THE HYPERCARD CENTER

HyperTalk Reference

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The message-passing order

What happens if an object that receives a message doesn’t handle it?

In this case, HyperCard passes the message to other objects and searches their scripts for a message handler that matches the current message. The order in which HyperCard passes a message to objects is called the message-passing order or the message-passing path.

Initially, HyperCard sends messages to a specific button or field or to the current card. If a button or field doesn’t handle the message, it goes on to the current card. From the current card, the message goes to the following objects, in order:

• the current background
• the current stack
• the stack script of the Home stack
• HyperCard itself

Placeholders

Related Topics

• Message sending orders
• pass
• send
• start using
• Where messages are sent initially