Prompt

From codeTank

Contents 1 Description 2 Arguments 3 Returns 4 Example 5 See Also

Description

prompt is a function used to prompt the user for input.

Arguments

prompt(text) -- title default to "Prompt"
prompt(text, title)

prompt takes one or two arguments. It applies tostring to each argument if it isn't already a string. The first argument is the text displayed above the input field in the window. The optional second argument is the title of the window. If no second argument is provided, the default title is "Prompt".

Returns

prompt will always return one result. If the user closes the window, or clicks the Cancel button, then prompt will return nil. If the user hits Enter, or clicks the OK button, then prompt will return what the user typed in the input field as a string. Please note: if the user types a number, then it will be returned as a string, so you must apply tonumber to it if you are asking for a number.

Example

name = prompt("What is your name?")

if (name == nil) then -- if the user closed the window or clicked Cancel
    alert("Fine.  Be a jerk.")
    return -- exit the script
end

repeat

    age = prompt("How old are you, " .. name .. "?", "Hi " .. name)

    if (age == nil) then -- user closed or canceled
        alert("Sensative, huh " .. name .. "?")
        return -- exit the script
    end

    age = tonumber(age)

    if (age == nil) then -- user didn't type a number
        alert("Please type a number")
    else
        if (age < 18) then
            alert("Gee " .. name .. ", you're young!")
        elseif (age < 21) then
            alert("You can't (legally) drink! (in the USA)")
        elseif (age < 30) then
            alert("You are cool")
        else
            alert("Can't trust you")
        end
        return -- exit the script
    end

until false -- loop until the user typed a number

See Also

• alert
• confirm