Syntax

Repeat with listVar in myList
   (* code statements *)
end repeat

Description

This variation of the repeat with statement iterates over a list of values, storing the current value in the loop variable. Once the last item in the list has been stored in the loop variable, the statement terminates and code execution resumes after end repeat. If you have to examine a list's contents, this statement is a crucial part of your code. You can also use the exit statement inside this repeat with statement to stop executing code inside the loop. After any call to exit, code execution resumes after the end repeat part. You do not have to declare the loop variable in any way; AppleScript creates this temporary reference variable for you. You can also get the loop variable's value later in the script, after the repeat loop has completed executing. The value will be a reference to the last item in the list:

item 6 of {"Each", "word", "on", "a", "different", "line"}

Using this form of repeat loop, you can get inaccurate results if the script is trying to compare the value of the loop variable with another value (such as a string or integer). Instead, one of our technical reviewers recommends that you use syntax such as:

set booleanVar to ((contents of loopVar) equals 1)" (* note the "contents of" part *)

The value used in the part of the statement following the in reserved word must be a list.

Examples

This code takes each of the items of a list and concatenates them to a string, which is then displayed to the user:

set theString to "Each word on a different line"
set theList to words of theString -- returns a list of words
set displayString to "" -- initialize this string
repeat with wd in theList
   set displayString to displayString & return & wd
end repeat
display dialog displayString
wd as string -- this will return "line"

AppleScript does not destroy the loop variable (wd in the prior example) after the repeat loop is finished. Getting the value of wd in the last example, after the repeat with statement has done its job, returns:

item 6 of {"Each", "word", "on", "a", "different", "line"}