CocoaScript Syntax reference

Formal Syntax

Production			Description
Script	::=	Sequence
	\|	Script ; Sequence

Object	::=	nil \| true \| false	Builtin Constant
	\|	Constname	Name of a Cocoa Constant or Class
	\|	self \| super \| app \| script \| argv	Builtin Runtime Variable
	\|	"string"	constant NSString
	\|	number	constant NSNumber (int/double)
	\|	Pobject

Pobject	::=	( Sequence )	directly evaluated script: { script } eval
	\|	{ Script }	HNSCocoaScript object
	\|	[ Sequence [, ...] ]	NSMutableArray
	\|	[ ]	empty NSMutableArray
	\|	[ Sequence:Sequence [, ...] ]	NSMutableDictionary
	\|	[ : ]	empty NSMutableDictionary
	\|	Monadic-Operator Object

Sequence	::=	Object
	\|	Sequence [ Object ]	objectAtIndex:
	\|	Sequence [: Object ]	objectForKey:
	\|	Sequence Dyadic-Operator Object	dyadic operation (no precedence rules!)
	\|	Sequence name	method call (without arguments)
	\|	Sequence Method-Call [, Pobject ...]	method call (with optional variable argument list)

Method-Call	::=	name:Pobject
	\|	Method-Call name:Pobject

Dyadic-Operator	::=	+ \| - \| * \| / \| == \| != \| > \| < \| >= \| <= \| := \| & \| \| \| ^

Monadic-Operator	::=	+ \| - \| !

Statements

Expression	Description
Ignored Characters
white space	ignored (unless part of string constant, number or symbol)
Constants
nil	NSNull object
true / false	NSNumber with boolean value YES / NO
classname	evaluates to class constant
NSxxx	evaluates to Cocoa constant
5	NSNumber with integer value 5
5.3	NSNumber with double value 5.3
"abcdef"	NSString with value "abcdef"
Variables
self	the self reference (=argv[0])
super	the superclass of the self object
script	the current script
argv	the script (method) arguments
var	value of a variable
var:=expr	assignment of expression result to (local) variable
Method Calls
a method	[a method]
a method:arg	[a method:arg]
a method:(arg) x:(b)	[a method:arg x:b] converts argument to proper data type by calling [arg integerValue] etc.
a left right	[[a left] right]
a left:(5) right:(3)	[a left:5 right:3]
(a left:(5)) right:(3)	[[a left:5] right:3]
Operators
(expr)	change order/priority of execution
a+b	call [a CSadd:b]
a-b	call [a CSsub:b]
x//y	form NSPoint(x, y)
a[x]	[a objectAtIndex:x]
a[:x]	[a objectForKey:x]
argv[i]	access script argument (0=self, 1=_cmd)
script eval	no argument
script evaluate:[a]	with single argument
script evaluate:[a, ...]	with several arguments
Constructed Objects
{ statement; statement; ... }	CocoaScript-Object with statement list initialized
[val, ...] []	[NSMutableArray initWithValues:val, ...] empty array
[key:val, ...] [:]	[NSMutableDictionary initWithValues:key, val, ...] empty dictionary
Flow Control
stop	stop in debugger if in single stepping mode
bkpt	breakpoint in debugger
{block} loop	infinitely loop this block
script breakLoop	exit from current loop
script continue	restart current loop from beginning
value return	exit from current method

Idioms (i.e. common sequences)

C language style expression	CocoaScript
if(cond) block;	cond CSIF:block
if(cond) block1; else block2;	cond CSIF:block1 ELSE:block2
while(cond) block;	{ cond CSIF:{block} ELSE:{breakLoop} } loop
for(expr1;expr2; expr3) block;	expr1; { expr2 CSIF:{block} ELSE:{breakLoop}; expr3 } loop
select(x) { case 1: block1; case 7: block2; default: block3; }	x CSSELECT:[1:{block1}, 7:{block2}, ...] DEFAULT:{block3}