backslash

Type

keyword

Summary

The character ** is used to break a line in a script for display, while still having it treated as a single statement.

Syntax

\

Description

If a line is too long to fit conveniently in the script window, use the ** character to break it into two (or more) lines for viewing.

A line that is split with ** is shown in the script editor as more than one line, but when it's executed, it is treated as a single line of code.

The script editor automatically indents continued lines, as shown in the example above. A ** character which is used within a literal string does not break the line, because the ** is treated as part of the quoted string instead of being treated as a line continuation. For example, the following statement causes a compile error because the ** character is inside the quotes:

    answer \"This is a test. This is only a test. \ 
        Had this been an actual life...\" with \"OK\" -- BAD EXAMPLE

The above bad example can be corrected by using the operator to break up the long string :

    answer \"This is a test. This is only a test.\" \
        \"Had this been an actual life...\" with \"OK\" -- good example

The string has been broken into two substrings, so the ** character is no longer within a literal string. This second example does not cause an error.

Examples

answer "You've been waiting for" & numberOfMinutes & \
    "minutes." with "Keep Waiting" or "Cancel"

Related

glossary: error, operator, script editor, statement, literal string, execute, quoted, compile error

keyword: character, string, line, lines, semi-colon

operator: ampersandampersand, ampersand

property: script

Compatibility and Support

Introduced

LiveCode 1.0

OS

mac

windows

linux

ios

android

Platforms

desktop

server

mobile