'\"
'\" Copyright (c) 1993-1998  Lucent Technologies, Inc.
'\"
'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
'\"
.TH scope n "" itcl "[incr\ Tcl]"
.\" The -*- nroff -*- definitions below are for supplemental macros used
.\" in Tcl/Tk manual entries.
.\"
.\" .AP type name in/out ?indent?
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.\"	or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg,
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.\" .SO ?manpage?
.\"	Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The manpage
.\"	argument defines where to look up the standard options; if
.\"	omitted, defaults to "options". The options follow on successive
.\"	lines, in three columns separated by tabs.
.\"
.\" .SE
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.\"
.\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass
.\"	Start of description of a specific option.  cmdName gives the
.\"	option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives
.\"	the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives
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.if t .wh -1.3i ^B
.nr ^l \n(.l
.ad b
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.de AP
.ie !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4
.el \{\
.   ie !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu
.   el          .TP 15
.\}
.ta \\n()Au \\n()Bu
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\&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP (\\$3)
.\".b
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.br
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\&\\fI\\$1\\fP
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.\}
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.nr )A 10n
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..
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.ie !\\n(^b-1 \{\
\h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul'
.\}
.el \}\
\h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul'
.\}
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.el \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c
.\}
.if \\n(^v \{\
.nr ^x \\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu
\kx\h'-\\nxu'\h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\ky\L'-\\n(^xu'\v'\\n(^xu'\h'|0u'\c
.\}
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..
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.RE
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..
.\"	# SO - start of list of standard options
.de SO
'ie '\\$1'' .ds So \\fBoptions\\fR
'el .ds So \\fB\\$1\\fR
.SH "STANDARD OPTIONS"
.LP
.nf
.ta 5.5c 11c
.ft B
..
.\"	# SE - end of list of standard options
.de SE
.fi
.ft R
.LP
See the \\*(So manual entry for details on the standard options.
..
.\"	# OP - start of full description for a single option
.de OP
.LP
.nf
.ta 4c
Command-Line Name:	\\fB\\$1\\fR
Database Name:	\\fB\\$2\\fR
Database Class:	\\fB\\$3\\fR
.fi
.IP
..
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.\"	# UL - underline word
.de UL
\\$1\l'|0\(ul'\\$2
..
.\"	# QW - apply quotation marks to word
.de QW
.ie '\\*(lq'"' ``\\$1''\\$2
.\"" fix emacs highlighting
.el \\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\$2
..
.\"	# PQ - apply parens and quotation marks to word
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.\"" fix emacs highlighting
.el (\\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\$2)\\$3
..
.\"	# QR - quoted range
.de QR
.ie '\\*(lq'"' ``\\$1''\\-``\\$2''\\$3
.\"" fix emacs highlighting
.el \\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\-\\*(lq\\$2\\*(rq\\$3
..
.\"	# MT - "empty" string
.de MT
.QW ""
..
.BS
'\" Note:  do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
.SH NAME
itcl::scope \- capture the namespace context for a variable
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBitcl::scope \fIname\fR
.BE

.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
Creates a scoped value for the specified \fIname\fR, which must
be a variable name.  If the \fIname\fR is an instance variable,
then the scope command returns a name which will resolve in any
context as an instance variable belonging to \fIobject\fR.
The precise format of this name is an internal detail to Itcl.
Use of such a scoped value makes it possible to use
instance variables in conjunction with widgets.  For example, if you
have an object with a private variable \fCx\fR, and you can use
\fCx\fR in conjunction with the \fC-textvariable\fR option of an
entry widget.  Before itcl3.0, only common variables could be used
in this manner.
.PP
If the \fIname\fR is not an instance variable, then it must be
a common variable or a global variable.  In that case, the scope
command returns the fully qualified name of the variable, e.g.,
\fC::foo::bar::x\fR.
.PP
If the \fIname\fR is not recognized as a variable, the scope
command returns an error.
.PP
Ordinary variable names refer to variables in the global namespace.
A scoped value captures a variable name together with its namespace
context in a way that allows it to be referenced properly later.
It is needed, for example, to wrap up variable names when a Tk
widget is used within a namespace:
.CS
namespace foo {
    private variable mode 1

    radiobutton .rb1 -text "Mode #1" \
        -variable [scope mode] -value 1
    pack .rb1

    radiobutton .rb2 -text "Mode #2" \
        -variable [scope mode] -value 2
    pack .rb2
}
.CE
Radiobuttons \fC.rb1\fR and \fC.rb2\fR interact via the variable
"mode" contained in the namespace "foo".  The \fBscope\fR command
guarantees this by returning the fully qualified variable name
\fC::foo::mode\fR.
.PP
You should never attempt to craft your own scoped variable names,
even if you believe you've flawlessly reverse-engineered the encoding.
Instead, you should always use the scope command to generate the
variable name dynamically.  Then, you can pass that name to a widget
or to any other bit of code in your program.

.SH KEYWORDS
code, namespace, variable
