Describe the bug
The source command executed by a module does not behave the same way as standard TCL on our clusters (HPC environment).
This reproducer uses the clock scan command as an example, which sources /usr/share/tcl8.6/clock.tcl.
We tested this behavior across different configurations using containers, and the table below summarizes our findings:
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| Environment / Method | Execution Type | Status |
+========================+================+========+
| Everywhere | TCL Command | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| Our cluster | Module-5.6 | ❌ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| Personal PC | Module-5.6 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| Ubuntu 26 Container | Module-5.6 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| AlmaLinux 8 Container | Module-4.5 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| AlmaLinux 9 Container | Module-5.3 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| AlmaLinux 8 Container | Module-5.6 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
| AlmaLinux 9 Container | Module-5.6 | ✅ |
+------------------------+----------------+--------+
The issue is only present on our cluster.
To Reproduce
With a module on the cluster, -encoding utf-8 is added between source and /usr/share/tcl8.6/clock.tcl:
$ cat modulefile/repro/sourceTCL
#%Module5.0
puts stderr [clock scan "2026-05-04" -format %Y-%m-%d]
$ module use ${PWD}/modulefile
$ module show repro/sourceTCL
Module ERROR: wrong # args: should be "source filename"
invoked from within
"source -encoding utf-8 [file join $TclLibDir clock.tcl]"
(procedure "::tcl::clock::scan" line 3)
invoked from within
"clock scan "2026-05-04" -format %Y-%m-%d"
(file "~/modulefile/repro/sourceTCL" line 2)
Please contact <root@localhost>Expected behavior
In standard TCL commands, it works normally:
$ tclsh
% puts [clock scan "2026-05-04" -format %Y-%m-%d]
1777845600
Error and debugging information
With the -DD module option on the command that returns the error, we get:
[...]
DEBUG [#1:load:repro/sourceTCL] evaluateModulefile: sourceModfileCmd __modfile_load_1_1 -encoding utf-8 /usr/share/tcl8.6/clock.tcl
DEBUG [#1:load:repro/sourceTCL] execute-modulefile: renderModulefileEvalError __modfile_load_1_1 load ~/modulefile/repro/sourceTCL 1 {wrong # args: should be "sourceModfileCmd itrp filename"}
[...]Modules version and configuration
$ module --version
Modules Release 5.6.0 (2025-07-31)
Additional information
Our cluster use RedHat 8.10 OS
Our TCL version is tcl-8.6.8-2.el8.x86_64
Describe the bug
The source command executed by a module does not behave the same way as standard TCL on our clusters (HPC environment).
This reproducer uses the clock scan command as an example, which sources
/usr/share/tcl8.6/clock.tcl.We tested this behavior across different configurations using containers, and the table below summarizes our findings:
The issue is only present on our cluster.
To Reproduce
With a module on the cluster,
-encoding utf-8is added betweensourceand/usr/share/tcl8.6/clock.tcl:Expected behavior
In standard TCL commands, it works normally:
Error and debugging information
With the
-DDmodule option on the command that returns the error, we get:Modules version and configuration
Additional information
Our cluster use RedHat 8.10 OS
Our TCL version is
tcl-8.6.8-2.el8.x86_64