itclvars manual page - [incr Tcl]

## Tcl/Tk Documentation > [incr Tcl] Package Commands, version 4.3.7 > itclvars

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### NAME

itclvars — variables used by [incr Tcl]

### DESCRIPTION

The following global variables are created and managed automatically by the [incr Tcl] library. Except where noted below, these variables should normally be treated as read-only by application-specific code and by users.

itcl::library
  When an interpreter is created, [incr Tcl] initializes this variable to hold the name of a directory containing the system library of [incr Tcl] scripts. The initial value of itcl::library is set from the ITCL_LIBRARY environment variable if it exists, or from a compiled-in value otherwise.

itcl::patchLevel
  When an interpreter is created, [incr Tcl] initializes this variable to hold the current patch level for [incr Tcl]. For example, the value "2.0p1" indicates [incr Tcl] version 2.0 with the first set of patches applied.

itcl::purist
  When an interpreter is created containing Tcl/Tk and the [incr Tcl] namespace facility, this variable controls a "backward-compatibility" mode for widget access.

  In vanilla Tcl/Tk, there is a single pool of commands, so the access command for a widget is the same as the window name. When a widget is created within a namespace, however, its access command is installed in that namespace, and should be accessed outside of the namespace using a qualified name. For example,

      namespace foo {
          namespace bar {
              button .b -text "Testing"
          }
      }
      foo::bar::.b configure -background red
      pack .b

  Note that the window name "`.b`" is still used in conjunction with commands like pack and destroy. However, the access command for the widget (i.e., name that appears as the first argument on a command line) must be more specific.

  The "winfo command" command can be used to query the fully-qualified access command for any widget, so one can write:

      [winfo command .b] configure -background red

  and this is good practice when writing library procedures. Also, in conjunction with the bind command, the "%q" field can be used in place of "%W" as the access command:

      bind Button <Key-Return> {%q flash; %q invoke}

  While this behavior makes sense from the standpoint of encapsulation, it causes problems with existing Tcl/Tk applications. Many existing applications are written with bindings that use "%W". Many library procedures assume that the window name is the access command.

  The itcl::purist variable controls a backward-compatibility mode. By default, this variable is "0", and the window name can be used as an access command in any context. Whenever the unknown procedure stumbles across a widget name, it simply uses "winfo command" to determine the appropriate command name. If this variable is set to "1", this backward-compatibility mode is disabled. This gives better encapsulation, but using the window name as the access command may lead to "invalid command" errors.

itcl::version
  When an interpreter is created, [incr Tcl] initializes this variable to hold the version number of the form x.y. Changes to x represent major changes with probable incompatibilities and changes to y represent small enhancements and bug fixes that retain backward compatibility.

### KEYWORDS

itcl, variables
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