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Inside Macintosh: AppleScript Language Guide / Part 2 - AppleScript Language Reference


Chapter 3 - Values

Values are data that can be represented, stored, and manipulated in scripts. AppleScript recognizes many types of values, including character strings, real numbers, integers, lists, and dates. Values are different from application objects, which can also be manipulated from AppleScript but are contained in applications or their documents.

Each value belongs to a value class, which is a category of values that are represented in the same way and respond to the same operators. To find out how to represent a particular value, or which operators it responds to, check its value class definition. AppleScript can coerce a value of one class into a value of another. The possible coercions depend on the class of the original value.

This chapter describes how to interpret value class definitions, discusses the common characteristics of all value classes, and presents definitions of the value classes supported in AppleScript. It also describes how to coerce values.


Chapter Contents
Using Value Class Definitions
Literal Expressions
Properties
Elements
Operators
Commands Handled
Reference Forms
Coercions Supported
Value Class Definitions
Coercing Values

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© Apple Computer, Inc.
13 JUL 1996