Updated to tcl 8.4.1

[pf3gnuchains/sourceware.git] / tcl / doc / lindex.n

diff --git a/tcl/doc/lindex.n b/tcl/doc/lindex.n
index ec18d16..2966aed 100644 (file)
--- a/tcl/doc/lindex.n
+++ b/tcl/doc/lindex.n
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 '\"
 '\" Copyright (c) 1993 The Regents of the University of California.
 '\" Copyright (c) 1994-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
+'\" Copyright (c) 2001 by Kevin B. Kenny.  All rights reserved.
 '\"
 '\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
 '\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
@@ -8,20 +9,39 @@
 '\" RCS: @(#) $Id$
 '\" 
 .so man.macros
-.TH lindex n 8.2 Tcl "Tcl Built-In Commands"
+.TH lindex n 8.4 Tcl "Tcl Built-In Commands"
 .BS
 '\" Note:  do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
 .SH NAME
 lindex \- Retrieve an element from a list
 .SH SYNOPSIS
-\fBlindex \fIlist index\fR
+\fBlindex \fIlist ?index...?\fR
 .BE
-
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .PP
-This command treats \fIlist\fR as a Tcl list and returns the
+.VS 8.4
+The \fBlindex\fP command accepts a parameter, \fIlist\fP, which
+it treats as a Tcl list. It also accepts zero or more \fIindices\fP into
+the list.  The indices may be presented either consecutively on the
+command line, or grouped in a
+Tcl list and presented as a single argument.
+.PP
+If no indices are presented, the command takes the form:
+.CS
+lindex list
+.CE
+or
+.CS
+lindex list {}
+.CE
+In this case, the return value of \fBlindex\fR is simply the value of the
+\fIlist\fR parameter.
+.PP
+When presented with a single index, the \fBlindex\fR command
+treats \fIlist\fR as a Tcl list and returns the
+.VE
 \fIindex\fR'th element from it (0 refers to the first element of the list).
-In extracting the element, \fIlindex\fR observes the same rules
+In extracting the element, \fBlindex\fR observes the same rules
 concerning braces and quotes and backslashes as the Tcl command
 interpreter; however, variable
 substitution and command substitution do not occur.
@@ -31,7 +51,43 @@ string is returned.
 If \fIindex\fR has the value \fBend\fR, it refers to the last element
 in the list, and \fBend\-\fIinteger\fR refers to the last element in
 the list minus the specified integer offset.
-
+.PP
+.VS 8.4
+If additional \fIindex\fR arguments are supplied, then each argument is
+used in turn to select an element from the previous indexing operation,
+allowing the script to select elements from sublists.  The command,
+.CS
+lindex $a 1 2 3
+.CE
+or
+.CS
+lindex $a {1 2 3}
+.CE
+is synonymous with
+.CS
+lindex [lindex [lindex $a 1] 2] 3
+.CE
+.SH EXAMPLES
+.CS
+lindex {a b c}  => a b c
+lindex {a b c} {} => a b c
+lindex {a b c} 0 => a
+lindex {a b c} 2 => c
+lindex {a b c} end => c
+lindex {a b c} end-1 => b
+lindex {{a b c} {d e f} {g h i}} 2 1 => h
+lindex {{a b c} {d e f} {g h i}} {2 1} => h
+lindex {{{a b} {c d}} {{e f} {g h}}} 1 1 0 => g
+lindex {{{a b} {c d}} {{e f} {g h}}} {1 1 0} => g
+.CE
+.VE
+.SH "SEE ALSO"
+list(n), lappend(n), linsert(n), llength(n), lsearch(n), 
+.VS 8.4
+lset(n),
+.VE
+lsort(n),
+lrange(n), lreplace(n)
 
 .SH KEYWORDS
 element, index, list