split(3tcl)

NAME

   split - Split a string into a proper Tcl list

SYNOPSIS

   split string ?splitChars?
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DESCRIPTION

   Returns a list created by splitting string at each character that is in
   the splitChars argument.  Each element of the result list will  consist
   of  the  characters  from  string  that  lie  between  instances of the
   characters in splitChars.  Empty list elements  will  be  generated  if
   string  contains  adjacent characters in splitChars, or if the first or
   last character of string is in splitChars.  If splitChars is  an  empty
   string  then each character of string becomes a separate element of the
   result  list.   SplitChars  defaults  to   the   standard   white-space
   characters.

EXAMPLES

   Divide up a USENET group name into its hierarchical components:
          split "comp.lang.tcl.announce" .
                 comp lang tcl announce

   See  how  the  split  command  splits on every character in splitChars,
   which can result in information loss if you are not careful:
          split "alpha beta gamma" "temp"
                 al {ha b} {} {a ga} {} a

   Extract the list words from a string that is not a well-formed list:
          split "Example with {unbalanced brace character"
                 Example with \{unbalanced brace character

   Split a string into its constituent characters
          split "Hello world" {}
                 H e l l o { } w o r l d

   PARSING RECORD-ORIENTED FILES
   Parse a Unix /etc/passwd file, which consists of one  entry  per  line,
   with each line consisting of a colon-separated list of fields:
          ## Read the file
          set fid [open /etc/passwd]
          set content [read $fid]
          close $fid

          ## Split into records on newlines
          set records [split $content "\n"]

          ## Iterate over the records
          foreach rec $records {

             ## Split into fields on colons
             set fields [split $rec ":"]

             ## Assign fields to variables and print some out...
             lassign $fields \
                   userName password uid grp longName homeDir shell
             puts "$longName uses [file tail $shell] for a login shell"
          }

SEE ALSO

   join(3tcl), list(3tcl), string(3tcl)

KEYWORDS

   list, split, string

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