Using applescript how do i create a dialog box and have several possible inputs lead to the same result not using the "else" command

Question

What i am trying to do is create a program that lets the user have a small conversation with the computer but i don't want to use "else" and list the possible inputs seperatley and have to write the same thing over and over again. does anyone know of a way i can list possible inputs together and have them lead to the same result?

Answer 1

Your script asks the question twice because that's what you tell it to.
The first line of your script asks the question:
display dialog "hey" default answer ""
then you define your lists:
set mylist to ("hi", "hey")
set mylist2 to ("sup", "yo")
Then you ask the question again. This time you capture the result in theanswer:
set theanswer to text returned of (display dialog "hey" default answer "")
The simple solution is to nix the first line of your script, since it serves no useful purpose.
Then, your logic on checking the answer is flawed. If you look at the script in a formatted/indented manner you'll see:
if theanswer is in mylist then
  display dialog "what's up"
          if theanswer is in mylist2 then
  display dialog "dude"
          end if
end if
where you can see that theanswer has to be in mylist for any of the rest of this code to run - that includes checking to see if theanswer is in mylist2.
You need to separate this, either into two separate if statements:
if theanswer is in mylist then
  display dialog "what's up"
end if
if theanswer is in mylist2 then
  display dialog "dude"
end if
or by using an else statement:
if theanswer is in mylist then
  display dialog "what's up"
else if theanswer is in mylist2 then
  display dialog "dude"
end if
In the first case both checks are performed. In the second case, the second check is only performed if the first one fails (i.e. theanswer has to NOT be in mylist in order for mylist2 to be checked)