AppleScript: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 7. Variables

This chapter describes the rules for declaration, typing, initialization, naming, scoping, and lifetime of variables in the AppleScript language.

A variable is a binding between a name and a value. You can think of it as a shoebox with a label on it, into which something is placed for storage. The shoebox’s label is the variable’s name; what’s inside the shoebox is the variable’s value. For example, when we say:

set x to 5

it is as if we had a shoebox labeled “x” into which we place the number 5.

Assignment and Retrieval

To assign a value to a variable is to put something into the shoebox. If the variable already has a value, that value is replaced. Assignment is performed with one of two commands: set or copy, described here.