6.0

Table Of Contents
7
It is important to understand that arguments to commands are case sensitive. For example, the following
command returns False:
eq('bovine','Bovine')
Unit of Measure
Unless otherwise specified, the unit of measure in PlanetPress Talk is inch. Thus, for example, the
following line of code moves the current point to the X coordinate 1.5 inches, and the Y coordinate 2.5
inches.
moveto(1.5,2.5)
Statement or Expression Evaluation
The PlanetPress Talk interpreter uses parentheses to determine the order in which to evaluate the
individual parts of an expression or statement. It evaluates an expression or statement from the innermost
to the outermost set of parentheses. For example, consider the statement:
if( (pos('BLACK', strip(' ',@(36,25,58))) > 0 ), 'old', 'new')
The interpreter first evaluates the data selection function (@), then the strip function (strip), then the start
position function (pos), and finally the if function.
@(36,25,58)
strip(' ',@(36,25,58))
(pos('BLACK', strip(' ',@(36,25,58)))
if( (pos('BLACK', strip(' ',@(36,25,58))) > 0 ), 'old', 'new')
Operator Precedence
The rule that says that multiplications and divisions should be performed before additions and
substractions, known as operator precedence, is not supported in PlanetPress Talk, so you should use
parentheses to simulate operator precedence. For example, if you use the equation 2 + 3 x 4, PlanetPress
Talk will calculate a total of 20, but if you use the equation 2 + (3 x 4), PlanetPress Talk will calculate a total
of 14.
Apostrophes and Backslashes within Strings
If you want to use an apostrophe (‘) or a backslash (\) within a string, you must precede it by a backslash.
For example:
show( 'Don\'t miss this offer!' )
Names
The names of any variables, global functions, objects, or styles you create with PlanetPress Talk must meet
the following requirements: