Anthony: You can call the built-in functions of
HyperCard directly and bypass any user-defined
functions by using the word "the" before the function
name.
Uli: I wasn't aware of that.
Alain: Anthony is indeed right-on-the-money.
Uli: Well, then we can't use that to call user
functions in a more English-like way.
Alain: I have been thinking along these lines too.
Making OpenTalk more English-like than HyperTalk by
liberal-usage of the "the" keyword. The parser would
merely have to ignore this keyword when interpreting a
script.
Alain: We would indeed lose the bypass-the-hierarchy
feature of HyperTalk functions called with the "the"
keyword. Is it really useful? How frequently is it
necessary? Couldn't the scripter merely "send" the
message to HyperCard explicitly when the bypass
feature is deemed necessary? Or perhaps some syntax
like below:
the abs [of HyperCard] of <numericEpression>
1. the abs of <numericEpression> -- traverses
hierarchy
2. the abs of HyperCard of <numericEpression> -- NOT
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place.
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com
