function range beginning ending stepping
    local tRange, tBegin, tEnd, tstep
    if stepping is empty or stepping is 0 then
        put 1 into tstep
    else
        put abs(stepping) into tstep
    end if

    if ending is empty or isNumber(ending) is not true then
        put 0 into tEnd
    else
        put ending into tEnd
    end if

    if beginning is empty or isNumber(beginning) is not true then
        put 0 into tBegin
    else
        put beginning into tBegin
    end if

    repeat with r = tBegin to tEnd step tstep
        put space & r after tRange
    end repeat
    return word 1 to -1 of tRange
end range

function expandRange rangeExpr
    put rangeExpr into tRange
    split tRange by comma
    repeat with n = 1 to the number of elements of tRange
        if matchText(tRange[n],"^(\-*\d+)\-(\-*\d+)",beginning, ending) then
            put range(beginning, ending, 1) & space after z
        else
            put tRange[n] & space after z
        end if
    end repeat
    return z
end expandRange