Panther applescript question...

Question

Hi everyone!
I know Panther is a bit old now...but hopefully someone can explain why this doesn't work:
tell application "Finder"
set theLocation to ((path to home folder as string) & "Desktop:testfile")
set theFile to (open for access file theLocation with write permission)
set theContent to read file (theLocation as string)
display dialog theContent
-- result is "9"
if theContent is "9" then
display dialog "OK"
end if
close access theFile
end tell
In this script it doesn't recognize that the value is the same (9) and never displays the "OK" dialog. However if I make a simple script like this it's no problem:
set theTest to "9"
if theTest is "9" then
display dialog "OK"
end if
Can someone please explain this? Thank you very much in advance...
Reg

Answer 1

Hi and thanks for the reply!
The test file is made from Script Editor...no external editors were used. It makes sense what you say...I was also thinking something like this but I couldn't figure it out. Yes in Leopard it's no problem as you said. Also, I think I made a mistake when I put (theLocation as string) it should just be theLocation. I was also trying to read as string and as number and no matter what I did it never read properly. I can make some more tests using your suggestions...just one thing...if I create the file using Script Editor how can I write it in such a way that it can be read. Can I write as Unicode text and read as Unicode text so it will come out the right way?
Thanks again so much,
Reg
Note:
Here is a more accurate post of the script...
tell application "Finder"
set theLocation to ((path to home folder as string) & "Desktop:testfile")
set theFile to (open for access file theLocation with write permission)
set eof theFile to 0
write "9" to theFile starting at eof
set theContent to read file theLocation
display dialog theContent
-- result is "9"
if theContent is "9" then
display dialog "OK"
end if
close access theFile
end tell
Message was edited by: Reggie Ashworth