Target and me. Target not the correct value

[Robert Brenstein]

>Hey ho.
>
>Just found a small discrepancy: the 'me' function will always return 
>the correct object, however 'the target' will only return the name 
>of the object.  This becomes an issue if you, like me, sometimes 
>duplicate an object and forget to give it a unique name.  Create a 
>button, put this script in it:
>
>on closeField
>   put the value of me
>end closeField

How does your button get the closefield message? This message is sent 
to the field but it is not passed to any button.

>Now duplicate (or option-drag) a copy.  Change text in the field, 
>notice the correct values are reported back to the msg window. Now 
>change BOTH scripts to:
>
>on closeField
>   put the value of the target
>end closeField

This pulls the content of the target not the target name. May be you 
mean to use the 'short name of the target'?

>... this reports incorrectly, only reporting 1 field (the first 
>found with the name 'Field 1').  I kinda remember in my dim past 
>that HyperCard would always return the target value correctly, even 
>with object name duplication?

the target function returns 'field "fldname"' or "button "btnname' so 
it indeed confusing if you have multiple objects of the same kind 
with the same name. I think you will always get the one in lower 
layer. It was the same in HyperCard I believe. If your objects have 
no names, then the object id is used and the target reference is 
unique.

>Confusingly, just 'target' (no 'the') returns the value correctly; 
>'the value of the target' doesn't when there is a duplicate name. 
>Small, simple, but had me stumped for a bit.

I get the same result regardless whether I have the or not in front 
of the target. This is curious in itself. Without the, it should not 
be recognized as a function.

>As you might expect, 'put the value of (long ID of the target)' 
>works.  Of course avoiding duplication is good practice; not 
>trusting 'the target' is safest if you can't guarantee unique 
>field/group/button etc names.

Hmm, curious that the long id of the target works. The target should 
still resolve ambiguously, so getting long id of that object should 
not fare any better. But I verified that indeed the result is 
correct. May be there is some preference to the current object. But 
then a parallel construct with value fails. I verified that it is 
indeed the case. It would seem that engine parses these differently.

>I'd like to see 'the target' use the long ID for object referencing, 
>but use the name of the target (as it does now) when used for 
>display.  Is that possible?  Anyone agree?

You are asking to change the syntax of Transcript which transpired 
from HyperTalk. That could result in compatbility issues with 
existing software.

Robert