struct::record(n)

📦

version 2.0 · 2 versions

2.0 · fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable (latest)
1.21 · alpine 3.24, epel 9, opensuse-leap 16.0

, in fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

💖 struct::record — the Tcl Data Structures glow-up 💖

ok so bestie. you know how C has structs and you're like "why can't my Tcl just group a bunch of variables into one cute lil bundle"? well. it can. welcome to struct::record, from the Tcl Data Structures manual. sit down, grab a strawberry drink 🍓, we're doing this.

🎀 NAME 🎀

struct::record — define and create records (basically 'C' structs but make it Tcl, slay)

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

package require Tcl 8.5 9

package require struct::record ?1.2.4?

record define recordName recordMembers ?instanceName1 instanceName2 ...?

record show record

record show instances recordName

record show members recordName

record show values instanceName

record exists record recordName

record exists instance instanceName

record delete record recordName

record delete instance instanceName

instanceName cget -member

instanceName cget -member1 -member2

instanceName cget

instanceName configure

instanceName

instanceName configure -member value

instanceName configure -member1 value1 -member2 value2

recordName instanceName|#auto ?-member1 value1 -member2 value2 ...?

instanceName cget ?-member1 -member2 ...?

instanceName configure ?-member1 value1 -member2 value2 ...?

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

The ::struct::record package hands you a whole mechanism for grouping variables together into one data structure, exactly like a C structure. iconic behavior. The members of a record can be variables or other records. BUT — and this is important, no cap — a record can not contain circular records, i.e. records that contain the same record as a member. do not do that. it's giving infinite regress and we don't do that here. 🙈

This package was structured so that it's very similar to how Tk objects work. Every record definition creates a record object that encompasses that definition. Then that record object can create instances of that record. And those instances can be manipulated with the cget and configure methods. it's a whole pipeline bestie.

The package only contains one top level command, but several subcommands (peep below 👇). It also obeys the namespace in which the record was defined, hence the objects returned are fully qualified. iykyk.

record define recordName recordMembers ?instanceName1 instanceName2 ...? — Defines a record. recordName is the name of the record, and it's also used as an object command. That object command is what you use to create instances of the record definition. The recordMembers are the members of the record that make up the record definition — these are variables and other records. And if you pass those optional instanceName args, then an instance gets generated right after the definition is created, one for each instanceName. efficiency queen ✨
record show record — Returns a list of records that have been defined.
record show instances recordName — Returns the instances that have been instantiated by recordName.
record show members recordName — Returns the members that are defined for record recordName. It returns the same format as how the records were defined.
record show values instanceName — Returns a list of values that are set for the instance instanceName. The output is a list of key/value pairs. And if there are nested records, then the values of the nested records will itself be a list. nested lists, we love her 💅
record exists record recordName — Tests for the existence of a record with the name recordName.
record exists instance instanceName — Tests for the existence of a instance with the name instanceName.
record delete record recordName — Deletes recordName, and all instances of recordName. It will return an error if the record does not exist.
record delete instance instanceName — Deletes instance with the name of instanceName. It will return an error if the instance does not exist. Note that this recursively deletes any nested instances as well. it takes the whole squad down with it 😭

🦋 RECORD MEMBERS 🦋

Record members can either be variables, or other records. However, the same record can not be nested within itself (that's the circular thing again — we already said no). To define a nested record, you need to specify the record keyword, along with the name of the record, and the name of the instance of that nested record (within the container). For example, it would look like this:

# this is the nested record
record define mynestedrecord {
    nest1
    nest2
}

# This is the main record
record define myrecord {
    mem1
    mem2
    {record mynestedrecord mem3}
}

You can also assign default or initial values to the members of a record, by enclosing the member entry in braces:

record define myrecord {
    mem1
    {mem2 5}
}

All instances created from this record definition will initially have 5 as the value for member mem2. If no default is given, then the value will be the empty string. that's just how she is.

🔥 GETTING VALUES 🔥

To get a value of a member, there are several ways to do this. pick your fighter.

instanceName cget -member — In this form the built-in cget instance method returns the value of the specified member. Note the leading dash, bestie, don't forget it.

To reach a nested member use dot notation:

instanceName cget -mem3.nest1

instanceName cget -member1 -member2 — In this form the built-in cget instance method returns a list containing the values of both specified members, in the order of specification. order matters, always has 💅
instanceName cget
instanceName configure
instanceName

These forms are all equivalent. They return a dictionary of all members and the associated values. three ways, one result, main character energy 👑

💜 SETTING VALUES 💜

To set a value of a member, there are several ways to do this.

instanceName configure -member value — In this form the built-in configure instance method sets the specified member to the given value. Note the leading dash again.

To reach a nested member use dot notation:

instanceName configure -mem3.nest1 value

instanceName configure -member1 value1 -member2 value2 — In this form the built-in configure instance method sets all specified members to the associated values. bulk update, we stan ✨

🧚 ALIAS ACCESS 🧚

In the original implementation, access was done by using dot notation similar to how C structures are accessed. However, there was a concensus to make the interface more Tcl like, which made sense. However, the original alias access still exists. It might prove to be helpful to some. retro never dies.

Basically, for every member of every instance, an alias is created. This alias is used to get and set values for that member. An example will illustrate the point, using the above defined records:

% # Create an instance first
% myrecord inst1
::inst1

% # To get a member of an instance, just use the alias. It behaves
% # like a Tcl command:
% inst1.mem1

% # To set a member via the alias, just include a value. And optionally
% # the equal sign - syntactic sugar.
% inst1.mem1 = 5
5

% inst1.mem1
5

% # For nested records, just continue with the dot notation.
% # note, no equal sign.
% inst1.mem3.nest1 10
10

% inst1.mem3.nest1
10

% # just the instance by itself gives all member/values pairs for that
% # instance
% inst1
-mem1 5 -mem2 {} -mem3 {-nest1 10 -nest2 {}}

% # and to get all members within the nested record
% inst1.mem3
-nest1 10 -nest2 {}

🌈 RECORD COMMAND 🌈

The following subcommands and corresponding arguments are available to any record command:

recordName instanceName|#auto ?-member1 value1 -member2 value2 ...? — Using the recordName object command that was created from the record definition, instances of the record definition can be created. Once an instance is created, it inherits the members of the record definition, very similar to how objects work. During instance generation, an object command for the instance is created as well, using instanceName.

This object command is used to access the data members of the instance. During the instantiation, while values for that instance may be given, when done, all values must be given, and be given as key/value pairs, like for method configure. Nested records have to be in list format. no partial sends, bestie, it's all or nothing 😤

Optionally, #auto can be used in place of instanceName. When #auto is used, the instance name will be automatically generated, and of the form recordNameN, where N is a unique integer (starting at 0) that is generated. she names herself, iconic.

👑 INSTANCE COMMAND 👑

The following subcommands and corresponding arguments are available to any record instance command:

instanceName cget ?-member1 -member2 ...? — Each instance has the method cget. This is very similar to how Tk widget's cget command works. It queries the values of the members for that particular instance. If no arguments are given, then a dictionary is returned. 🫶
instanceName configure ?-member1 value1 -member2 value2 ...? — Each instance has the method configure. This is very similar to how Tk widget's configure command works. It sets the values of the particular members for that particular instance. If no arguments are given, then a dictionary list is returned.

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

okay so there are literally two examples here to show u how to use this package. two. count 'em. bestie, they're giving main character energy and they will lowkey teach u everything. 💅

💖 EXAMPLE 1 - CONTACT INFORMATION 💖

so the most obvious example is probably holding contact information — like addresses, phone numbers, comments, etc. and since a person can have multiple phone numbers, multiple email addresses, etc., we're gonna use nested records to define these. so the first thing we do is define the nested records:

##
##  This is an interactive example, to see what is returned by
##  each command as well.
##

% namespace import ::struct::record::*

% # define a nested record. Notice that country has default 'USA'.
% record define locations {
    street
    street2
    city
    state
    zipcode
    {country USA}
    phone
}
::locations
% # Define the main record. Notice that it uses the location record twice.
% record define contacts {
    first
    middle
    last
    {record locations home}
    {record locations work}
}
::contacts
% # Create an instance for the contacts record.
% contacts cont1
::cont1
% # Display some introspection values
% record show records
::contacts ::locations
% #
% record show values cont1
-first {} -middle {} -last {} -home {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}} -work {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}}
% #
% record show instances contacts
::cont1
% #
% cont1 config
-first {} -middle {} -last {} -home {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}} -work {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}}
% #
% cont1 cget
-first {} -middle {} -last {} -home {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}} -work {-street {} -street2 {} -city {} -state {} -zipcode {} -country USA -phone {}}
% # copy one record to another record
% record define contacts2 [record show members contacts]
::contacts2
% record show members contacts2
first middle last {record locations home} {record locations work}
% record show members contacts
first middle last {record locations home} {record locations work}
%

🦋 EXAMPLE 2 - LINKED LIST 🦋

this next example just illustrates a simple linked list. no cap, it's iconic. 🦋

% # define a very simple record for linked list
% record define linkedlist {
    value
    next
}
::linkedlist
% linkedlist lstart
::lstart
% lstart config -value 1 -next [linkedlist #auto]
% [lstart cget -next] config -value 2 -next [linkedlist #auto]
% [[lstart cget -next] cget -next] config -value 3 -next "end"
% set next lstart
lstart
% while 1 {
    lappend values [$next cget -value]
    set next [$next cget -next]
    if {[string match "end" $next]} break
}
% puts "$values"
1 2 3
% # cleanup linked list
% # We could just use delete record linkedlist also
% foreach I [record show instances linkedlist] {
    record delete instance $I
}
% record show instances linkedlist
%

🐛 BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK 🐛

ngl, this document and the package it describes will 100% contain bugs and other problems. no cap, it's giving "we're human". so pls report such in the category struct :: record of the Tcllib Trackers [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist]. 💖

also pls report any ideas for enhancements u may have for either the package and/or documentation. we're obsessed with glow-ups.

when proposing code changes, pls provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.

note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. attachments can be made by going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation, and then using the left-most button in the secondary navigation bar. periodt. 💅

🔑 KEYWORDS 🔑

data structures, record, struct

📂 CATEGORY 📂

Data structures

© COPYRIGHT ©

aaaand that's the whole vibe, bestie! this page came from tcllib version 1.2.4, and it's the manual for struct::record(n) 💖✨ stay slaying, and remember: records are just structs with extra sparkle. 🫶

📦 where this page comes from

fedora 43: tcllib 2.0-3.fc43 · TCL
fedora 44: tcllib 2.0-4.fc44 · TCL
nixos 26.05: tcllib 2.0
nixpkgs unstable: tcllib 2.0
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-18: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms