Files

Files on your computer’s disk can be accessed using a traditional “programming” approach with the file access commands (open file, read from file, etc.). However, for quick and easy access to the contents of a file, a script may simply access the file directly as a container, without the need for opening or closing it.

put file "/tmp/myFile" into fileContents

To treat a file as a container, simply refer to the file using the syntax file filename, at any point in a script where you would use a variable name. Here filename may be either the full pathname of the file, or its local name relative to the current working folder (or a variable or expression that yields its full or relative name). The text contained within the file is its value. When a script puts something into a file, the changed text will appear in the file on the disk when that file is next accessed.

SenseTalk's file access features are described fully in File and Folder References and File and Folder Interaction.

Important

A text value stored into a file is permanent — it is saved on the disk automatically. So be careful in how you use this feature — a single put or set command can wipe out the entire contents of an existing file.