Note: This is a work in progress and many formatting issues have been fixed. Read more about the project on the home page.

delete

delete chunk of container

delete [menuItem of] menu

delete [menuItem from] menu

delete { button | field | part }

The delete command removes text from a container, menu items from a menu, menus from the menu bar, and buttons or fields from the current card or background.

When you use the form delete part, deleteButton or deleteField is sent to the object that's being deleted.

You can't use this command to delete a part anywhere except on the current card.

Note: Using delete to delete a line is not the same as putting empty into the line: delete removes the final return character as well as the text, while putting empty into the line just removes the text.

Examples

delete item 3 of line 1 of field "Expenses"

delete line 5 of button "Text Holder"

put " this has a space" into theText

delete character 1 of theText

delete menu "File"

delete menu 2

delete second menu

delete menuItem "New" from menu "File"

delete menuItem 2 from menu 2

delete second menuItem from second menu

delete button 1

delete last card field

delete background button id 1234

delete last background part

Demo Script

on surpriseDelete

 -- appropriate surprise with style

 set the cantModify of this stack to true -- to easily restore the text

 find string "ropriate surprise with sty"

 wait 1 sec

 delete the foundChunk

 wait 1 sec

 set cantModify of this stack to false

end surpriseDelete

Placeholders

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.

container

HyperTalk Definition

A place where you can store and retrieve a value.

There are six types of containers in HyperCard: a variable, a button, a field, the selection, the Message box, and menus.

myVariable

[the] selection

the Message box

btn 3

bg btn "Names"

card field 1

bkgnd field "Total"

menu 2

menu "Edit"

Additionally, you can refer to a button or field by its part number:

card part 1

last background part

AppleScript Definition

An object that contains one or more other objects, known as elements of the container. In a reference, the container specifies where to find an object. You specify containers with the reserved words of or in.

You can also use the possesive form ('s) to specify containers. For example, in

first window's name

the container is first window. The object it contains is a name property.

menuItem

An expression that evaluates to one of the following:

menuItem text

menuItem posInteger

ordinal menuItem

For example:

menuItem "New"

menuItem 2

second menuItem

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”.

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.

`part`

An expression that identifies a button or field by its ordinal position among all buttons and fields on the same card or bkgnd.

A button's or field’s part number is available in its Info dialog box; in a script, it is available in the object’s partNumber property.

You can use any of these forms:

[card] part posInteger

[bg] part posInteger

ordinal [card]

[bg] part

For example:

card part 5

first card part

last background part

HyperTalk Reference

add answer arrowKey ask beep choose click at close commandKeyDown controlKey convert copy template create debug delete dial disable divide doMenu drag edit script enable enterInField enterKey export paint find functionKey get go help hide import paint keyDown lock mark multiply open open file open printing open report printing play pop print push put read reply request reset returnInField returnKey run save select set show sort start using stop using subtract tabKey type unlock unmark visual wait write