modulefile¶
DESCRIPTION¶
modulefiles are written in the Tool Command Language, Tcl(n) and
are interpreted by the modulecmd.tcl
program via the module
user interface. modulefiles can be loaded, unloaded, or switched on-the-fly
while the user is working; and can be used to implement site policies
regarding the access and use of applications.
A modulefile begins with the magic cookie, #%Module
. A version number
may be placed after this string. The version number is useful as the
modulefile format may change thus it reflects the minimum version of
modulecmd.tcl
required to interpret the modulefile. If a version
number doesn't exist, then modulecmd.tcl
will assume the modulefile
is compatible. Files without the magic cookie or with a version number greater
than the current version of modulecmd.tcl
will not be interpreted. If
the mcookie_version_check
configuration is disabled the version
number set is not checked.
Each modulefile contains the changes to a user's environment needed to access an application. Tcl is a simple programming language which permits modulefiles to be arbitrarily complex, depending upon the application's and the modulefile writer's needs. If support for extended tcl (tclX) has been configured for your installation of the Modules package, you may use all the extended commands provided by tclX, too.
A typical modulefile is a simple bit of code that set or add entries
to the PATH
, MANPATH
, or other environment variables. A
Modulefile is evaluated against current modulecmd.tcl
's mode which
leads to specific evaluation results. For instance if the modulefile sets a
value to an environment variable, this variable is set when modulefile is
loaded and unset when modulefile is unloaded.
Tcl has conditional statements that are evaluated when the modulefile is interpreted. This is very effective for managing path or environment changes due to different OS releases or architectures. The user environment information is encapsulated into a single modulefile kept in a central location. The same modulefile is used by every user on any machine. So, from the user's perspective, starting an application is exactly the same irrespective of the machine or platform they are on.
modulefiles also hide the notion of different types of shells. From the user's perspective, changing the environment for one shell looks exactly the same as changing the environment for another shell. This is useful for new or novice users and eliminates the need for statements such as "if you're using the C Shell do this ..., otherwise if you're using the Bourne shell do this ...". Announcing and accessing new software is uniform and independent of the user's shell. From the modulefile writer's perspective, this means one set of information will take care of every type of shell.
Modules Specific Tcl Commands¶
The Modules Package uses commands which are extensions to the "standard" Tool Command Language Tcl(n) package. Unless otherwise specified, the Module commands return the empty string. Some commands behave differently when a modulefile is loaded or unloaded. The command descriptions assume the modulefile is being loaded.
-
append-path
[-d C|--delim C|--delim=C] [--duplicates] variable value...
¶ See
prepend-path
.
-
break
¶ This is not a Modules-specific command, it's actually part of Tcl, which has been overloaded similar to the
continue
andexit
commands to have the effect of causing the module not to be listed as loaded and not affect other modules being loaded concurrently. All non-environment commands within the module will be performed up to this point and processing will continue on to the next module on the command line. Thebreak
command will only have this effect if not used within a Tcl loop though.An example: Suppose that a full selection of modulefiles are needed for various different architectures, but some of the modulefiles are not needed and the user should be alerted. Having the unnecessary modulefile be a link to the following notavail modulefile will perform the task as required.
#%Module1.0 ## notavail modulefile ## proc ModulesHelp { } { puts stderr "This module does nothing but alert the user" puts stderr "that the [module-info name] module is not available" } module-whatis "Notifies user that module is not available." set curMod [module-info name] if { [ module-info mode load ] } { puts stderr "Note: '$curMod' is not available for [uname sysname]." } break
-
chdir
directory
¶ Set the current working directory to directory.
-
conflict
modulefile...
¶ prereq
andconflict
control whether or not the modulefile will be loaded. Theprereq
command lists modulefiles which must have been previously loaded before the current modulefile will be loaded. Similarly, theconflict
command lists modulefiles whichconflict
with the current modulefile. If a list contains more than one modulefile, then each member of the list acts as a Boolean OR operation. Multipleprereq
andconflict
commands may be used to create a Boolean AND operation. If one of the requirements have not been satisfied, an error is reported and the current modulefile makes no changes to the user's environment.If an argument for
prereq
is a directory and any modulefile from the directory has been loaded, then the prerequisite is met. For example, specifying X11 as aprereq
means that any version of X11, X11/R4 or X11/R5, must be loaded before proceeding.If an argument for
conflict
is a directory and any other modulefile from that directory has been loaded, then a conflict will occur. For example, specifying X11 as aconflict
will stop X11/R4 and X11/R5 from being loaded at the same time.The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias. It may also leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
-
continue
¶ This is not a modules specific command but another overloaded Tcl command and is similar to the
break
orexit
commands except the module will be listed as loaded as well as performing any environment or Tcl commands up to this point and then continuing on to the next module on the command line. Thecontinue
command will only have this effect if not used within a Tcl loop though.
-
exit
[N]
¶ This is not a modules specific command but another overloaded Tcl command and is similar to the
break
orcontinue
commands. However, this command will cause the immediate cessation of this module and any additional ones on the command line. This module and the subsequent modules will not be listed as loaded. No environment commands will be performed in the current module.
-
getenv
variable [value]
¶ Returns value of environment variable. If variable is not defined, value is returned if set,
_UNDEFINED_
is returned otherwise. Thegetenv
command should be preferred over the Tcl global variableenv
to query environment variables.
-
is-avail
modulefile...
¶ The
is-avail
command returns a true value if any of the listed modulefiles exists in enabledMODULEPATH
. If a list contains more than one modulefile, then each member acts as a boolean OR operation. If an argument foris-avail
is a directory and a modulefile exists in the directoryis-avail
would return a true value.The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias. It may also leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
New in version 4.1.
-
is-loaded
[modulefile...]
¶ The
is-loaded
command returns a true value if any of the listed modulefiles has been loaded or if any modulefile is loaded in case no argument is provided. If a list contains more than one modulefile, then each member acts as a boolean OR operation. If an argument foris-loaded
is a directory and any modulefile from the directory has been loadedis-loaded
would return a true value.The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias. It may also leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
-
is-saved
[collection...]
¶ The
is-saved
command returns a true value if any of the listed collections exists or if any collection exists in case no argument is provided. If a list contains more than one collection, then each member acts as a boolean OR operation.If
MODULES_COLLECTION_TARGET
is set, a suffix equivalent to the value of this variable is appended to the passed collection name. In case no collection argument is provided, a true value will only be returned if a collection matching currently set target exists.New in version 4.1.
-
is-used
[directory...]
¶ The
is-used
command returns a true value if any of the listed directories has been enabled inMODULEPATH
or if any directory is enabled in case no argument is provided. If a list contains more than one directory, then each member acts as a boolean OR operation.New in version 4.1.
-
module
[sub-command] [sub-command-options] [sub-command-args]
¶ Contains the same sub-commands as described in the module man page in the Module Sub-Commands section. This command permits a modulefile to
load
orunload
other modulefiles. No checks are made to ensure that the modulefile does not try to load itself. Often it is useful to have a single modulefile that performs a number ofmodule load
commands. For example, if every user on the system requires a basic set of applications loaded, then a core modulefile would contain the necessarymodule load
commands.The
--not-req
option may be set for theload
,unload
andswitch
sub-commands to inhibit the definition of an implicit prereq or conflict requirement onto specified modules.Command line switches
--auto
,--no-auto
and--force
are ignored when passed to amodule
command set in a modulefile.
-
module-alias
name modulefile
¶ Assigns the modulefile to the alias name. This command should be placed in one of the
modulecmd.tcl
rc files in order to provide shorthand invocations of frequently used modulefile names.The parameter modulefile may be either
- a fully qualified modulefile with name and version
- a symbolic modulefile name
- another modulefile alias
-
module-forbid
[options] modulefile...
¶ Forbid use of modulefile. An error is obtained when trying to evaluate a forbidden module. This command should be placed in one of the
modulecmd.tcl
rc files.module-forbid
command accepts the following options:--after datetime
--before datetime
--not-user {user...}
--not-group {group...}
--message {text message}
--nearly-message {text message}
If
--after
option is set, forbidding is only effective after specified date time. Following the same principle, if--before
option is set, forbidding is only effective before specified date time. Accepted date time format isYYYY-MM-DD[THH:MM]
. If no time (HH:MM
) is specified,00:00
is assumed.--after
and--before
options are not supported on Tcl versions prior to 8.5.If
--not-user
option is set, forbidding is not applied if the username of the user currently runningmodulecmd.tcl
is part of the list of username specified. Following the same approach, if--not-group
option is set, forbidding is not applied if current user is member of one the group specified. When both options are set, forbidding is not applied if a match is found for--not-user
or--not-group
.Error message returned when trying to evaluate a forbidden module can be supplemented with the text message set through
--message
option.If
--after
option is set, modules are considered nearly forbidden during a number of days defined by thenearly_forbidden_days
modulecmd.tcl
configuration option (seeMODULES_NEARLY_FORBIDDEN_DAYS
), prior reaching the expiry date fixed by--after
option. When a nearly forbidden module is evaluated a warning message is issued to inform module will soon be forbidden. This warning message can be supplemented with the text message set through--nearly-message
option.If a
module-forbid
command applies to a modulefile also targeted by amodule-hide --hard
command, this module is unveiled when precisely named to return an access error.Forbidden modules included in the result of an
avail
sub-command are reported with aforbidden
tag applied to them. Nearly forbidden modules included in the result of anavail
or alist
sub-command are reported with anearly-forbidden
tag applied to them. See Module tags section in module.The parameter modulefile may leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
New in version 4.6.
-
module-hide
[options] modulefile...
¶ Hide modulefile to exclude it from available module search or module selection unless query refers to modulefile by its exact name. This command should be placed in one of the
modulecmd.tcl
rc files.module-hide
command accepts the following options:--soft|--hard
--hidden-loaded
--after datetime
--before datetime
--not-user {user...}
--not-group {group...}
When
--soft
option is set, modulefile is also set hidden, but hiding is disabled when search or selection query's root name matches module's root name. This soft hiding mode enables to hide modulefiles from bare module availability listing yet keeping the ability to select such module for load with the regular resolution mechanism (i.e., no need to use module exact name to select it)When
--hard
option is set, modulefile is also set hidden and stays hidden even if search or selection query refers to modulefile by its exact name.When
--hidden-loaded
option is set, hidden state also applies to the modulefile when it is loaded. Hidden loaded modules do not appear onlist
sub-command output, unless--all
option is set. Their loading or unloading informational messages are not reported unless theverbosity of Modules
is set to a level higher thanverbose
. Hidden loaded modules are detected in any cases by state query commands likeis-loaded
.If
--after
option is set, hiding is only effective after specified date time. Following the same principle, if--before
option is set, hiding is only effective before specified date time. Accepted date time format isYYYY-MM-DD[THH:MM]
. If no time (HH:MM
) is specified,00:00
is assumed.--after
and--before
options are not supported on Tcl versions prior to 8.5.If
--not-user
option is set, hiding is not applied if the username of the user currently runningmodulecmd.tcl
is part of the list of username specified. Following the same approach, if--not-group
option is set, hiding is not applied if current user is member of one the group specified. When both options are set, hiding is not applied if a match is found for--not-user
or--not-group
.If the
--all
option is set onavail
,aliases
,whatis
orsearch
sub-commands, hiding is disabled thus hidden modulefiles are included in module search. Hard-hidden modules (i.e., declared hidden with--hard
option) are not affected by--all
and stay hidden even if option is set.--all
option does not apply to module selection sub-commands likeload
. Thus in such context a hidden module should always be referred by its exact full name (e.g.,foo/1.2.3
notfoo
) unless if it has been hidden in--soft
mode. A hard-hidden module cannot be unveiled or selected in any case.If several
module-hide
commands target the same modulefile, the strongest hiding level is retained which means if both a regular, a--soft
hiding command match a given module, regular hiding mode is considered. If both a regular and a--hard
hiding command match a given module, hard hiding mode is retained. A set--hidden-loaded
option is retained even if themodule-hide
statement on which it is declared is superseded by a strongermodule-hide
statement with no--hidden-loaded
option set.Hidden modules included in the result of an
avail
sub-command are reported with ahidden
tag applied to them. Hidden loaded modules included in the result of alist
sub-command are reported with ahidden-loaded
tag applied to them. This tag is not reported onavail
sub-command context. See Module tags section in module.The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias. It may also leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
New in version 4.6.
Changed in version 4.7: Option
--hidden-loaded
added.
-
module-info
option [info-args]
¶ Provide information about the
modulecmd.tcl
program's state. Some of the information is specific to the internals ofmodulecmd.tcl
. option is the type of information to be provided, and info-args are any arguments needed.module-info alias name
Returns the full modulefile name to which the modulefile alias name is assignedmodule-info command [commandname]
Returns the currently running
modulecmd.tcl
's command as a string if no commandname is given.Returns
1
ifmodulecmd.tcl
's command is commandname. commandname can be:load
,unload
,reload
,source
,switch
,display
,avail
,aliases
,list
,whatis
,search
,purge
,restore
,help
ortest
.New in version 4.0.
module-info loaded modulefile
Returns the names of currently loaded modules matching passed modulefile. The parameter modulefile might either be a fully qualified modulefile with name and version or just a directory which in case all loaded modulefiles from the directory will be returned. The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias.
New in version 4.1.
module-info mode [modetype]
Returns the current
modulecmd.tcl
's mode as a string if no modetype is given.Returns
1
ifmodulecmd.tcl
's mode is modetype. modetype can be:load
,unload
,remove
,switch
,display
,help
,test
orwhatis
.module-info name
Return the name of the modulefile. This is not the full pathname for modulefile. See the Modules Variables section for information on the full pathname.module-info shell [shellname]
Return the current shell under which
modulecmd.tcl
was invoked if no shellname is given. The current shell is the first parameter ofmodulecmd.tcl
, which is normally hidden by the module alias.If a shellname is given, returns
1
ifmodulecmd.tcl
's current shell is shellname, returns0
otherwise. shellname can be:sh
,bash
,ksh
,zsh
,csh
,tcsh
,fish
,tcl
,perl
,python
,ruby
,lisp
,cmake
,r
.module-info shelltype [shelltypename]
Return the family of the shell under which modulefile was invoked if no shelltypename is given. As of
module-info shell
this depends on the first parameter ofmodulecmd.tcl
. The output reflects a shell type determining the shell syntax of the commands produced bymodulecmd.tcl
.If a shelltypename is given, returns
1
ifmodulecmd.tcl
's current shell type is shelltypename, returns0
otherwise. shelltypename can be:sh
,csh
,fish
,tcl
,perl
,python
,ruby
,lisp
,cmake
,r
.module-info specified
Return the name of the modulefile specified on the command line.module-info symbols modulefile
Returns a list of all symbolic versions assigned to the passed modulefile. The parameter modulefile might either be a full qualified modulefile with name and version, another symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias.module-info tags [tag]
Returns all tags assigned to currently evaluated modulefile as a list of strings if no tag name is given (see Module tags section in module)
Returns
1
if one of the tags applying to currently evaluated modulefile is tag. Returns0
otherwise.New in version 4.7.
module-info type
Returns eitherC
orTcl
to indicate which module command is being executed, either the C version or the Tcl-only version, to allow the modulefile writer to handle any differences between the two.module-info usergroups [name]
Returns all the groups the user currently running
modulecmd.tcl
is member of as a list of strings if no name is given.Returns
1
if one of the group current user runningmodulecmd.tcl
is member of is name. Returns0
otherwise.If the Modules Tcl extension library is disabled, the id(1) command is invoked to fetch groups of current user.
New in version 4.6.
module-info username [name]
Returns the username of the user currently running
modulecmd.tcl
as a string if no name is given.Returns
1
if username of current user runningmodulecmd.tcl
is name. Returns0
otherwise.If the Modules Tcl extension library is disabled, the id(1) command is invoked to fetch username of current user.
New in version 4.6.
module-info version modulefile
Returns the physical module name and version of the passed symbolic version modulefile. The parameter modulefile might either be a full qualified modulefile with name and version, another symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias.
-
module-tag
[options] tag modulefile...
¶ Associate tag to designated modulefile. This tag information will be reported along modulefile on
avail
andlist
sub-commands (see Module tags section in module). Tag information can be queried during modulefile evaluation with themodule-info tags
modulefile command.module-tag
commands should be placed in one of themodulecmd.tcl
rc files.module-tag
command accepts the following options:--not-user {user...}
--not-group {group...}
If
--not-user
option is set, the tag is not applied if the username of the user currently runningmodulecmd.tcl
is part of the list of username specified. Following the same approach, if--not-group
option is set, the tag is not applied if current user is member of one the group specified. When both options are set, the tag is not applied if a match is found for--not-user
or--not-group
.The parameter modulefile may also be a symbolic modulefile name or a modulefile alias. It may also leverage a specific syntax to finely select module version (see Advanced module version specifiers section below).
Tags inherited from other modulefile commands or module states cannot be set with
module-tag
. Otherwise an error is returned. Those special tags are:auto-loaded
,forbidden
,hidden
,hidden-loaded
,loaded
andnearly-forbidden
.When tag equals
sticky
orsuper-sticky
, designated modulefile are defined Sticky modules.New in version 4.7.
-
module-version
modulefile version-name...
¶ Assigns the symbolic version-name to the modulefile. This command should be placed in one of the
modulecmd.tcl
rc files in order to provide shorthand invocations of frequently used modulefile names.The special version-name default specifies the default version to be used for module commands, if no specific version is given. This replaces the definitions made in the
.version
file in formermodulecmd.tcl
releases.The parameter modulefile may be either
- a fully or partially qualified modulefile with name / version. If
name is
.
(dot) then the current directory name is assumed to be the module name. (Use this for deep modulefile directories.) - a symbolic modulefile name
- another modulefile alias
- a fully or partially qualified modulefile with name / version. If
name is
-
module-virtual
name modulefile
¶ Assigns the modulefile to the virtual module name. This command should be placed in rc files in order to define virtual modules.
A virtual module stands for a module name associated to a modulefile. The modulefile is the script interpreted when loading or unloading the virtual module which appears or can be found with its virtual name.
The parameter modulefile corresponds to the relative or absolute file location of a modulefile.
New in version 4.1.
-
module-whatis
string
¶ Defines a string which is displayed in case of the invocation of the
module whatis
command. There may be more than onemodule-whatis
line in a modulefile. This command takes no actions in case ofload
,display
, etc. invocations ofmodulecmd.tcl
.The string parameter has to be enclosed in double-quotes if there's more than one word specified. Words are defined to be separated by whitespace characters (space, tab, cr).
-
prepend-path
[-d C|--delim C|--delim=C] [--duplicates] variable value...
¶ Append or prepend value to environment variable. The variable is a colon, or delimiter, separated list such as
PATH=directory:directory:directory
. The default delimiter is a colon:
, but an arbitrary one can be given by the--delim
option. For example a space can be used instead (which will need to be handled in the Tcl specially by enclosing it in" "
or{ }
). A space, however, can not be specified by the--delim=C
form.A reference counter environment variable is also set to increase the number of times value has been added to environment variable. This reference counter environment variable is named by suffixing variable by
_modshare
.When value is already defined in environement variable, it is not added again except if
--duplicates
option is set.If the variable is not set, it is created. When a modulefile is unloaded,
append-path
andprepend-path
becomeremove-path
.If value corresponds to the concatenation of multiple elements separated by colon, or delimiter, character, each element is treated separately.
Changed in version 4.1: Option
--duplicates
added
-
remove-path
[-d C|--delim C|--delim=C] [--index] variable value...
¶ Remove value from the colon, or delimiter, separated list in variable. See
prepend-path
orappend-path
for further explanation of using an arbitrary delimiter. Every string between colons, or delimiters, in variable is compared to value. If the two match, value is removed from variable if its reference counter is equal to 1 or unknown.When
--index
option is set, value refers to an index in variable list. The string element pointed by this index is set for removal.Reference counter of value in variable denotes the number of times value has been added to variable. This information is stored in environment variable_modshare. When attempting to remove value from variable, relative reference counter is checked and value is removed only if counter is equal to 1 or not defined. Otherwise value is kept in variable and reference counter is decreased by 1.
If value corresponds to the concatenation of multiple elements separated by colon, or delimiter, character, each element is treated separately.
Changed in version 4.1: Option
--index
added
-
set-alias
alias-name alias-string
¶ Sets an alias or function with the name alias-name in the user's environment to the string alias-string. For some shells, aliases are not possible and the command has no effect. When a modulefile is unloaded,
set-alias
becomesunset-alias
.
-
set-function
function-name function-string
¶ Creates a function with the name function-name in the user's environment with the function body function-string. For some shells, functions are not possible and the command has no effect. When a modulefile is unloaded,
set-function
becomesunset-function
.New in version 4.2.
-
setenv
variable value
¶ Set environment variable to value. The
setenv
command will also change the process' environment. A reference using Tcl's env associative array will reference changes made with thesetenv
command. Changes made using Tcl'senv
associative array will NOT change the user's environment variable like thesetenv
command. An environment change made this way will only affect the module parsing process. Thesetenv
command is also useful for changing the environment prior to theexec
orsystem
command. When a modulefile is unloaded,setenv
becomesunsetenv
. If the environment variable had been defined it will be overwritten while loading the modulefile. A subsequentunload
will unset the environment variable - the previous value cannot be restored! (Unless you handle it explicitly ... see below.)
-
source-sh
shell script [arg...]
¶ Evaluate with shell the designated script with defined arguments to find out the environment changes it does. Those changes obtained by comparing environment prior and after script evaluation are then translated into corresponding modulefile commands, which are then applied during modulefile evaluation as if they were directly written in it.
When modulefile is unloaded, environment changes done are reserved by evaluating in the
unload
context the resulting modulefile commands, which were recorded in theMODULES_LMSOURCESH
environment variable atload
time.Changes on environment variables, shell aliases, shell functions and current working directory are tracked.
Shell could be specified as a command name or a fully qualified pathname. The following shells are supported: sh, dash, csh, tcsh, bash, ksh, ksh93, zsh and fish.
New in version 4.6.
-
system
string
¶ Run string command through shell. On Unix, command is passed to the
/bin/sh
shell whereas on Windows it is passed tocmd.exe
.modulecmd.tcl
redirects stdout to stderr since stdout would be parsed by the evaluating shell. The exit status of the executed command is returned.
-
uname
field
¶ Provide lookup of system information. Most field information are retrieved from the
tcl_platform
array (see the tclvars(n) man page). Uname will return the stringunknown
if information is unavailable for the field.uname
will invoke the uname(1) command in order to get the operating system version and domainname(1) to figure out the name of the domain.field values are:
sysname
: the operating system namenodename
: the hostnamedomain
: the name of the domainrelease
: the operating system releaseversion
: the operating system versionmachine
: a standard name that identifies the system's hardware
-
unset-alias
alias-name
¶ Unsets an alias with the name alias-name in the user's environment.
-
unset-function
function-name
¶ Removes a function with the name function-name from the user's environment.
New in version 4.2.
-
unsetenv
variable [value]
¶ Unsets environment variable. However, if there is an optional value, then when unloading a module, it will set variable to value. The
unsetenv
command changes the process' environment likesetenv
.
-
versioncmp
version1 version2
¶ Compare version string version1 against version string version2. Returns
-1
,0
or1
respectively if version1 is less than, equal to or greater than version2.New in version 4.7.
-
x-resource
[resource-string|filename]
¶ Merge resources into the X11 resource database. The resources are used to control look and behavior of X11 applications. The command will attempt to read resources from filename. If the argument isn't a valid file name, then string will be interpreted as a resource. Either filename or resource-string is then passed down to be xrdb(1) command.
modulefiles that use this command, should in most cases contain one or more
x-resource
lines, each defining one X11 resource. TheDISPLAY
environment variable should be properly set and the X11 server should be accessible. Ifx-resource
can't manipulate the X11 resource database, the modulefile will exit with an error message.Examples:
x-resource /u2/staff/leif/.xres/Ileaf
The content of the Ileaf file is merged into the X11 resource database.x-resource [glob ~/.xres/ileaf]
The Tcl glob function is used to have the modulefile read different resource files for different users.x-resource {Ileaf.popup.saveUnder: True}
Merge the Ileaf resource into the X11 resource database.
Modules Variables¶
-
ModulesCurrentModulefile
¶ The
ModulesCurrentModulefile
variable contains the full pathname of the modulefile being interpreted.
-
ModuleTool
¶ The
ModuleTool
variable contains the name of the module implementation currently in use. The value of this variable is set toModules
for this implementation.New in version 4.7.
-
ModuleToolVersion
¶ The
ModuleToolVersion
variable contains the version of the module implementation currently in use. The value of this variable is set to4.7.0
for this version of Modules.New in version 4.7.
Locating Modulefiles¶
Every directory in MODULEPATH
is searched to find the
modulefile. A directory in MODULEPATH
can have an arbitrary number
of sub-directories. If the user names a modulefile to be loaded which
is actually a directory, the directory is opened and a search begins for
an actual modulefile. First, modulecmd.tcl
looks for a file with
the name .modulerc
in the directory. If this file exists, its contents
will be evaluated as if it was a modulefile to be loaded. You may place
module-version
, module-alias
and module-virtual
commands inside this file.
Additionally, before seeking for .modulerc
files in the module
directory, the global modulerc file and the .modulerc
file found at
the root of the modulepath directory are sourced, too. If a named version
default now exists for the modulefile to be loaded, the assigned
modulefile now will be sourced. Otherwise the file .version
is
looked up in the module directory.
If the .version
file exists, it is opened and interpreted as Tcl code
and takes precedence over a .modulerc
file in the same directory. If
the Tcl variable ModulesVersion
is set by the .version
file,
modulecmd.tcl
will use the name as if it specifies a modulefile in
this directory. This will become the default modulefile in this case.
ModulesVersion
cannot refer to a modulefile located in a different
directory.
If ModulesVersion
is a directory, the search begins anew down that
directory. If the name does not match any files located in the current
directory, the search continues through the remaining directories in
MODULEPATH
.
Every .version
and .modulerc
file found is interpreted as Tcl
code. The difference is that .version
only applies to the current
directory, and the .modulerc
applies to the current directory and all
subdirectories. Changes made in these files will affect the subsequently
interpreted modulefile.
If no default version may be figured out, an implicit default is selected when
this behavior is enabled (see MODULES_IMPLICIT_DEFAULT
in
module). If disabled, module names should be fully qualified when no
explicit default is defined for them, otherwise no default version is found
and an error is returned. If enabled, then the highest numerically sorted
modulefile, virtual module or module alias under the directory will be used.
The dictionary comparison method of the lsort(n) Tcl command is
used to achieve this sort. If highest numerically sorted element is an alias,
search continues on its modulefile target.
For example, it is possible for a user to have a directory named X11 which
simply contains a .version
file specifying which version of X11 is to
be loaded. Such a file would look like:
#%Module1.0
##
## The desired version of X11
##
set ModulesVersion "R4"
The equivalent .modulerc
would look like:
#%Module1.0
##
## The desired version of X11
##
module-version "./R4" default
If the extended default mechanism is enabled (see
MODULES_EXTENDED_DEFAULT
in module) the module version
specified is matched against starting portion of existing module versions,
where portion is a substring separated from the rest of version string by a
.
character.
When the implicit default mechanism and the Advanced module version
specifiers are both enabled, a default
and latest
symbolic versions
are automatically defined for each module name (also at each directory level
in case of deep modulefile). Unless a symbolic version, alias, or regular
module version already exists for these version names.
If user names a modulefile that cannot be found in the first modulepath directory, modulefile will be searched in next modulepath directory and so on until a matching modulefile is found. If search goes through a module alias or a symbolic version, this alias or symbol is resolved by first looking at the modulefiles in the modulepath where this alias or symbol is defined. If not found, resolution looks at the other modulepaths in their definition order.
When locating modulefiles, if a .modulerc
, a .version
, a
directory or a modulefile cannot be read during the search it is simply
ignored with no error message produced. Visibility of modulefiles can thus
be adapted to the rights the user has been granted. Exception is made when
trying to directly access a directory or a modulefile. In this case,
the access issue is returned as an error message.
Depending on their name, their file permissions or the use of specific modulefile commands, modulefile, virtual module, module alias or symbolic version may be set hidden which impacts available modules search or module selection processes (see Hiding modulefiles section below).
Hiding modulefiles¶
A modulefile, virtual module, module alias or symbolic version whose name or
element in their name starts with a dot character (.
) or who are targeted
by a module-hide
command are considered hidden. Hidden modules are
not displayed or taken into account except if they are explicitly named (e.g.,
foo/1.2.3
or foo/.2.0
not foo
). If module has been hidden with the
--soft
option of the module-hide
command set, it is not
considered hidden if the root name of the query to search it matches module
root name (e.g., searching foo
will return a foo/1.2.3
modulefile
targeted by a module-hide --soft
command). If module has been hidden with
the --hard
option of the module-hide
command set, it is always
considered hidden thus it is never displayed nor taken into account even if
it is explicitly named.
A modulefile, virtual module, module alias or symbolic version who are
targeted by a module-hide --hard
command and a
module-forbid
command or whose file access permissions are restricted
are considered hard-hidden and forbidden. Such modules are not displayed or
taken into account. When explicitly named for evaluation selection, such
modules are unveiled to return an access error.
A symbolic version-name assigned to a hidden module is displayed or taken into account only if explicitly named and if module is not hard-hidden. Non-hidden module alias targeting a hidden modulefile appears like any other non-hidden module alias. Finally, a hidden symbolic version targeting a non-hidden module is displayed or taken into account only if not hard-hidden and explicitly named to refer to its non-hidden target.
The automatic version symbols (e.g., default
and latest
) are
unaffected by hiding. Moreover when a regular default
or latest
version is set hidden, the corresponding automatic version symbol takes the
left spot. For instance, if foo/default
which targets foo/1.2.3
is set
hard-hidden, the default
automatic version symbol will be set onto
foo/2.1.3
, the highest available version of foo
.
When loading a modulefile or a virtual module targeted by a
module-hide --hidden-loaded
command, this module
inherits the hidden-loaded
tag. Hidden loaded modules are not reported
among list
sub-command results.
If the --all
is set on avail
, aliases
,
whatis
or search
sub-commands, hidden modules are taken
into account in search. Hard-hidden modules are unaffected by this option.
If the --all
is set on list
sub-command, hidden loaded
modules are included in result output.
Advanced module version specifiers¶
When the advanced module version specifiers mechanism is enabled (see
MODULES_ADVANCED_VERSION_SPEC
in module), the
specification of modulefile passed on Modules specific Tcl commands changes.
After the module name a version constraint prefixed by the @
character may
be added. It could be directly appended to the module name or separated from
it with a space character.
Constraints can be expressed to refine the selection of module version to:
- a single version with the
@version
syntax, for instancefoo@1.2.3
syntax will select modulefoo/1.2.3
- a list of versions with the
@version1,version2,...
syntax, for instancefoo@1.2.3,1.10
will match modulesfoo/1.2.3
andfoo/1.10
- a range of versions with the
@version1:
,@:version2
and@version1:version2
syntaxes, for instancefoo@1.2:
will select all versions of modulefoo
greater than or equal to1.2
,foo@:1.3
will select all versions less than or equal to1.3
andfoo@1.2:1.3
matches all versions between1.2
and1.3
including1.2
and1.3
versions
Advanced specification of single version or list of versions may benefit from
the activation of the extended default mechanism (see
MODULES_EXTENDED_DEFAULT
in module) to use an abbreviated
notation like @1
to refer to more precise version numbers like 1.2.3
.
Range of versions on its side natively handles abbreviated versions.
In order to be specified in a range of versions or compared to a range of
versions, the version major element should corresponds to a number. For
instance 10a
, 1.2.3
, 1.foo
are versions valid for range
comparison whereas default
or foo.2
versions are invalid for range
comparison.
If the implicit default mechanism is also enabled (see
MODULES_IMPLICIT_DEFAULT
in module), a default
and
latest
symbolic versions are automatically defined for each module name
(also at each directory level for deep modulefiles). These automatic version
symbols are defined unless a symbolic version, alias, or regular module
version already exists for these default
or latest
version names.
Using the mod@latest
(or mod/latest
) syntax ensures highest available
version will be selected.
Modulefile Specific Help¶
Users can request help about a specific modulefile through the
module command. The modulefile can print helpful information or
start help oriented programs by defining a ModulesHelp
subroutine. The
subroutine will be called when the module help modulefile
command is used.
Modulefile Specific Test¶
Users can request test of a specific modulefile through the module
command. The modulefile can perform some sanity checks on its
definition or on its underlying programs by defining a ModulesTest
subroutine. The subroutine will be called when the
module test modulefile
command is used. The subroutine should
return 1 in case of success. If no or any other value is returned, test is
considered failed.
Modulefile Display¶
The module display modulefile
command will detail all
changes that will be made to the environment. After displaying all of the
environment changes modulecmd.tcl
will call the ModulesDisplay
subroutine. The ModulesDisplay
subroutine is a good place to put
additional descriptive information about the modulefile.
ENVIRONMENT¶
See the ENVIRONMENT section in the module man page.
SEE ALSO¶
module, ml, Tcl(n), TclX(n), id(1), xrdb(1), exec(n), uname(1), domainname(1), tclvars(n), lsort(n)
NOTES¶
Tcl was developed by John Ousterhout at the University of California at Berkeley.
TclX was developed by Karl Lehenbauer and Mark Diekhans.