Home THE HYPERCARD CENTER

HyperTalk Reference
Home » 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.

textStyle

set [the] textStyle to textStyleList
set [the] textStyle of [chunk of] field to textStyleList
set [the] textStyle of button to textStyleList
set the textStyle of menuItem of menu to textStyleList
set [the] textStyle of the message box to textStyleList

The textStyle property returns or sets the styles in which Paint text, field text, button names, menu items, or text in the Message box appear.

The style can be a single text style or a comma-separated list of styles. The available styles are plain, bold, italic, underline, outline, shadow, condense, extend, and group. (To see group text, issue the command show groups.)

The default text style is plain.

Note: if a chunk of a field contains a mixture of styles, HyperCard returns mixed when you ask for the textStyle.

Examples

the textStyle of field 1
the textStyle of the clickChunk
the textStyle of the foundChunk
if the textStyle of the clickChunk contains "group" then ...
if the textStyle of the clickChunk contains "bold" then ...
set the textStyle to 10 -- for the text tool
set the textStyle of field 1 to plain
set the textStyle of card button 1 to bold
set the textStyle of char 1 to 19 of line 2 of field 3 to bold,italic

Related Topics

Placeholders

textStyleList

One of the following (or a comma-delimited list thereof):

bold
condense
extend
group
italic
outline
plain
shadow
underline

In AppleScript, the comma-delimited list must be enclosed in brackets.

chunk

One of the following forms (or combinations thereof):

ordinal character
character posInteger [to posInteger]
ordinal word
word posInteger [to posInteger]
ordinal item
item posInteger [to posInteger]
ordinal line
line posInteger [to posInteger]

For example:

first character
second item
middle line
character 1
char 1 to 10
word 3
item 5 to (the number of items of me)
line 1 to 10
char 1 to 10 of word 2 to 4 of ¬
line 3 to 6

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.

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 posInteger [[of] card]
card field text [of card] -- name
card field posInteger [of card]
ordinal card field [of card]
[bkgnd] field id posInteger [of card]
[bkgnd] field text [of card] -- name
[bkgnd] field posInteger [of card]
ordinal [bkgnd] field [of card]
For example:

card field id 3894

card field "My Notes"

card field 1

first card field

background field 3 of card 1

When used inside a field script in HyperTalk: `me`
When a field receives a message: `[the] target`
A field 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.

button

HyperTalk Definition

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

[card] button id posInteger [of card]
[card] button text [of card] -- name
[card] button posInteger [of card]
ordinal [card] button [of card]
bkgnd button id posInteger [of card]
bkgnd button text [of card] -- name
bkgnd button posInteger [of card]
ordinal bkgnd button [of card]

For example:

card button id 3894
card button "Return"
card button 1
first card button
bkgnd button 2 of card 2
last bkgnd button

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”.

menuItem

An expression that evaluates to one of the following:

menuItem text
menuItem posInteger
ordinal menuItem

For example:

menuItem "New"
menuItem 2
second menuItem

menu

An expression that evaluates to one of the following:

menu text
menu posInteger
ordinal menu

For example:

menu "File"
menu 2
second menu

HyperTalk Reference


Version 0.8b4 (July 4, 2025)

Made with Macintosh

Switch to Modern View