\

Typekeyword
DictionaryLCS
LibraryLiveCode Script
Syntax
\
Summary

The character </a> is used to break a line in a script for display, while still having it treated as a single statement.

Introduced1.0
OSmac, windows, linux, ios, android
Platformsdesktop, server, mobile
Example
answer "You've been waiting for" & numberOfMinutes & \
    "minutes." with "Keep Waiting" or "Cancel"
RelatedKeyword: character, string, line, lines, ;
Operator: &&, &
Property: script
Glossary: error, operator, script editor, statement, literal string, execute, quoted, compile error
Description

If a line is too long to fit conveniently in the script window, use the </a> character to break it into two (or more) lines for viewing.

A line that is split with </a> is shown in the script editor as more than one line, but when it's executed, it is treated as a single line of code.

The script editor automatically indents continued lines, as shown in the example above. A </a> character which is used within a literal string does not break the line, because the </a> is treated as part of the quoted string instead of being treated as a line continuation. For example, the following statement causes a compile error because the </a> character is inside the quotes:

answer "This is a test. This is only a test. \ 
    Had this been an actual life..." with "OK" -- BAD EXAMPLE

The above bad example can be corrected by using the operator to break up the long string :

answer "This is a test. This is only a test." \
    "Had this been an actual life..." with "OK" -- good example

The string has been broken into two substrings, so the </a> character is no longer within a literal string. This second example does not cause an error.