THE HYPERCARD CENTER

HyperTalk Reference

Note: This is a work in progress and many formatting issues have been fixed. Read more about the project on the home page.

convert

convert {value |container}[from  ¬

   formatName  [and formatName]] ¬

   to formatName [and formatName]

The convert command changes a value expressed as a valid date, time, or date and time format to another format.

You use and formatName in combination with the first formatName to convert a value to any two formats (often the date and time).

The form convert value to formatName returns the converted value in the local variable it. The form convert [ph:container to formatName converts a value in a chunk or container (including variables) and places the result in that chunk or container.

You use the form from format in situations where you don't want HyperCard to do the conversion automatically.

There are four types of date formats:

seconds, a positive integer equal to the number of seconds since 12:00 midnight on January 1, 1904
dateItems, a comma-delimited list of seven positive integers equal to the following values: year, month, day, hour, minute, second, dayNumber where dayNumber 1 = Sunday and 7 = Saturday.
date, which has one of three formats:

** [dayName,] monthName, day, year

** month/day/year

** month-day-year

where dayName = Sunday, Sun, Monday, Mon, Tuesday, Tue, Wednesday, Wed, Thursday, Thur, Friday, Fri, Saturday, or Sat

monthName = January, Jan, February, Feb, March, Mar, April, Apr, May, June, Jun, July, Jul, August, Aug, September, Sep, October, Oct, November, Nov, December, or Dec

time, which has the following format: hour:minute[:second] [timeOfDay] where timeOfDay = am or pm

You can precede the format names date and time with an optional adjective, producing the following formats:

abbrev date  Fri, Jun 15, 1990

long date    Friday, June 15, 1990

short date   6/15/90

abbrev time  3:30 PM

long time        3:30:00 PM

short time       3:30 PM

Note: HyperCard can handle dates from 1/1/1000 to 12/31/9999 in all formats. It handles dates from 1/1/1 to 12/31/9999 only in the dateItems or seconds format. If you try to convert an invalid date (such as "Friday, May 50, 1990"), HyperCard sets the HyperTalk function the result to "Invalid date."

When System 7.1 is running, HyperCard uses the date and time settings from the Date & Time Control Panel.

Examples

convert "1/1/1960" to seconds -- the result goes into the variable it

convert "1/1/1960" to seconds and long date

convert (the seconds - startSeconds) to abbreviated time

convert bkgnd field "date" to seconds -- the result goes into the field

convert last word of field "Info" to short date

convert totalTime to abbreviated time -- the result goes into totalTime

convert field 1 from date to dateItems

convert myVar from seconds to long date

convert card field "Date and Time" from date and time to dateItems

Demo Script

on daysOld

  repeat until birthTime is a date

    put "What is your birthdate?" after sayIt

    ask sayIt with the short date

    if (it is empty) OR (the result is "Cancel") then exit daysOld

    put it into birthTime

    if birthTime is not a number

    then put birthTime && "is not a valid date." & return into sayIt

  end repeat

  convert birthTime to seconds -- change birthTime to seconds

  convert the date to seconds  -- get the current date

  put (it - birthTime) / 86400 into daysOld   -- 86400 seconds in 1 day

  convert birthTime to long date

  answer "You were born on" && birthTime & ", and you are currently" &&¬

  daysOld && "days old."

end daysOld

Placeholders

container

HyperTalk Definition

A place where you can store and retrieve a value.

There are six types of containers in HyperCard: a variable, a button, a field, the selection, the Message box, and menus.

myVariable

[the] selection

the Message box

btn 3

bg btn "Names"

card field 1

bkgnd field "Total"

menu 2

menu "Edit"

Additionally, you can refer to a button or field by its part number:

card part 1

last background part

AppleScript Definition

An object that contains one or more other objects, known as elements of the container. In a reference, the container specifies where to find an object. You specify containers with the reserved words of or in.

You can also use the possesive form ('s) to specify containers. For example, in

first window's name

the container is first window. The object it contains is a name property.

formatName

One of the following names of a date or time format:

seconds

dateItems

[adjective] date

[adjective] time

For example:

abbr date

abbr time

abbrev date

abbrev time

abbreviated date

abbreviated time

dateItems

long date

long time

seconds

short date

short time

adjective

One of the following:

abbr

abbrev

abbreviated

long

short