I dont understand what the standard use of the property command is…
Is it so I can retain values every time I run the script?
and where does it keep the data? does it write a preference file?
See this FAQ about properties:
http://bbs.applescript.net/viewtopic.php?pid=46997
Teorically, you can retain properties for the next run, but some times you won’t. Eg:
http://bbs.applescript.net/viewtopic.php?pid=47000
Properties, BTW, are stored in the script itself. When you create a datafork script (blah.scpt, now standard in OS X), properties are writen to the data fork. Otherwise (eg, a carbon applet or a resource-fork script), they will be stored in the resource fork (resource ‘scpt’).
Make some tests, and you will see the modification date changing every time you run the script (and, if needed, also the size of the file).
What jj and the two cited articles said, and…
If the property values are changed during the execution of the script, the changes will persist (except as noted in the second cite) until changed again by the script or when the script is opened again and resaved, which reverts them to their original values. Opening a script with changed properties will not reflect the changed values, it will show the originally scripted values.
thanks very much for that guys