Some HyperCard developers have asked if there is any way to provide a
global path command or to assign physical or logical names that initiate at
startup. This becomes important when a program is moved to another machine
(with different names). This kind of porting can make all the pathnames
incorrect with the result, as above, that the program constantly asks for
help in finding files.
Many users try to avoid this problem by beginning the path names with the
actual volume name. This is not necessary.
An easier solution is to load the folders in question into the same folder that
contains the HyperCard application itself, then place a colon at the beginning
of the path name, like this:
:HyperCard Ideas:Idea Stacks:
The first colon in this statement tells HyperCard to look for the "HyperCard
Ideas" folder within the same folder that contains HyperCard itself. HyperCard
will then continue on to the "Ideas Stack" folder for the chosen stack.
The problem can also be handled by getting the Long Name of the currently
executing stack. This name returns the path to the stack. As long as the
other stacks or accessed files are kept in the same folder, the pathname
can be manipulated to open those files. You can even place the stacks or
files in subfolders, as long as the folder names are placed in the path.
An example:
Function PathWay
put the long name of this stack into NewName
delete char 1 to 7 of NewName
repeat
if offset(":",NewName) is 0 then
exit repeat
else
put char 1 to offset(":",NewName) of NewName after NewPath
delete char 1 to offset(":",NewName) of NewName
end if
end repeat
return NewPath
end PathWay
put PathWay () into the message
This piece of code returns the current path to the stack. By appending the
name of a stack or file onto the end of the returned path, your stacks can
open any stacks or files in the same folder. By placing a folder name and
the name of the stack after the returned path, you can open the stacks
within a subfolder.