Inside Macintosh: AppleScript Language Guide / Part 2 - AppleScript Language Reference

Chapter 4 - Commands / Using Parameters

Parameters That Specify Locations

Many commands have parameters that specify locations. A location can be either an insertion point or another object. An insertion point is a location where an object can be added. An object, when used as a location parameter,
is an object to be replaced by another object.

For example, in the following statement, the to parameter specifies the location to which to move the first word. The value of the to parameter is the reference before paragraph 10, which is an insertion point.

move word 1 to before paragraph 10

In the following statement, the value of the to parameter is an object,
word 10. The Move command replaces word 10 with word 1.

tell front window of application "Scriptable Text Editor"
   move word 1 to word 10
end tell

Phrases such as before paragraph 10 and word 1 are called relative references and index references, respectively. These kinds of references specify locations. For more information about these kinds of references, see "Index" on page 131 and "Relative" on page 139.