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.

print

The print command prints card images, the contents of fields and buttons, documents from other programs, or the value of any HyperTalk expression.

Print card prints an image of the current card. The option from point1 to point2 specifies a rectangular area of the card.

Print all cards prints the image of every card in the stack.

Print marked cards prints a subset of the cards in the stack based on each card’s marked property (as reflected in its Card Info dialog box). You can mark cards with the mark command.

Print posInteger cards prints a range of consecutive cards starting from the current card.

Print card prints the card specified by the card expression. The option from point1 to point2 specifies a rectangular area of the card. HyperCard sets the function the result to "No such card." if the specified card doesn’t exist; otherwise, the result returns empty.

Print button prints the contents of the specified button.

Print field prints the contents of the specified field, preserving the fonts, sizes, and styles of text used in the field.

Print file with application prints a document using another program. HyperCard launches the application; the application tries to print the document. (The user might see a Print dialog box.)

If HyperCard can't find either the document or the application, it displays a directory dialog box and asks the user to find it.

HyperCard also sets the result to Cancelif the user clicks Cancel in the dialog box. Otherwise, it sets the result to empty.

If HyperCard has problems opening the application (for example, there’s not enough memory), it sets the result to "Couldn't open that application."

After printing, the application program quits, and control returns to HyperCard.

Finally,print expression prints the value of any HyperTalk expression. You can print the values of local and global variables, fields, chunk expressions, the current selection, the contents of the Message box, and the result of any function or property.

Expressions are printed using the settings in printMargins, printTextAlign, printTextFont, printTextSize, printTextHeight, and printTextStyle.

Examples

Demo Script

Related Topics

• close
• mark
• open printing
• open report printing
• printMargins
• printTextAlign
• printTextFont
• printTextHeight
• printTextSize
• printTextStyle
• reset

Placeholders

posInteger

An expression that evaluates to a positive integer.

For example:

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

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”):

For example:

When used inside a card script in HyperTalk: me

When a card receives a message: [the] target

See also: button and field

field

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

card field id 3894

card field "My Notes"

card field 1

first card field

background field 3 of card 1

button

HyperTalk Definition

An expression that identifies a button by name, number, or id, using one of the following forms:

For example:

When used inside a button script: me

When a button receives a message: [the] target

A button can also be referred to as a part when you’re talking about its position among all buttons and fields within the same card or background.

AppleScript Definition

An expression that identifies a button by name, number, or id, using the same forms as HyperTalk except that “background” must be used in place of “bkgnd”.

fileName

An expression that evaluates to a text string that is also a valid Macintosh filename.

For example:

application

An expression that evaluates to a text string and that is also the name of a Macintosh application.

expression

HyperTalk Definition

Any HyperTalk expression. All expressions evaluate to text, a number, or a constant.

For example:

Note: Formally, HyperCard distinguishes between factors (simple values) and expressions. The difference between factors and expressions matters only if you like to drop parentheses. Most functions take factors as their parameters, which is why length of 3 + 5 returns 6 and length of (3 + 5) returns 1. In short, always use parentheses to group things the way you want them to evaluate, and you won’t have to worry about the difference between factors and expressions.

AppleScript Definition

Any series of words that has a value.

chunk

One of the following forms (or combinations thereof):

For example:

A chunk combined with of and a container is called a chunk expression. For example: line 1 of card field "index"

Important: You can’t combine a stack name with a chunk expression—you can only refer to a chunk in the current stack.