tree(n) manual page

Table of Contents

## Name

tree - Create and manage tree data objects.

## Synopsis

blt::tree create ?treeName?

blt::tree destroy treeName...

blt::tree names ?pattern?

## Description

The tree command creates tree data objects. A tree object is general ordered tree of nodes. Each node has both a label and a key-value list of data. Data can be heterogeneous, since nodes do not have to contain the same data keys. It is associated with a Tcl command that you can use to access and modify the its structure and data. Tree objects can also be managed via a C API.

## Introduction

## Example

## Syntax

tree create ?treeName?
  Creates a new tree object. The name of the new tree is returned. If no treeName argument is present, then the name of the tree is automatically generated in the form "tree0", "tree1", etc. If the substring "#auto" is found in treeName, it is automatically substituted by a generated name. For example, the name .foo.#auto.bar will be translated to .foo.tree0.bar.

  A new Tcl command (by the same name as the tree) is also created. Another Tcl command or tree object can not already exist as treeName. If the Tcl command is deleted, the tree will also be freed. The new tree will contain just the root node. Trees are by default, created in the current namespace, not the global namespace, unless treeName contains a namespace qualifier, such as "fred::myTree".

tree destroy treeName...
  Releases one of more trees. The Tcl command associated with treeName is also removed. Trees are reference counted. The internal tree data object isn't destroyed until no one else is using the tree.
tree names ?pattern?
  Returns the names of all tree objects. if a pattern argument is given, then the only those trees whose name matches pattern will be listed.

## Node IDs and Tags

Nodes in a tree object may be referred in either of two ways: by id or by tag. Each node has a unique serial number or id that is assigned to that node when it's created. The id of an node never changes and id numbers are not re-used.

A node may also have any number of tags associated with it. A tag is just a string of characters, and it may take any form except that of an integer. For example, "x123" is valid, but "123" isn't. The same tag may be associated with many different nodes. This is commonly done to group nodes in various interesting ways.

There are two built-in tags: The tag all is implicitly associated with every node in the tree. It may be used to invoke operations on all the nodes in the tree. The tag root is managed automatically by the tree object. It applies to the node current set as root.

When specifying nodes in tree object commands, if the specifier is an integer then it is assumed to refer to the single node with that id. If the specifier is not an integer, then it is assumed to refer to all of the nodes in the tree that have a tag matching the specifier. The symbol node is used below to indicate that an argument specifies either an id that selects a single node or a tag that selects zero or more nodes. Many tree commands only operate on a single node at a time; if node is specified in a way that names multiple items, then an error "refers to more than one node" is generated.

## Node Modifiers

You can also specify node in relation to another node by appending one or more modifiers to the node id or tag. A modifier refers to a node in relation to the specified node. For example, "root->firstchild" selects the first subtree of the root node.

The following modifiers are available:

> firstchild
>   Selects the first child of the node.
> lastchild
>   Selects the last child of the node.
> next
>   Selects the next node in preorder to the node.
> nextsibling
>   Selects the next sibling of the node.
> parent
>   Selects the parent of the node.
> previous
>   Selects the previous node in preorder to the node.
> prevsibling
>   Selects the previous sibling of the node.
> "label"
>   Selects the node whose label is label. Enclosing label in quotes indicates to always search for a node by its label (for example, even if the node is labeled "parent").

It's an error the node can't be found. For example, lastchild and firstchild will generate errors if the node has no children. The exception to this is the index operation. You can use index to test if a modifier is valid.

## Tree Operations

Once you create a tree object, you can use its Tcl command to query or modify it. The general form is

`treeName operation ?arg?...
`

Both operation and its arguments determine the exact behavior of the command. The operations available for trees are listed below.

treeName ancestor node1 node2
  Returns the mutual ancestor of the two nodes node1 and node2. The ancestor can be one of the two nodes. For example, if node1 and node2 are the same nodes, their ancestor is node1.
treeName apply node ?switches?
  Runs commands for all nodes matching the criteria given by switches for the subtree designated by node. By default all nodes match, but you can set switches to narrow the match. This operation differs from find in two ways: 1) Tcl commands can be invoked both pre- and post-traversal of a node and 2) the tree is always traversed in depth first order.

  The -exact, -glob, and -regexp switches indicate both what kind of pattern matching to perform and the pattern. Pattern matching is done, by default, against each node's label. But if the -path switch is present, it will match the full path of the node (a list containing the labels of the node's ancestors too). If the -key switch is used, it designates the data field to be matched.

  The valid switches are listed below:

-depth number
  Descend at most number (a non-negative integer) levels If number is 1 this means only apply the tests to the children of node.
-exact string
  Matches each node using string. The node must match string exactly.
-glob string
  Test each node to string using global pattern matching. Matching is done in a fashion similar to that used by the C-shell.
-invert
  Select non-matching nodes. Any node that doesn't match the given criteria will be selected.
-key key
  If pattern matching is selected (using the -exact, -glob, or -regexp switches), compare the values of the data field keyed by key instead of the node's label. If no pattern matching switches are set, then any node with this data key will match.
-leafonly
  Only test nodes with no children.
-nocase
  Ignore case when matching patterns.
-path
  Use the node's full path when comparing nodes.
-precommand command
  Invoke command for each matching node. Before command is invoked, the id of the node is appended. You can control processing by the return value of command. If command generates an error, processing stops and the find operation returns an error. But if command returns break, then processing stops, no error is generated. If command returns continue, then processing stops on that subtree and continues on the next.
-postcommand command
  Invoke command for each matching node. Before command is invoked, the id of the node is appended. You can control processing by the return value of command. If command generates an error, processing stops and the find operation returns an error. But if command returns break, then processing stops, no error is generated. If command returns continue, then processing stops on that subtree and continues on the next.
-regexp string
  Test each node using string as a regular expression pattern.
-tag string
  Only test nodes that have the tag string.

treeName attach treeObject
  Attaches to an existing tree object treeObject. This is for cases where the tree object was previously created via the C API. The current tree associated with treeName is discarded. In addition, the current set of tags, notifier events, and traces are removed.
treeName children node
  Returns a list of children for node. If node is a leaf, then an empty string is returned.
treeName copy srcNode ?destTree? destNode ?switches?
  Copies srcNode into destNode. Both nodes srcNode and destNode must already exist. If destTree argument is present, it indicates the name of the destination tree. By default both the source and destination trees are the same. The valid switches are listed below:

-overwrite
  Overwrite nodes that already exist. Normally nodes are always created, even if there already exists a node by the same name. This switch indicates to add or overwrite the node's data fields.
-recurse
  Recursively copy all the subtrees of srcNode as well. In this case, srcNode can't be an ancestor of destNode as it would result in a cyclic copy.
-tags
  Copy tag inforation. Normally the following node is copied: its label and data fields. This indicates to copy tags as well.

treeName degree node
  Returns the number of children of node.
treeName delete node...
  Recursively deletes one or more nodes from the tree. The node and all its descendants are removed. The one exception is the root node. In this case, only its descendants are removed. The root node will remain. Any tags or traces on the nodes are released.
treeName depth node
  Returns the depth of the node. The depth is the number of steps from the node to the root of the tree. The depth of the root node is 0.
treeName dump node
  Returns a list of the paths and respective data for node and its descendants. The subtree designated by node is traversed returning the following information for each node: 1) the node's path relative to node, 2) a sublist key value pairs representing the node's data fields, and 3) a sublist of tags. This list returned can be used later to copy or restore the tree with the restore operation.
treeName dumpfile node fileName
  Writes a list of the paths and respective data for node and its descendants to the given file fileName. The subtree designated by node is traversed returning the following information for each node: 1) the node's path relative to node, 2) a sublist key value pairs representing the node's data fields, and 3) a sublist of tags. This list returned can be used later to copy or restore the tree with the restore operation.
treeName exists node ?key?
  Indicates if node exists in the tree. If a key argument is present then the command also indicates if the named data field exists.
treeName find node ?switches?
  Finds for all nodes matching the criteria given by switches for the subtree designated by node. A list of the selected nodes is returned. By default all nodes match, but you can set switches to narrow the match.

  The -exact, -glob, and -regexp switches indicate both what kind of pattern matching to perform and the pattern. Pattern matching is done, by default, against each node's label. But if the -path switch is present, it will match the full path of the node. If the -key switch is used, it designates the data field to be matched.

  The order in which the nodes are traversed is controlled by the -order switch. The possible orderings are preorder, postorder, inorder, and breadthfirst. The default is postorder.

  The valid switches are listed below:

-addtag string
  Add the tag string to each selected node.
-count number
  Stop processing after number (a positive integer) matches.
-depth number
  Descend at most number (a non-negative integer) levels If number is 1 this means only apply the tests to the children of node.
-exact string
  Matches each node using string. The node must match string exactly.
-exec command
  Invoke command for each matching node. Before command is invoked, the id of the node is appended. You can control processing by the return value of command. If command generates an error, processing stops and the find operation returns an error. But if command returns break, then processing stops, no error is generated. If command returns continue, then processing stops on that subtree and continues on the next.
-glob string
  Test each node to string using global pattern matching. Matching is done in a fashion similar to that used by the C-shell.
-invert
  Select non-matching nodes. Any node that doesn't match the given criteria will be selected.
-key key
  If pattern matching is selected (using the -exact, -glob, or -regexp switches), compare the values of the data field keyed by key instead of the node's label. If no pattern matching switches are set, then any node with this data key will match.
-leafonly
  Only test nodes with no children.
-nocase
  Ignore case when matching patterns.
-order string
  Traverse the tree and process nodes according to string. String can be one of the following:

breadthfirst
  Process the node and the subtrees at each sucessive level. Each node on a level is processed before going to the next level.
inorder
  Recursively process the nodes of the first subtree, the node itself, and any the remaining subtrees.
postorder
  Recursively process all subtrees before the node.
preorder
  Recursively process the node first, then any subtrees.

-path
  Use the node's full path when comparing nodes.
-regexp string
  Test each node using string as a regular expression pattern.
-tag string
  Only test nodes that have the tag string.

treeName findchild node label
  Searches for a child node Ilabel in node. The id of the child node is returned if found. Otherwise -1 is returned.
treeName firstchild node
  Returns the id of the first child in the node's list of subtrees. If node is a leaf (has no children), then -1 is returned.
treeName get node ?key? ?defaultValue?
  Returns a list of key-value pairs of data for the node. If key is present, then onlyx the value for that particular data field is returned. It's normally an error if node does not contain the data field key. But if you provide a defaultValue argument, this value is returned instead (node will still not contain key). This feature can be used to access a data field of node without first testing if it exists. This operation may trigger read data traces.
treeName index node
  Returns the id of node. If node is a tag, it can only specify one node. If node does not represent a valid node id or tag, or has modifiers that are invalid, then -1 is returned.
treeName insert parent ?switches?
  Inserts a new node into parent node parent. The id of the new node is returned. The following switches are available:

-at number
  Inserts the node into parent's list of children at position number. The default is to append node.
-data dataList
  Sets the value for each data field in dataList for the new node. DataList is a list of key-value pairs.
-label string
  Designates the labels of the node as string. By default, nodes are labeled as node0, node1, etc.
-tags tagList
  Adds each tag in tagList to the new node. TagList is a list of tags, so be careful if a tag has embedded space.

treeName is property args
  Indicates the property of a node. Both property and args determine the property being tested. Returns 1 if true and 0 otherwise. The following property and args are valid:

ancestor node1 node2
  Indicates if node1 is an ancestor of node2.
before node1 node2
  Indicates if node1 is before node2 in depth first traversal.
leaf node
  Indicates if node is a leaf (it has no subtrees).
root node
  Indicates if node is the designated root. This can be changed by the root operation.

treeName label node ?newLabel?
  Returns the label of the node designated by node. If newLabel is present, the node is relabeled using it as the new label.
treeName lastchild node
  Returns the id of the last child in the node's list of subtrees. If node is a leaf (has no children), then -1 is returned.
treeName move node newParent ?switches?
  Moves node into newParent. Node is appended to the list children of newParent. Node can not be an ancestor of newParent. The valid flags for switches are described below.

-after child
  Position node after child. The node child must be a child of newParent.
-at number
  Inserts node into parent's list of children at position number. The default is to append the node.
-before child
  Position node before child. The node child must be a child of newParent.

treeName next node
  Returns the next node from node in a preorder traversal. If node is the last node in the tree, then -1 is returned.
treeName nextsibling node
  Returns the node representing the next subtree from node in its parent's list of children. If node is the last child, then -1 is returned.
treeName notify args
  Manages notification events that indicate that the tree structure has been changed. See the NOTIFY OPERATIONS section below.
treeName parent node
  Returns the parent node of node. If node is the root of the tree, then -1 is returned.
treeName path node
  Returns the full path (from root) of node.
treeName position node
  Returns the position of the node in its parent's list of children. Positions are numbered from 0. The position of the root node is always 0.
treeName previous node
  Returns the previous node from node in a preorder traversal. If node is the root of the tree, then -1 is returned.
treeName prevsibling node
  Returns the node representing the previous subtree from node in its parent's list of children. If node is the first child, then -1 is returned.
treeName restore node dataString switches
  Performs the inverse function of the dump operation, restoring nodes to the tree. The format of dataString is exactly what is returned by the dump operation. It's a list containing information for each node to be restored. The information consists of 1) the relative path of the node, 2) a sublist of key value pairs representing the node's data, and 3) a list of tags for the node. Nodes are created starting from node. Nodes can be listed in any order. If a node's path describes ancestor nodes that do not already exist, they are automatically created. The valid switches are listed below:

-overwrite
  Overwrite nodes that already exist. Normally nodes are always created, even if there already exists a node by the same name. This switch indicates to add or overwrite the node's data fields.

treeName restorefile node fileName switches
  Performs the inverse function of the dumpfile operation, restoring nodes to the tree from the file fileName. The format of fileName is exactly what is returned by the dumpfile operation. It's a list containing information for each node to be restored. The information consists of 1) the relative path of the node, 2) a sublist of key value pairs representing the node's data, and 3) a list of tags for the node. Nodes are created starting from node. Nodes can be listed in any order. If a node's path describes ancestor nodes that do not already exist, they are automatically created. The valid switches are listed below:

-overwrite
  Overwrite nodes that already exist. Normally nodes are always created, even if there already exists a node by the same name. This switch indicates to add or overwrite the node's data fields.

treeName root ?node?
  Returns the id of the root node. Normally this is node 0. If a node argument is provided, it will become the new root of the tree. This lets you temporarily work within a subset of the tree. Changing root affects operations such as next, path, previous, etc.
treeName set node key value ?key value...?
  Sets one or more data fields in node. Node may be a tag that represents several nodes. Key is the name of the data field to be set and value is its respective value. This operation may trigger write and create data traces.
treeName size node
  Returns the number of nodes in the subtree. This includes the node and all its descendants. The size of a leaf node is 1.
treeName sort node ?switches?

-ascii
  Compare strings using the ASCII collation order.
-command string
  Use command string as a comparison command. To compare two elements, evaluate a Tcl script consisting of command with the two elements appended as additional arguments. The script should return an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if the first element is to be considered less than, equal to, or greater than the second, respectively.
-decreasing
  Sort in decreasing order (largest items come first).
-dictionary
  Compare strings using a dictionary-style comparison. This is the same as -ascii except (a) case is ignored except as a tie-breaker and (b) if two strings contain embedded numbers, the numbers compare as integers, not characters. For example, in -dictionary mode, bigBoy sorts between bigbang and bigboy, and x10y sorts between x9y and x11y.
-integer
  Compare the nodes as integers.
-key string
  Sort based upon the node's data field keyed by string. Normally nodes are sorted according to their label.
-path
  Compare the full path of each node. The default is to compare only its label.
-real
  Compare the nodes as real numbers.
-recurse
  Recursively sort the entire subtree rooted at node.
-reorder
  Recursively sort subtrees for each node. Warning. Unlike the normal flat sort, where a list of nodes is returned, this will reorder the tree.

treeName tag args
  Manages tags for the tree object. See the TAG OPERATIONS section below.
treeName trace args
  Manages traces for data fields in the tree object. Traces cause Tcl commands to be executed whenever a data field of a node is created, read, written, or unset. Traces can be set for a specific node or a tag, representing possibly many nodes. See the TRACE OPERATIONS section below.
treeName unset node key...
  Removes one or more data fields from node. Node may be a tag that represents several nodes. Key is the name of the data field to be removed. It's not an error is node does not contain key. This operation may trigger unset data traces.

## Tag Operations

Tags are a general means of selecting and marking nodes in the tree. A tag is just a string of characters, and it may take any form except that of an integer. The same tag may be associated with many different nodes.

There are two built-in tags: The tag all is implicitly associated with every node in the tree. It may be used to invoke operations on all the nodes in the tree. The tag root is managed automatically by the tree object. It specifies the node that is currently set as the root of the tree.

Most tree operations use tags. And several operations let you operate on multiple nodes at once. For example, you can use the set operation with the tag all to set a data field in for all nodes in the tree.

Tags are invoked by the tag operation. The general form is

`treeName tag operation ?arg?...
`

Both operation and its arguments determine the exact behavior of the command. The operations available for tags are listed below.

treeName tag add string node...
  Adds the tag string to one of more nodes.
treeName tag delete string node...
  Deletes the tag string from one or more nodes.
treeName tag forget string
  Removes the tag string from all nodes. It's not an error if no nodes are tagged as string.
treeName tag names ?node?
  Returns a list of tags used by the tree. If a node argument is present, only those tags used by node are returned.
treeName tag nodes string
  Returns a list of nodes that have the tag string. If no node is tagged as string, then an empty string is returned.

## Trace Operations

Data fields can be traced much in the same way that you can trace Tcl variables. Data traces cause Tcl commands to be executed whenever a particular data field of a node is created, read, written, or unset. A trace can apply to one or more nodes. You can trace a specific node by using its id, or a group of nodes by a their tag.

The tree's get, set, and unset operations can trigger various traces. The get operation can cause a read trace to fire. The set operation causes a write trace to fire. And if the data field is written for the first time, you will also get a create trace. The unset operation triggers unset traces.

Data traces are invoked by the trace operation. The general form is

`treeName trace operation ?arg?...
`

Both operation and its arguments determine the exact behavior of the command. The operations available for traces are listed below.

treeName trace create node key ops command
  Creates a trace for node on data field key. Node can refer to more than one node (for example, the tag all). If node is a tag, any node with that tag can possibly trigger a trace, invoking command. Command is command prefix, typically a procedure name. Whenever a trace is triggered, four arguments are appended to command before it is invoked: treeName, id of the node, key and, ops. Note that no nodes need have the field key. A trace identifier in the form "trace0", "trace1", etc. is returned.

  Ops indicates which operations are of interest, and consists of one or more of the following letters:

r
  Invoke command whenever key is read. Both read and write traces are temporarily disabled when command is executed.
w
  Invoke command whenever key is written. Both read and write traces are temporarily disabled when command is executed.
c
  Invoke command whenever key is created.
u
  Invoke command whenever key is unset. Data fields are typically unset with the unset command. Data fields are also unset when the tree is released, but all traces are disabled prior to that.

treeName trace delete traceId...
  Deletes one of more traces. TraceId is the trace identifier returned by the trace create operation.
treeName trace info traceId
  Returns information about the trace traceId. TraceId is a trace identifier previously returned by the trace create operation. It's the same information specified for the trace create operation. It consists of the node id or tag, data field key, a string of letters indicating the operations that are traced (it's in the same form as ops) and, the command prefix.
treeName trace names
  Returns a list of identifers for all the current traces.

## Notify Operations

Tree objects can be shared among many clients, such as a hiertable widget. Any client can create or delete nodes, sorting the tree, etc. You can request to be notified whenever these events occur. Notify events cause Tcl commands to be executed whenever the tree structure is changed.

Notifications are handled by the notify operation. The general form is

`treeName notify operation ?arg?...
`

Both operation and its arguments determine the exact behavior of the command. The operations available for events are listed below.

treeName notify create ?switches? command ?args?...
  Creates a notifier for the tree. A notify identifier in the form "notify0", "notify1", etc. is returned.

  Command and args are saved and invoked whenever the tree structure is changed (according to switches). Two arguments are appended to command and args before it's invoked: the id of the node and a string representing the type of event that occured. One of more switches can be set to indicate the events that are of interest. The valid switches are as follows:

-create
  Invoke command whenever a new node has been added.
-delete
  Invoke command whenever a node has been deleted.
-move
  Invoke command whenever a node has been moved.
-sort
  Invoke command whenever the tree has been sorted and reordered.
-relabel
  Invoke command whenever a node has been relabeled.
-allevents
  Invoke command whenever any of the above events occur.
-whenidle
  When an event occurs don't invoke command immediately, but queue it to be run the next time the event loop is entered and there are no events to process. If subsequent events occur before the event loop is entered, command will still be invoked only once.

treeName notify delete notifyId
  Deletes one or more notifiers from the tree. NotifyId is the notifier identifier returned by the notify create operation.
treeName notify info notifyId
  Returns information about the notify event notifyId. NotifyId is a notify identifier previously returned by the notify create operation. It's the same information specified for the notify create operation. It consists of the notify id, a sublist of event flags (it's in the same form as flags) and, the command prefix.
treeName notify names
  Returns a list of identifers for all the current notifiers.

## C Language API

Blt_TreeApply, Blt_TreeApplyBFS, Blt_TreeApplyDFS, Blt_TreeChangeRoot, Blt_TreeCreate, Blt_TreeCreateEventHandler, Blt_TreeCreateNode, Blt_TreeCreateTrace, Blt_TreeDeleteEventHandler, Blt_TreeDeleteNode, Blt_TreeDeleteTrace, Blt_TreeExists, Blt_TreeFindChild, Blt_TreeFirstChild, Blt_TreeFirstKey, Blt_TreeGetNode, Blt_TreeGetToken, Blt_TreeGetValue, Blt_TreeIsAncestor, Blt_TreeIsBefore, Blt_TreeIsLeaf, Blt_TreeLastChild, Blt_TreeMoveNode, Blt_TreeName, Blt_TreeNextKey, Blt_TreeNextNode, Blt_TreeNextSibling, Blt_TreeNodeDegree, Blt_TreeNodeDepth, Blt_TreeNodeId, Blt_TreeNodeLabel, Blt_TreeNodeParent, Blt_TreePrevNode, Blt_TreePrevSibling, Blt_TreeRelabelNode, Blt_TreeReleaseToken, Blt_TreeRootNode, Blt_TreeSetValue, Blt_TreeSize, Blt_TreeSortNode, and Blt_TreeUnsetValue.

## Keywords

tree, hiertable, widget

Table of Contents

- Name
- Synopsis
- Description
- Introduction
- Example
- Syntax
- Node IDs and Tags
- Node Modifiers
- Tree Operations
- Tag Operations
- Trace Operations
- Notify Operations
- C Language API
- Keywords