lset(n) Tcl Built-In Commands lset(n) NAME lset - Change an element in(1,8) a list SYNOPSIS lset varName ?index...? newValue DESCRIPTION The lset command accepts a parameter, varName, which it interprets as the name of a variable containing a Tcl list. It also accepts zero or more indices into the list. The indices may be presented either con- secutively on the command line, or grouped in(1,8) a Tcl list and presented as a single argument. Finally, it accepts a new value for an element of varName. If no indices are presented, the command takes the form: lset varName newValue or lset varName {} newValue In this case, newValue replaces the old value of the variable varName. When presented with a single index, the lset command treats the content of the varBane variable as a Tcl list. It addresses the index'th ele- ment in(1,8) it (0 refers to the first element of the list). When inter- preting the list, lset observes the same rules concerning braces and quotes and backslashes as the Tcl command interpreter; however, vari- able substitution and command substitution do not occur. The command constructs a new list in(1,8) which the designated element is replaced with newValue. This new list is stored in(1,8) the variable varName, and is also the return value from the lset command. If index is negative or greater than or equal to the number of elements in(1,8) $varName, then an error(8,n) occurs. If index has the value end, it refers to the last element in(1,8) the list, and end-integer refers to the last element in(1,8) the list minus the speci- fied integer offset. If additional index arguments are supplied, then each argument is used in(1,8) turn to address an element within a sublist designated by the previ- ous indexing operation, allowing the script to alter elements in(1,8) sub- lists. The command, lset a 1 2 newValue or lset a {1 2} newValue replaces element 2 of sublist 1 with newValue. The integer appearing in(1,8) each index argument must be greater than or equal to zero. The integer appearing in(1,8) each index argument must be strictly less(1,3) than the length of the corresponding list. In other words, the lset command cannot change the size of a list. If an index is outside the permitted range, an error(8,n) is reported. EXAMPLES In each of these examples, the initial value of x is: set(7,n,1 builtins) x [list [list a b c] [list d e f] [list g h i]] => {a b c} {d e f} {g h i} The indicated return value also becomes the new value of x (except in(1,8) the last case, which is an error(8,n) which leaves the value of x unchanged.) lset x {j k l} => j k l lset x {} {j k l} => j k l lset x 0 j => j {d e f} {g h i} lset x 2 j => {a b c} {d e f} j lset x end j => {a b c} {d e f} j lset x end-1 j => {a b c} j {g h i} lset x 2 1 j => {a b c} {d e f} {g j i} lset x {2 1} j => {a b c} {d e f} {g j i} lset x {2 3} j => list index out of range In the fol- lowing examples, the initial value of x is: set(7,n,1 builtins) x [list [list [list a b] [list c d]] \ [list [list e f] [list g h]]] => {{a b} {c d}} {{e f} {g h}} The indicated return value also becomes the new value of x. lset x 1 1 0 j => {{a b} {c d}} {{e f} {j h}} lset x {1 1 0} j => {{a b} {c d}} {{e f} {j h}} SEE ALSO list(n), lappend(n), lindex(n), linsert(n), llength(n), lsearch(3,n)(n), lsort(n), lrange(n), lreplace(n) KEYWORDS element, index, list, replace, set(7,n,1 builtins) Tcl 8.4 lset(n)