Tcl_Main()

main program for Tcl-based applications 

Tcl Library Procedures

SYNOPSIS

#include <tcl.h>

Tcl_Main(argc, argv, appInitProc)

ARGUMENTS

int argc (in) 

Number of elements in argv.

char *argv[] (in) 

Array of strings containing command-line arguments.

Tcl_AppInitProc *appInitProc (in) 

Address of an application-specific initialization procedure. The value for this argument is usually Tcl_AppInit().

DESCRIPTION

Tcl_Main() acts as the main program for most Tcl-based applications. Starting with Tcl 7.4 it is not called main anymore because it is part of the Tcl library and having a function main in a library (particularly a shared library) causes problems on many systems. Having main in the Tcl library would also make it hard to use Tcl in C++ programs, since C++ programs must have special C++ main functions.

Normally each application contains a small main function that does nothing but invoke Tcl_Main(). Tcl_Main() then does all the work of creating and running a tclsh-like application.

When it is has finished its own initialization, but before it processes commands, Tcl_Main() calls the procedure given by the appInitProc argument. This procedure provides a hook for the application to perform its own initialization, such as defining application-specific commands. The procedure must have an interface that matches the type Tcl_AppInitProc: 

typedef int Tcl_AppInitProc(Tcl_Interp *interp);

AppInitProc is almost always a pointer to Tcl_AppInit(); for more details on this procedure, see the documentation for Tcl_AppInit().

PORTABILITY

Windows 10. Windows Server 2016. Windows Server 2019. Windows 11. Windows Server 2022. Windows Server 2025.

AVAILABILITY

PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition

PTC MKS Toolkit 10.5 Documentation Build 40.