Syntax

set ( variable-name indexer?) | (file file-name) to value
OR
set stream-output-function-call open-modifiers to string-expression 

You use set to assign a value to a variable. set replaces the value of a variable with the new value:

  set my-stream to "Mary had a little lamb."
  set my-counter to 78
  set my-switch to true
  set referent "my-referent" to "Its fleece was white as snow."
  set my-float to 10.56

You can also use set to read and write files:

  set file "mary.txt" to my-buffer
  set my-buffer to file "mary.txt"
  set file "mary.txt" to file "lamb.txt"

When used with streams, set is equivalent to opening the stream, writing to it, then closing it. For this reason, any modifiers that can be used with open can also be used with set:

  set my-stream with referents-allowed defaulting {""}
      to "Mary had a little lamb."
  set file "mary.txt" with referents-displayed
      to my-stream

Set can be used with the open action's modifiers, in particular append. In the past often times when collecting information programmers would write

      set x to x || ", " || new-value

This set action appends the new-value to the end of the buffer attached to the stream x. It is better to write this as:

      set x with append to ", " || new-value

This can also be applied to files, like this:

      set file x with append to new-value

Related Syntax    set creator of    new    set stream    set buffer    set new    set key of    set file    set referent    set external-function    set function-library of external-function

Related Concepts    Counter data type    Variables and Constants

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