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on

on messageName [parameterList]
statements
end messageName

The on keyword defines a new message handler of the specified name.

The optional parameterList lets the handler receive values sent along with a message. HyperCard assigns each value to a parameter variable in the parameterList.

Demo Script

on mouseUp
flashTheButton "bkgnd btn id 57",2
end mouseUp
on flashTheButton whichBtn, howMany
repeat for (howMany * 2) times
set the hilite of whichBtn to not the hilite of whichBtn
end repeat
end flashTheButton

Related Topics

Placeholders

messageName

Any text string, without quotation marks, that represents the name of the message handler you want to write:

calculateDebt
selectWholeLine

As in:

on calculateDebt
on selectWholeLine theLine, aContainer

parameterList

A comma-separated list of local variable names.

The actual names don’t matter as long as they’re not the same as one of HyperCard’s reserved words. (That is, don’t use result as a variable name.) For example:

var1
var1,var2,var3, var4
fieldName, N, numberOfCharacters

statements

Any return-separated list of built-in commands, user-defined handlers, or keywords that are part of a message or function handler.

put "Hello world" -- built-in command
get total(field 1) -- function call
global HelpInfo -- keyword

HyperTalk Reference


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