# Metadata
Platforms: desktop, server, mobile OS: mac, windows, linux, ios, android Introduced: 1.0 Security:
# Syntax
set the formattedText of [chunk of] field to string
# Examples
local myTextFile write the formattedText of field 1 to file myTextFile
get the formattedText of field "Field" answer it with "okay"
put the formattedText of word 13 of field "list"
# Description
Use the formattedText property to convert between unwrapped text (suitable for use in most programs) and wrapped text (suitable for use in programs that require fixed line lengths, such as some email systems).
When you get a field formattedText, the field text is converted to hard-wrapped text: An end-of-line character is inserted at the end of each screen line, and wherever a return character occurs in the field, two end-of-line characters are substituted. (If the field dontWrap is true, each screen line ends in an end-of-line character, so two end-of-line characters are substituted for each return character in the field.)
When you set a field's formattedText property, the string is unwrapped before being put in the field. Double end-of-line characters are converted to a single end-of-line character, and single end-of-line characters are converted to spaces.
The engine will interpret a numToChar(11) character in a field paragraph as an explicit linebreak when the (effective) dontWrap of the paragraph is false. This allows multiple ‘lines’ to be displayed within a single paragraph. The formattedText property maps any explicit line breaks to newlines.
>*Note:* that since the vGrid property turns dontWrap on for the > paragraph, using the line-break char in table paragraphs will have no > effect.
Any paragraphs with listStyle set are prefixed by an appropriate plain-text form of the bullet or index.
# Tags
# See
- **keyword:** character, characters, field, lines - **constant:** return - **property:** dontWrap, listStyle, plainText, unicodeFormattedText, unicodePlainText - **object:** field - **glossary:** chunk, property