Simple Text output

puts "Hello, World - In quotes" ;# This is a comment after the command.

# This is a comment at beginning of a line
puts {Hello, World - In Braces}
puts {Bad comment syntax example} # *Error* - there is no semicolon!

puts "This is line 1"; puts "this is line 2"

puts "Hello, World; - With a semicolon inside the quotes"

# Words don't need to be quoted unless they contain white space:

puts HelloWorld

Assigning variable values

The assignment command in Tcl is set.

When set is called with two arguments, as in:

set fruit Cauliflower

it places the second argument (Cauliflower) in the memory space referenced by

the first argument (fruit). Set always returns the contents of the variable named
in the first argument. Thus, when set is called with two arguments, it places the
second argument in the memory space referenced by the first argument and then
returns the second argument. In the above example, for instance, it would return
"Cauliflower", without the quotes.
Example:

set X "This is a string"

set Y 1.24

puts $X
puts $Y

puts "..............................."

set label "The value in Y is: "

puts "$label $Y"

output

This is a string

1.24

...............................
The value in Y is: 1.24

Evaluation & Substitutions 1: Grouping arguments with ""

set Z Albany

set Z_LABEL "The Capitol of New York is: "

puts "$Z_LABEL $Z" ;# Prints the value of Z

puts "$Z_LABEL \$Z" ;# Prints a literal $Z instead of the value of Z

puts "\nBen Franklin is on the \$100.00 bill"

set a 100.00
puts "Washington is not on the $a bill" ;# This is not what you want
puts "Lincoln is not on the $$a bill" ;# This is OK
puts "Hamilton is not on the \$a bill" ;# This is not what you want
puts "Ben Franklin is on the \$$a bill" ;# But, this is OK

puts "\n................. examples of escape strings"

puts "Tab\tTab\tTab"
puts "This string prints out \non two lines"
puts "This string comes out\
on a single line"

output

The Capitol of New York is: Albany

The Capitol of New York is: $Z

Ben Franklin is on the $100.00 bill

Washington is not on the 100.00 bill

Lincoln is not on the $100.00 bill

Hamilton is not on the $a bill

Ben Franklin is on the $100.00 bill

................. examples of escape strings

Tab Tab Tab

This string prints out

on two lines
This string comes out on a single line

Evaluation & Substitutions 1: Grouping arguments with {}

grouping words with double quotes allows substitutions to occur within the double
quotes. By contrast, grouping words within double braces disables substitution
within the braces. Characters within braces are passed to a command exactly as
written. The only "Backslash Sequence" that is processed within braces is the
backslash at the end of a line. This is still a line continuation character.

set Z Albany

set Z_LABEL "The Capitol of New York is: "

puts "$Z_LABEL $Z" ;# Prints the value of Z

puts {$Z_LABEL \$Z} ;# Prints a literal $Z instead of the value of Z

puts "\nBen Franklin is on the \$100.00 bill"

set a 100.00

puts "Washington is not on the $a bill" ;# This is not what you want

puts "Lincoln is not on the $$a bill" ;# This is OK

puts "Hamilton is not on the \$a bill" ;# This is not what you want

puts "Ben Franklin is on the \$$a bill" ;# But, this is OK

puts "\n................. examples of escape strings"

puts "Tab\tTab\tTab"

puts "This string prints out \non two lines"

puts "This string comes out\

on a single line"
output

The Capitol of New York is: Albany

$Z_LABEL \$Z

Ben Franklin is on the $100.00 bill

Washington is not on the 100.00 bill
Lincoln is not on the $100.00 bill
Hamilton is not on the $a bill
Ben Franklin is on the $100.00 bill

................. examples of escape strings

Tab Tab Tab
This string prints out
on two lines
This string comes out on a single line