redhat man page for tell

tell(n) 						       Tcl Built-In Commands							   tell(n)

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NAME
       tell - Return current access position for an open channel

SYNOPSIS
       tell channelId
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DESCRIPTION
       Returns an integer string giving the current access position in channelId.  This value returned is a byte offset that can be passed to seek |
       in order to set the channel to a particular position.  Note that this value is in terms of bytes, not  characters  like	read.	The  value
       returned is -1 for channels that do not support seeking.

SEE ALSO
       file(n), open(n), close(n), gets(n), seek(n)

KEYWORDS
       access position, channel, seeking

Tcl									8.1								   tell(n)