9.3

Table Of Contents
Calling a function on an interactive object
To build an expression that calls a function on an interactive object:
1
To operate on an interactive object that is already present in the layout, select that object's
name in the Objects list. Use the drop-down menu at the top of the list to narrow the list
of objects by type.
2
Double-click the object's name to add it to the editing area.
3
To see the list of functions that can be called on this particular type of object, choose that
object type from the Functions drop-down menu. For example, if you are working with
an Animation object, choose Animation.
4
Scroll through the Functions list until you find the function you want. To determine what
a function does, click its name and look at the description that displays at the bottom of
the dialog box. For this type of expression, you usually need a function that does not
return a value, so look for function descriptions that do not start with the word "Get." For
example, to start an Animation object playing, choose Animation.Play().
5
Double-click the function name to add it to the editing area.
6
To verify that you have a valid expression, click Validate. Note that this button merely
checks your expression for syntax; a valid expression is not necessarily an expression that
does what you want it to.
7
Click OK.
When the expression is evaluated, the indicated function is called on the specified object.
In this case, the animation plays.
Assigning a value to a variable
To build an expression that assigns a value to a variable:
1
If you have not yet created the variable, click New/Edit above the Variables list to display
the Variables dialog box
2
Click the button, enter a name for the variable, and choose a type from the Type drop-down
menu. If you want the variable to be an array, check Array and enter the number of
elements in the Elements field. Click OK.
Members of an array can be accessed by the variable name and position in the array list.
3
Double-click the variable name in the Variables list to add the variable to the editing area.
For example, if you want to retrieve the text from a Text Box object and place the text
into a string variable named "UserName," double-click UserName in the Variables list.
4
To insert an equals sign, double-click the equals sign in the Operators area or manually
enter an equals sign.
360 | A GUIDE TO QUARKXPRESS 9.3 - PLUS EDITION
INTERACTIVE LAYOUTS