3. OTcl Linkage

ns is an object oriented simulator, written in C++, with an OTcl interpreter as a frontend. The simulator supports a class hierarchy in C++ (also called the compiled hierarchy in this document), and a similar class hierarchy within the OTcl interpreter (also called the interpreted hierarchy in this document). The two hierarchies are closely related to each other; from the user's perspective, there is a one-to-one correspondence between a class in the interpreted hierarchy and one in the compiled hierarchy. The root of this hierarchy is the class TclObject. Users create new simulator objects through the interpreter; these objects are instantiated within the interpreter, and are closely mirrored by a corresponding object in the compiled hierarchy. The interpreted class hierarchy is automatically established through methods defined in the class TclClass. user instantiated objects are mirrored through methods defined in the class TclObject. There are other hierarchies in the C++ code and OTcl scripts; these other hierarchies are not mirrored in the manner of TclObject.