Scott Raney wrote:
>
> On Wed, 24 May 2000, Jeanne A. E. DeVoto wrote:
>
> > At 5:10 AM -0700 5/23/2000, Scott Raney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >On Mon, 22 May 2000, Jacqueline Landman Gay wrote:
> > >> > Then what is value("1+1")? Should it be the string "1+1"? Or the
> > >> > expected result of 2?
> > >>
> > >> I'd say if it were in quotes, it should be treated as a string literal
> > >> and the value should be "1+1". If it isn't in quotes, the value should
> > >> be 2.
> > >
> > >This is exactly the way MetaCard works. What it doesn't do currently
> > >is pass back the entire string if the evaluation of it as an
> > >expression fails. This will be easy to change to improve
> > >compatibility, but is really an abuse of the value() function, which
> > >even in the HyperCard documentation is specified to work on
> > >*expressions*, not arbitrary strings of characters.
> >
> > A string considered as an arbitrary string of characters *is* an
> > expression, though, albeit the simplest type of expression, one that
> > consists of a single factor. String is a data type, after all, and that
> > makes
> > "This is a string"
> > as much an expression as
> > true
> > or
> > 17
> > Even if you don't try to go inside the quotes to evaluate its content.
>
> A quoted string definitely is an expression, but an *unquoted* string,
> which is what Jacque was trying to use, is not.
No, I was talking about quoted strings, specifically those which are
exported from a database such as Excel where every field entry is
enclosed in quotations.
"Jacque", "Gay", "President, HyperActive Software"
for example.
--
Jacqueline Landman Gay | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
HyperActive Software | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Custom hypermedia solutions | http://www.hyperactivesw.com
612.724.1596 | 612.724.1562 - fax
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