tell(n) | Tcl Built-In Commands | tell(n) |
NAME¶
tell - Return current access position for an open channel
SYNOPSIS¶
tell channelId
DESCRIPTION¶
Returns an integer string giving the current access position in channelId. This value returned is a byte offset that can be passed to seek in order to set the channel to a particular position. Note that this value is in terms of bytes, not characters like read. The value returned is -1 for channels that do not support seeking.
ChannelId must be an identifier for an open channel such as a Tcl standard channel (stdin, stdout, or stderr), the return value from an invocation of open or socket, or the result of a channel creation command provided by a Tcl extension.
EXAMPLE¶
Read a line from a file channel only if it starts with foobar:
# Save the offset in case we need to undo the read... set offset [tell $chan] if {[read $chan 6] eq "foobar"} {
gets $chan line } else {
set line {}
# Undo the read...
seek $chan $offset }
SEE ALSO¶
file(n), open(n), close(n), gets(n), seek(n), Tcl_StandardChannels(3)
KEYWORDS¶
access position, channel, seeking
8.1 | Tcl |