Vocola Information Pages   by Rick Mohr   (last modified May 11, 2002)

 Introduction
 Using Vocola
 Language Tutorial
    Keystroke Commands
    Using Alternatives
->     Defining Variables
    Substituting Actions
    Function Calls
    Optional Words
    Comments
    Contextual Commands
    Example File
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Defining Variables

Defining Variable Terms If you want to re-use an alternative set in several different commands, you can assign it to a variable. For example, we can create a variable called <direction> to hold the alternatives "Left | Right | Up | Down", and use it in a command:
 
 Vocola: <direction> := Left | Right | Up | Down; 
         Move <direction> = {$1}; 
 Say: Move Left  Sent: {Left} 
 Say: Move Down   Sent: {Down} 

This command is equivalent to the second command in the previous section, allowing you to move the cursor in one of four directions.

The following command defines the variable <number>, and is equivalent to the third command in the previous section:
 
 Vocola: <number> := 1..40; 
         Move Down <number> = "{Down $1}"; 
 Say: Move Down 1   Sent: {Down 1}
 Say: Move Down 12  Sent: {Down 12}

This moves the cursor down a given number of lines.

Finally, we can write our general-purpose arrow-key command (move a given number of steps in any direction) using both the <direction> and <number> variables:
 
 Vocola: <number> <direction> = "{$2 $1}"; 
 Say: 3 Left   Sent: {Left 3}
 Say: 10 Down  Sent: {Down 12}
 
Note that a variable reference may appear earlier in a Vocola command file then the definition of that variable.


This page is (c) Copyright 2002 by Rick Mohr, and was last modified on May 11, 2002.