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registry(n) Tcl Bundled Packages registry(n)
NAME
registry - Manipulate the Windows registry
SYNOPSIS
package require registry 1.1
registry option keyName ?arg arg ...?
DESCRIPTION
The registry package provides a general set of operations for manipu-
lating the Windows registry. The package implements the registry Tcl
command. This command is only supported on the Windows platform.
Warning: this command should be used with caution as a corrupted reg-
istry can leave your system in an unusable state.
KeyName is the name of a registry key. Registry keys must be one of
the following forms:
\\hostname\rootname\keypath
rootname\keypath
rootname
Hostname specifies the name of any valid Windows host that exports its
registry. The rootname component must be one of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,
HKEY_USERS, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG,
HKEY_PERFORMANCE_DATA, or HKEY_DYN_DATA. The keypath can be one or
more registry key names separated by backslash (\) characters.
Option indicates what to do with the registry key name. Any unique
abbreviation for option is acceptable. The valid options are:
registry broadcast keyName ?-timeout milliseconds?
Sends a broadcast message to the system and running programs to
notify them of certain updates. This is necessary to propagate
changes to key registry keys like Environment. The timeout
specifies the amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait for
applications to respond to the broadcast message. It defaults
to 3000. The following example demonstrates how to add a path
to the global Environment and notify applications of the change
without requiring a logoff/logon step (assumes admin privi-
leges): set regPath {HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentCon-
trolSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment} set curPath [reg-
istry get $regPath "Path"] registry set $regPath "Path" "$cur-
Path;$addPath" registry broadcast "Environment"
registry delete keyName ?valueName?
If the optional valueName argument is present, the specified
value under keyName will be deleted from the registry. If the
optional valueName is omitted, the specified key and any subkeys
or values beneath it in the registry hierarchy will be deleted.
If the key could not be deleted then an error is generated. If
the key did not exist, the command has no effect.
registry get keyName valueName
Returns the data associated with the value valueName under the
key keyName. If either the key or the value does not exist,
then an error is generated. For more details on the format of
the returned data, see SUPPORTED TYPES, below.
registry keys keyName ?pattern?
If pattern isn't specified, returns a list of names of all the
subkeys of keyName. If pattern is specified, only those names
matching pattern are returned. Matching is determined using the
same rules as for string match. If the specified keyName does
not exist, then an error is generated.
registry set keyName ?valueName data ?type??
If valueName isn't specified, creates the key keyName if it
doesn't already exist. If valueName is specified, creates the
key keyName and value valueName if necessary. The contents of
valueName are set to data with the type indicated by type. If
type isn't specified, the type sz is assumed. For more details
on the data and type arguments, see SUPPORTED TYPES below.
registry type keyName valueName
Returns the type of the value valueName in the key keyName. For
more information on the possible types, see SUPPORTED TYPES,
below.
registry values keyName ?pattern?
If pattern isn't specified, returns a list of names of all the
values of keyName. If pattern is specified, only those names
matching pattern are returned. Matching is determined using the
same rules as for string match.
SUPPORTED TYPES
Each value under a key in the registry contains some data of a particu-
lar type in a type-specific representation. The registry command con-
verts between this internal representation and one that can be manipu-
lated by Tcl scripts. In most cases, the data is simply returned as a
Tcl string. The type indicates the intended use for the data, but does
not actually change the representation. For some types, the registry
command returns the data in a different form to make it easier to
manipulate. The following types are recognized by the registry com-
mand:
binary The registry value contains arbitrary binary data.
The data is represented exactly in Tcl, including any
embedded nulls.
none The registry value contains arbitrary binary data with
no defined type. The data is represented exactly in
Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
sz The registry value contains a null-terminated string.
The data is represented in Tcl as a string.
expand_sz The registry value contains a null-terminated string
that contains unexpanded references to environment
variables in the normal Windows style (for example,
"%PATH%"). The data is represented in Tcl as a
string.
dword The registry value contains a little-endian 32-bit
number. The data is represented in Tcl as a decimal
string.
dword_big_endian The registry value contains a big-endian 32-bit num-
ber. The data is represented in Tcl as a decimal
string.
link The registry value contains a symbolic link. The data
is represented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded
nulls.
multi_sz The registry value contains an array of null-termi-
nated strings. The data is represented in Tcl as a
list of strings.
resource_list The registry value contains a device-driver resource
list. The data is represented exactly in Tcl, includ-
ing any embedded nulls.
In addition to the symbolically named types listed above, unknown types
are identified using a 32-bit integer that corresponds to the type code
returned by the system interfaces. In this case, the data is repre-
sented exactly in Tcl, including any embedded nulls.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
The registry command is only available on Windows.
EXAMPLE
Print out how double-clicking on a Tcl script file will invoke a Tcl
interpreter: package require registry set ext .tcl
# Read the type name set type [registry get HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$ext {}]
# Work out where to look for the command set path
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\$type\\Shell\\Open\\command # Read the command! set
command [registry get $path {}]
puts "$ext opens with $command"
KEYWORDS
registry
registry 1.1 registry(n)
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