Tcl_TranslateFileName(3) Tcl Library Procedures Tcl_TranslateFileName(3)

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NAME

Tcl_TranslateFileName - convert file name to native form and replace
tilde with home directory

SYNOPSIS

#include <tcl.h>

char *
Tcl_TranslateFileName(interp, name, bufferPtr)

ARGUMENTS

Tcl_Interp *interp (in) Interpreter in which to report
an error, if any.

const char *name (in) File name, which may start with
a "~".

Tcl_DString *bufferPtr (in/out) If needed, this dynamic string
is used to store the new file
name. At the time of the call
it should be uninitialized or
free. The caller must
eventually call Tcl_DStringFree
to free up anything stored here.
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DESCRIPTION

This utility procedure translates a file name to a platform-specific
form which, after being converted to the appropriate encoding, is
suitable for passing to the local operating system. In particular,
it converts network names into native form and does tilde
substitution.

However, with the advent of the newer Tcl_FSGetNormalizedPath and
Tcl_FSGetNativePath, there is no longer any need to use this
procedure. In particular, Tcl_FSGetNativePath performs all the
necessary translation and encoding conversion, is virtual-filesystem
aware, and caches the native result for faster repeated calls.
Finally Tcl_FSGetNativePath does not require you to free anything
afterwards.

If Tcl_TranslateFileName has to do tilde substitution or translate
the name then it uses the dynamic string at *bufferPtr to hold the
new string it generates. After Tcl_TranslateFileName returns a non-
NULL result, the caller must eventually invoke Tcl_DStringFree to
free any information placed in *bufferPtr. The caller need not know
whether or not Tcl_TranslateFileName actually used the string;
Tcl_TranslateFileName initializes *bufferPtr even if it does not use
it, so the call to Tcl_DStringFree will be safe in either case.

If an error occurs (e.g. because there was no user by the given name)
then NULL is returned and an error message will be left in the
interpreter's result. When an error occurs, Tcl_TranslateFileName
frees the dynamic string itself so that the caller need not call
Tcl_DStringFree.

The caller is responsible for making sure that the interpreter's
result has its default empty value when Tcl_TranslateFileName is
invoked.

SEE ALSO

filename(n)

KEYWORDS

file name, home directory, tilde, translate, user

Tcl 8.1 Tcl_TranslateFileName(3)