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From: rhutchin@Bonnie.ICS.UCI.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hypercard
Subject: names of buttons
Message-ID: <9102061944.aa19854@Bonnie.ics.uci.edu>
Date: 7 Feb 91 03:46:16 GMT
Lines: 40

OK, here's another serious question.

I'm using Hypercard 2.0, OK?

I have all these buttons whose names are numbers (i.e. "1" and "2" etc.)

Inside each button's script, I have the following statement:
	global whichButton

	put short name of me into whichButton

(I meant staements)

These buttons have the effect of putting contents into a field, making
the field visible, and hiliting the button so the user can tell which
button he hit. (ther's like 30 of 'em on the card!)

In my field script, I have a handler for mouseUp, which should hide
the field and un-hilite the button.  So here's what I have:
	global whichButton

	set hilite of card button whichButton to false

Here's the problem.  I get a "Never heard of card button 100".  But
I have a button whose short name is 100!!!  So I figure that HyperCard
thinks whichButton is a number, not a name.

How do I force a container to contain a name, when it contains a number?

I have always found HyperCards treatment of numbers and strings VERY
confusing.  This is the only thing I feel needs to ever be improved
with HyperCard (besides 24-bit color cards, and maybe Apple or Claris or
whoever distributes it could bundle a 600-meg hard drive with it and
still keep it free :-)

Thanks for all your help!!!

Richard B. Hutchings
Dept of Info and Comp Sci
UC Irvine