MACROMEDIA Director MX User Manual

Lingo Dictionary

Macromedia Director MX

Trademarks

Afterburner, AppletAce, Attain, Attain Enterprise Learning System, Attain Essentials, Attain Objects for Dreamweaver, Authorware,
Authorware Attain, Authorware Interactive Studio, Authorware Star, Authorware Synergy, Backstage, Backstage Designer, Backstage
Desktop Studio, Backstage Enterprise Studio, Backstage Internet Studio, Contribute, Design in Motion, Director, Director Multimedia
Studio, Doc Around the Clock, Dreamweaver, Dreamweaver Attain, Drumbeat, Drumbeat 2000, Extreme 3D, Fireworks, Flash,
Fontographer, FreeHand, FreeHand Graphics Studio, Generator, Generator Developer’s Studio, Generator Dynamic Graphics Server,
Knowledge Objects, Knowledge Stream, Knowledge Track, Lingo, Live Effects, Macromedia, Macromedia M Logo & Design,
Macromedia Contribute, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Xres, Macromind, Macromind Action, MAGIC, Mediamaker, Object
Authoring, Power Applets, Priority Access, Roundtrip HTML, Scriptlets, SoundEdit, ShockRave, Shockmachine, Shockwave, Shockwave
Remote, Shockwave Internet Studio, Showcase, Tools to Power Your Ideas, Universal Media, Virtuoso, Web Design 101, Whirlwind and
Xtra are trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. and may be registered in the United States or in other jurisdictions including internationally.
Other product names, logos, designs, titles, words or phrases mentioned within this publication may be trademarks, servicemarks, or
tradenames of Macromedia, Inc. or other entities and may be registered in certain jurisdictions including internationally.

This guide contains links to third-party Web sites that are not under the control of Macromedia, and Macromedia is not responsible for
the content on any linked site. If you access a third-party Web site mentioned in this guide, then you do so at your own risk. Macromedia
provides these links only as a convenience, and the inclusion of the link does not imply that Macromedia endorses or accepts any
responsibility for the content on those third-party sites.

Apple Disclaimer
APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ENCLOSED

COMPUTER SOFTWARE PACKAGE, ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY
NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER
RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

Copyright © 2002 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. This manual may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or
converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or in part without prior written approval of Macromedia, Inc.
Third Party Software Notices and/or Additional Terms and Conditions can be found at http://www.macromedia.com/go/thirdparty/.
Part Number ZDR90M200

Acknowledgments

Writing: Jay Armstrong, George Brown, Stephanie Gowin, and, Tim Statler
Editing: Rosana Francescato, Mary Ferguson, Mary Kraemer, and Noreen Maher
Project Management: Stuart Manning
Production: Chris Basmajian, Caroline Branch, John Francis, and Patrice O’Neill
Multimedia: Aaron Begley and Benjamin Salles

First Edition: December 2002

Macromedia, Inc.
600 Townsend St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

CHAPTER 1

Lingo by Feature

This chapter lists various Macromedia Director MX features and the corresponding Lingo
elements that you can use to implement those features.

Accessibility

These terms are useful for making movies accessible to the disabled:

Text-to-speech

voiceCount() voiceSet()

voiceGet() voiceSetPitch()

voiceGetPitch() voiceSetRate()

voiceGetRate() voiceSetVolume()

voiceGetVolume() voiceSpeak()

voiceInitialize() voiceState()

voicePause() voiceStop()

voiceResume() voiceWordPos()

Keyboard navigation

autoTab selection (cast property)

hilite (command) selectedText

keyboardFocusSprite selEnd

selection (text cast member property) selStart

selection() (function)

3

Animated GIFs

These terms are useful for working with animated GIFs:

directToStage pause (movie playback)

frameRate playBackMode

linked resume sprite

moviePath rewind sprite

Animation

These terms are useful for creating animation with Lingo:

blend locV

ink member (sprite property)

loc regPoint

locH tweened

Behaviors

The terms in this section are useful for authoring behaviors and using behaviors while the
movie plays.

Authoring behaviors

Use these terms to set up behaviors and the behavior’s Parameters dialog box:

ancestor on getBehaviorDescription

on runPropertyDialog on getPropertyDescriptionList

on getBehaviorTooltip property

on isOKToAttach

Sending messages to behaviors

Use these commands to send messages to behaviors attached to sprites:

call sendSprite

callAncestor sendAllSprites

Identifying behaviors

Use these terms to identify the behaviors attached to sprites:

currentSpriteNum scriptInstanceList

me spriteNum

Chapter 14

Bitmaps

The terms in this section are useful for working with bitmaps.

Bitmap properties

Use these terms to check and set bitmap properties:

alphaThreshold foreColor

backColor palette

blend picture (cast member property)

depth pictureP()

dither rect (member)

trimWhiteSpace (property) imageCompression

imageQuality movieImageCompression

movieImageQuality

Alpha channel

Use these terms to control alpha channel effects:

alphaThreshold dither

depth useAlpha

createMask() createMatte()

extractAlpha() setAlpha()

Image objects

Use these terms to create and control image objects:

copyPixels() fill()

crop() (image object command) image

draw() image()

duplicate() (image function) rect (image)

getPixel() setPixel()

Buttons

See Buttons and check boxes in the Interface Elements section.

Lingo by Feature 5

Cast members

The terms in this section are useful for working with cast members.

Creating cast members

importFileInto and new() to create cast members.

Use

Authoring

duplicate member, erase member, and pasteClipBoardInto to work with cast members

Use
during authoring.

Graphic cast members

Use these terms to check and set the images assigned to graphic cast members:

center palette

crop (cast member property) picture (cast member property)

depth pictureP()

media regPoint

General cast member properties

Use these terms to check and set cast member properties:

fileName (cast member property) number (cast member property)

media preLoadMode

modified type (cast member property)

name (cast member property) URL

Graphic cast member dimensions

height, rect (member), and width to check and set dimensions for graphic cast members.

Use

Casts

The terms in this section are useful for working with casts.

Loading casts

preLoadMode to check and set when Director preloads a cast.

Use

Cast properties

Use these terms to specify cast properties:

castLib number (cast property)

fileName (cast property) number (system property)

name (cast property)

Chapter 16

Cast management

Use these terms to manage casts:

activeCastLib number of members

duplicate member pasteClipBoardInto

erase member save castLib

findEmpty() selection (cast property)

move member

Computer and operating system

Use these terms to check and control the computer:

beep freeBlock()

beepOn freeBytes()

cpuHogTicks maxInteger

emulateMultiButtonMouse multiSound

floatPrecision romanLingo

Operating system control

Use

restart and shutDown to control the operating system.

Data types

These terms are useful for specifying data types:

# (symbol) string()

float() stringP()

floatP() symbol()

integer() symbolP()

integerP() VOID

objectP() voidP()

Digital video

These terms are useful for working with AVI and QuickTime digital video:

controller trackNextSampleTime

digitalVideoTimeScale trackPreviousKeyTime

digitalVideoType trackPreviousSampleTime

directToStage trackStartTime (sprite property)

duration trackStartTime (cast member property)

frameRate trackStopTime (sprite property)

loop (cast member property) trackStopTime (cast member property)

movieRate trackText

Lingo by Feature 7

movieTime trackType (cast member property)

pausedAtStart (Flash, digital video) trackType (sprite property)

quickTimeVersion() trackCount (cast member property)

timeScale trackCount (sprite property)

trackEnabled video (QuickTime, AVI)

trackNextKeyTime videoForWindowsPresent

QuickTime

Use these terms to work with QuickTime:

enableHotSpot nodeType

fieldOfView nudge

getHotSpotRect() pan (QTVR property)

hotSpotExitCallback ptToHotSpotID()

hotSpotEnterCallback quickTimeVersion()

invertMask rotation

isVRMovie scale

loopBounds swing()

mask staticQuality

motionQuality tilt

mouseLevel translation

node triggerCallback

nodeEnterCallback warpMode

nodeExitCallback

RealMedia video

Use these terms to with RealMedia video:

audio (RealMedia) play

currentTime (RealMedia) realPlayerNativeAudio()

displayRealLogo realPlayerPromptToInstall()

duration (RealMedia) realPlayerVersion()

image (RealMedia) seek

lastError soundChannel (RealMedia)

mediaStatus state (RealMedia)

password stop (RealMedia)

pause (RealMedia) userName (RealMedia)

pausedAtStart (RealMedia) video (RealMedia)

percentBuffered

Chapter 18

Events

Use these event handlers for Lingo that runs when a specific event occurs:

activeCastLib on moveWindow

close window on mouseWithin

on cuePassed open window

on deactivateWindow on prepareFrame

on enterFrame on prepareMovie

on EvalScript on resizeWindow

on exitFrame on mouseUpOutside

on idle on rightMouseDown (event handler)

on keyDown on rightMouseUp (event handler)

on keyUp on startMovie

on mouseDown (event handler) on stepFrame

on mouseEnter on streamStatus

on mouseLeave on timeOut

on mouseUp (event handler) on zoomWindow

on stopMovie on beginSprite

on endSprite on hyperlinkClicked

Use the

pass and stopEvent commands to override the way that Director passes messages along

the message hierarchy.

External files

The terms in this section are useful for working with external files.

Path names and filenames

Use these terms to check and set path names and filenames:

@ (pathname) getNthFileNameInFolder()

applicationPath moviePath

fileName (cast property) searchCurrentFolder

fileName (cast member property) URL

Obtaining external media

Use these terms to obtain external media:

downloadNetThing preloadNetThing()

importFileInto

Lingo by Feature 9

Managing external files

Use these terms to manage external files:

closeXlib showXlib

open sound playFile

openXlib

Flash

These terms are useful for working with Flash cast members:

actionsEnabled originV

broadcastProps pathName (movie property)

bufferSize pausedAtStart (Flash, digital video)

buttonsEnabled percentStreamed

bytesStreamed play

callFrame() playBackMode

centerRegPoint playing

clearError posterFrame

clickMode print()

defaultRect printAsBitmap()

defaultRectMode quality

directToStage rewind sprite

endTellTarget() See tellTarget() rotation

eventPassMode scale

findLabel() scaleMode

fixedRate on sendXML

flashRect setCallback()

flashToStage() settingsPanel()

frame() (function) setFlashProperty()

frame (sprite property) setVariable()

frameCount showProps()

frameRate sound

frameReady() the soundMixMedia

getError() sourceFileName

getFlashProperty() stageToFlash()

getFrameLabel() state (Flash, SWA)

getVariable() static

goToFrame stop (Flash)

Chapter 110

hitTest() stream

hold streamMode

imageEnabled streamSize

linked tellTarget()

loop (keyword) URL

mouseOverButton viewH

newObject() viewPoint

obeyScoreRotation viewScale

originH viewV

originMode volume (cast member property)

originPoint

These terms are useful for working with global Flash objects, which do not require a Flash
cast member:

clearAsObjects() setCallback()

newObject()

Frames

The Lingo terms in this section let you work with frames.

Frame events

Use the

on enterFrame, on exitFrame, and on prepareFrame event handlers to contain Lingo

that runs at specific events within a frame.

Frame properties

Use these Lingo terms to check and set frame properties:

frameLabel frameTempo

framePalette frameTransition

frameScript label()

frameSound1 labelList

frameSound2 marker()

the markerList

Lingo by Feature 11

Interface elements

The Lingo terms in this section are useful for working with interface elements.

Menus

Use these terms to create menus:

enabled name (menu item property)

installMenu number (menu items)

menu number (menus)

name (menu property) script

Buttons and check boxes

Use these terms to specify buttons and check boxes:

alert checkBoxType

buttonStyle checkMark

buttonType hilite (cast member property)

checkBoxAccess

Keys

The Lingo terms in this section are related to using the keyboard.

Identifying keys

Use these terms to identify keys:

charToNum() keyPressed()

commandDown mouseChar

controlDown numToChar()

key() optionDown

keyCode() shiftDown

Keyboard interaction

keyPressed(), lastEvent(), and lastKey to detect what the user types at the keyboard.

Use

Keyboard events

Use these terms to set up handlers that respond to pressing keys:

on keyDown keyDownScript

on keyUp keyUpScript

flushInputEvents

Chapter 112

Lingo

The Lingo terms in this section are important language elements that you use to construct scripts.

Boolean values

Use these terms to test whether a condition exists:

• FALSE (0 is the numerical equivalent of FALSE).

• TRUE (1 is the numerical equivalent of TRUE).

• not

• or

Script control

Use these terms to control how a script executes:

abort pass

do result

exit scriptsEnabled

halt scriptText

nothing stopEvent

Code structures

Use

if to create if..then statements.
case, end case, and otherwise in case statements.

Use
Use these terms for repeat loops:

end repeat repeat with

exit repeat repeat with...down to

next repeat repeat with...in list

repeat while

Syntax elements

Use these terms as part of Lingo’s syntax:

# (symbol) member (keyword)

" (string) of

¬ (continuation) or

-- (comment) property

() (parentheses) sprite

castLib the

end window

global

Lingo by Feature 13

Lists

The terms in this section are useful for working with lists.

Creating lists

[ ] (list), duplicate() (list function), or list() to create a list.

Use

Adding list items

Use these terms to add items to a list:

[ ] (bracket access) addVertex

add append

addVertex

Deleting list items

Use these terms to delete items from a list:

deleteAll deleteOne

deleteAt deleteProp

Retrieving values from a list

Use these terms to retrieve values from a list:

[ ] (bracket access) getOne()

deleteProp getPos()

deleteProp getProp()

getLast() getPropAt()

Getting information about lists

Use these terms to get information about lists:

count() max()

findPos min

findPosNear param()

ilk() paramCount()

listP()

Setting values in a list

Use these terms to set values in a list:

[ ] (bracket access) setAt

setaProp setProp

Chapter 114

Media synchronization

Use these terms to synchronize animation and sound:

cuePointNames on cuePassed

cuePointTimes isPastCuePoint()

mostRecentCuePoint

Memory management

The terms in this section are useful for determining memory requirements and controlling when
the movie loads and unloads cast members.

Idle events

Use the

on idle event handler for Lingo that runs when the movie is idle.

Idle loading

Use these terms to control idle loading:

cancelIdleLoad idleLoadPeriod

finishIdleLoad idleLoadTag

idleHandlerPeriod idleReadChunkSize

idleLoadDone() netThrottleTicks

Preloading and querying media

Use these terms to load media into memory and check whether media are available:

frameReady() preloadNetThing()

loaded preLoadMember

mediaReady preLoadMovie

preLoad (command) preLoadRAM

preLoad (cast member property) purgePriority

preLoadBuffer member unLoad

preLoadEventAbort unLoadMember

preLoadMode unloadMovie

Available memory

Use these terms to check how much memory is available:

freeBlock() movieFileFreeSize

freeBytes() movieFileSize

memorySize

Lingo by Feature 15

Memory requirements

Use

ramNeeded() and size to determine how much memory required for a cast member or a

range of frames.

Menus

See Menus in the Interface elements section.

Message window

Use these terms to work in the Message window:

put traceLoad

showXlib traceLogFile

trace appMinimize

Monitor

Use colorDepth, deskTopRectList, and switchColorDepth to check and control the monitor.

Mouse interaction

The terms in this section are useful for Lingo related to using the mouse.

Mouse clicks

Use these terms to detect what the user does with the mouse:

clickOn mouseLine

doubleClick mouseLoc

emulateMultiButtonMouse mouseMember

lastClick() mouseOverButton

lastEvent() on mouseUp (event handler)

lastRoll mouseV

mouseChar mouseWord

on mouseDown (event handler) on rightMouseDown (event handler)

mouseH on rightMouseUp (event handler)

mouseItem rollOver()

mouseLevel stillDown

Chapter 116

Mouse events

Use these terms to set up handlers that respond to mouse events:

mouseDownScript on mouseUp (event handler)

mouseUpScript on mouseUpOutside

on mouseDown (event handler) on mouseWithin

on mouseEnter on rightMouseDown (event handler)

on mouseLeave on rightMouseUp (event handler)

Cursor control

Use

cursor (command), cursor (sprite property), and cursorSize to control the

pointer (cursor).

Movies in a window

The terms in this section are useful for working with movies in a window.

Movie in a window events

Use these event handlers to contain Lingo that you want to run in response to events in a movie
in a window:

activeCastLib on openWindow

on closeWindow on resizeWindow

on moveWindow on zoomWindow

Opening and closing movies in a window

Use these terms for opening and closing windows:

close window open window

forget windowList

Window appearance

Use these terms to check and set the appearance of a movie’s window:

drawRect sourceRect

fileName (window property) tell

frontWindow title

modal titleVisible

moveToBack visible (window property)

moveToFront windowPresent()

name (window property) windowType

rect (window) appMinimize

Lingo by Feature 17

Communication between movies

Use the

tell command to send messages between movies.

Movies

The terms in this section are useful for managing movies.

Stopping movies

Use these terms to stop or quit the movie or projector:

exitLock quit

halt restart

pauseState shutDown

Movie information

Use these terms to obtain information about the movie and the movie’s environment:

environment moviePath

lastFrame number (system property)

movie runMode

movieFileFreeSize safePlayer

movieFileSize version

movieName movieFileVersion

Source control

Use these terms to manage Director projects being worked on by more than one person:

comments creationDate

modifiedBy modifiedDate

linkAs() seconds

Saving movies

saveMovie and updateMovieEnabled to save changes to a movie.

Use

Error checking

Use the

alertHook event to post alerts that describe errors in a projector.

Movie events

Use the

on prepareMovie, on startMovie, and on stopMovie event handlers for Lingo that

responds to movie events.

Chapter 118

Multiuser server

Director MX users should use Macromedia Flash Communication Server MX for
communication among Director movies and with application servers. For more information
about using Flash Communication Server MX, see Using Flash Communication Server MX in
Using Director.

Navigation

Use these terms to jump to different locations:

delay goToFrame

go gotoNetMovie

go loop gotoNetPage

go next play

go previous play done

Network Lingo

The terms in this section are useful for working with the network.

Downloading and streaming media

Use these terms to obtain or stream media from the network:

downloadNetThing (For projectors and
authoring only)

getNetText() postNetText

gotoNetMovie preloadNetThing()

gotoNetPage

Checking availability

frameReady() and mediaReady to check whether specific media are

Use
completely downloaded.

Using network operations

Use these terms to check the progress of a network operation or get information regarding
network media:

getStreamStatus() netMIME()

getLatestNetID netTextResult()

netAbort on streamStatus

netDone() proxyServer

netError() tellStreamStatus()

netPresent URLEncode

netLastModDate()

Lingo by Feature 19

Working with the local computer

Use these terms to work with the user’s computer:

browserName() clearCache (For projectors and

cacheDocVerify() (For projectors and
authoring only)

cacheSize() (For projectors and
authoring only)

authoring only)

getPref()

setPref

Browsers

Use

on EvalScript, externalEvent, and netStatus to interact with browsers. For additional

information about browser scripting using languages such as JavaScript, see “Shockwave
Publishing” on the Director Support Center at www.macromedia.com/support/director/
internet.html.

Accessing EMBED and OBJECT tag parameters

externalParamCount(), externalParamName(), and externalParamValue() to access

Use

EMBED and OBJECT parameter tags:

Operators

The terms in this section are operators available in Lingo.

Math operators

Use these terms for math statements:

* (multiplication) <> (not equal)

/ (division) > (greater than)

+ (addition) >= (greater than or equal to)

- (minus) < (less than)

= (equals) <= (less than or equal to)

Comparison operators

and, not, and or to compare expressions.

Use

Palettes and color

Use these terms to check and set palettes for movies and for cast members:

color() paletteMapping

depth puppetPalette

palette rgb()

Chapter 120

Parent scripts

Use these terms to work with parent scripts and child objects:

actorList property

ancestor on stepFrame

new() handler()

handlers() rawNew()

Points and rectangles

These terms are useful for checking and setting points and rectangles.

inflate quad

inside() rect (camera)

intersect() rect (sprite)

map() sourceRect

offset() (rectangle function) union()

point()

For Lingo that controls a sprite’s bounding rectangle, see Sprite dimensions.

Projectors

These terms are useful for working with projectors:

alertHook platform

environment runMode

editShortCutsEnabled

Puppets

Use these terms to control the puppet property of sprites and effects channels:

puppet puppetTempo

puppetPalette puppetTransition

puppetSound updateStage

puppetSprite

Random numbers

Use random() and randomSeed to generate random numbers.

Lingo by Feature 21

Score

The following terms let you work with the Score.

Score properties

lastFrame, score, and scoreSelection to work with the movie’s Score.

Use

Score generation

Use these terms to create Score content from Lingo:

beginRecording scoreSelection

clearFrame scriptNum

deleteFrame scriptType

duplicateFrame tweened

endRecording updateFrame

insertFrame updateLock

scoreColor

Shapes

Use these Lingo terms to work with shapes:

filled pattern

lineDirection shapeType

lineSize

Shockwave audio

Use these terms to check, stream, and play Shockwave audio sounds:

bitRate play member

bitsPerSample preLoadBuffer member

copyrightInfo preLoadTime

duration sampleRate

getError() soundChannel (SWA)

getErrorString() state (Flash, SWA)

numChannels stop member

pause (movie playback) streamName

percentPlayed URL

percentStreamed volume (cast member property)

Chapter 122

Sound

The terms in this section are useful for playing sounds.

Sound information

Use these terms to get information about a sound:

channelCount soundEnabled

sound volume (sprite property)

soundBusy() isBusy()

sampleCount status

Playing sound

Use these terms to control how sound plays:

puppetSound sound fadeOut

sound close sound playFile

sound fadeIn sound stop

breakLoop() elapsedTime

endTime fadeIn()

fadeOut() fadeTo()

getPlaylist() setPlaylist()

loopCount loopEndTime

loopStartTime loopsRemaining

member (sound property) pan (sound property)

pause() (sound playback) playNext()

queue() rewind()

stop() (sound) play() (sound)

RealMedia sound

See Digital video.

Sprites

The Lingo terms in this section are for sprites.

Sprite events

Use the

on beginSprite and on endSprite event handlers to contain Lingo that you want to

run when a sprite begins or ends.

Assigning cast members to sprites

castLibNum, member (sprite property), or memberNum to specify a sprite’s cast member.

Use

Lingo by Feature 23

Rotating sprites

Use the

rotation sprite property to rotate sprites.

Dragging sprites

Use these terms to set how the user can drag sprites:

constrainH() moveableSprite

constrainV() sprite...intersects

constraint sprite...within

Sprites and Lingo

Use these terms to manage how Lingo controls sprites:

puppetSprite spriteNum

puppet sendSprite

scriptNum sendAllSprites

scriptInstanceList

Drawing sprites on the Stage

Use these terms to control how Director draws a sprite on the Stage:

blend skew

flipH trails

flipV tweened

ink updateStage

quad visible (sprite property)

rotation

Sprite dimensions

Use these terms to check and set the size of a sprite’s bounding rectangle:

bottom right

height top

left width

quad zoomBox

You can also manipulate a sprite’s bounding rectangle with Lingo for rectangles. See Points and
rectangles.

Sprite locations

Use the

Chapter 124

loc, locH, and locV sprite properties to check and set sprite locations.

Sprite color

Use these terms to check and set a sprite’s color:

backColor color (sprite and cast member property)

bgColor foreColor

Stage

These terms are useful for controlling the Stage and determining its size and location:

centerStage stageColor

fixStageSize stageLeft

picture (window property) stageRight

stage stageTop

stageBottom updateStage

Tempo

Use the puppetTempo command to control a movie’s tempo.

Text

The terms in this section are useful for working with text, strings, and fields.

Manipulating strings

Use these terms to manipulate strings:

& (concatenator) put...before

&& (concatenator) put...into

delete string()

hilite (cast member property) stringP()

put...after text

Chunk expressions

Use these terms to identify chunks of text:

char...of number (words)

chars() offset() (string function)

contains paragraph

EMPTY ref

item...of selection (text cast member property)

itemDelimiter selectedText

last() selEnd (fields only)

length() selStart (fields only)

Lingo by Feature 25

line...of string()

number (characters) stringP()

number (items) value()

number (lines) word...of

Editable text

Use the

editable property to specify whether text is editable.

Shocked fonts

Use these terms to include Shocked fonts with downloaded text:

recordFont bitmapSizes

originalFont characterSet

Character formatting

Use these terms to format text:

backColor fontf

bgColor fontSize

charSpacing fontStyle

color() foreColor

dropShadow

Paragraph formatting

Use these terms to format paragraphs:

alignment rightIndent

bottomSpacing tabCount

firstIndent tabs

fixedLineSpace top (3D)

leftIndent wordWrap

margin

Text cast member properties

Use these terms to work with the entire text content of a text cast member:

antiAlias kerning

antiAliasThreshold kerningThreshold

autoTab picture (cast member property)

HTML RTF

Lingo that applies to chunk expressions is also available to the text within a text cast member.

Chapter 126

Mouse pointer position in text

Use these terms to detect where the mouse pointer is within text:

pointInHyperlink() pointToParagraph()

pointToChar() pointToWord()

pointToItem()

Text boxes for field cast members

Use these terms to set up the box for a field cast member:

border lineHeight() (function)

boxType lineHeight (cast member property)

lineCount pageHeight

Scrolling text

Use these terms to work with scrolling text:

linePosToLocV() scrollByLine

locToCharPos() scrollByPage

locVToLinePos() scrollTop

Constants

Use these terms to work with constants:

BACKSPACE RETURN (constant)

EMPTY VOID

ENTER

Time

The terms in this section are useful for working with time.

Current date and time

Use these terms to determine the current date and time:

abbr, abbrev, abbreviated short

date() (system clock) systemDate

long

Lingo by Feature 27

Measuring time

Use these terms to measure time in a movie:

framesToHMS() ticks

HMStoFrames() time()

milliseconds timer

startTimer

Timeouts

Use these terms to handle timeouts:

timeoutKeyDown timeoutMouse

timeoutLapsed timeoutPlay

timeoutLength timeoutScript

name (timeout property) period

persistent target

time() timeout()

timeoutHandler timeoutList

Transitions

Use these terms to work with transitions:

changeArea puppetTransition

chunkSize transitionType

duration

Variables

The terms in this section are useful for creating and changing variables:

Creating variables

Use these terms to create variables:

= (equals) property

global

Testing and changing variables

Use these terms to check and change the values assigned to variables:

= (equals) put

clearGlobals set...to, set...=

globals showGlobals

ilk() showLocals

Chapter 128

Vector shapes

Use these Lingo terms to work with vector shapes:

addVertex gradientType

antiAlias imageEnabled

backgroundColor moveVertex()

broadcastProps moveVertexHandle()

centerRegPoint originH

closed originMode

defaultRect originPoint

defaultRectMode originV

deleteVertex() rotation

directToStage scale

endColor scaleMode

fillColor showProps()

fillCycles skew

fillDirection static

fillMode strokeColor

fillOffset strokeWidth

fillScale vertexList

flashRect viewPoint

flipH viewScale

flipV viewV

curve newCurve()

regPointVertex

XML parsing

The following Lingo is useful for XML parsing within Director.

attributeName ignoreWhiteSpace()

attributeValue makeList()

child (XML) makeSubList()

count() name (XML property)

doneParsing() parseString()

getError() (XML) parseURL()

Lingo by Feature 29

Xtra extensions

Use these terms to work with Xtra extensions:

movieXtraList xtra

name (system property) xtraList

number of xtras xtras

Chapter 130

CHAPTER 2

3D Lingo by Feature

This chapter lists the various 3D features of Macromedia Director MX and the corresponding
Lingo elements that you can use to implement those features.

Animation

Use these terms to work with 3D animation. See also the lists of terms for the Keyframe player
and Bones player modifiers.

animationEnabled pause() (3D)

autoblend play() (3D)

blendTime playing (3D)

cloneMotionFromCastmember playlist

count playNext() (3D)

currentLoopState playRate

currentTime (3D) positionReset

deleteMotion queue() (3D)

lockTranslation removeLast()

motion rotationReset

name type (motion)

newMotion()

Anti-aliasing

Use these terms to work with anti-aliasing:

antiAliasingEnabled antiAliasingSupported

31

Backdrops and overlays

Use these terms to manipulate backdrops and overlays in 3D cast members:

addBackdrop regPoint (3D)

addOverlay removeBackdrop

blend (3D) removeOverlay

count rotation (backdrop and overlay)

insertBackdrop scale (backdrop and overlay)

insertOverlay source

loc (backdrop and overlay)

Bones player modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the Bones player modifier:

autoblend play() (3D)

blendTime playing (3D)

bonesPlayer (modifier) playlist

count playNext() (3D)

currentTime (3D) playRate

getBoneID queue() (3D)

currentLoopState removeLast()

getWorldTransform() rootLock

lockTranslation rotationReset

positionReset transform (property)

pause() (3D)

Cameras

Use these terms to work with cameras and camera properties:

addCamera orthoHeight

addToWorld pointAt

autoCameraPosition pointAtOrientation

boundingSphere position (transform)

camera projection

cameraCount() projectionAngle

cameraPosition rect (camera)

cameraRotation removeFromWorld

clone rootNode

cloneDeep rotate

Chapter 232

count scale (transform)

deleteCamera transform (property)

fieldOfView (3D) translate

hither userData

isInWorld() worldPosition

name yon

newCamera

Child and parent nodes

Use these terms to control parent-child relationships between models:

addChild count

child parent

Collision detection

These terms are useful for detecting and responding to collisions between models:

collision (modifier) pointOfContact

collisionData registerForEvent()

collisionNormal registerScript()

enabled (collision) resolve

immovable resolveA

window("Tool Panel").modal = FALSE resolveB

modelA setCollisionCallback()

modelB

Creating and removing objects

Use these terms to create and remove objects:

add (3D texture) deleteShader

addBackdrop deleteTexture

addModifier duplicate

addOverlay insertBackdrop

addToWorld insertOverlay

camera newLight

child newMesh

clone newModel

cloneDeep newModelResource

cloneModelFromCastmember newMotion()

3D Lingo by Feature 33

cloneMotionFromCastmember newShader

deleteCamera newTexture

deleteGroup removeModifier

deleteLight removeBackdrop

deleteModel removeFromWorld

deleteModelResource removeOverlay

deleteMotion

Fog

Use these terms to work with fog:

color (fog) far (fog)

decayMode fog

enabled (fog) near (fog)

Groups

Use these terms to work with groups:

addChild newGroup

addToWorld pointAt

boundingSphere pointAtOrientation

child position (transform)

clone removeFromWorld

cloneDeep rotate

count scale (transform)

deleteGroup transform (property)

group translate

isInWorld() userData

name worldPosition

Inker modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the Inker modifier:

boundary lineColor

creaseAngle lineOffset

creases silhouettes

inker (modifier) useLineOffset

Chapter 234

Keyframe player modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the Keyframe player modifier:

autoblend playing (3D)

blendFactor playlist

blendTime playNext() (3D)

count playRate

currentLoopState positionReset

currentTime (3D) queue() (3D)

keyframePlayer (modifier) removeLast()

lockTranslation rootLock

pause() (3D) rotationReset

play() (3D) update

Level of detail modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the level of detail (LOD) modifier:

auto level

bias lod (modifier)

Lights

Use these terms to work with lights and light properties:

addToWorld pointAt

ambientColor pointAtOrientation

attenuation position (transform)

boundingSphere removeFromWorld

color (light) rotate

count scale (transform)

clone specular (light)

cloneDeep spotAngle

deleteLight spotDecay

directionalColor transform (property)

directionalPreset translate

isInWorld() type (light)

light userData

name worldPosition

newLight

3D Lingo by Feature 35

Mesh deform modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the mesh deform modifier:

add (3D texture) normalList

face textureCoordinateList

mesh (property) textureLayer

meshDeform (modifier) vertexList (mesh deform)

neighbor

Miscellaneous

clearAtRender resetWorld

clearValue revertToWorldDefaults

directToStage sendEvent

loadFile() setCollisionCallback()

registerForEvent() unregisterAllEvents

registerScript() revertToWorldDefaults

Model resources

Use these terms to work with 3D model resources:

count newModelResource

deleteModelResource resolution

modelResource resource

name type (model resource)

Models

Use these terms to work with 3D models:

addToWorld position (transform)

boundingSphere removeFromWorld

clone renderStyle

cloneDeep resource

cloneModelFromCastmember rotate

count scale (transform)

deleteModel shadowPercentage

isInWorld() shaderList

model transform (property)

modifier translate

Chapter 236

name userData

newModel visibility

pointAt worldPosition

pointAtOrientation

Modifiers

These terms are useful for applying modifiers to models and model resources. See the name of the
specific modifier you are using for a list of terms that work with that modifier.

addModifier modifiers

count removeModifier

modifier

Movie and system properties

Use these terms to determine the 3D capabilities of the playback computer:

active3dRenderer getRendererServices()

colorBufferDepth preferred3DRenderer

depthBufferDepth renderer

getHardwareInfo() rendererDeviceList

Nodes

Use these terms to manage nodes. A node is any object that exists in the world, including lights,
cameras, models, and groups.

addToWorld isInWorld()

clone name

cloneDeep removeFromWorld

count userData

Particle systems

See Primitives.

Picking

See Selecting models.

3D Lingo by Feature 37

Primitives

The following sections list the terms used to work with each type of primitive.
Use the primitives property to determine which types of primitives are supported by the

current 3D renderer.

Boxes

Use these terms to control properties of 3D boxes:

back length (3D)

bottom (3D) lengthVertices

front right (3D)

height (3D) top (3D)

heightVertices width (3D)

left (3D) widthVertices

Cylinders

Use these terms to control properties of 3D cylinders:

bottomCap resolution

bottomRadius state (3D)

endAngle topCap

height (3D) topRadius

numSegments

Meshes

Use these terms to control properties of 3D meshes:

build() normalList

colorList shadowPercentage

count textureCoordinateList

face textureCoordinates

generateNormals() vertexList (mesh deform)

newMesh

Particle systems

Use these terms to control properties of 3D particle systems:

angle minSpeed

blendRange window("Tool Panel").modal = FALSE

colorRange numParticles

direction path

Chapter 238

distribution pathStrength

drag region

gravity sizeRange (contains end and start)

lifetime texture

loop (emitter) tweenMode

maxSpeed wind

Planes

Use these terms to control properties of 3D planes:

length (3D) width (3D)

lengthVertices widthVertices

Spheres

Use these terms to control properties of 3D spheres:

endAngle resolution

radius state (3D)

Selecting models

Use these terms to enable individual models in a 3D cast member to be selected and respond to
mouse clicks. This is also known as picking.

modelsUnderLoc spriteSpaceToWorldSpace

modelsUnderRay worldSpaceToSpriteSpace

modelUnderLoc

Shaders

Use these terms to work with shaders:

ambient renderStyle

blend (3D) shadowPercentage

blendConstant shaderList

blendConstantList shadowPercentage

blendFunction shadowStrength

blendFunctionList silhouettes

blendSource specular (shader)

blendSourceList specularColor

count specularLightMap

deleteShader style

diffuse textureMode

3D Lingo by Feature 39

diffuseColor textureModeList

diffuseLightMap textureRepeat

emissive textureRepeatList

flat textureTransform

glossMap textureTransformList

name transparent

newShader type (shader)

renderStyle useDiffuseWithTexture

region wrapTransformList

reflectivity

Engraver shader

Use these terms to work with the Engraver shader:

density rotation (engraver shader)

brightness

Newsprint shader

Use these terms to work with the Newsprint shader:

density brightness

Painter shader

Use these terms to work with the Painter shader:

colorSteps shadowPercentage

highlightPercentage shadowStrength

highlightStrength style

Sprites (3D)

rect (camera) registerForEvent()

Use these terms to control properties of 3D sprites:

Streaming

Use these terms to control the streaming of 3D cast members:

bytesStreamed (3D) state (3D)

preLoad (3D) streamSize (3D)

Chapter 240

Subdivision surfaces modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the subdivision surfaces (SDS) modifier:

depth (3D) sds (modifier)

enabled (sds) subdivision

error tension

Text (3D)

Use these terms to control the appearance of 3D text:

autoCameraPosition displayMode

bevelDepth extrude3D

bevelType smoothness

displayFace tunnelDepth

Textures

Use these terms to work with textures:

compressed newTexture

count quality (3D)

deleteTexture renderFormat

height (3D) texture

member textureRenderFormat

name textureType

nearFiltering type (texture)

Toon modifier

Use these terms to control the functionality of the Toon modifier:

boundary lineOffset

colorSteps shadowPercentage

creaseAngle shadowStrength

creases silhouettes

highlightPercentage style

highlightStrength toon (modifier)

lineColor useLineOffset

3D Lingo by Feature 41

Transforms

Use these terms to work with transforms:

duplicate preRotate

getWorldTransform() preScale()

identity() preTranslate()

interpolate() rotate

interpolateTo() rotation (transform)

inverse() scale (transform)

invert() transform (property)

multiply() translate

pointAt worldPosition

pointAtOrientation xAxis

position (transform) yAxis

preMultiply zAxis

Vector math

Use these terms to perform vector math operations:

angleBetween getNormalized

axisAngle magnitude

cross normalize

crossProduct() randomVector

distanceTo() vector()

dot() x (vector property)

dotProduct() y (vector property)

duplicate z (vector property)

Chapter 242

CHAPTER 3

Lingo Dictionary

This dictionary describes the syntax and use of Lingo elements in Macromedia Director MX.
Nonalphabetical operators are presented first, followed by all other operators in alphabetical order.

The entries in this dictionary are the same as those in Director Help. To use examples in a script,
copy the example text from Director Help and paste it in the Script window.

# (symbol)

Syntax

#symbolName

Description

Symbol operator; defines a symbol, a self-contained unit that can be used to represent a condition
or flag. The value
number of alphabetical or numerical characters.

A symbol can do the following:

symbolName begins with an alphabetical character and may be followed by any

• Assign a value to a variable.

• Compare strings, integers, rectangles, and points.

• Pass a parameter to a handler or method.

• Return a value from a handler or method.

A symbol takes up less space than a string and can be manipulated, but unlike a string it does not
consist of individual characters. You can convert a symbol to a string for display purposes by using
the

string function.

The following are some important points about symbol syntax:

• Symbols are not case-sensitive.

• Symbols can’t start with a number.

• Spaces may not be used, but you can use underscore characters to simulate them.

• Symbols use the 128 ASCII characters, and letters with diacritical or accent marks are treated

as their base letter.

• Periods may not be used in symbols.

43

All symbols, global variables, and names of parameters passed to global variables are stored in a
common lookup table.

Example

This statement sets the state variable to the symbol #Playing:

state = #Playing

See also

ilk(), string(), symbol(), symbolP()

. (dot operator)

Syntax

objectReference.objectProperty
textExpression.objectProperty
object.commandOrFunction()

Description

Operator; used to test or set properties of objects, or to issue a command or execute a function of
the object. The object may be a cast member, a sprite, a property list, a child object of a parent
script, or a behavior.

Examples

This statement displays the current member contained by the sprite in channel 10:

put sprite(10).member

To use the alternate syntax and call a function, you can use this form:

myColorObject = color(#rgb, 124, 22, 233)
put myColorObject.ilk()

-- #color

- (minus)

Syntax

(Negation): -expression

Description

Math operator; reverses the sign of the value of expression.
This is an arithmetic operator with a precedence level of 5.

Syntax

(Subtraction): expression1 - expression2

Description

Math operator; performs an arithmetic subtraction on two numerical expressions, subtracting

expression2 from expression1. When both expressions are integers, the difference is an

integer. When either or both expressions are floating-point numbers, the difference is a
floating-point number.

This is an arithmetic operator with a precedence level of 3.

Chapter 344

Examples

(Negation): This statement reverses the sign of the expression 2 + 3:

put -(2 + 3)

The result is -5.
(Subtraction)

: This statement subtracts the integer 2 from the integer 5 and displays the result in

the Message window:

put 5 - 2

The result is 3, which is an integer.
(Subtraction)

: This statement subtracts the floating-point number 1.5 from the floating-point

number 3.25 and displays the result in the Message window:

put 3.25 - 1.5

The result is 1.75, which is a floating-point number.

-- (comment)

Syntax

-- comment

Description

Comment delimiter; indicates the beginning of a script comment. On any line, anything that
appears between the comment delimiter (double hyphen) and the end-of-line return character is
interpreted as a comment rather than a Lingo statement.

The Director player for Java accepts Lingo that uses this delimiter, but comments do not appear
in the final Java code.

Example

This handler uses a double hyphen to make the second, fourth, and sixth lines comments:

on resetColors

-- This handler resets the sprite’s colors.
sprite(1).forecolor = 35

-- bright red
sprite(1).backcolor = 36

-- light blue

end

& (concatenator)

Syntax

expression1 & expression2

Description

String operator; performs a string concatenation of two expressions. If either expression1 or

expression2 is a number, it is first converted to a string. The resulting expression is a string.

This is a string operator with a precedence level of 2.
Be aware that Lingo allows you to use some commands and functions that take only one argument

without parentheses surrounding the argument. When an argument phrase includes an operator,
Lingo interprets only the first argument as part of the function, which may confuse Lingo.

Lingo Dictionary 45

For example, the open window command allows one argument that specifies which window to
open. If you use the

& operator to define a pathname and filename, Director interprets only the

string before the & operator as the filename. For example, Lingo interprets the statement open

window the applicationPath & "theMovie"
("theMovie")

. Avoid this problem by placing parentheses around the entire phrase that includes

as (open window the applicationPath) &

an operator, as follows:

open window (the applicationPath & "theMovie")

The parentheses clear up Lingo’s confusion by changing the precedence by which Lingo deals with
the operator, causing Lingo to treat the two parts of the argument as one complete argument.

Examples

This statement concatenates the strings “abra” and “cadabra” and displays the resulting string in
the Message window:

put "abra" & "cadabra"

The result is the string “abracadabra”.
This statement concatenates the strings “$” and the content of the

price variable and then

assigns the concatenated string to the Price field cast member:

member("Price").text = "$" & price

&& (concatenator)

Syntax

expression1 && expression2

Description

String operator; concatenates two expressions, inserting a space character between the original
string expressions. If either
string. The resulting expression is a string.

This is a string operator with a precedence level of 2.

Examples

This statement concatenates the strings “abra” and “cadabra” and inserts a space between the two:

put "abra" && "cadabra"

The result is the string “abra cadabra”.
This statement concatenates the strings “Today is” and today’s date in the long format and inserts

a space between the two:

expression1 or expression2 is a number, it is first converted to a

put "Today is" && the long date

If today’s date is Tuesday, July 30, 2000, the result is the string “Today is Tuesday, July 30, 2000”.

Chapter 346

() (parentheses)

Syntax

(expression)

Description

Grouping operator; performs a grouping operation on an expression to control the order of
execution of the operators in an expression. This operator overrides the automatic precedence
order so that the expression within the parentheses is evaluated first. When parentheses are nested,
the contents of the inner parentheses are evaluated before the contents of the outer ones.

This is a grouping operator with a precedence level of 5.
Be aware that Lingo allows you to use some commands and functions that take only one argument

without parentheses surrounding the argument. When an argument phrase includes an operator,
Lingo interprets only the first argument as part of the function, which may confuse Lingo.

For example, the
open. If you use the

open window command allows one argument that specifies which window to

& operator to define a pathname and filename, Director interprets only the

string before the & operator as the filename. For example, Lingo interprets the statement open

window the applicationPath & "theMovie"
("theMovie")

. Avoid this problem by placing parentheses around the entire phrase that includes

as (open window the applicationPath) &

an operator, as follows:

open window (the applicationPath & "theMovie")

Example

These statements use the grouping operator to change the order in which operations occur (the
result appears below each statement):

put (2 + 3) * (4 + 5)

-- 45
put 2 + (3 * (4 + 5))

-- 29
put 2 + 3 * 4 + 5

-- 19

* (multiplication)

Syntax

expression1 * expression2

Description

Math operator; performs an arithmetic multiplication on two numerical expressions. If both
expressions are integers, the product is an integer. If either or both expressions are floating-point
numbers, the product is a floating-point number.

This is an arithmetic operator with a precedence level of 4.

Examples

This statement multiplies the integers 2 and 3 and displays the result in the Message window:

put 2 * 3

The result is 6, which is an integer.

Lingo Dictionary 47

This statement multiplies the floating-point numbers 2.0 and 3.1414 and displays the result in
the Message window:

put 2.0 * 3.1416

The result is 6.2832, which is a floating-point number.

+ (addition)

Syntax

expression1 + expression2

Description

Math operator; performs an arithmetic sum on two numerical expressions. If both expressions are
integers, the sum is an integer. If either or both expressions are floating-point numbers, the sum is
a floating-point number.

This is an arithmetic operator with a precedence level of 4.

Examples

This statement adds the integers 2 and 3 and then displays the result, 5, an integer, in the
Message window:

put 2 + 3

This statement adds the floating-point numbers 2.5 and 3.25 and displays the result, 5.7500, a
floating-point number, in the Message window:

put 2.5 + 3.25

+ (addition) (3D)

Syntax

vector1 + vector2
vector + scalar

Description

3D vector operator; adds the components of two vectors, or adds the scalar value to each
component of the vector and returns a new vector.

vector1 + vector2 adds the components of vector1 to the corresponding to components of
vector2 and returns a new vector.

vector + scalar adds the scalar value to each of the components of the vector and returns a

new vector.

- (subtraction)

Syntax

vector1 - vector2
vector - scalar

Description

3D vector operator; subtracts the components of vector2 from the corresponding components
of

vector1, or subtracts the scalar value from each of the components and returns a new vector.

Chapter 348

vector1 - vector2 subtracts the values of vector2 from the corresponding components in
vector1 and returns a new vector.

vector - scaler subtracts the value of the scalar from each of the components in the vector and

returns a new vector.

* (multiplication)

Syntax

vector1 * vector2
vector * scalar
transform * vector

Description

3D vector operator; multiplies the components of vector1 by the corresponding components in

vector2, and returns the dot product, or multiplies each of the components the vector by the

scalar value and returns a new vector.

vector1 * vector2 returns the dot product of the two vectors, which is not a new vector. This

operation is the same as vector1.dotproduct.vector2.

vector

* scalar multiplies each of the components in the vector by the scalar value and returns

a new vector.

transform * vector multiplies the transform by the vector and returns a new vector. The new

vector is the result of applying the positional and rotational changes defined by transform to the

vector. Note that vector * transform is not supported.

See also

dotProduct()

/ (division)

Syntax

expression1 / expression2

Description

Math operator; performs an arithmetic division on two numerical expressions, dividing

expression1 by expression2. If both expressions are integers, the quotient is an integer. If

either or both expressions are floating-point numbers, the quotient is a floating-point number.
This is an arithmetic operator with a precedence level of 4.

Examples

This statement divides the integer 22 by 7 and then displays the result in the Message window:

put 22 / 7

The result is 3. Because both numbers in the division are integers, Lingo rounds the answer down
to the nearest integer.

This statement divides the floating-point number 22.0 by 7.0 and then displays the result in the
Message window:

put 22.0 / 7.0

The result is 3.1429, which is a floating-point number.

Lingo Dictionary 49

/ (division) (3D)

Syntax

vector / scalar

Description

3D vector operator; divides each of the vector components by the scalar value and returns a
new vector.

< (less than)

Syntax

expression1 < expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions and determines whether expression1 is less than

expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is greater than or equal to expression2 (FALSE).

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, and points. Be aware
that comparisons performed on rects or points are handled as if the terms were lists, with each
element of the first list compared to the corresponding element of the second list.

This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

<= (less than or equal to)

Syntax

expression1 <= expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions and determines whether expression1 is less than
or equal to expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is greater than expression2 (FALSE).

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, and points. Be aware
that comparisons performed on rects or points are handled as if the terms were lists, with each
element of the first list compared to the corresponding element of the second list.

This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

<> (not equal)

Syntax

expression1 <> expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions, symbols, or operators and determines whether

expression1 is not equal to expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is equal to
expression2 (FALSE).

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, and points. Be aware
that comparisons performed on rects or points are handled as if the terms were lists, with each
element of the first list compared to the corresponding element of the second list.

This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

Chapter 350

= (equals)

Syntax

expression1 = expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions, symbols, or objects and determines whether

expression1 is equal to expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is not equal to
expression2 (FALSE).

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, lists, and points.
Lists are compared based on the number of elements in the list. The list with more elements is

considered larger than the than the list with fewer elements.
This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

> (greater than)

Syntax

expression1 > expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions and determines whether expression1 is greater
than

expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is less than or equal to expression2 (FALSE).

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, and points. Be aware
that comparisons performed on rects or points are handled as if the terms were lists, with each
element of the first list compared to the corresponding element of the second list.

This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

>= (greater than or equal to)

Syntax

expression1 >= expression2

Description

Comparison operator; compares two expressions and determines whether expression1 is greater
than or equal to

This operator can compare strings, integers, floating-point numbers, rects, and points. Be aware
that comparisons performed on rectangles or points are handled as if the terms were lists, with
each element of the first list compared to the corresponding element of the second list.

This is a comparison operator with a precedence level of 1.

expression2 (TRUE), or whether expression1 is less than expression2 (FALSE).

Lingo Dictionary 51

[ ] (bracket access)

Syntax

textExpression[chunkNumberBeingAddressed]
textExpression[firstChunk..lastChunk]

Description

Operator; allows a chunk expression to be addressed by number. Useful for finding the nth
chunk in the expression. The chunk can be a word, line, character, paragraph, or other Text cast
member chunk.

Example

This outputs the first word of the third line in the text cast member First Names:

put member("First Names").text.line[3].word[1]

[ ] (list)

Syntax

[entry1, entry2, entry3, ...]

Description

List operator; specifies that the entries within the brackets are one of four types of lists:

• Unsorted linear lists

• Sorted linear lists

• Unsorted property lists

• Sorted property lists

Each entry in a linear list is a single value that has no other property associated with it. Each entry
in a property list consists of a property and a value. The property appears before the value and is
separated from the value by a colon. You cannot store a property in a linear list. When using
strings as entries in a list, enclose the string in quotation marks.

For example, [6, 3, 8] is a linear list. The numbers have no properties associated with them.
However, [#gears:6, #balls:3, #ramps:8] is a property list. Each number has a property—in this
case, a type of machinery—associated with it. This property list could be useful for tracking the
number of each type of machinery currently on the Stage in a mechanical simulation. Properties
can appear more than once in a property list.

Lists can be sorted in alphanumeric order. A sorted linear list is ordered by the values in the list. A
sorted property list is ordered by the properties in the list. You sort a list by using the appropriate
command for a linear list or property list.

• In linear lists, symbols and strings are case sensitive.

• In property lists, symbols aren’t case sensitive, but strings are case sensitive.

A linear list or property list can contain no values at all. An empty list consists of two square
brackets ([ ]). To create or clear a linear list, set the list to
the list to [:].

[ ]. To create or clear a property list, set

You can modify, test, or read items in a list.

Chapter 352

Lingo treats an instance of a list as a reference to the list. This means each instance is the same
piece of data, and changing it will change the original. Use the

duplicate command to create

copies of lists.
Lists are automatically disposed when they are no longer referred to by any variable. When a list is

held within a global variable, it persists from movie to movie.
You can initialize a list in the

on prepareMovie handler or write the list as a field cast member,

assign the list to a variable, and then handle the list by handling the variable.
Not all PC keyboards have square brackets. If square brackets aren’t available, use the

list

function to create a linear list.
For a property list, create the list pieces as a string before converting them into a useful list.

myListString = numToChar(91) & ":" & numToChar(93)
put myListString

-- "[:]"
myList = myListString.value
put myList

-- [:]
put myList.listP

-- 1
myList[#name] = "Brynn"
put myList

-- [#name: "Brynn"]

Examples

This statement defines a list by making the machinery variable equal to the list:

set machinery = [#gears:6, #balls:3, #ramps:8]

This handler sorts the list aList and then displays the result in the Message window:

on sortList aList

alist.sort()
put aList

end sortList

If the movie issues the statement sortList machinery, where machinery is the list in the
preceding example, the result is [#balls:3, #gears:6, #ramps:8].

This statement creates an empty linear list:

set x = [ ]

This statement creates an empty property list:

set x = [:]

See also

add, addVertex, append, count(), deleteAt, duplicate() (list function), findPos,
findPosNear, getProp(), getAt, getLast(), getPos(), ilk(), list(), max(), min, setAt,
setaProp, sort

Lingo Dictionary 53

" (string)

Syntax

"

Description

String constant; when used before and after a string, quotation marks indicate that the string is a
literal—not a variable, numerical value, or Lingo element. Quotation marks must always
surround literal names of cast members, casts, windows, and external files.

Example

This statement uses quotation marks to indicate that the string “San Francisco” is a literal string,
the name of a cast member:

put member("San Francisco").loaded

See also

QUOTE

¬ (continuation)

Description

The ¬ symbol is obsolete. Use the \ character instead. See \ (continuation). It is recommended
that you replace this symbol with the

\ symbol in your older scripts.

\ (continuation)

Syntax

first part of a statement on this line \
second part of the statement \
third part of the statement

Description

Continuation symbol; when used as the last character in a line, indicates that the statement
continues on the next line. Lingo then interprets the lines as one continuous statement.

Example

This statement uses the \ character to wrap the statement onto two lines:

set the memberNum of sprite mySprite \
to member "This is a long cast name."

@ (pathname)

Syntax

@pathReference

Description

Pathname operator; defines the path to the current movie’s folder and is valid on both Windows
and Macintosh computers.

Chapter 354

Identify the current movie’s folder by using the @ symbol followed by one of these pathname
separators:

• / (forward slash)

• \ (backslash)

• : (colon)

When a movie is queried to determine its location, the string returned will include the @ symbol.
Be sure to use only the @ symbol when navigating between Director movies or changing the

source of a linked media cast member. The @ symbol does not work when the FileIO Xtra or
other functions are used outside those available within Director.

You can build on this pathname to specify folders that are one or more levels above or below the
current movie’s folder. Keep in mind that the @ portion represents the current movie’s location,
not necessarily the location of the projector.

• Add an additional pathname separator immediately after the @ symbol to specify a folder one

level up in the hierarchy.

• Add folder names and filenames (separated by /, \, or :) after the current folder name to

specify subfolders and files within folders.

You can use relative pathnames in Lingo to indicate the location of a linked file in a folder
different than the movie’s folder.

Examples

These are equivalent expressions that specify the subfolder bigFolder, which is in the current
movie’s folder:

@/bigFolder
@:bigFolder
@\bigFolder

These are equivalent expressions that specify the file linkedFile, in the subfolder bigFolder, which
is in the current movie’s folder:

@:bigFolder:linkedFile
@\bigFolder\linkedFile
@/bigFolder/linkedFile

Examples

This expression specifies the file linkedFile, which is located one level up from the current
movie’s folder:

@//linkedFile

This expression specifies the file linkedFile, which is located two levels up from the current
movie’s folder:

@:::linkedFile

These are equivalent expressions that specify the file linkedFile, which is in the folder otherFolder.
The otherFolder folder is in the folder one level up from the current movie’s folder.

@::otherFolder:linkedFile
@\\otherFolder\linkedFile
@//otherFolder/linkedFile

See also

searchPath, fileName (cast property), fileName (cast member property), fileName
(window property)

Lingo Dictionary 55

abbr, abbrev, abbreviated

These elements are used by the date and time functions.

See also

date() (system clock)

abort

Syntax

abort

Description

Command; tells Lingo to exit the current handler and any handler that called it without
executing any of the remaining statements in the handler. This differs from the
which returns to the handler from which the current handler was called.

abort command does not quit Director.

The

Example

This statement instructs Lingo to exit the handler and any handler that called it when the amount
of free memory is less than 50K:

if the freeBytes < 50*1024 then abort

See also

exit, halt, quit

exit keyword,

abs()

Syntax

abs (numericExpression)

Description

Math function; calculates the absolute value of a numerical expression. If numericExpression is
an integer, its absolute value is also an integer. If
its absolute value is also a floating-point number.

abs function has several uses. It can simplify the tracking of mouse and sprite movement by

The
converting coordinate differences (which can be either positive or negative numbers) into
distances (which are always positive numbers). The
mathematical functions, such as

Example

sqrt and log.

This statement determines whether the absolute value of the difference between the current
mouse position and the value of the variable
to use a negative number for distance). If it is, the foreground color of sprite 6 is changed.

if (the mouseV - startV).abs > 30 then sprite(6).forecolor = 95

numericExpression is a floating-point number,

abs function is also useful for handling

startV is greater than 30 (since you wouldn’t want

Chapter 356

actionsEnabled

Syntax

the actionsEnabled of sprite whichFlashSprite
the actionsEnabled of member whichFlashMember
sprite whichFlashSprite.actionenabled
member whichFlashMember.actionenabled

Description

Cast member property and sprite property; controls whether the actions in a Flash movie are
enabled (TRUE, default) or disabled (FALSE).

This property can be tested and set.

Example

This handler accepts a sprite reference as a parameter, and then toggles the sprite’s

actionsEnabled property on or off.

Dot syntax:

on ToggleActions whichSprite

sprite (whichSprite).actionsEnabled = not sprite
(whichSprite).actionsEnabled

end

Verbo se syntax:

on ToggleActions whichSprite

set the actionsEnabled of sprite whichSprite = not the actionsEnabled of
sprite whichSprite

end

activateApplication

Syntax

on activateApplication

Description

Built-in handler; runs when the projector is brought to the foreground. This handler is useful
when a projector runs in a window and the user can send it to the background to work with other
applications. When the projector is brought back to the foreground, this handler runs. Any
MIAWs running in the projector can also make use of this handler.

During authoring, this handler is called only if Animate in Background is turned on in
General Preferences.

On Windows, this handler is not called if the projector is merely minimized and no other
application is brought to the foreground.

Example

This handler plays a sound each time the user brings the projector back to the foreground:

on activateApplication

sound(1).queue(member("openSound"))
sound(1).play()

end

See also

deactivateApplication, activeCastLib, on deactivateWindow

Lingo Dictionary 57

on activateWindow

Syntax

on activateWindow

statement(s)

end

Description

System message and event handler; contains statements that run in a movie when the user clicks
the inactive window and the window comes to the foreground.

You can use an

on activateWindow handler in a script that you want executed every time the

movie becomes active.
Clicking the main movie (the main Stage) does not generate an

Example

on activateWindow handler.

This handler plays the sound Hurray when the window that the movie is playing in becomes active:

on activateWindow

puppetSound 2, "Hurray"

end

See also

activeWindow, close window, on deactivateWindow, frontWindow, on moveWindow, open

active3dRenderer

Syntax

the active3dRenderer

Description

3D Lingo movie property; indicates the renderer currently in use by the movie for drawing 3D
sprites. This property is equivalent to the

The possible values of the

#directX5_2, and #software. The values #openGL, #directX7_0, and #directX5_2, which are

active3DRenderer property are #openGL, #directX7_0,

video card drivers, will lead to much faster performance than #software, a software renderer used
when none of the first three options are available.

getRendererServices().renderer property.

active3dRenderer property can be tested, but not set. Use

The

getRendererServices().renderer to set this property.

Examples

These examples show the two ways to determine which renderer is currently in use.

put the active3dRenderer

-- #openGL
put getRendererServices().renderer

-- #openGL

See also

renderer, rendererDeviceList, getRendererServices()

Chapter 358

activeCastLib

Syntax

the activeCastLib

Description

System property; indicates which cast was most recently activated. The activeCastLib property’s
value is the cast’s number.

activeCastLib property is useful when working with the selection castLib property.

The
Use it to determine which cast the selection refers to.

This property can be tested but not set.

Example

These statements assign the selected cast members in the most recently selected cast to the
variable

castLibOfInterest = the activeCastLib
selectedMembers = castLib(castLibOfInterest).selection

selectedMembers:

An equivalent way to write this is:

selectedMembers = castLib(the activeCastLib).selection

activeWindow

Syntax

the activeWindow

Description

Movie property; indicates which movie window is currently active. For the main movie,

activeWindow is the Stage. For a movie in a window, activeWindow is the movie in the window.

Example

This example places the word Active in the title bar of the clicked window and places the word
Inactive in the title bar of all other open windows:

on activateWindow
set clickedWindow = (the windowlist).getPos(the activeWindow)

set windowCount = (the windowlist).count

repeat with x = 1 to windowCount

if x = clickedWindow then
(the activeWindow).title = "Active"
else
(the windowlist[x]).title = "Inactive"
end if

end repeat

end

See also

activeCastLib, windowList

actorList

Syntax

the actorList

Lingo Dictionary 59

Description

Movie property; a list of child objects that have been explicitly added to this list. Objects in

actorList receive a stepFrame message each time the playhead enters a frame.

To add an object to the actorList, use add actorList, theObject. The object’s on stepFrame
handler in its parent or ancestor script will then be called automatically at each frame advance.

To clear objects from
Director doesn’t clear the contents of

the actorList, set actorList to [ ], which is an empty list.

actorList when branching to another movie, which can

cause unpredictable behavior in the new movie. To prevent child objects in the current movie
from being carried over to the new movie, insert the statement

on prepareMovie handler of the new movie.

Unlike previous versions of Director,

Examples

actorList is now supported in the Director player for Java.

set the actorList = [ ] in the

This statement adds a child object created from the parent script Moving Ball. All three values are
parameters that the script requires.

add the actorList, new(script "MovingBall", 1, 200,200)

This statement displays the contents of actorList in the Message window:

put the actorList

This statement clears objects from actorList.

the actorList = [ ]

See also

new()

add

Syntax

linearList.add(value)
add linearList, value

Description

List command; for linear lists only, adds the value specified by value to the linear list specified by

linearList. For a sorted list, the value is placed in its proper order. For an unsorted list, the

value is added to the end of the list.
This command returns an error when used on a property list.

Note: Don’t confuse the add command with the + operator used for addition or the & operator used to
concatenate strings.

Examples

These statements add the value 2 to the list named bids. The resulting list is [3, 4, 1, 2].

bids = [3, 4, 1]
bids.add(2)

This statement adds 2 to the sorted linear list [1, 4, 5]. The new item remains in alphanumeric
order because the list is sorted.

bids.add(2)

See also

sort

Chapter 360

add (3D texture)

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).meshdeform.mesh[index].\

textureLayer.add()

Description

3D meshdeform modifier command; adds an empty texture layer to the model’s mesh.
You can copy texture coordinates between layers using the following code:

modelReference.meshdeform.texturelayer[a].texturecoordinatelist =

modelReference.meshdeform.texturelayer[b].texturecoordinatelist

Example

This statement creates a new texture layer for the first mesh of the model named Ear.

member("Scene").model("Ear").meshdeform.mesh[1].\

textureLayer.add()

See also

meshDeform (modifier), textureLayer, textureCoordinateList

addAt

Syntax

list.AddAt(position, value)
addAt list, position, value

Description

List command; for linear lists only, adds a value specified by value to a list at the position
specified by

position.

This command returns an error when used with a property list.

Example

This statement adds the value 8 to the fourth position in the list named bids, which is
[3,2,4,5,6, 7]:

bids = [3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7]
bids.addAt(4,8)

The resulting value of bids is [3, 2, 4, 8, 5, 6, 7].

addBackdrop

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.addBackdrop(texture, locWithinSprite,

rotation)

member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).addBackdrop(texture,

locWithinSprite, rotation)

Description

3D camera command; adds a backdrop to the end of the camera’s list of backdrops. The
backdrop is displayed in the 3D sprite at

locWithinSprite parameter is a 2D loc measured from the upper left corner of the sprite.

locWithinSprite with the indicated rotation. The

Lingo Dictionary 61

Examples

The first line of this statement creates a texture named Rough from the cast member named
Cedar and stores it in the variable t1. The second line applies the texture as a backdrop at the
point (220, 220) within sprite 5. The texture has a rotation of 0 degrees. The last line applies the
same texture as a backdrop for camera 1 of the cast member named Scene at the point (20, 20)
with a rotation of 45 degrees.

t1 = member("Scene").newTexture("Rough", #fromCastMember, \

member("Cedar"))
sprite(5).camera.addBackdrop(t1, point(220, 220), 0)
member("Scene").camera[1].addBackdrop(t1, point(20, 20), 45)

See also

removeBackdrop

addCamera

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).addCamera(whichCamera, index)

Description

3D command; adds the camera whichCamera, at the given index position, to the list of cameras
for the sprite. If index is greater than the value of cameraCount(), the camera is added to the
end of the list. The view from each camera is displayed on top of the view from cameras with
lower

index positions. You can set the rect property of each camera to display multiple views

within the sprite.

Example

This statement inserts the camera named FlightCam at the fifth index position of the list of
cameras of sprite 12:

sprite(12).addCamera(member("scene").camera("FlightCam"), 5)

See also

cameraCount(), deleteCamera

addChild

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).node(whichParentNode).addChild(member\

(whichCastmember).node(whichChildNode) {,#preserveWorld})

Description

3D command; adds the node whichChildNode to the list of children of the node

whichParentNode, and removes it from the list of children of its former parent. Either node

argument can be a model, group, camera, or light. An equivalent operation would be to set the

parent property of whichChildNode to whichParentNode.

The optional

#preserveParent. When the child is added with #preserveParent specified, the parent-relative

transform of the child remains unchanged and the child jumps to that transform in the space of its
new parent. The child’s world transform is recalculated. When the child is added with

#preserveWorld specified, the world transform of the child remains unchanged and the child does

not jump to its transform in the space of its new parent. Its parent-relative transform is recalculated.

#preserveWorld parameter has two possible values: #preserveWorld or

Chapter 362

Examples

This statement adds the model named Tire to the list of children of the model named Car.

member("3D").model("Car").addChild(member("3D").model("Tire"))

This statement adds the model named Bird to the list of children of the camera named
MyCamera and uses the

member("3D").camera("MyCamera").addChild(member("3D").model
("Bird"), #preserveWorld)

See also

parent, addToWorld, removeFromWorld

#preserveWorld argument to maintain Bird’s world position.

addModifier

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).addModifier\

(#modifierType)

Description

3D model command; adds the specified modifier to the model. Possible modifiers are as follows:

• #bonesPlayer

• #collision

• #inker

• #keyframePlayer

• #lod (level of detail)

• #meshDeform

• #sds

• #toon

There is no default value for this command.
For more detailed information about each modifier, see the individual modifier entries.

Example

This statement adds the toon modifier to the model named Box.

member("shapes").model("Box").addModifier(#toon)

See also

bonesPlayer (modifier), collision (modifier), inker (modifier), keyframePlayer
(modifier)
getRendererServices(), removeModifier, modifier, modifier[], modifiers

, lod (modifier), meshDeform (modifier), sds (modifier), toon (modifier),

Lingo Dictionary 63

addOverlay

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.addOverlay(texture, \

locWithinSprite, rotation)
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).addOverlay(texture, \

locWithinSprite, rotation)

Description

3D camera command; adds an overlay to the end of the camera’s list of overlays. The overlay is
displayed in the 3D sprite at

locWithinSprite parameter is a 2D loc measured from the upper left corner of the sprite.

Examples

The first line of this statement creates a texture named Rough from the cast member named
Cedar and stores it in the variable t1. The second line applies the texture as an overlay at the point
(220, 220) within sprite 5. The texture has a rotation of 0 degrees. The last line of the statement
applies the same texture as an overlay for camera 1 of the cast member named Scene at the point
(20, 20). The texture has a rotation of 45 degrees.

t1 = member("Scene").newTexture("Rough", #fromCastMember,\

member("Cedar"))
sprite(5).camera.addOverlay(t1, point(220, 220), 0)
member("Scene").camera[1].addOverlay(t1, point(20, 20), 45)

See also

removeOverlay

locWithinSprite with the indicated rotation. The

addProp

Syntax

list.addProp(property, value)
addProp list, property, value

Description

Property list command; for property lists only, adds the property specified by property and its
value specified by value to the property list specified by list. For an unsorted list, the value is
added to the end of the list. For a sorted list, the value is placed in its proper order.

If the property already exists in the list, Lingo creates a duplicate property. You can avoid
duplicate properties by using the

This command returns an error when used with a linear list.

Examples

This statement adds the property named kayne and its assigned value 3 to the property list
named

bids, which contains [#gee: 4, #ohasi: 1]. Because the list is sorted, the new entry is

placed in alphabetical order:

bids.addProp(#kayne, 3)

The result is the list [#gee: 4, #kayne: 3, #ohasi: 1].
This statement adds the entry

#kayne: 3, #ohasi: 1]. Because the list already contains the property
duplicate property:

setaProp command to change the new entry’s property.

kayne: 7 to the list named bids, which now contains [#gee: 4,

kayne, Lingo creates a

bids.addProp(#kayne, 7)

The result is the list [#gee: 4, #kayne: 3, #kayne: 7, #ohasi: 1].

Chapter 364

addToWorld

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).addToWorld()
member(whichCastmember).group(whichGroup).addToWorld()
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).addToWorld()
member(whichCastmember).light(whichLight).addToWorld()

Description

3D command; inserts the model, group, camera, or light into the 3D world of the cast member as
a child of the group named World.

When a model, group, camera, or light is created or cloned, it is automatically added to the
world. Use the
3D world without deleting it. Use the
camera, or light has been added or removed from the world.

Example

This statement adds the model named gbCyl to the 3D world of the cast member named Scene.

member("Scene").model("gbCyl").addToWorld()

See also

isInWorld(), removeFromWorld

removeFromWorld command to take a model, group, camera, or light out of the

isInWorld() command to test whether a model, group,

addVertex

Syntax

member(memberRef).AddVertex(indexToAddAt, pointToAddVertex \
{,[ controlLocH, controlLocV ], [ controlLocH, controlLocV ]})
addVertex(member memberRef, indexToAddAt, pointToAddVertex \
{,[controlLocH, controlLocV], [controlLocH,controlLocV]})

Description

Vector shape command; adds a new vertex to a vector shape cast member in the position specified.
The horizontal and vertical positions are relative to the origin of the vertex shape cast member.
When using the final two optional parameters, you can specify the location of the control handles

for the vertex. The control handle location is offset relative to the vertex, so if no location is
specified, it will be located at 0 horizontal offset and 0 vertical offset.

Example

This line adds a vertex point in the vector shape Archie between the two existing vertex points, at
the position 25 horizontal and 15 vertical:

member("Archie").addVertex(2, point(25, 15))

See also

vertexList, moveVertex(), deleteVertex(), originMode

after

See

put...after

Lingo Dictionary 65

alert

Syntax

alert message

Description

Command; causes a system beep and displays an alert dialog box containing the string specified
by message and an OK button. This command is useful for providing error messages of up to
255 characters in your movie.

The message must be a string. If you want to include a number variable in an alert, use the

string function to convert the variable to a string.

Examples

The following statement produces an alert stating that there is no CD-ROM drive connected:

alert "There is no CD-ROM drive connected."

This statement produces an alert stating that a file was not found:

alert "The file" && QUOTE & filename & QUOTE && "was not found."

See also

string(), alertHook

alertHook

Syntax

the alertHook

Description

System property; specifies a parent script that contains the on alertHook handler. Use

alertHook to control the display of alerts about file errors or Lingo script errors. When an error

occurs and a parent script is assigned to

alertHook, Director runs the on alertHook handler in

the parent script.
Although it is possible to place

on alertHook handlers in movie scripts, it is strongly

recommended that you place an on alertHook handler in a behavior or parent script to avoid
unintentionally calling the handler from a wide variety of locations and creating confusion about
where the error occurred.

Because the
handler for Lingo that isn’t involved in handling an error. For example, the
handler is a bad location for a

on alertHook handler is passed an instance argument, two string arguments that describe

The

on alertHook handler runs when an error occurs, avoid using the on alertHook

on alertHook

go to movie statement.

the error, and an optional argument specifying an additional event that invokes the handler.

Chapter 366

The fourth argument can have 1 of these 4 values:

• #alert - causes the handler to be triggered by the alert command.

• #movie - causes the handler to be triggered by a file not found error while perforoming a go to

movie

command.

• #script - causes the handler to be triggered by a script error.

• #safeplayer - causes the handler to be triggered by a check of the safePlayer property.

Depending on the Lingo within it, the

on alertHook handler can ignore the error or report it in

another way.

Example

The following statement specifies that the parent script Alert is the script that determines whether
to display alerts when an error occurs. If an error occurs, Lingo assigns the error and message
strings to the field cast member Output and returns the value 1.

on prepareMovie

the alertHook = script "Alert"
end

-- parent script "Alert"
on alertHook me, err, msg

member("Output").text = err && msg

return 1
end

See also

safePlayer

alignment

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).alignment
the alignment of member whichCastMember

Description

Cast member property; determines the alignment used to display characters within the specified
cast member. This property appears only to field and text cast members containing characters, if
only a space.

For field cast members, the value of the property is a string consisting of one of the following: left,
center, or right.

For text cast members, the value of the property is a symbol consisting of one of the following:
#left, #center, #right, or #full.

The parameter

whichCastMember can be either a cast name or a cast number.

This property can be tested and set. For text cast members, the property can be set on a per­paragraph basis.

Examples

This statement sets the variable named characterAlign to the current alignment setting for the
field cast member Rokujo Speaks:

Lingo Dictionary 67

Dot syntax:

characterAlign = member("Rokujo Speaks").alignment

Verbo se syntax:

set characterAlign = the alignment of member "Rokujo Speaks"

This repeat loop consecutively sets the alignment of the field cast member Rove to left, center,
and then right.

Dot syntax:

repeat with i = 1 to 3

member("Rove").alignment = ("left center right").word[i]
end repeat

Verbo se syntax:

repeat with i = 1 to 3

set the alignment of member "Rove" to word i of "left center right"
end repeat

See also

text, font, lineHeight (cast member property), fontSize, fontStyle, &
(concatenator)

, && (concatenator)

allowCustomCaching

Syntax

the allowCustomCaching

Description

Movie property; will contain information regarding a private cache in future versions of Director.
This property defaults to

See also

allowGraphicMenu, allowSaveLocal, allowTransportControl, allowVolumeControl,
allowZooming

TRUE, and can be tested and set.

allowGraphicMenu

Syntax

the allowGraphicMenu

Description

Movie property; sets the availability of the graphic controls in the context menu when playing the
movie in a Shockwave environment.

Set this property to
context menu.

This property defaults to

FALSE if you would rather have a text menu displayed than the graphic

TRUE, and can be tested and set.

Example

the allowGraphicMenu = 0

See also

allowSaveLocal, allowTransportControl, allowVolumeControl, allowZooming

Chapter 368

allowSaveLocal

Syntax

the allowSaveLocal

Description

Movie property; sets the availability of the Save control in the context menu when playing the
movie in a Shockwave environment.

This property is provided to allow for enhancements in future versions of Shockwave.
This property defaults to

See also

allowGraphicMenu, allowTransportControl, allowVolumeControl, allowZooming

TRUE, and can be tested and set.

allowTransportControl

Syntax

the allowTransportControl

Description

Movie property; This property is provided to allow for enhancements in future versions
of Shockwave.

This property defaults to

See also

allowGraphicMenu, allowSaveLocal, allowVolumeControl, allowZooming

TRUE, and can be tested and set.

allowVolumeControl

Syntax

the allowVolumeControl

Description

Movie property; sets the availability of the volume control in the context menu when playing the
movie in a Shockwave environment.

When set to
set to

FALSE.

This property defaults to

See also

allowGraphicMenu, allowSaveLocal, allowTransportControl, allowZooming

TRUE one or the other volume control is active, and is disabled when the property is

TRUE, and can be tested and set.

Lingo Dictionary 69

allowZooming

Syntax

the allowZooming

Description

Movie property; determines whether the movie may be stretched or zoomed by the user when
playing back in Shockwave and ShockMachine. Defaults to TRUE. This property can be tested and
set. Set this property to

FALSE to prevent users from changing the size of the movie in browsers

and ShockMachine.

See also

allowGraphicMenu, allowSaveLocal, allowTransportControl, allowVolumeControl

alphaThreshold

Syntax

member(whichMember).alphaThreshold
the alphaThreshold of member whichMember

Description

Bitmap cast member property; governs how the bitmap’s alpha channel affects hit detection. This
property is a value from 0 to 255, that exactly matches alpha values in the alpha channel for a 32­bit bitmap image.

For a given
map at that point is equal to or greater than the threshold. Setting the

alphaThreshold setting, Director detects a mouse click if the pixel value of the alpha

alphaThreshold to 0

makes all pixels opaque to hit detection regardless of the contents of the alpha channel.

See also

useAlpha

ambient

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).ambient
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.ambient
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

ambient

Description

3D #standard shader property; indicates how much of each color component of the ambient
light in the cast member is reflected by the shader.

For example, if the color of the ambient light is

ambient property of the shader is rgb(255, 0, 0), the shader will reflect all of the red

component of the light that the shader’s colors can reflect. However, it will reflect none of the
blue and green components of the light, regardless of the colors of the shader. In this case, if there
are no other lights in the scene, the blue and green colors of the shader will reflect no light, and
will appear black.

rgb(255, 255, 255) and the value of the

The default value of this property is

Chapter 370

rgb(63,63,63).

Example

This statement sets the ambient property of the model named Chair to rgb(255, 255, 0).
Chair will fully reflect the red and green components of the ambient light in the scene and
completely ignore its blue component.

member("Room").model("Chair").shader.ambient = rgb(255, 0, 0)

See also

ambientColor, newLight, type (light), diffuse, specular (shader)

ambientColor

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).ambientColor

Description

3D cast member property; indicates the RGB color of the default ambient light of the
cast member.

The default value for this property is rgb(0, 0, 0). This adds no light to the scene.

Example

This statement sets the ambientColor property of the cast member named Room to rgb(255, 0,

0). The default ambient light of the cast member will be red. This property can also be set in the
Property inspector.

member("Room").ambientColor = rgb(255, 0, 0)

See also

directionalColor, directionalPreset, ambient

ancestor

Syntax

property {optionalProperties} ancestor

Description

Object property; allows child objects and behaviors to use handlers that are not contained within
the parent script or behavior.

The

ancestor property is typically used with two or more parent scripts. You can use this

property when you want child objects and behaviors to share certain behaviors that are inherited
from an ancestor, while differing in other behaviors that are inherited from the parents.

For child objects, the
parent script. Sending a message to a child object that does not have a defined handler forwards
that message to the script defined by the

If a behavior has an ancestor, the ancestor receives mouse events such as

mouseWithin.

ancestor property is usually assigned in the on new handler within the

ancestor property.

mouseDown and

ancestor property lets you change behaviors and properties for a large group of objects with

The
a single command.

Lingo Dictionary 71

The ancestor script can contain independent property variables that can be obtained by child
objects. To refer to property variables within the ancestor script, you must use this syntax:

me.propertyVariable = value

For example, this statement changes the property variable legCount within an ancestor script to 4:

me.legCount = 4

Use the syntax the variableName of scriptName to access property variables that are not
contained within the current object. This statement allows the variable
child object to access the property variable

set myLegCount to the legCount of me

Example

legCount within the ancestor script:

myLegCount within the

Each of the following scripts is a cast member. The ancestor script Animal and the parent scripts
Dog and Man interact with one another to define objects.

The first script, Dog, sets the property variable
Animal script, and sets the

property breed, ancestor
on new me

set breed = "Mutt"

set the ancestor of me to new(script "Animal")

set the legCount of me to 4

return me
end

legCount variable that is stored in the ancestor script to 4:

breed to Mutt, sets the ancestor of Dog to the

The second script, Man, sets the property variable race to Caucasian, sets the ancestor of Man
to the Animal script, and sets the

property race, ancestor
on new me

set race to "Caucasian"

set the ancestor of me to new(script "Animal")

set the legCount of me to 2

return me
end

See also

new(), me, property

legCount variable that is stored in the ancestor script to 2:

and

Syntax

logicalExpression1 and logicalExpression2

Description

Logical operator; determines whether both logicalExpression1 and logicalExpression2 are

TRUE (1), or whether either or both expressions are FALSE (0).

The precedence level of this logical operator is 4.

Examples

This statement determines whether both logical expressions are TRUE and displays the result in the
Message window:

put 1 < 2 and 2 < 3

Chapter 372

The result is 1, which is the numerical equivalent of TRUE.
The first logical expression in the following statement is

FALSE. Because both logical expressions are not TRUE, the logical operator displays the result 0,

which is the numerical equivalent of

put 1 < 2 and 2 < 1

-- 0

See also

not, or

FALSE.

TRUE; and the second logical expression is

angle

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource).\

emitter.angle

Description

3D emitter property; describes the area into which the particles of a particle system are emitted. A
particle system is a model resource whose type is

The primary direction of particle emission is the vector set by the emitter’s direction property.
However, the direction of emission of a given particle will deviate from that vector by a random
angle between 0 and the value of the emitter’s

The effective range of this property is 0.0 to 180.0. The default value is 180.0.

#particle.

angle property.

Example

This statement sets the angle of emission of the model resource named mrFount to 1, which
causes the emitted particles to form a thin line.

member("fountain").modelResource("mrFount").emitter.angle = 1

See also

emitter, direction

angleBetween

Syntax

vector1.angleBetween(vector2)

Description

3D vector method; returns the angle between two vectors, in degrees.

Example

In this example, pos1 is a vector on the X axis and pos2 is a vector on the Y axis. The angle
between these two vectors is 90°. The value returned by

pos1 = vector(100, 0, 0)
pos2 = vector(0, 100, 0)
put pos1.angleBetween(pos2)

-- 90.0000

pos1.angleBetween(pos2) is 90.0000.

See also

dot(), dotProduct()

Lingo Dictionary 73

animationEnabled

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).animationEnabled

Description

3D cast member property; indicates whether motions will be executed (TRUE) or ignored (FALSE).
This property can also be set in the Property inspector.

The default value for this property is

Example

TRUE.

This statement disables animation for the cast member named Scene.

member("Scene").animationEnabled = FALSE

antiAlias

Syntax

member(whichMember).antiAlias
sprite(whichVectorSprite).antiAlias

Description

Cast member property; controls whether a text, Vector shape, or Flash cast member is rendered
using anti-aliasing to produce high-quality rendering, but possibly slower playback of the movie.

antiAlias property is TRUE by default.

The
For vector shapes,

is the equivalent of

antiAlias property may also be used as a sprite property only for Vector shape sprites.

The
This property can be tested and set.

Example

This behavior checks the color depth of the computer on which the movie is playing. If the color
depth is set to 8 bits or less (256 colors), the script sets the

TRUE is the equivalent of the #high quality setting for a Flash asset, and FALSE

#low.

antiAlias property of the sprite to FALSE.

property spriteNum
on beginsprite me

if the colorDepth <= 8 then

sprite(spriteNum).antiAlias = FALSE

end if
end

See also

antiAliasThreshold, quality

antiAliasingEnabled

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).antiAliasingEnabled

Type

3D sprite property.

Chapter 374

Description

This property indicates whether the 3D world in the sprite whichSprite is anti-aliased. It can be
tested and set. The default value is

antiAliasingEnabled property is set to TRUE and the 3D renderer changes to a renderer that

does not support anti-aliasing, the property is set to

FALSE, indicating that anti-aliasing is off. If the

FALSE. The value of this property is not saved

when the movie is saved.
Anti-aliased sprites use more processor power and memory than sprites that are not anti-aliased.

Temporarily turning off anti-aliasing can improve the performance of animations and user
interaction.

Example

This Lingo checks whether the currently running 3D renderer for sprite 2 supports anti-aliasing
with the
turns on anti-aliasing for the sprite with the

if sprite(2).antiAliasingSupported = TRUE then

end if

See Also

antiAliasingSupported, renderer, rendererDeviceList

antiAliasingSupported property. If anti-aliasing is supported, the second statement

antiAliasingEnabled property.

sprite(2).antiAliasingEnabled = TRUE

antiAliasingSupported

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).antiAliasingSupported

Type

3D sprite property.

Description

This property indicates whether anti-aliasing is supported by the current 3D renderer. This
property can be tested but not set. This property returns either

Example

TRUE or FALSE.

This Lingo checks whether the currently running 3D renderer for sprite 3 supports anti-aliasing.
If anti-aliasing is supported, the second statement turns on anti-aliasing for the sprite with the

antiAliasingEnabled property.
if sprite(3).antiAliasingSupported = TRUE then

sprite(3).antiAliasingEnabled = TRUE
end if

See Also

antiAliasingEnabled, renderer, rendererDeviceList

Lingo Dictionary 75

antiAliasThreshold

Syntax

member(whichTextMember).antiAliasThreshold

Description

Text cast member property; this setting controls the point size at which automatic anti-aliasing
takes place in a text cast member. This has an effect only when the antiAlias property of the text
cast member is set to

TRUE.

The setting itself is an integer indicating the font point size at which the anti-alias takes place.
This property defaults to 14 points.

See also

antiAlias

append

Syntax

list.append(value)
append list, value

Description

List command; for linear lists only, adds the specified value to the end of a linear list. This differs
from the

add command, which adds a value to a sorted list according to the list’s order.

This command returns a script error when used with a property list.

Example

This statement adds the value 2 at the end of the sorted list named bids, which contains [1, 3, 4],
even though this placement does not match the list’s sorted order:

set bids = [1, 3, 4]
bids.append(2)

The resulting value of bids is [1, 3, 4, 2].

See also

add (3D texture), sort

applicationPath

Syntax

the applicationPath

Description

System property; determines the path or location of the folder containing the running copy of the
Director application during authoring, or the folder containing the projector during run time.
The property value is a string.

If you use
expression in parentheses so that Lingo parses the expression as one phrase.

the applicationPath followed by & and a path to a subfolder, enclose the entire

The Director player for Java doesn’t support this property, nor does Shockwave.
This property can be tested but not set.

Chapter 376

Examples

This statement displays the pathname for the folder that contains the Director application.

put the applicationPath

--"Z:\Program Files\Macromedia\Director"

This statement opens the movie Sunset Boulevard in a window (on a Windows machine):

open window (the applicationPath & "\Film Noir\Sunset Boulevard")

See also

@ (pathname), moviePath

appMinimize

Syntax

appMinimize

Description

Command; on Windows, appMinimize causes a projector to minimize to the Windows Task Bar.
On the Macintosh,
may be re-opened from the Macintosh application menu.

This is useful for projectors and MIAWs that play back without a title bar.

See also

windowType

appMinimize causes a projector to be hidden. Once hidden, the projector

atan()

Syntax

(number).atan
atan (number)

Description

Math function; calculates the arctangent, which is the angle whose tangent is a specified number.
The result is a value in radians between pi/2 and +pi/2.

Examples

This statement displays the arctangent of 1:

(1).atan

The result, to four decimal places, is 0.7854, or approximately pi/4.
Note that most trigonometric functions use radians, so you may want to convert from degrees

to radians.
This handler lets you convert between degrees and radians:

on DegreesToRads degreeValue

return degreeValue * PI/180
end

The handler displays the conversion of 30 degrees to radians in the Message window:

put DegreesToRads(30)

-- 0.5236

See also

cos(), PI, sin()

Lingo Dictionary 77

attenuation

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).light(whichLight).attenuation

Description

3D light property; indicates the constant, linear, and quadratic attenuation factors for spotlights
and point lights.

The default value for this property is vector(1.0, 0.0, 0.0).

Example

This statement sets the attenuation property of the light named HouseLight to the vector (.5, 0,

0), darkening it slightly.

member("3d world").light("HouseLight").attenuation = \

vector(.5, 0, 0)

See also

color (light)

attributeName

Syntax

XMLnode.attributeName[ attributeNumber ]

Description

XML property; returns the name of the specified child node of a parsed XML document.
Example
Beginning with the following XML:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<e1>

<tagName attr1="val1" attr2="val2"/>
<e2>element 2</e2>
<e3>element 3</e3>
here is some text

</e1>

• This Lingo returns the name of the first attribute of the tag called tagName:

put gParserObject.child[1].child[1].attributeName[1]

-- "attr1"

See also

attributeValue

Chapter 378

attributeValue

Syntax

XMLnode.attributeValue[ attributeNameOrNumber ]

Description

XML property; returns the value of the specified child node of a parsed XML document.

Example

Beginning with the following XML:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<e1>

<tagName attr1="val1" attr2="val2"/>
<e2>element 2</e2>
<e3>element 3</e3>
here is some text

</e1>

This Lingo returns the value of the first attribute of the tag called tagName:

put gParserObject.child[1].child[1].attributeValue[1]

-- "val1"

See also

attributeName

audio (RealMedia)

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).audio
member(whichCastmember).audio

Description

RealMedia sprite or cast member property; allows you to play (TRUE) or mute (FALSE) the audio
in the RealMedia stream. The default setting for this property is
than 1 or 0 are treated as TRUE (1). Setting this property has no effect if the

realPlayerNativeAudio() function is set to TRUE.

If the audio property is set to FALSE when a RealMedia cast member starts playing, a sound
channel is still allocated, which allows you to toggle the sound on and off during playback.

There may be some latency involved in setting this property, which means there may be a slight
delay before the sound toggles on or off.

Examples

The following examples show that the audio properties for sprite 2 and the cast member Real is
set to

TRUE, which means that the audio portion of the RealMedia stream will be played.

put sprite(2).audio

-- 1
put member("Real").audio

-- 1

TRUE (1). Integer values other

Lingo Dictionary 79

The following Lingo sets the audio property for sprite 2 and the cast member Real to FALSE, which
means that the audio portion of the RealMedia stream will not be played when the movie is played.

sprite(2).audio = FALSE
member("Real").audio = FALSE

See also

soundChannel (RealMedia), video (RealMedia), sound

auto

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).lod.auto

Description

3D lod modifier property; allows the modifier to manage the reduction of detail in the model as
the distance between the model and the camera changes.

The setting of the modifier’s
detail from the model when the

bias property determines how aggressively the modifier removes

auto property is set to TRUE.

The modifier updates its level property as it adjusts the model’s level of detail. Setting the level
property has no effect unless the

#lod modifier can only be added to models created outside of Director in 3D modeling

The
programs. The value of the

#fromFile. The modifier cannot be added to primitives created within Director.

Example

auto property is set to FALSE.

type property of the model resources used by these models is

This statement sets the auto property of the lod modifier of the model named Spaceship to TRUE.
The modifier will automatically set the model’s level of detail.

member("3D World").model("Spaceship").lod.auto = TRUE

See also

lod (modifier), bias, level

autoblend

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).\

keyframePlayer.autoblend
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).bonesPlayer.autoblend

Description

3D keyframePlayer and bonesPlayer modifier property; indicates whether the modifier creates
a linear transition to the currently playing motion from the motion that preceded it

(FALSE). If autoBlend is TRUE, the length of the transition is set by the blendTime property

not
of the modifier. If
of the modifier and

autoBlend is FALSE, the transition is controlled by the blendFactor property

blendTime is ignored.

Motion blending is completely disabled when
The default value of this property is

Chapter 380

(TRUE) or

blendTime is set to 0 and autoBlend is set to TRUE.

TRUE.

Example

This statement turns autoblend off for the model named Alien3. The model’s blendFactor
setting will be used for blending successive motions in the playlist.

member("newaliens").model("Alien3").keyframePlayer.\

autoblend = FALSE

See also

blendFactor, blendTime

autoCameraPosition

Syntax

member(whichTextCastmember).autoCameraPosition

Description

3D camera property; indicates whether the camera of the 3D text cast member is automatically
positioned to show all of the text (TRUE) or not (FALSE). This is useful when changing the text,
font, fontsize, and other properties of the cast member.

This property is not valid with other types of 3D cast members.

Example

This statement sets the autoCameraPosition property of the cast member named Headline to

FALSE. When the cast member is displayed in 3D mode, the camera will not be positioned

automatically.

member("Headline").autoCameraPosition = FALSE

See also

displayMode

autoMask

Syntax

member(whichCursorCastMember).autoMask
the autoMask of member whichCastMember

Description

Cast member property; specifies whether the white pixels in the animated color cursor cast
member

TRUE, default), or opaque (FALSE).

(

Example

In this script, when the custom animated cursor stored in cast member 5 enters the sprite, the
automask is turned on so that the background of the sprite will show through the white pixels.
When the cursor leaves the sprite, the automask is turned off.

Using dot syntax, the script is written as:

on mouseEnter

end

whichCursorCastMember are transparent, allowing the background to show through

member 5.autoMask = TRUE

on mouseLeave

member 5.autoMask = FALSE
end

Lingo Dictionary 81

Using traditional Lingo syntax, the script is written as:

on mouseEnter

set the autoMask of member 5 = TRUE
end

on mouseLeave

set the autoMask of member 5 = FALSE
end

autoTab

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).autoTab
the autoTab of member whichCastMember

Description

Cast member property; determines the effect that pressing the Tab key has on the editable field or
text cast member specified by whichCastMember. The property can be made active (TRUE) or
inactive (

This property is always TRUE in an applet created with the Save as Java feature of Director.

Example

This statement causes the cast member Comments to automatically advance the insertion point
to the next editable field or text sprite after the user presses Tab.

FALSE). Tabbing order depends on sprite number order, not position on the Stage.

Dot syntax:

member ("Comments").autotab = TRUE

Verbo se Lingo synt ax :

set the autoTab of member "Comments" to TRUE

axisAngle

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).transform.axisAngle
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).transform.axisAngle
member(whichCastmember).light(whichLight).transform.axisAngle
member(whichCastmember).group(whichGroup).transform.axisAngle
transformReference.axisAngle

Description

3D transform property; describes the transform’s rotation as an axis/angle pair.

axisAngle property is a linear list containing a vector (the axis) and a float (the angle).

The
The vector is the axis around which the transform is rotated. The float is the amount, in degrees,
of rotation.

The default value of this property is

Examples

This statement shows the rotation of the model named Mailbox as an axisAngle. The model is
rotated 145.5 degrees counterclockwise about the y axis.

[vector( 1.0000, 0.0000, 0.0000 ), 0.0000].

put member("Yard").model("Mailbox").transform.axisAngle

-- [vector( 0.0000, 1.0000, 0.0000 ), -145.5000]

See also

rotation (transform)

Chapter 382

back

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource).back

Description

3D #box model resource property; indicates whether the side of the box intersected by its +Z axis
is sealed (TRUE) or open (FALSE).

The default value for this property is

Example

TRUE.

This statement sets the back property of the model resource named Crate to FALSE, meaning the
back of this box will be open.

member("3D World").modelResource("Crate").back = FALSE

See also

bottom (3D), front, top (3D), left (3D), right (3D)

backColor

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).backColor = colorNumber
set the backColor of member whichCastMember to colorNumber
sprite(whichSprite).backColor
the backColor of sprite whichSprite

Description

Cast member and sprite property; sets the background color of the specified cast member or sprite
according to the color value assigned.

• For cast members: it affects field or button cast member displays.

• For sprites: setting the backColor of a sprite is the same as choosing the background color

from the tool palette when the sprite is selected on the Stage. For the value that Lingo sets to

last beyond the current sprite, the sprite must be a puppet. The background color applies only

to 1-bit bitmap and shape cast members.
The

backColor value ranges from 0 to 255 for 8-bit color and from 0 to 15 for 4-bit color. The

numbers correspond to the index number of the background color in the current palette. (A
color’s index number appears in the color palette’s lower left corner when you click the color.)

You should not apply this property to bitmap cast members deeper than 1-bit, as the results are
difficult to predict.

For a movie that plays back as an applet created with the Save as Java feature of Director, specify
colors for
HTML document.

For example, the hexadecimal value for pure red, FF0000, is equivalent to 16711680 in decimal
numbers. This statement specifies pure red as a cast member’s background color:

set the backColor of member = 16711680

This property can be tested and set.

Note: It is recommended that the newer bgColor property be used instead of the backColor property.

backColor using the decimal equivalent of the 24-bit hexadecimal values used in an

Lingo Dictionary 83

Examples

This statement changes the color of the characters in cast member 1 to the color in palette
entry 250.

Dot syntax:

member(1).backColor = 250

Verbo se Lingo synt ax :

set the backColor of member 1 to 250

The following statement sets the variable oldColor to the background color of sprite 5:

oldColor = sprite (5).backColor

The following statement randomly changes the background color of a random sprite between
sprites 11 and 13 to color number 36:

sprite(10 + random(3)).backColor = 36

See also

bgColor, color (sprite and cast member property)

backdrop

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].loc
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop[index].loc
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].source
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop[index].source
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].scale
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop[index].scale
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].rotation
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).\

backdrop[index].rotation
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].regPoint
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).\

backdrop[index].regPoint
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].blend
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop[index].blend
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop.count
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop.count

Description

3D camera property; a 2D image that is rendered on the camera’s projection plane. All models in
the camera’s view appear in front of the backdrop.

Backdrops have the following properties:

Note: These properties can also be used to get, set, and manipulate overlays. See the individual property entries for
detailed information.

loc (backdrop and overlay) indicates the 2D location of the backdrop, as measured from the upper

left corner of the sprite.

source indicates the texture used by the backdrop.
scale (backdrop and overlay) is the number by which the height and width of the texture are

multiplied to determine the dimensions of the backdrop.

rotation (backdrop and overlay) is the amount by which the backdrop is rotated about its regPoint.

Chapter 384

regPoint (3D)
blend (3D) indicates the opacity of the backdrop.
count indicates the number of items in the camera’s list of backdrops.

indicates the registration point of the backdrop.

Use the following commands to create and remove backdrops:

addBackdrop creates a backdrop from a texture and adds it to the end of the camera’s list of backdrops.
insertBackdrop creates a backdrop from a texture and adds it to the camera’s list of backdrops at a

specific index position.

removeBackdrop deletes the backdrop.

See also

overlay

backgroundColor

Syntax

member(whichVectorMember).backgroundColor
the backgroundColor of member whichVectorMember

Description

Vector shape cast member property; sets the background color of the specified cast member or
sprite to the RGB color value assigned.

This property can be both tested and set.

Example

member("Archie").backgroundColor= rgb(255,255,255)

See also

bgColor

BACKSPACE

Syntax

BACKSPACE

Description

Constant; represents the Backspace key. This key is labeled Backspace in Windows and Delete on
the Macintosh.

Example

This on keyDown handler checks whether the Backspace key was pressed and, if it was, calls the
handler

on keyDown

end keyDown

clearEntry:

if the key = BACKSPACE then clearEntry

stopEvent

Lingo Dictionary 85

beep

Syntax

beep {numberOfTimes}

Description

Command; causes the computer’s speaker to beep the number of times specified by

numberOfTimes. If numberOfTimes is missing, the beep occurs once.

• In Windows, the beep is the sound assigned in the Sounds Properties dialog box.

• For the Macintosh, the beep is the sound selected from Alert Sounds on the Sound control

panel. If the volume on the Sound control panel is set to 0, the menu bar flashes instead.

Example

This statement causes two beeps if the Answer field is empty:

if field "Answer" = EMPTY then beep 2

beepOn

Syntax

the beepOn

Description

Movie property; determines whether the computer automatically beeps when the user clicks on
anything except an active sprite (

TRUE), or not (FALSE, default).

Scripts that set

beepOn should be placed in frame or movie scripts.

This property can be tested and set.

Examples

This statement sets beepOn to TRUE:

the beepOn = TRUE

This statement sets beepOn to the opposite of its current setting:

the beepOn = not the beepOn

before

See

put...before

beginRecording

Syntax

beginRecording

Description

Keyword; starts a Score generation session. Only one update session in a movie can be active at a time.

beginRecording keyword must be matched by an endRecording keyword that ends the

Every
Score generation session.

Chapter 386

Example

When used in the following handler, the beginRecording keyword begins a Score generation
session that animates the cast member Ball by assigning the cast member to sprite channel 20 and
then moving the sprite horizontally and vertically over a series of frames. The number of frames is
determined by the argument

on animBall numberOfFrames

beginRecording

horizontal = 0
vertical = 100
repeat with i = 1 to numberOfFrames

go to frame i
sprite(20).member = member "Ball"
sprite(20).locH = horizontal
sprite(20).locV = vertical
sprite(20).type = 1
sprite(20).foreColor = 255
horizontal = horizontal + 3
vertical = vertical + 2
updateFrame

end repeat

endRecording
end

See also

endRecording, updateFrame, scriptNum, tweened

numberOfFrames.

on beginSprite

Syntax

on beginSprite

statement(s)

end

Description

System message and event handler; contains statements that run when the playhead moves to a
frame that contains a sprite that was not previously encountered. Like
generated only one time, even if the playhead loops on a frame, since the trigger is a sprite not
previously encountered by the playhead. The event is generated before

Director creates instances of any behavior scripts attached to the sprite when the beginSprite
message is sent.

The object reference

me is passed to this event if it is used in a behavior. The message is sent to

behaviors and frame scripts.
If a sprite begins in the first frame that plays in the movie, the

prepareMovie message but before the prepareFrame and startMovie messages.

the

Note: Be aware that some sprite properties, such as the rect sprite property, may not be accessible in a
beginSprite handler. This is because the property needs to be calculated, which is not done until the sprite is drawn.

beginSprite message is sent after

The go, play, and updateStage commands are disabled in an on beginSprite handler.

endSprite, this event is

prepareFrame.

Lingo Dictionary 87

Example

This handler plays the sound cast member Stevie Wonder when the sprite begins:

on beginSprite me

puppetSound "Stevie Wonder"
end

See also

on endSprite, on prepareFrame, scriptInstanceList

bevelDepth

Syntax

member(whichTextCastmember).bevelDepth
member(which3DCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource).\

bevelDepth

Description

3D text property; indicates the degree of beveling on the 3D text.
For text cast members, this property has no effect unless the member’s displayMode property is

#mode3D and its bevelType property is set to #miter or #round.

set to
For extruded text in a 3D cast member, this property has no effect unless the model resource’s

bevelType property is set to #miter or #round.

The range of this property is 0.0 to 10.0, and the default setting is 10.0.

Example

In this example, the cast member named Logo is a text cast member. This statement sets the

bevelDepth of logo to 5.5. When logo is displayed in 3D mode, if its bevelType property is set

to

#miter or #round, the edges of its letters will exhibit dramatic beveling.

member("Logo").bevelDepth = 5.5

In this example, the model resource of the model named Slogan is extruded text. This statement
sets the

#miter or #round, the edges of its letters will exhibit dramatic beveling.
member("scene").model("Slogan").resource.bevelDepth = 5

See also

bevelType, extrude3D, displayMode

bevelDepth of Slogan’s model resource to 5. If the bevelType property of Slogan is set to

bevelType

Syntax

member(whichTextCastmember).bevelType
member(which3DCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource).\

bevelType

Description

3D text property; indicates the style of beveling applied to the 3D text.
For text cast members, this is a member property. For extruded text in a 3D cast member, this is a

model resource property.

Chapter 388

The bevelType property has the following possible values:

• #none

• #miter (the default)

• #round

Example

In this example, the cast member named Logo is a text cast member. This statement sets the

bevelType of Logo to #round.

member("logo").beveltype = #round

In this example, the model resource of the model named Slogan is extruded text. This statement
sets the

member("scene").model("Slogan").resource.bevelType = #miter

See also

bevelDepth, extrude3D, displayMode

bevelType of Slogan’s model resource to #miter.

bgColor

Syntax

sprite(whichSpriteNumber).bgColor
the bgColor of sprite whichSpriteNumber
the bgColor of the stage
(the stage).bgColor
member(which3dMember).bgcolor

Description

Sprite property, system property, and 3D cast member property; determines the background color
of the sprite specified by whichSprite, the color of the Stage, or the background color of the 3D
cast member. Setting the
from the Tools window when the sprite is selected on the Stage. Setting the

bgColor sprite property is equivalent to choosing the background color

bgColor property for

the Stage is equivalent to setting the color in the Movie Properties dialog box.
The sprite property has the equivalent functionality of the

backColor sprite property, but the

color value returned is a color object of whatever type has been set for that sprite.
This property can be tested and set.

Example

This example sets the color of the Stage to an RGB value.
Dot syntax:

(the stage).bgColor = rgb(255, 153, 0)

Verbo se Lingo synt ax :

set the bgColor of the stage = rgb(255, 153, 0)

See also

color(), backColor, backgroundColor, stageColor

Lingo Dictionary 89

bias

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).lod.bias

Description

3D lod modifier property; indicates how aggressively the modifier removes detail from the model
when its auto property is set to TRUE. This property has no effect when the modifier’s auto
property is set to

The range for this property is from 0.0 (removes all polygons) to +100.0 (removes no polygons).
The default setting is 100.0.

The

#lod modifier can only be added to models created outside of Director in 3D modeling

programs. The value of the

#fromFile. The modifier cannot be added to primitives created within Director.

Example

This statement sets the bias property of the lod modifier of the model named Spaceship to 10. If

lod modifier’s auto property is set to TRUE, the modifier will very aggressively lower the level

the
of detail of Spaceship as it moves away from the camera.

member("3D World").model("Spaceship").lod.bias = 10

See also

lod (modifier), auto, level

FALSE.

type property of the model resources used by these models is

bitAnd()

Syntax

bitAnd(integer1, integer2)

Description

Function; converts the two specified integers to 32-bit binary numbers and returns a binary
number whose digits are 1’s in the positions where both numbers had a 1, and 0’s in every other
position. The result is the new binary number, which Lingo displays as a base 10 integer.

Integer Binary number (abbreviated)

6 00110
7 00111

Result

6 00110

Example

This statement compares the binary versions of the integers 6 and 7 and returns the result as an
integer:

put bitAnd(6, 7)

-- 6

See also

bitNot(), bitOr(), bitXor()

Chapter 390

bitmapSizes

Syntax

member(whichFontMember).bitmapSizes
the bitmapSizes of member whichFontMember

Description

Font cast member property; returns a list of the bitmap point sizes that were included when the
font cast member was created.

Example

This statement displays the bitmap point sizes that were included when cast member 11 was created:

put member(11).bitmapSizes

-- [12, 14, 18]

See also

recordFont, characterSet, originalFont

bitNot()

Syntax

(integer).bitNot
bitNot(integer)

Description

Function; converts the specified integer to a 32-bit binary number and reverses the value of each
binary digit, replacing 1’s with 0’s and 0’s with 1’s. The result is the new binary number, which
Lingo displays as a base 10 integer.

Integer Binary number

1 00000000000000000000000000000001

Result

-2 11111111111111111111111111111110

Example

This statement inverts the binary representation of the integer 1 and returns a new number.

put (1).bitNot

-- -2

See also

bitAnd(), bitOr(), bitXor()

Lingo Dictionary 91

bitOr()

Syntax

bitOr(integer1, integer2)

Description

Function; converts the two specified integers to 32-bit binary numbers and returns a binary
number whose digits are 1’s in the positions where either number had a 1, and 0’s in every other
position. The result is the new binary number, which Lingo displays as a base 10 integer.

Integer Binary number (abbreviated)

5 0101
6 0110

Result

7 0111

Example

This statement compares the 32-bit binary versions of 5 and 6 and returns the result as an integer:

put bitOr(5, 6)

-- 7

See also

bitNot(), bitAnd(), bitXor()

bitRate

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).bitRate
the bitRate of member whichCastMember

Description

Shockwave Audio (SWA) cast member property; returns the bit rate, in kilobits per second
(Kbps), of the specified SWA cast member that has been preloaded from the server.

The

bitRate member property returns 0 until streaming begins.

Example

This behavior outputs the bit rate of an SWA cast member when the sprite is first encountered.
Dot syntax:

property spriteNum

on beginSprite me

memName = sprite(spriteNum).member.name

put "The bitRate of member"&&memName&&"is"&&member(memName).bitRate
end

Chapter 392

Verbo se syntax:

property spriteNum

on beginSprite me

memName = sprite(spriteNum).member.name

put "The bitRate of member"&&memName&&"is"&&member(memName).bitRate
end

bitsPerSample

Syntax

member(whichCastMember).bitsPerSample
the bitsPerSample of member whichCastMember

Description

Shockwave Audio (SWA) cast member property; indicates the bit depth of the original file that
has been encoded for Shockwave Audio (SWA). This property is available only after the SWA
sound begins playing or after the file has been preloaded using the

This property can be tested but not set.

Example

This statement assigns the original bit rate of the file used in SWA streaming cast member Paul
Robeson to the field cast member How Deep.

preLoadBuffer command.

Dot syntax:

put member "Paul Robeson".bitsPerSample into member "How Deep"

Verbo se syntax:

put the bitsPerSample of member "Paul Robeson" into member "How Deep"

bitXor()

Syntax

bitXor(integer1, integer2)

Description

Function; converts the two specified integers to 32-bit binary numbers and returns a binary
number whose digits are 1’s in the positions where the given numbers’ digits do not match, and
0’s in the positions where the digits are the same. The result is the new binary number, which
Lingo displays as a base 10 integer.

Integer Binary number (abbreviated)

5 0101
6 0110

Result

3 0011

Lingo Dictionary 93

Example

This statement compares the 32-bit binary versions of 5 and 6 and returns the result as an integer:

put bitXor(5, 6)

-- 3

See also

bitNot(), bitOr(), bitAnd()

blend

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).blend
the blend of sprite whichSprite

Description

Sprite property; sets or determines a sprite’s blend value, from 0 to 100, corresponding to the
blend values in the Sprite Properties dialog box.

The possible colors depend on the colors available in the palette, regardless of the monitor’s
color depth.

The Director player for Java supports the

blend sprite property for bitmap sprites only.

For best results, use the blend ink with images that have a color depth greater than 8-bit.

Examples

The following statement sets the blend value of sprite 3 to 40 percent.
Dot syntax:

sprite(3).blend = 40

Verbo se syntax:

set the blend of sprite 3 to 40

This statement displays the blend value of sprite 3 in the Message window:

put the blend of sprite 3

See also

blendLevel

blend (3D)

Syntax

sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.backdrop[index].blend
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).backdrop[index].blend
sprite(whichSprite).camera{(index)}.overlay[index].blend
member(whichCastmember).camera(whichCamera).overlay[index].blend
member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).blend
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.blend
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.blend

Chapter 394

Description

3D backdrop, overlay, and #standard shader property; indicates the opacity of the backdrop,
overlay, or shader.

Setting the
property is set to

blend property of a shader will have no effect unless the shader’s transparent

TRUE.

The range of this property is 0 to 100, and the default value is 100.

Example

This statement sets the blend property of the shader for the model named Window to 80. If the

transparent property of Window’s shader is set to TRUE, the model will be slightly transparent.
member("House").model("Window").shader.blend = 80

See also

bevelDepth, overlay, shadowPercentage, transparent

blendConstant

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).blendConstant
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.blendConstant
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

blendConstant

Description

3D #standard shader property; indicates the blending ratio used for the first texture layer of
the shader.

If the shader’s
by the shader’s

useDiffuseWithTexture property is set to TRUE, the texture blends with the color set

diffuse property. If useDiffuseWithTexture is FALSE, white is used for blending.

Each of the other texture layers blends with the texture layer below it. Use the

blendConstantList property to control blending in those texture layers.

The blendConstant property works only when the shader’s blendSource property is set to

#constant. For more information, see blendSource and blendSourceList.

The range of this property is 0 to 100; the default is 50.

Example

In this example, the shader list of the model named MysteryBox contains six shaders. This
statement sets the
by the settings of the

blendSourceList properties.
member("Level2").model("MysteryBox").shaderList[2].\

blendConstant = 20

See also

blendConstantList, blendFunction, blendFunctionList, blendSource, blendSourceList,
useDiffuseWithTexture, diffuse, diffuseColor

blendConstant property of the second shader to 20. This property is affected

blendFunction, blendFunctionList, blendSource, and

Lingo Dictionary 95

blendConstantList

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).blendConstantList
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.blendConstant\

List{[index]}
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

blendConstantList{[index]}

Description

3D #standard shader property; indicates the ratio used for blending a texture layer of the shader
with the texture layer below it.

The shader’s texture list and the blend constant list both have eight index positions. Each index
position in the blend constant list controls blending for the texture at the corresponding index
position in the texture list. You can set all index positions of the list to the same value at one time
by not specifying the optional
position at a time.

blendConstantList property works only when the blendSource property of the

The
corresponding texture layer is set to #constant.

The range of this property is 0 to 100; the default is 50.

Example

In this example, the shader list of the model named MysteryBox contains six shaders. This
statement shows the

blendConstant property of each of the textures used by the second shader.

This property is affected by the settings of the

blendSource, and blendSourceList properties.

index parameter. Use the index parameter to set the list one index

blendFunction, blendFunctionList,

put member("Level2").model("MysteryBox").shaderList[2].\

blendConstantList

-- [20.0000, 50.0000, 50.0000, 50.0000, 20.0000, 50.0000, \

50.0000, 50.0000]

See also

blendConstant, blendFunction, blendFunctionList, blendSource, blendSourceList,
useDiffuseWithTexture, diffuse, diffuseColor

blendFactor

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).keyframePlayer.\

blendFactor
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).bonesPlayer.blendFactor

Description

3D keyframePlayer and bonesPlayer modifier property; indicates the amount by which a
motion is combined with the motion that preceded it.

The range of this property is 0 to 100, and the default value is 0.

Chapter 396

BlendFactor is used only when the autoblend property of the modifier is set to FALSE. If the

value of the

blendFactor property is 100, the current motion will have none of the

characteristics of the motion that preceded it. If the value of blendFactor is 0, the current
motion will have all of the characteristics of the motion that preceded it and none of its own. If
the value of

blendFactor is 50, the current motion will be a synthesis equally composed of its

own characteristics and those of the motion that preceded it. The value blendFactor can be
varied over time to create transitions unlike the linear transition created when the modifier’s

autoblend property is set to TRUE.

Example

This statement sets the blendFactor property of model Alien3 to 50. If the modifier’s

autoblend property is FALSE, each motion in the playlist of the keyframePlayer for Alien3 will

be an even mixture of itself and the motion that preceded it.

member("newaliens").model("Alien3").keyframePlayer.blendFactor = 50

See also

autoblend, keyframePlayer (modifier)

blendFunction

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).blendFunction
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.blendFunction
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

blendFunction

Description

3D #standard shader property; indicates the type of blending used by the first texture layer of
the shader.

If the shader’s
by the shader’s

useDiffuseWithTexture property is set to TRUE, the texture blends with the color set

diffuse property. If useDiffuseWithTexture is FALSE, white is used for blending.

Each of the other texture layers blends with the texture layer below it. Use the

blendFunctionList property to control blending in those texture layers.

The blendFunction property can have the following values:

#multiply multiplies the RGB values of the texture layer by the color being used for blending

(see above).

#add adds the RGB values of the texture layer to the color being used for blending, and then

clamps to 255.

#replace prevents the texture from being blended with the color set by the shader’s
diffuse property.

#blend combines the colors of the texture layer with the color being used for blending in the ratio

set by the
The default value of this property is

blendConstant property.

#multiply.

Lingo Dictionary 97

Example

In this example, the shader list of the model named MysteryBox contains six shaders. This statement
sets the

blendSource, blendSourceList, blendConstant, and blendConstantList properties.
member("Level2").model("MysteryBox").shaderList[2].\

See also

blendConstant, blendConstantList, blendFunctionList, blendSource, blendSourceList,
useDiffuseWithTexture, diffuse, diffuseColor

blendFunction property of the second shader to #blend. This enables the settings of the

blendFunction = #blend

blendFunctionList

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).\

blendFunctionList{[index]}
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.\

blendFunctionList{[index]}
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

blendFunctionList{[index]}

Description

3D #standard shader property; a linear list that indicates the manner in which each texture layer
blends with the texture layer below it.

The shader’s texture list and blend function list both have eight index positions. Each index
position in the blend function list controls blending for the texture at the corresponding index
position in the texture list. You can set all index positions of the list to the same value at one time
by not specifying the optional

index parameter. Use the index parameter to set the list one index

position at a time.
Each index position of the blend function list can have one of the following values:

#multiply multiplies the RGB values of the texture layer by the RGB values of the texture layer

below it.

#add adds the RGB values of the texture layer to the RGB values of the texture layer below it, and

then clamps to 255.

#replace causes the texture to cover the texture layer below it. No blending occurs.
#blend causes blending to be controlled by the value of the blendSource property, which allows

alpha blending.
The default value of this property is

Example

#multiply.

In this example, the shaderList property of the model named MysteryBox contains six shaders. This
statement shows that the value of the fourth index position of the
the second shader is set to
model will be controlled by the settings of the

blendConstantList, diffuse, diffuseColor, and useDiffuseWithTexture properties.

#blend. Blending of the fourth texture layer of the second shader of the

blendSource, blendSourceList, blendConstant,

blendFunctionList property of

put member("Level2").model("MysteryBox").shaderList[2].\

blendFunctionList[4]

-- #blend

See also

blendConstant, blendConstantList, blendFunction, blendSource, blendSourceList,
diffuse, diffuseColor, useDiffuseWithTexture

Chapter 398

blendLevel

Syntax

sprite(whichSpriteNumber).blendLevel
the blendLevel of sprite whichSpriteNumber

Description

Sprite property; allows the current blending value of a sprite to be set or accessed. The possible
range of values is from 0 to 255. This differs from the Sprite Inspector, which shows values in the
range 0 to 100. The results are the same, the scales simply differ.

This property is the equivalent of the

Example

sprite(3).blendlevel = 99

See also

blend

blend sprite property.

blendRange

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource)\

.blendRange.start
modelResourceObjectReference.blendRange.end
member(whichCastmember).modelResource(whichModelResource)\

.blendRange.start
modelResourceObjectReference.blendRange.end

Description

3D property; when used with a model resource whose type is #particle, allows you to get or set
the start and end of the model resource’s blend range.

The opacity of particles in the system is interpolated linearly between

blendRange.end over the lifetime of each particle.

This property’s value must be greater than or equal to 0.0 and less than or equal to 100.0. The
default value for this property is 100.0.

blendRange.start and

Example

This statement sets the blendRange properties of model resource ThermoSystem, which is of the
type #particle.

The first line sets the start value to 100, and the second line sets the end value to 0. The effect of
this statement is that the particles of ThermoSystem are fully opaque when they first appear, and
then gradually fade to transparent during their lifetime.

member("Heater").modelResource("ThermoSystem").blendRange.\

start = 100.0
member("Heater").modelResource("ThermoSystem").blendRange.\

end = 0.0

Lingo Dictionary 99

blendSource

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).blendSource
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.blendSource
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shaderList{[index]}.\

blendSource

Description

3D #standard shader property; indicates whether blending of the first texture layer in the
shader’s texture list is based on the texture’s alpha information or a constant ratio.

If the shader’s

useDiffuseWithTexture property is set to TRUE, the texture blends with the color

set by the shader’s diffuse property. If useDiffuseWithTexture is FALSE, white is used for
blending.

Each of the other texture layers blends with the texture layer below it. Use the

blendSourceList

property to control blending in those texture layers.

blendSource property works only when the shader’s blendFunction property is set to

The

#blend.

The possible values of this property are as follows:

#alpha causes the alpha information in the texture to determine the blend ratio of each pixel of

the texture with the color being used for blending (see above).

#constant causes the value of the shader’s blendConstant property to be used as the blend ratio

for all the pixels of the texture.
The default value of this property is

Example

#constant.

In this example, the shader list of the model named MysteryBox contains six shaders. This
statement sets the

#constant. This enables the settings of the blendConstant and blendConstantList properties.
member("Level2").model("MysteryBox").shaderList[2].\

blendSource = #constant

blendSource property of the first texture used by the second shader to

See also

blendSourceList, blendFunction, blendFunctionList, blendConstant,
blendConstantList, useDiffuseWithTexture, diffuse, diffuseColor

blendSourceList

Syntax

member(whichCastmember).shader(whichShader).\

blendSourceList[index]
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).shader.\

blendSourceList{[index]}
member(whichCastmember).model(whichModel).\

shaderList{[index]}.blendSourceList{[index]}

Chapter 3100