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ref

Syntax

    chunkExpression.ref

Description

Text chunk expression property; this provides a convenient way to refer to a chunk expression within a text cast member.

Example

For example, without references you would need statements like these:

    member(whichTextMember).line[whichLine].word[firstWord..lastWord].font = "Palatino"
    member(whichTextMember).line[whichLine].word[firstWord..lastWord].fontSize = 36
    member(whichTextMember).line[whichLine].word[firstWord..lastWord].fontStyle = [#bold]

But with a `ref` property you can refer to the same chunk as follows:

    myRef = member(whichTextMember).line[whichLine].word[firstWord..lastWord].ref

The variable `myRef` is now shorthand for the entire chunk expression. This allows something like the following:

    put myRef.font
    -- "Palatino"

Or you can set a property of the chunk as follows:

    myRef.fontSize = 18
    myRef.fontStyle = [#italic]

You can get access to the string referred to by the reference using the text property of the reference:

    put myRef.text

This would result in the actual string data, and not information about the string.