A data type is a set of data with values
that have similar, predefined characteristics. Every variable and
property value in Director is of a specific data type, and values
returned by methods are of a specific data type.
For example, consider the following two statements. In the first
statement, variable intX is assigned a whole number
value of 14, which is an integer. So, the data type of variable intX is
Integer. In the second statement, variable stringX is
assigned a sequence of character values, which is a string. So,
the data type of variable stringX is String.
-- Lingo syntax
intX = 14
stringX = "News Headlines"
// JavaScript syntax
var intX = 14;
var stringX = "News Headlines";
The values that are returned by methods or functions are also
of an inherent data type. For example, the Player object’s windowPresent() method returns
a value that specifies whether a window is present. The returned
value is TRUE (1) or FALSE (0).
Some data types are shared between Lingo and
JavaScript syntax, and some data types are specific to one language
or another. The set of data types that Director supports is fixed
and cannot be modified, meaning that new data types cannot be added
and existing data types cannot be removed. Director supports the
following data types.
Data type
|
Description
|
|---|
#
(symbol)
|
A self-contained unit that can be used to
represent a condition or flag. For example, #list or #word.
|
Array
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Although not literally
a data type, an Array object can be used to work with linear lists
of values. The functionality of an Array object is similar to that
of the List data type in Lingo.
|
Boolean
|
A value that is TRUE (1)
or FALSE (0). In Lingo, all TRUE or FALSE values
are simple integer constants, 1 for TRUE, 0 for FALSE.
In JavaScript syntax, all true or false values
are by default the actual Boolean true or false values,
but are converted to simple integer constants automatically when
required in Director.
In Lingo, TRUE and FALSE can
be either lowercase or uppercase. In JavaScript syntax, true and false must always
be lowercase.
|
Color
|
Represents an object’s color.
|
Constant
|
A piece of data whose value does not change.
|
Date
|
Although not literally a data type, in JavaScript
syntax a Date object can be used to work with dates. In Lingo, use the
date() method to create a Date object and work with dates.
|
Float
|
(Lingo only) A floating-point number. For
example, 2.345 or 45.43.
|
Function
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Although not literally
a data type, a Function object can be used to specify a string of
code to run.
|
Integer
|
(Lingo only) A whole number. For example,
5 or 298.
|
List
|
A linear or property list made up of values
or property names and values, respectively.
|
Math
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Although not literally
a data type, a Math object can be used to perform mathematical functions.
|
null
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Denotes a variable
whose value behaves as 0 in numeric contexts and as false in
Boolean contexts.
|
Number
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Although not literally
a data type, a Number object can be used to represent numerical
constants, such as a maximum value, not-a-number (NaN), and infinity.
|
Object
|
Although not literally a data type, an Object
object can be used to create a custom named container that contains data
and methods that act on that data.
|
Point
|
A point in the coordinate space that has
both a horizontal and vertical coordinate.
|
Rect
|
A rectangle in the coordinate space.
|
RegExp
|
(JavaScript only) A regular expression pattern
that is used to match character combinations in strings.
|
String
|
A contiguous sequence of keyboard symbols
or character values. For example, "Director" or "$5.00".
|
undefined
|
(JavaScript syntax only) Denotes a variable
that does not have a value.
|
Vector
|
A point in 3D space.
|
VOID
|
(Lingo only) Denotes an empty value.
|
Note: Many of the data types and objects that are
specific to JavaScript syntax contain their own set of methods and
properties that can be used to further manipulate those types. While
the Director Scripting Reference may refer to some of these methods
and properties, it does not include complete reference information
about them. For more detailed information on these data types and
objects, and their methods and properties, see one of the many third-party
resources on the subject.
The built-in properties in Director, such as the Cast object’s name property,
can only be assigned values that are the same data type as that
of the property’s inherent data type. For example, the Cast object’s name property’s
inherent data type is a string, so the value must be a string such
as News Headlines. If you try to assign a value
of a different data type to this property, such as the integer 20,
a script error occurs.
If
you create your own custom properties, their values can be of any
data type, regardless of the data type of the initial value.
Both Lingo and JavaScript syntax are dynamically typed. This
means that you do not have to specify the data type of a variable
when you declare it, and data types are automatically converted
as needed while a script runs.
For example, the following JavaScript syntax initially sets the
variable myMovie to an integer, and later in the
script it is set to a string. When the script runs, the date type
of myMovie is converted automatically:
-- Lingo syntax
myMovie = 15 -- myMovie is initially set to an integer
...
myMovie = "Animations" -- myMovie is later set to a string
// JavaScript syntax
var myMovie = 15; // myMovie is initially set to an integer
...
myMovie = "Animations"; // myMovie is later set to a string
