Don't understand the meaning of "local"

[Dennis Brown]

Jim,

Local variables are only valid during the handler execution that they  
are local to.  The values are not saved once the handler is exited -- 
they cease to exist.
Script local variable values are saved --like a global for only this  
script.

Dennis

On Dec 22, 2005, at 3:58 PM, Jim Hurley wrote:

> I suspect that  this issue has been dealt with before, but I don't  
> get it. I thought I understood what a local variable was.
>
> Create a field. Put a bunch  of returns into it--or several lines  
> of text.
>
> Lock the field and put the following script into it.
>
> Hold the mouse down and move it through the field. I would have  
> expected a list of the lines that have been moved over to appear in  
> the msg box. Instead only the current line is shown.
>
> But I so get the entire list if I include tLines as  a local script  
> variable. Apparently tLines is set to empty after every execution  
> of mouseMove, unless tLines is included as a local script variable.
>
> I get the feeling that mouseMove stops and restarts with every  
> cycle and therefore forgets the value of tLines.
>
> However if tLines is set as a local script varable then the script  
> continues to run and therefore remembers tLines.
>
> I had thought that the function of the local script declaration was  
> to allow the variable to be used throughout  the handlers of the  
> script. However, in this example tLines is used only in mouseMove.
>
> I think I ran into this behavior earlier when adding a rolling  
> snowball asynchronously to Scott's snow storm. I wondered why local  
> variables were kept in memory each time a handler called itself  
> after a few milliseconds. Once again it appears that setting a  
> local script variable retains the variables  in memory--even when  
> the script stops (?) until called again.
>
> Anyone understand the different behavior of this script depending  
> on whether tLines is declared as a local script variable? Or, more  
> challenging, can anyone explain it to me?
>
>
> local myName,  --tLines
>
> on mouseDown
>   put the name of me into myName
> end mouseDown
>
> on mouseUP
>   put "" into myName
> end mouseUP
>
>
> on mouseMove
>   if myName is "" then exit mouseMove
>
>   put  word 2 of the MouseLine into tLine
>   if tLine is not in tLines then put  tLine &  comma after tLines
>   put tLines into msg box
>
> end mouseMove
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