Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!apple!jdevoto
From: jdevoto@Apple.COM (Jeanne A. E. DeVoto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: Re: Pasting text with tabs into a field:  How is it done?
Keywords: xcmds,file-to-field,tabs in fields
Message-ID: <45362@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 4 Oct 90 11:47:52 GMT
References: <8561@milton.u.washington.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 34

In article <8561@milton.u.washington.edu> bjornl@milton.u.washington.edu
(Bjorn Levidow) writes:
>I'm trying to use the FileToField XCMD in the Dartmouth 3.1 collection
>to put a text field with tab in it into a field.  The problem is that
>all of the tabs get stripped out and I'm left with one long line of data.
>I'd like to be able to replace the tabs with spaces or commas if possible.

I'm not familiar with the FileToField XCMD; however, here is a way to
do what you want in HyperTalk:

  on getFile myFile               -- get contents of file with substitution
    open file myFile
    repeat until it is empty   -- in other words, until there ain't no more
      read from file myFile for 16834          -- maximum length
      repeat while it contains tab
        put "," into char offset(tab,it) of it -- substitute , for 1st tab
      end repeat
      put it after field "Destination"
    end repeat
    close file myFile
  end getFile

Note that the above handler will trigger an error if the file contains
more than 30,000 characters or so (the maximum number of characters for
a field). You may want to handle this in any number of ways -- disallowing
the transaction and emptying the field, or creating a new field to hold
the overflow, or whatever.
-- 
========= jeanne a. e. devoto ========================================
 jdevoto@apple.com     |  You may not distribute this article under a
 jdevoto@well.sf.ca.us |  compilation copyright without my permission.
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