Technical Q&A

HW72 - What is the word see and how do I use it to help me find what a word does? (11-October-1999)

Q: What is the word see and how do I use it to help me find what a word does?

A: The word see displays what the next word in the input stream does for a living. However, there are so many words in the Macintosh dictionary which are not defined in the Standard or Bindings that see cannot always display results that the user can understand. For instance try this at the console:


0 > see see
: see
  ' (see) ; ok
0 > see (see)
: (see)
  {1} {0@} ^ff823bc0  {1!} {1@} c@ ^ff810458  and {2!} {1@} char+ c@ case
    b7 of
      {0@} ^ff8246b8
      endof
    ba of
      {2@} if
        " instance " type
        then
      " constant " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    b8 of
      {2@} if
        " instance " type
        then
      " value " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    bb of
      " create " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    b9 of
      {2@} if
        " instance " type
        then
      " variable " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    bd of
      " buffer: " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    bc of
      {2@} if
        " instance " type
        then
      " defer " type {0@} ^ff823a60  {0@} behavior ^ff8246b8
      endof
    be of
      " field " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    bf of
      " code " type {0@} ^ff823a60
      endof
    " I don't know what kind of word this is!!" type
    endcase
  ; ok
0 >

The point is this: do not rely on see to help in determining what a word does and what are the parameters to that word. Instead, use IEEE 1275, Binding, Supplements, etc. to find a word's definition.

If the word is not defined in one of these documents, consider it an Apple private word. Given that, you may not want to use Apple words since they can change or be omitted from the next BootROM.

-- Wayne Flansburg
Worldwide Developer Technical Support

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