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.

Referring to objects

You can refer to HyperCard objects and other elements from a script in any of several ways.

Click Tips for a list of synonyms that you can use for referring to objects.

name

An object’s name is the value found in its Info dialog box. For example:

background button "Home"

It’s a good idea to use quotation marks around an object’s name so that HyperCard recognizes it literally and doesn’t look for a variable by that name.

Note: HyperCard interprets card "1812" as a card named 1812; it interprets card 1812 as card number 1812.

number

An object’s number represents its position among like objects within the object that contains it.

Buttons and fields are ordered within a card or background. Cards and backgrounds are ordered within a stack.

go to card 2

Changing the order of a button, field, card, or background changes its number.

id

An object or menu's ID is a unique number assigned by HyperCard. Object ID numbers never change. The Info dialog box for each object displays its ID. (Stacks don't have ID's.)

go to card id 5734

A program's ID is its application signature:

put the id of HyperCard -- -> WILD

part

Part refers to a specific button or field in its ordinal position among all the buttons and fields in that domain:

select part 2

if word 2 of name of part 1 is "button"...

get the name of part 1

set the partNumber of last part to 1

put the number of parts into totalCardParts

put the id of bg part 3 into field idList

If you don't specify a domain, the default domain is card.

ordinal

You can refer to an object using any of the following ordinals:

first through tenth

middle, last, any

For example:

go to first card of last background

position

You can refer to some objects using any of the following positions:

next, prev, previous, this

For example:

go to first card of this background

go next card

me

Me is one way to refer to an object dynamically. It refers to the object that contains the currently executing handler. With buttons and fields, me refers to the object itself or to its contents, depending on the context. For example:

--In the script of a button:

set the hilite of me to true -- the button

get me -- the contents

--In the script of a field:

select text of me -- selects the field text

select me -- selects the field itself

put empty into me -- replaces the contents

target

The target is another way to refer to an object dynamically. It refers to the object that first received the message currently being handled. With buttons and fields, use the target to refer to the field itself and target to refer to its contents.

For example:

set the hilite of the target to true

select the target --the btn or fld itself

put target --the contents of the btn or fld

put the target --the name of the btn or fld

HyperTalk Reference

Version 0.8b4 (July 4, 2025)

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