Glossary

put a value into text. A value is anything you could write after 'set x to': a name, math, count of, query. Write \[ for a real bracket

set name to "Ada"
show "Hello, [name]! You have [count of messages] messages."
  

put a value at the end of a list

add "cherry" to fruits
  

both must be yes

if name is not empty and age is at least 18
  

run a query; each ? in the SQL takes the next value safely. Gives a list of records

set posts to ask database "select * from posts where slug = ?" with slug
  

show Common code highlighted, the way a cl-code block does, but from a value

show code example of entry
  

yes if text A has B inside it, or list A has item B

if email contains "@"
  

how many items a list has, or letters in text

show "[count of fruits] fruits"
  

a date like 2026-10-24 written out: 24 October 2026

show "[date of today]"
  

the day of a date as a number

show "[day of today]"
  

every word of the language as records: word, form, meaning, example

for each entry in dictionary
  show "<dt>[word of entry]</dt><dd>[meaning of entry]</dd>"
end
  

yes if the text is one email address, like ada@example.com. Check a visitor's address with it before you use it

if form "email" is not an email
  set problem to "Please check your email address."
end
  

close an if, for each, repeat, to, send email, record or text block

repeat 3 times
  show "hip"
end
  

the first item, or the first N items (or letters of text)

show first of fruits
show "[first 100 of body]…"
  

run the lines below once for every item

for each fruit in fruits
  show "<li>[fruit]</li>"
end
  

drop a remembered value, or all of them (sign out)

forget everything
  

what the visitor typed in a submitted form (POST)

set message to trim of form "message"
  

inside a verb: hand this value back and finish. A verb that gives can be used wherever a value goes

to slug_of heading
  give replace " " with "-" in lowercase of heading
end

show "[slug_of title]"
  

send the visitor to another page and stop

go to "/thanks"
  

a one-way scramble of a password, safe to store (PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256)

tell database "insert into users (name, password) values (?, ?)" with name, hash of form "password"
  

run the lines below when the condition is yes

if age is at least 18
  show "Welcome"
end
  

insert another page here

include "header.html"
  

equal. Also: is not, is more than, is less than, is at least, is at most, is between A and B, is empty

if colour is "blue"
if age is more than 12
if name is empty
  

one item by position, counting from 1; or a column by name: item "price" of lamp

show item 2 of fruits
  

the last item, or the last N items (or letters of text)

show last of fruits
for each post in last 3 of posts
  

a list with nothing in it yet

set names to empty list
  

the text in small letters

set slug to lowercase of title
  

yes if the text is the password behind the hash

if form "password" matches password of user
  remember "user" as name
end
  

the month of a date as a name

show "[month of today]"
  

the answer no

set done to no
  

flip yes and no

if not done
  

the date and time, like 2026-10-24 18:30

tell database "insert into log (at) values (?)" with now
  

the text as a number, so math works on it

set qty to number of query "qty"
  

one column of a record, like name of recipe. Any column name works

show "[title of recipe]"
  

open a SQLite file next to the page, or a Postgres server with postgres://user:password@host/dbname

open database "site.db"
  

either can be yes

if paid or member
  

what to run when the condition above was no

if paid
  show "Thanks"
otherwise
  show "Pay first"
end
  

a list of the paragraphs (separated by blank lines)

for each paragraph in paragraphs of body
  show "<p>[paragraph]</p>"
end
  

the URL path, like /about. The visitor typed it, so it is made safe like query

set slug to last of split path by "/"
  

what the visitor typed in the URL after ?name=

set name to query "name"
  

show text exactly as it is, with no safety

show raw "<b>bold</b>"
  

a record of your own, like a row you made up. Read a column with 'price of lamp', change one with 'set price of lamp to 15'

set lamp to record
  name: "Desk lamp"
  price: 19
end
show "[name of lamp] costs $[price of lamp]"
  

keep a value for this visitor until they forget it (a signed cookie)

remember "user" as name
  

a value kept for this visitor, or empty text

if remembered "user" is empty
  go to "/login"
end
  

run the lines below that many times, or fewer with 'until CONDITION': stop as soon as it is yes

repeat 5 times
  show "★"
end
  

the text with every a changed to b

set slug to replace " " with "-" in title
  

the list back to front

for each post in reverse of posts
  

send an email to an address you wrote yourself (never a visitor's). While developing it is saved in the private outbox/ folder; behind a web server it goes through sendmail. At most 3 per page and 20 an hour

send email to "owner@example.com"
  subject: "Message from [name]"
  reply to: email
  body: message
end
  

create or replace a variable; VALUE, VALUE makes a list. 'set COLUMN of RECORD to VALUE' changes one column

set price to 4.5
  

show a value on the page (visitor text is made safe). On its own, show opens a block of text that runs until a line saying end

show "Hello, [name]!"
  

the list in order (numbers by size, text A to Z)

for each name in sort of names
  

a list of the pieces between each separator

set parts to split "2026-10-24" by "-"
  

run SQL that changes the database (insert, update, delete)

tell database "insert into notes (text) values (?)" with note
  

define a verb: your own command. Call it by name with one value per ARG. Inside, 'give VALUE' hands a value back

to greet someone
  show "<p>Hello, [someone]!</p>"
end

greet "Ada"
  

the date, like 2026-10-24

show "Today is [today]"
  

the text without spaces at the ends

set name to trim of form "name"
  

run text as Common in a sandbox and give back what it said. No files, database, cookies or redirects; loops stop after 20000 steps and memory at 64 MB. For practice pages

set result to try form "code"
  

the text in capitals

show "[uppercase of name]"
  

the year of a date as a number

show "[year of today]"
  

the answer yes

set paid to yes