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Path: news.weeg.uiowa.edu!news.uiowa.edu!hobbes.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!waikato!comp.vuw.ac.nz!actrix.gen.nz!dempson
From: dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)
Subject: Re: Hypercard Question
Organization: Actrix Information Exchange
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 1994 03:52:36 GMT
Message-ID: <CJpErp.JJ@actrix.gen.nz>
References: <199401152053.PAA13705@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Sender: dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)
Lines: 171

In article <199401152053.PAA13705@bottom.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
snash@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Steven E Nash) writes:
> I was wondering if there is someone out there who has an xcmd or
> something that will allow me to save the text in one of my hypercard
> stacks to a text file or even an applewoks file.  I have my address
> in a Hypercard stack and I have no way to save them as a text file
> so I can print them out.

You don't need an XCMD to do this - you can write a simple HyperCard
script to extract the addresses.

The simplest solution is a button which will write the details on the
current card to a text file.

A more elegant solution would be to write all of the cards out to a file.


I'm assuming you are using the 'Addresses' stack that was supplied
with HyperCard IIgs.  I'm working from HCGS 1.1, so I'm not sure if
any changes were made to the field names, etc. from version 1.0.

The address card is laid out as follows:

Name		One line
Company		One line
Address		Two lines

City		One line
State		One line
Zip Code	One line
Telephone	Four lines

Notes		Eleven lines (you can type more than this, but will only
		be able to read the first eleven).

The following script will write out each line to a text file, with tabs
separating the fields.  This can be imported into the AppleWorks data
base as 22 categories (Name, Company, Address-1, Address-2, City,
State, Zip Code, Telephone-1 through 4, Notes-1 through 11).

If you didn't press RETURN between the lines of the address field (i.e.
you used word wrapping to get to the next line), it will be output to
the text file as a single line, and the second line will be blank.

You will have to be in 'Scripting' mode in HyperCard to enter this
script (go to the last card of the Home stack to change the level).

Get back into the Addresses stack, and use 'Save a Copy...' from the
File menu.  Save the addresses stack somewhere else, as a backup copy
in case you do something wrong.

Now choose 'Stack Info...' from the Object menu.  Click on the
'Script...' button in the dialog box.

Scroll down to the bottom of the script, then add the following text
(after the nameSort handler).

HyperCard will automatically indent the script correctly, and it
should look like this when you've finished.

on writeAllCards
  ask "Save address list as:" with "Addresses.txt"
  if it is empty then exit writeAllCards
  put it into filename
  delete file filename
  put the result into error
  if error is not empty and word 2 of error is not 70 then
    answer "Unable to delete existing file:" && filename
    exit writeAllCards
  end if
  open file filename
  if the result is not empty then
    answer "Unable to create file:" && filename
    exit writeAllCards
  end if
  lock screen
  push card
  put the number of cards of background "Addresses" into count
  repeat with n = 1 to count
    set cursor to busy
    go to card n
    -- Note: whereever I have put a backslash, type option-return, which
    -- will appear as a 'not' symbol (a sideways reflected 'L').
    put field "Name" & \
    tab & field "Company" & \
    tab & line 1 of field "Address" & \
    tab & line 2 of field "Address" & \
    tab & field "City" & \
    tab & field "State" & \
    tab & field "Zip Code" into it
    set cursor to busy
    repeat with i = 1 to 4
      put it & tab & line i of field "Telephone" into it
    end repeat
    set cursor to busy
    repeat with i = 1 to 11
      put it & tab & line i of field "Notes" into it
    end repeat
    write it & return to file filename
  end repeat
  pop card
  close file filename
end writeAllCards


If you would prefer to have the fields on separate lines, then replace
each 'tab' in the script with 'return'.

Now all we need to do is provide some way of calling up the script.  I
suggest adding another item to the "Addresses" menu.

Go back up to the top of the script.  On the first page, there is a
section which starts "on openStack".  A little way down into this is
the following:

  if AddressMenu is empty then
    put addMenu(" Addresses ","Sort by Name" & return & \
    "Sort by Company" & return & "Sort by City" & return & \
    "Sort by State" & return & "Sort by Zip Code" & return & "-" & \
    return & "Preferences") into AddressMenu


Immediately before the last line of this, add:

    return & "Save to text file..." & return & "-" & \

Again, the backslashes are actually option-return.  You will have to
delete the extra blank line that is created when you press
option-return after the new line.


Scroll down through the script until you come to:

on doMenu choice

About half way through this function, you will see:

    else
      if choice is "Preferences" then

Between the 'else' and 'if' lines, add:

      if choice is "Save to text file..." then
        writeAllCards
      else

You will also need to add another 'end if' line before the 'end
doMenu' line.  You can press the TAB key to force HyperCard to
re-align the text to check that you have the indentation right.


When you've finished making changes, click the 'OK' button at the
bottom of the script editor.  You will have to leave the stack and
return to it before the new menu item will appear.

When you choose this item, it should ask you for a filename (prompting
you with a default of 'Addresses.txt').  You can select an appropriate
directory, change the name if required, then click 'Save'.  (If you
click 'Cancel', then nothing else will happen.)  The script will take a
while to write out all of the cards - about three seconds per card on an
unaccelerated IIgs.


I wrote this script on my other IIgs while typing it in here, and it
seems to work fine.  Assuming I made no typos, it should work for you.

If you have any problems, E-mail me, and I'll see if I can help.
-- 
David Empson                                                               
dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz                                                
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand