activate (switch-name) indexer?

activate sets the value of a switch to true. deactivate sets the value of a switch to false. Thus:

  activate foo 

  set foo to true

For shelves:

  deactivate bar item 6

  set bar item 6 to false 

Obviously, activate and deactivate cannot be used when the switch value is calculated, so setting values to true or false is more generally useful. You can, however, use activate and deactivate to set several values at once:

  activate tom and dick and harry