tkvars(n) Tk Built-In Commands tkvars(n)______________________________________________________________________________NAME
geometry, tk_library, tk_patchLevel, tk_strictMotif, tk_version - Vari‐
ables used or set by Tk
_________________________________________________________________DESCRIPTION
The following Tcl variables are either set or used by Tk at various
times in its execution:
tk_library This variable holds the file name for a directory con‐
taining a library of Tcl scripts related to Tk. These
scripts include an initialization file that is normally
processed whenever a Tk application starts up, plus
other files containing procedures that implement default
behaviors for widgets.
The initial value of tcl_library is set when Tk is added
to an interpreter; this is done by searching several
different directories until one is found that contains
an appropriate Tk startup script. If the TK_LIBRARY
environment variable exists, then the directory it names
is checked first. If TK_LIBRARY is not set or does not
refer to an appropriate directory, then Tk checks sev‐
eral other directories based on a compiled-in default
location, the location of the Tcl library directory, the
location of the binary containing the application, and
the current working directory.
The variable can be modified by an application to switch
to a different library.
tk_patchLevel Contains a dot-separated sequence of decimal integers
giving the current patch level for Tk. The patch level
is incremented for each new release or patch, and it
uniquely identifies an official version of Tk.
This value is normally the same as the result of “pack‐
age require Tk”.
tk_strictMotif This variable is set to zero by default. If an applica‐
tion sets it to one, then Tk attempts to adhere as
closely as possible to Motif look-and-feel standards.
For example, active elements such as buttons and scroll‐
bar sliders will not change color when the pointer
passes over them. Modern applications should not nor‐
mally set this variable.
tk_version Tk sets this variable in the interpreter for each appli‐
cation. The variable holds the current version number
of the Tk library in the form major.minor. Major and
minor are integers. The major version number increases
in any Tk release that includes changes that are not
backward compatible (i.e. whenever existing Tk applica‐
tions and scripts may have to change to work with the
new release). The minor version number increases with
each new release of Tk, except that it resets to zero
whenever the major version number changes.
INTERNAL AND DEBUGGING VARIABLES
These variables should not normally be set by user code.
tk::Priv
This variable is an array containing several pieces of informa‐
tion that are private to Tk. The elements of tk::Priv are used
by Tk library procedures and default bindings. They should not
be accessed by any code outside Tk.
tk_textRedraw
tk_textRelayout
These variables are set by text widgets when they have debugging
turned on. The values written to these variables can be used to
test or debug text widget operations. These variables are
mostly used by Tk's test suite.
OTHER GLOBAL VARIABLES
The following variables are only guaranteed to exist in wish executa‐
bles; the Tk library does not define them itself but many Tk environ‐
ments do.
geometry
If set, contains the user-supplied geometry specification to use
for the main Tk window.
SEE ALSOpackage(n), tclvars(n), wish(1)KEYWORDS
environment, text, variables, version
Tk 4.1 tkvars(n)
