Declares one or more labels to assign to constant values.
Syntax:
constant constantsList
Examples:
constant defaultName="Jones"
constant entryA="EF9993333WX786",entryB="GJ773281YX342"
Use the constant command to assign an unchanging value to a keyword.
The constantsList consists of one or more name=value pairs, separated by commas:
- The name is any string.
- The value is any literal string.
Constants can be numbers, characters, logical values, or strings.
A constant cannot be defined as an array, only as a single value.
Note: Choose easy-to-understand names for constants to improve the readability of your code. Use constants as substitutes for long or convoluted strings.
If you place the constant statement in a handler, you can use the constant anywhere in the handler. If you place the constant statement in a script outside any handler, you can use the constant anywhere in the handlers of that script.
Once you have defined a constant, you cannot redefine it in the same handler; doing so causes an execution error.
You can use the constant command to redefine LiveCode's built-in constants within a script or handler, but doing so makes your code harder to read and maintain. To find out whether a word is already defined as a built-in constant, use the constantNames function.
To see a list of built-in constants, open the Documentation window, click LiveCode Dictionary, and choose "Constants" from the menu at the top of the window.
See Also: local Command, constantNames Function