NAME
       open - Open a file-based or command pipeline channel

SYNOPSIS
       open fileName
       open fileName access
       open fileName access permissions


DESCRIPTION
       This  command  opens  a  file,  serial  port,  or  command
       pipeline and returns a channel identifier that may be used
       in  future  invocations  of  commands like read, puts, and
       close.  If the first character of fileName is not  |  then
       the  command  opens a file: fileName gives the name of the
       file to open, and  it  must  conform  to  the  conventions
       described in the filename manual entry.

       The  access  argument,  if  present,  indicates the way in
       which the file (or command pipeline) is  to  be  accessed.
       In  the  first  form  access may have any of the following
       values:

       r              Open the file for reading  only;  the  file
                      must  already  exist.  This  is the default
                      value if access is not specified.

       r+             Open the file for both reading and writing;
                      the file must already exist.

       w              Open  the  file for writing only.  Truncate
                      it if it exists.  If it doesn't exist, cre-
                      ate a new file.

       w+             Open  the  file  for  reading  and writing.
                      Truncate it if it exists.   If  it  doesn't
                      exist, create a new file.

       a              Open  the  file  for  writing only.  If the
                      file doesn't  exist,  create  a  new  empty
                      file.   Set the initial access position  to
                      the end of the file.

       a+             Open the file for reading and writing.   If
                      the  file doesn't exist, create a new empty
                      file.  Set the initial access position   to
                      the end of the file.

       In  the  second  form, access consists of a list of any of
       the following flags, all of which have the standard  POSIX
       meanings.   One of the flags must be either RDONLY, WRONLY
       or RDWR.

       RDONLY         Open the file for reading only.
       WRONLY         Open the file for writing only.

       RDWR           Open the file for both reading and writing.

       APPEND         Set the file pointer to the end of the file
                      prior to each write.

       CREAT          Create the file if it doesn't already exist
                      (without  this  flag it is an error for the
                      file not to exist).

       EXCL           If CREAT is also  specified,  an  error  is
                      returned if the file already exists.

       NOCTTY         If the file is a terminal device, this flag
                      prevents the file from  becoming  the  con-
                      trolling terminal of the process.

       NONBLOCK       Prevents  the  process  from blocking while
                      opening the file, and  possibly  in  subse-
                      quent  I/O  operations.  The exact behavior
                      of this flag is system-  and  device-depen-
                      dent;  its use is discouraged (it is better
                      to use the fconfigure command to put a file
                      in nonblocking mode).  For details refer to
                      your system documentation on the open  sys-
                      tem call's O_NONBLOCK flag.

       TRUNC          If  the file exists it is truncated to zero
                      length.

       If a new file is created as part of  opening  it,  permis-
       sions  (an integer) is used to set the permissions for the
       new file in conjunction with the process's file mode  cre-
       ation mask.  Permissions defaults to 0666.

       Note that if you are going to be reading or writing binary
       data from the channel created by this command, you  should
       use  the  fconfigure  command  to  change the -translation
       option of the channel to binary  before  transferring  any
       binary  data.   This is in contrast to the ``b'' character
       passed as part of the equivalent of the  access  parameter
       to some versions of the C library fopen() function.

COMMAND PIPELINES
       If  the  first  character  of  fileName  is ``|'' then the
       remaining characters of fileName are treated as a list  of
       arguments  that  describe a command pipeline to invoke, in
       the same style as the arguments for exec.  In  this  case,
       the  channel  identifier  returned  by open may be used to
       write to the command's input pipe or read from its  output
       pipe,  depending  on  the  value of access.  If write-only
       access is used (e.g. access is w),  then  standard  output
       for  the  pipeline  is  directed  to  the current standard
       output unless overridden by  the  command.   If  read-only
       access  is used (e.g. access is r), standard input for the
       pipeline is taken from the current standard  input  unless
       overridden by the command.

SERIAL COMMUNICATIONS
       If  fileName  refers  to a serial port, then the specified
       serial port is opened and initialized in a platform-depen-
       dent manner.  Acceptable values for the fileName to use to
       open a serial port are described in the PORTABILITY ISSUES
       section.


CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
       The  fconfigure  command  can be used to query and set the
       following configuration option for open serial ports:

       -mode baud,parity,data,stop
              This option is a set of 4  comma-separated  values:
              the  baud  rate,  parity,  number of data bits, and
              number of stop bits for this serial port.  The baud
              rate is a simple integer that specifies the connec-
              tion speed.  Parity is one of  the  following  let-
              ters:  n,  o,  e, m, s; respectively signifying the
              parity  options  of  ``none'',  ``odd'',  ``even'',
              ``mark'', or ``space''.  Data is the number of data
              bits and should be an integer from 5  to  8,  while
              stop  is  the number of stop bits and should be the
              integer 1 or 2.

       -pollinterval msec
              This option, available only on Windows  for  serial
              ports,  is  used  to  set  the maximum time between
              polling for  fileevents.   This  affects  the  time
              interval between checking for events throughout the
              Tcl interpreter (the smallest value  always  wins).
              Use this option only if you want to poll the serial
              port more often than 10 msec (the default).

       -lasterror
              This option is available only on Windows for serial
              ports,  and  is  query  only (will only be reported
              when directly requested).  In case of a serial com-
              munication  error,  read  or puts returns a general
              Tcl file I/O error.  fconfigure -lasterror  can  be
              called  to  get a list of error details (e.g. FRAME
              RXOVER).


PORTABILITY ISSUES
       Windows (all versions)
              Valid values for fileName to open a serial port are
              of  the  form comX:, where X is a number, generally
              from 1 to 4.  This notation only works  for  serial
              ports  from  1  to 9, if the system happens to have
              more than four.  An attempt to open a  serial  port
              that  does not exist or has a number greater than 9
              will fail.  An alternate  form  of  opening  serial
              ports  is  to use the filename \\.\comX, where X is
              any number  that  corresponds  to  a  serial  port;
              please note that this method is considerably slower
              on Windows 95 and Windows 98.

       Windows NT
              When running Tcl interactively, there may  be  some
              strange  interactions  between the real console, if
              one is present, and a command  pipeline  that  uses
              standard input or output.  If a command pipeline is
              opened for reading, some of the  lines  entered  at
              the  console  will  be sent to the command pipeline
              and some will be sent to the Tcl evaluator.   If  a
              command  pipeline is opened for writing, keystrokes
              entered into the console are not visible until  the
              the  pipe  is closed.  This behavior occurs whether
              the command pipeline is executing 16-bit or  32-bit
              applications.   These  problems  only occur because
              both Tcl and the child  application  are  competing
              for  the  console at the same time.  If the command
              pipeline is started from a script, so that  Tcl  is
              not  accessing  the  console,  or  if  the  command
              pipeline does not use standard input or output, but
              is  redirected  from  or  to a file, then the above
              problems do not occur.

       Windows 95
              A command  pipeline  that  executes  a  16-bit  DOS
              application  cannot  be opened for both reading and
              writing, since 16-bit DOS applications that receive
              standard input from a pipe and send standard output
              to a pipe  run  synchronously.   Command  pipelines
              that  do  not  execute  16-bit DOS applications run
              asynchronously and can be opened for  both  reading
              and writing.

              When  running  Tcl interactively, there may be some
              strange interactions between the real  console,  if
              one  is  present,  and a command pipeline that uses
              standard input or output.  If a command pipeline is
              opened  for reading from a 32-bit application, some
              of the keystrokes entered at the  console  will  be
              sent  to the command pipeline and some will be sent
              to the Tcl evaluator.  If  a  command  pipeline  is
              opened for writing to a 32-bit application, no out-
              put is visible on the console until the the pipe is
              closed.  These problems only occur because both Tcl
              and the child application  are  competing  for  the
              console  at the same time.  If the command pipeline
              is started from  a  script,  so  that  Tcl  is  not
              accessing  the  console, or if the command pipeline
              does not use standard input or output, but is redi-
              rected  from  or to a file, then the above problems
              do not occur.

              Whether or not Tcl is running interactively,  if  a
              command  pipeline  is  opened  for  reading  from a
              16-bit DOS application, the call to open  will  not
              return until end-of-file has been received from the
              command pipeline's standard output.  If  a  command
              pipeline  is  opened  for  writing  to a 16-bit DOS
              application, no data will be sent  to  the  command
              pipeline's  standard output until the pipe is actu-
              ally closed.  This problem  occurs  because  16-bit
              DOS   applications   are   run   synchronously,  as
              described above.

       Macintosh
              Opening a serial port is not currently  implemented
              under Macintosh.

              Opening  a  command pipeline is not supported under
              Macintosh, since applications do  not  support  the
              concept of standard input or output.

       Unix
              Valid values for fileName to open a serial port are
              generally of the form /dev/ttyX, where X is a or b,
              but  the  name  of  any  pseudo-file that maps to a
              serial port may be used.

              When running Tcl interactively, there may  be  some
              strange interactions between the console, if one is
              present, and a command pipeline that uses  standard
              input.   If  a command pipeline is opened for read-
              ing, some of the lines entered at the console  will
              be  sent  to  the command pipeline and some will be
              sent to  the  Tcl  evaluator.   This  problem  only
              occurs  because  both Tcl and the child application
              are competing for the console at the same time.  If
              the  command  pipeline is started from a script, so
              that Tcl is not accessing the console,  or  if  the
              command  pipeline  does not use standard input, but
              is redirected from a file, then the  above  problem
              does not occur.

       See the PORTABILITY ISSUES section of the exec command for
       additional information not specific to  command  pipelines
       about executing applications on the various platforms


SEE ALSO
       file(n),  close(n),  filename(n),  fconfigure(n), gets(n),
       read(n), puts(n), exec(n), fopen(1)
KEYWORDS
       access mode, append,  create,  file,  non-blocking,  open,
       permissions, pipeline, process, serial
