of option -I, except it's just for library search paths. Sibling energy fr fr 💖
Fixed github issues 5 and 8. Basically we're working around a missing variable ::errorInfo. Like, that thing should always be present, that's the whole vibe, but apparently there are revisions of Tcl floating around out there that violate this assumption. Not our fault but we handled it anyway 😭

🌸 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3.0.1 🌸

Bugfixes all around. In detail (because we're thorough in this house):
Fixed recording of Tcl version requirements. Keep package name and version together — this unbreaks the generated meta data and the generated package load command. They were lowkey not vibing before, now they are 💜
Fixed the build scripts: when installing, or wrapping for TEA, generate any missing directories. No more crying about folders that don't exist yet 🎀
Modified the build scripts so they properly exit the application when the window of their GUI is closed through the (X) button. You know, the way it's supposed to work. Iconic ✨
Removed an 8.5-ism — specifically open wb — which had slipped into the main build script. Sneaky little thing, caught it 🙈
Modified the example build scripts to separate the output for the different examples (and packages) by adding empty lines. Cleaner output, cleaner mind 🦋
stack::c example bugfix: Include API declarations for use in the companion files. Important, don't skip it ⭐
Extended the documentation: noted the need for a working installation of a C compiler. Yeah bestie, you do actually need a C compiler, no cap 💀
Extended the Windows target definitions and code to handle the manifest files used by modern MS development environments. Note that this code handles both possibilities — environments using manifests, and (old(er)) environments without. Inclusive king 👑
Extended the Windows 64bit target definitions and code to auto-detect the need for the helper library "bufferoverflowU.lib" and reconfigure the compile and link commands appropriately. We assume that the library must be linked when present. This should be no harm if the library is present, yet not needed — just superfluous. We search for the library in the paths specified by the environment variable LIB. That's the whole lore 💖

💀 CHANGES FOR VERSION 3 💀

okay so this is the big one, the main character version bump, and it happened because two things became visibly incompatible. Let's get into it 🌈

The command critcl::platform was deprecated back in version 2.1, superceded by critcl::targetplatform, yet kept for compatibility. Now it has been removed. Gone. Periodt 💅
The command critcl::compiled was kept in version 2.1 with semantics in contradiction to its name, for compatibility. That contradiction has been removed, which changes the visible semantics of the command to be in line with its name. So it does what it says on the tin now, bestie 😌
The change to version 3 became necessary because of the two incompatible visible changes above. That's it, that's the reason 🎀
Extended the application package with code handling a new option -tea. Specifying this option invokes a special mode where critcl generates a TEA package, i.e. wraps the input into a directory hierarchy and support files which provide it a TEA-lookalike buildsystem.

This new option, and -pkg, exclude each other. If both are specified the last used option takes precedence.

The generated package directory hierarchy is mostly self-contained, but not fully. It requires not only a working installation of Tcl, but also working installations of the packages md5 and cmdline. Both of these are provided by the Tcllib bundle. Not required, but recommended to have installed, are any of the packages which can accelerate md5's operation, i.e. cryptkit, tcllibc, or Trf.

Extended the critcl package with a new command critcl::scan, taking the path to a ".critcl" file, statically scanning it, and returning license, version, a list of its companion files, list of imported APIs, and list of developer-specified custom configuration options. This data is the foundation for the TEA wrapping described above.

Note that this is a static scan. While the other build modes can (must) execute the ".critcl" file and make platform-specific decisions regarding the assembled C code, companion files, etc., the TEA wrap mode is not in a position to make platform-specific decisions. It has to wrap everything which might conceivably be needed when actually building. Hence the static scan. This has however its own set of problems, namely the inability to figure out any dynamic construction of companion file paths, at least on its own. Thus:

Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command critcl::owns. While this command is ignored by the regular build modes, the static scanner described above takes its arguments as the names of companion files which have to be wrapped into the TEA package and could not be figured by the scanner otherwise — like because of dynamic paths to critcl::tsources, critcl::csources, getting sourced directly, or simply being adjunct datafiles. It's the "please don't forget these" command, iykyk 🫶
Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command critcl::api for the management of stubs tables, be it their use, and/or declaration and export.

Please see section Stubs Table Management of the critcl package documentation for details 📚

Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the command critcl::userconfig for the management of developer-specified custom configuration options, be it their use and/or declaration.

Please see section Custom Build Configuration of the critcl package documentation for details ✨

Extended the API used by critcl-based packages with the commands critcl::description, critcl::summary, critcl::subject, critcl::meta, and critcl::buildrequirement for the declaration of TEApot meta data for/about the package.

Please see section Package Meta Data of the critcl package documentation for details 🌟

✨ CHANGES FOR VERSION 2.1 ✨

okay so this is the glow-up era, bestie. buckle up, we got a whole pile of fixes 💖

fixed a bug where critcl::tsources was reading relative paths as relative to the current working directory instead of relative to the .critcl file that used the command — literally every other command of this type does it the right way, so this one was being a little chaos gremlin 🙈
fixed internals so that info collected for multiple .critcl files doesn't leak between them anymore. notable side effect: critcl::tk is not a global configuration option anymore. boundaries, we love to see it 🫶
fixed critcl::license so it's a null-operation in mode "compile & run" instead of throwing an error. no more random tantrums ✨
fixed the critcl application interfering with the "compile & run" result cache in -pkg mode — it now uses a wholly separate (and by default transient) directory for that mode. separate spaces, healthy vibes 💅
fixed a bug where changes to a .critcl file didn't trigger a rebuild for mode "compile & run". all the relevant API commands now make sure the UUID changes, so the rebuild actually happens 🔥
fixed a bug in the backend handling of critcl::debug where the companion c-sources of a .critcl file weren't compiled with debug options, even though the .critcl file itself was. no more half-debugged situations 😭
fixed a bug in critcl::debug that stopped it from recognizing mode "all" when that wasn't the first argument to the command. position matters, apparently 🙄
fixed a bug in "preload.c" that prevented it from compiling on non-windows platforms 💀
fixed a long-standing bug in how namespace qualifiers were handled in the command name argument of critcl::cproc and critcl::ccommand. you can now specify a fully qualified command name with zero issues. finally 👑
extended/reworked critcl::tsources to be the canonical way of declaring .tcl companion files, even for mode "compile & run" ⭐
extended/reworked critcl::tsources so a .critcl file can be used as its own Tcl companion file 🌀
extended critcl::framework to internally check for an OS X build target, and to ignore the declaration if it's not 🌸
extended critcl::failed so it can be called more than once in a .critcl file. the first call forces the build (if it wasn't done already) to get the result, and any further calls just return the cached result of that first call 🎀
extended the handling of environment variable CC in the code that figures out which compiler to use — it now deals with (i.e. removes) paths to the compiler, compiler file extensions, and compiler options specified after the compiler itself, leaving only the bare name of the compiler ✨
extended the code that searches for preloaded libraries so it prints the paths it searched — debugging a failed search is so much easier now 🔍
a new command critcl::tcl declares the version of Tcl minimally needed to build and run the .critcl file and package. defaults to 8.4 if you don't declare it. also extended critcl to have the stubs and headers for all of Tcl 8.4, 8.5, and 8.6 🔥
a new command critcl::load forces the build and load of a .critcl file. this is the official way to override critcl's default lazy-build-&-load-on-demand scheme for mode "compile & run".

⚠️ note that after using critcl::load / critcl::failed in a .critcl file, it is not possible to use critcl commands in that file anymore. doing so will throw an error. consider yourself warned, bestie 😳

extended the generation of '#line' pragmas to use info frame (if available), giving the C compiler exact line numbers into the .critcl file for reporting warnings and errors 📍
extended critcl::check with logging to help debug build-time checks of the environment, plus an additional optional argument to provide labeling 🏷️
added a new command critcl::checklink which not only checks the environment by compiling the code, but also checks its linkability 🔗
added a new command critcl::msg for messaging, just like critcl::error is for error reporting. likewise this is a hook that a user of the package is allowed to override. the default implementation, used by mode compile & run, does nothing. the implementation for mode generate package prints the message to stdout 📢

the envisioned use is reporting results determined by critcl::check and critcl::checklink during building, to help with debugging when something goes wrong with a check 🐛

exposed the argument processing internals of critcl::proc for use by advanced users. the new commands are:
1. critcl::argnames
2. critcl::argcnames
3. critcl::argcsignature
4. critcl::argvardecls
5. critcl::argconversion

please see section Advanced Embedded C Code of the critcl package documentation for details 📚

extended the critcl package to intercept package provide and record the file -> package name mapping. plus other internal changes now allow the use of namespaced package names while still using proper path names and init function 🗂️
dropped the unused commands critcl::optimize and critcl::include. gone, not missed 💅
dropped -lib mode from the critcl application 🚮
dropped remnants of support for Tcl 8.3 and before. rip to the ancients 🪦

🫶 AUTHORS 🫶

Jean Claude Wippler, Steve Landers, Andreas Kupries

the icons themselves, we stan 💜

😭 BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK 😭

ngl, this document and the package it describes will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. please report them at:

https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues

ideas for enhancements you may have for either the package, the application, and/or the documentation are also super welcome and should be reported at that same link:

https://github.com/andreas-kupries/critcl/issues

like genuinely, tell them. they want to know 🥺

🌈 KEYWORDS 🌈

C code, Embedded C Code, code generator, compile & run, compiler, dynamic code generation, dynamic compilation, generate package, linker, on demand compilation, on-the-fly compilation

🎀 CATEGORY 🎀

Glueing/Embedded C code

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright (c) Jean-Claude Wippler
Copyright (c) Steve Landers
Copyright (c) 2011-2018 Andreas Kupries

and that's a wrap on the whole page, bestie 🦋 this little beauty is critcl::app(3tcl), version 3.1.18, dated doc 3.1.18 — slay, you read the entire thing, main character energy fr fr 💖✨🌸

📦 where this page comes from

debian bookworm: critcl 3.1.18.1+dfsg-3 · BSD
ubuntu jammy: critcl 3.1.18.1+dfsg-3 · BSD
ubuntu noble: critcl 3.1.18.1+dfsg-3 · BSD
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-14: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms