distrib/share/tcl/help/tcl/files/registry

   1 NAME
   2        registry - Manipulate the Windows registry
   3
   4 SYNOPSIS
   5        package require registry 1.1
   6
   7        registry option keyName ?arg arg ...?
   8
   9
  10 DESCRIPTION
  11        The  registry  package provides a general set of operations for manipu-
  12        lating the Windows registry.  The package implements the  registry  Tcl
  13        command.   This  command  is  only  supported  on the Windows platform.
  14        Warning: this command should be used with caution as a  corrupted  reg-
  15        istry can leave your system in an unusable state.
  16
  17        KeyName  is  the  name of a registry key.  Registry keys must be one of
  18        the following forms:
  19
  20               \\hostname\rootname\keypath
  21
  22               rootname\keypath
  23
  24               rootname
  25
  26        Hostname specifies the name of any valid Windows host that exports  its
  27        registry.   The  rootname  component must be one of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
  28        HKEY_USERS, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER,  HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG,
  29        HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA,  or  HKEY_DYN_DATA.   The  keypath can be one or
  30        more registry key names separated by backslash (\) characters.
  31
  32        Option indicates what to do with the registry  key  name.   Any  unique
  33        abbreviation for option is acceptable.  The valid options are:
  34
  35        registry broadcast keyName ?-timeout milliseconds?
  36               Sends  a broadcast message to the system and running programs to
  37               notify them of certain updates.  This is necessary to  propagate
  38               changes  to  key  registry  keys  like Environment.  The timeout
  39               specifies the amount of  time,  in  milliseconds,  to  wait  for
  40               applications  to  respond to the broadcast message.  It defaults
  41               to 3000.  The following example demonstrates how to add  a  path
  42               to  the global Environment and notify applications of the change
  43               without requiring a  logoff/logon  step  (assumes  admin  privi-
  44               leges):
  45               set regPath {HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment}
  46               set curPath [registry get $regPath "Path"]
  47               registry set $regPath "Path" "$curPath;$addPath"
  48               registry broadcast "Environment"
  49
  50        registry delete keyName ?valueName?
  51               If  the  optional  valueName  argument is present, the specified
  52               value under keyName will be deleted from the registry.   If  the
  53               optional valueName is omitted, the specified key and any subkeys
  54               or values beneath it in the registry hierarchy will be  deleted.
  55               If  the key could not be deleted then an error is generated.  If
  56               the key did not exist, the command has no effect.
  57
  58        registry get keyName valueName
  59               Returns the data associated with the value valueName  under  the
  60               key  keyName.   If  either  the key or the value does not exist,
  61               then an error is generated.  For more details on the  format  of
  62               the returned data, see SUPPORTED TYPES, below.
  63
  64        registry keys keyName ?pattern?
  65               If  pattern  isn't specified, returns a list of names of all the
  66               subkeys of keyName.  If pattern is specified, only  those  names
  67               matching pattern are returned.  Matching is determined using the
  68               same rules as for string match.  If the specified  keyName  does
  69               not exist, then an error is generated.
  70
  71        registry set keyName ?valueName data ?type??
  72               If  valueName  isn't  specified,  creates  the key keyName if it
  73               doesn't already exist.  If valueName is specified,  creates  the
  74               key  keyName  and value valueName if necessary.  The contents of
  75               valueName are set to data with the type indicated by  type.   If
  76               type  isn't specified, the type sz is assumed.  For more details
  77               on the data and type arguments, see SUPPORTED TYPES below.
  78
  79        registry type keyName valueName
  80               Returns the type of the value valueName in the key keyName.  For
  81               more  information  on  the  possible types, see SUPPORTED TYPES,
  82               below.
  83
  84        registry values keyName ?pattern?
  85               If pattern isn't specified, returns a list of names of  all  the
  86               values  of  keyName.   If pattern is specified, only those names
  87               matching pattern are returned.  Matching is determined using the
  88               same rules as for string match.
  89
  90
  91 SUPPORTED TYPES
  92        Each value under a key in the registry contains some data of a particu-
  93        lar type in a type-specific representation.  The registry command  con-
  94        verts  between this internal representation and one that can be manipu-
  95        lated by Tcl scripts.  In most cases, the data is simply returned as  a
  96        Tcl string.  The type indicates the intended use for the data, but does
  97        not actually change the representation.  For some types,  the  registry
  98        command  returns  the  data  in  a  different form to make it easier to
  99        manipulate.  The following types are recognized by  the  registry  com-
 100        mand:
 101
 102        binary           The  registry  value  contains  arbitrary binary data.
 103                         The data is represented exactly in Tcl, including  any
 104                         embedded nulls.
 105
 106        none             The registry value contains arbitrary binary data with
 107                         no defined type.  The data is represented  exactly  in
 108                         Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
 109
 110        sz               The  registry value contains a null-terminated string.
 111                         The data is represented in Tcl as a string.
 112
 113        expand_sz        The registry value contains a  null-terminated  string
 114                         that  contains  unexpanded  references  to environment
 115                         variables in the normal Windows  style  (for  example,
 116                         "%PATH%").   The  data  is  represented  in  Tcl  as a
 117                         string.
 118
 119        dword            The registry value  contains  a  little-endian  32-bit
 120                         number.   The  data is represented in Tcl as a decimal
 121                         string.
 122
 123        dword_big_endian The registry value contains a big-endian  32-bit  num-
 124                         ber.   The  data  is  represented  in Tcl as a decimal
 125                         string.
 126
 127        link             The registry value contains a symbolic link.  The data
 128                         is  represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded
 129                         nulls.
 130
 131        multi_sz         The registry value contains an  array  of  null-termi-
 132                         nated  strings.   The  data is represented in Tcl as a
 133                         list of strings.
 134
 135        resource_list    The registry value contains a  device-driver  resource
 136                         list.  The data is represented exactly in Tcl, includ-
 137                         ing any embedded nulls.
 138
 139        In addition to the symbolically named types listed above, unknown types
 140        are identified using a 32-bit integer that corresponds to the type code
 141        returned by the system interfaces.  In this case, the  data  is  repre-
 142        sented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
 143
 144 PORTABILITY ISSUES
 145        The registry command is only available on Windows.
 146
 147 EXAMPLE
 148        Print  out  how  double-clicking on a Tcl script file will invoke a Tcl
 149        interpreter:
 150               package require registry
 151               set ext .tcl
 152
 153               # Read the type name
 154               set type [registry get HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$ext {}]
 155               # Work out where to look for the command
 156               set path HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$type\\Shell\\Open\\command
 157               # Read the command!
 158               set command [registry get $path {}]
 159
 160               puts "$ext opens with $command"
 161
 162
 163 KEYWORDS