LiveCode Forums.

I'm sure everyone else but me knows the answer to this heh, so I hope someone will let me in on it.

I'm looking for the last word in a field in the 'on textChanged' handler. Thinking this *should* be fairly straight forward, I used the following - I am expecting to see "do" in the answer dialog, however, I am sorely disappointed! <shocking, I know>

So I turn to the message box, and spelling it out, I get the answer I think I should have. I used the same format returned by the selectedLine, how come the selectedLine doesn't give me the same result ? (See picture below).

well... the selectedLine produces a string such as "line 1 of field 1" so... the last word of the literal string "line 1 of field 1" is 1.
will evaluate the selectedLine to return the actual word needed. Or "the text of the selectedLine" might be better.

I'm not sure if that forced evaluation is necessary when using all other chunk definitions.

Yes, that is exactly the string the selected line produces, just as if you were typing exactly that into the script (as I did), it should work I would think.

However, I had tried many other variations like the one you just stated, and they didn't work either.
By the way, I also tested this in the current IDE, I'm thinking 'bug' at this point heh.

Try
the text being what you are missing

Thanks Andy, that does actually work (and it helped me uncover a different kind of bug involving the script editor ~! **Bonus gravy!!)

The question becomes *why* do you need the qualifier/descriptor?

In other words, if you were writing this out with a fixed line already in mind, would you not write it something like - The selectedLine gives you the insertion point exactly like that, "line x of field y". Why doesn't the statement work using the selectedLine? (I know, this is above our pay grade, but I think the question is legitimate).

**Bonus gravy!! -
1. set up a field on a stack, type some words into it.
2. in the script editor, put the following code - 3. set a breakpoint at that line
4. in the field, hit the space bar
5. the selectedLine becomes the line in the editor, and returns the last word of that line
*Edit - actually, a trip through the qdb showed me this is a long standing problem

https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=6425
https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=6988
https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=12640
https://quality.livecode.com/show_bug.cgi?id=21219

bogs wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:52 am

would you not write it something like -

Code: Select all

put word -1 of line 1 of field 1 into myWord

The selectedLine gives you the insertion point exactly like that, "line x of field y". Why doesn't the statement work using the selectedLine? (I know, this is above our pay grade, but I think the question is legitimate).

What's being interpreted is not but insteadwhich is perfectly correct if the selectedLine is meant to resolve as a string literal. I'm not sure it should.

SparkOut wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 05, 2021 1:53 pm

...which is perfectly correct if the selectedLine is meant to resolve as a string literal. I'm not sure it should.

Yes, reading through those BRs made that clear, at the very least the dictionary should be updated to reflect it as mentioned by Trevor in one of those BRs.

There isn't any easy way (that I know of) to tell that you are getting a string literal back from the function, and the dictionary makes it look as though you are not with how the return example is formatted, i.e. -


By the way, regarding your earlier post on the value, I finally figured out how that needs to be done, at least here, I had to split it into 2 lines heh. I didn't test up to the newest IDE on that one, though, so it may have changed.

I do think (and did say as much, in the earlier post) that "the text of" is probably better. But that shouldn't affect the scripting.

No, it doesn't, I'm just trying to improve my own understanding of how this language works, things I expected by this point to be easy wind up giving me competency complexes.

Every time I *think* I know how something *should* work, it never does seem to work out that way. It is very depressing to me.

Something else I really wonder about, why doesn't the script ... work in a field 'on textChanged' handler?

The above assumes the field has focus and a blinking cursor in it, I am not talking about some random line in some random field hee hee

Bogs.

The keyword "this" only applies to stacks and cards. Not chunks.

Craig

Bogs.

I think what you are thinking is something like this: You do need a field 2.

Craig

I did already hit that bit of code in testing, which probably isn't surprising heh. Variations on it are hit and miss though, just as they are with 'the text of' and 'the value of'

Honestly, for how easy something *should* be, it doesn't really seem to be, at least not to me.

I'll be exploring offsets next, i'm only 2 days in at this point <sigh>

This is where this topic was all heading towards, more or less. I could have cheated and just went through the code of the various SE's, but what the heck kinda fun is that ?

Variations on it are hit and miss though,

I think I sort of know what you mean, with: The "last word of" is straightForward, but then the phrase "...line (word 2 of the selectedLine) of me..." likely throws new users due to the string "keyword/chunk/function/keyword", which has to be oddly mentally parsed to create it as well as read it.

It encapsulates the beauty and peculiarity of this sort of language I suppose. I love it. Don't ask me about "do".

Craig