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.

go

go [to] ordinal

go [to] position

go [to] card [of bkgnd] [of stack]

go [to] bkgnd [of stack]

go [to] stack

go [to] [card of] [bkgnd of] stack ¬

   [in a new window] [without dialog]

The go command takes the user to a card in a stack. The ordinal and position forms take the user to a card in the current stack.

If you name a stack (or background) without specifying a card, HyperCard goes to the first card of the stack (or background).

HyperCard puts empty into the function the result when the go command succeeds; it puts "No such card." or "No such stack." into the result when it can’t go to the card or stack.

The in a new window option tells HyperCard to open a stack in another window when it goes to the stack.

The without dialog option tells HyperCard to go to another stack directly based on the search paths that are specified on the Search Paths card of the user’s Home stack. If HyperCard can't find the stack, it places "No such stack" into the result.

If you don't use without dialog, the result is set to Cancel if the user clicks the "Where Is" dialog box's Cancel button.

Note: The options in a new window and without dialog take effect only if the go command explicitly specifies a stack other than the current stack.

Examples

--Go to an ordinal in the current stack (referring to cards):

go first

go last

go second

go third

--Go to a position in the current stack (referring to cards):

go this

go next

go prev

-- Go to a different card, perhaps in a different stack:

go back -- could be in another stack

go forth -- could be in another stack

go card 4

go card id 23405

go first card

go next card

go previous card

go recent card -- could be in another stack

go last card

go mid card

go any card

go first card of bkgnd 2

go card 1 of second bkgnd of stack "My Stack"

-- Go to a different background in the current stack:

go bkgnd "Index"

go bkgnd "Index" of stack "My Stack"

-- Go to a different stack:

go to stack "Address"

go stack "Address"

go "Address"

go home

go help

-- Use full pathname:

go "Simonides:Fly II:Current Fly:Help"

-- Go to new stack, but open it in a new window:

go stack "My Stack" in a new window

if the result is not empty then ... -- couldn't open it in a new window

-- Go to a new stack, but skip the dialog asking where the stack is if -- HyperCard can't find it:

go stack "My Stack" without dialog

if the result is not empty then ... -- didn't go there

-- Go to a new stack,open it in a new window, and skip the dialog:

go to stack "Home" in new window without dialog

Demo Script

on goFirstCardAndBack

  set cursor to watch

  set lockMessages to true -- to leave the demo script up

  go first card

  go back

end goFirstCardAndBack

Placeholders

ordinal

HyperTalk Definition

One of the following:

any

[the] last

[the] mid

[the] middle

[the] first

[the] second

[the] third

[the] fourth

[the] fifth

[the] sixth

[the] seventh

[the] eighth

[the] ninth

[the] tenth

AppleScript Definition

One of the following:

last

middle

first

second

third

fourth

fifth

sixth

seventh

eighth

ninth

tenth

See also: background, bkgnd, button, card, chunk, field, menu, menuItem and part

position

One of the following:

[the] next

[the] prev

[the] previous

this

Note: You can’t use this with buttons or fields.

card

An expression that identifies a card by name, number, or id using one of the following forms (in AppleScript, use “background” in place of “bkgnd”):

recent card

back

forth

card id posInteger [of bkgnd

card text [of bkgnd] -- name

card posInteger [of bkgnd] -- number

ordinal card [of bkgnd]

position card [of bkgnd]

ordinal marked card

position marked card

marked card posInteger

For example:

card id 3894

card "Index"

card 1 of background 1

prev card

previous card of this background

next card

this card

first card

last card

middle card

any card

first marked card

last marked card

next marked card

previous marked card

marked card 1

marked card (the number of marked cards)

When used inside a card script in HyperTalk: me

When a card receives a message: [the] target

bkgnd

A HyperTalk expression that identifies a background by name, number, or id, using one of the following forms:

bkgnd id posInteger

bkgnd text -- name

bkgnd posInteger -- number

ordinal bkgnd

position bkgnd

For example:

bkgnd id 3894

bkgnd "Index"

bkgnd 1

prev bkgnd

previous bkgnd

next bkgnd

this bkgnd

first bkgnd

last bkgnd

middle bkgnd

any bkgnd

From within a background script, the term me refers to that background.

When a background receives a the message [the] target, that message is referring to the background.

stack

An expression that identifies a stack by its name, using one of the following forms:

this stack

stack text -- name or path name

For example:

stack "Home"

stack "Simonides:School:References"

this stack

stack "HD:Stacks:Addresses alias

When used inside a stack script: me

When a stack receives a message: [the] target

HyperTalk Reference

Version 0.8b4 (July 4, 2025)

Switch to Modern View

go

Examples

Demo Script

Related Topics

Placeholders

ordinal

position

card

bkgnd

stack