36.4. Global Data in PL/Tcl

Sometimes it is useful to have some global data that is held between two calls to a function or is shared between different functions. This is easily done since all PL/Tcl functions executed in one session share the same safe Tcl interpreter. So, any global Tcl variable is accessible to all PL/Tcl function calls and will persist for the duration of the SQL session. (Note that PL/TclU functions likewise share global data, but they are in a different Tcl interpreter and cannot communicate with PL/Tcl functions.)

To help protect PL/Tcl functions from unintentionally interfering with each other, a global array is made available to each function via the upvar command. The global name of this variable is the function's internal name, and the local name is GD. It is recommended that GD be used for persistent private data of a function. Use regular Tcl global variables only for values that you specifically intend to be shared among multiple functions.

An example of using GD appears in the spi_execp example below.