---
name: "Name"
section: "3tk"
platform: "linux"
package: "tk8.3-doc"
version: "8.3.5-14"
release: "Debian 5.0 (Lenny)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Name/3tk"
---

# Name(3tk)

convert between names and window tokens

```

```

## NAME

Tk\_Name, Tk\_PathName, Tk\_NameToWindow - convert between names and window tokens

## SYNOPSIS

```
#include <tk.h>

Tk_Uid
Tk_Name(tkwin)

char *
Tk_PathName(tkwin)

Tk_Window
Tk_NameToWindow(interp, pathName, tkwin)
```

## ARGUMENTS

- Tk\_Window *tkwin* (in)

  Token for window.

- Tcl\_Interp *\*interp* (out)

  Interpreter to use for error reporting.

- char *\*pathName* (in)

  Character string containing path name of window.

  ```

  ```

## DESCRIPTION

Each window managed by Tk has two names, a short name that identifies a window among children of the same parent, and a path name that identifies the window uniquely among all the windows belonging to the same main window.  The path name is used more often in Tk than the short name;  many commands, like **bind**, expect path names as arguments.

The **Tk\_Name** macro returns a window's short name, which is the same as the *name* argument passed to **Tk\_CreateWindow** when the window was created.  The value is returned as a Tk\_Uid, which may be used just like a string pointer but also has the properties of a unique identifier (see the manual entry for **Tk\_GetUid** for details).

The **Tk\_PathName** macro returns a hierarchical name for *tkwin*. Path names have a structure similar to file names in Unix but with dots between elements instead of slashes:  the main window for an application has the path name \`\`.'';  its children have names like \`\`.a'' and \`\`.b''; their children have names like \`\`.a.aa'' and \`\`.b.bb''; and so on.  A window is considered to be be a child of another window for naming purposes if the second window was named as the first window's *parent* when the first window was created. This is not always the same as the X window hierarchy.  For example, a pop-up is created as a child of the root window, but its logical parent will usually be a window within the application.

The procedure **Tk\_NameToWindow** returns the token for a window given its path name (the *pathName* argument) and another window belonging to the same main window (*tkwin*).  It normally returns a token for the named window, but if no such window exists **Tk\_NameToWindow** leaves an error message in *interp-\>result* and returns NULL.  The *tkwin* argument to **Tk\_NameToWindow** is needed because path names are only unique within a single application hierarchy.  If, for example, a single process has opened two main windows, each will have a separate naming hierarchy and the same path name might appear in each of the hierarchies.  Normally *tkwin* is the main window of the desired hierarchy, but this need not be the case:  any window in the desired hierarchy may be used.

## KEYWORDS

name, path name, token, window