Basic Language Mechanisms - Revision history

Rob at 11:29, 4 December 2008

2008-12-04T11:29:22Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:29, 4 December 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{context\|~~Basic Concepts and Terminology\|Scripting Language\|Language Basics~~}}		{{context\|Kit Reference}}

	The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:		The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:

Rob at 08:31, 22 November 2008

2008-11-22T08:31:47Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:31, 22 November 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~[[Category:~~Basic Concepts and Terminology]]		{{context\|Basic Concepts and Terminology\|Scripting Language\|Language Basics}}
	~~[Context: [[Home~~\|~~HL Kit]] [[Basic Concepts and Terminology]] [[~~Scripting Language~~]] [[~~Language Basics~~]]]~~

	The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:		The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:

Rob at 13:52, 21 November 2008

2008-11-21T13:52:38Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:52, 21 November 2008
Line 23:		Line 23:
	\|The scripting language will automatically convert a variable or attribute between the two types when necessary. If you assign a numeric variable to a string, the value is converted to a string automatically (e.g. the value 521 is converted to the string "521"). Conversely, assigning a string variable to a number converts the string before the assignment takes place. However, going from a string to a number only converts the '''leading''' numeric portion of the string, so the string "1234hello789" is converted to the value 1234.		\|The scripting language will automatically convert a variable or attribute between the two types when necessary. If you assign a numeric variable to a string, the value is converted to a string automatically (e.g. the value 521 is converted to the string "521"). Conversely, assigning a string variable to a number converts the string before the assignment takes place. However, going from a string to a number only converts the '''leading''' numeric portion of the string, so the string "1234hello789" is converted to the value 1234.

	~~<span class="~~important~~">IMPORTANT!</span>~~ Type casting only occurs with individual variables/attributes and not with entire expressions. Therefore, it is not valid to assign an arithmetic expression to a string, although it is valid to use a string variable within an arithmetic expression. If you want to assign an arithmetic expression to a string variable, you must first assign the expression result to a numeric variable and then assign that variable to the string. Similarly, it is valid to use a string variable as a parameter to an intrinsic function where a number is required, or vice versa.		{{important}}Type casting only occurs with individual variables/attributes and not with entire expressions. Therefore, it is not valid to assign an arithmetic expression to a string, although it is valid to use a string variable within an arithmetic expression. If you want to assign an arithmetic expression to a string variable, you must first assign the expression result to a numeric variable and then assign that variable to the string. Similarly, it is valid to use a string variable as a parameter to an intrinsic function where a number is required, or vice versa.
	\|-		\|-
	\|}		\|}

Rob at 09:03, 18 November 2008

2008-11-18T09:03:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:03, 18 November 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[Category:Basic Concepts and Terminology]]		[[Category:Basic Concepts and Terminology]]
	[Context: [[Home\|HL Kit]] [[Basic Concepts and Terminology]] [[Scripting Language]]]		[Context: [[Home\|HL Kit]] [[Basic Concepts and Terminology]] [[Scripting Language]] [[Language Basics]]]

	The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:		The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:

Rob at 03:33, 18 November 2008

2008-11-18T03:33:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:33, 18 November 2008
Line 9:		Line 9:
	\|-		\|-
	\|Numeric Assignment		\|Numeric Assignment
	\|~~Two~~ additional assignment behaviors are supported that are exclusive to numeric values. ~~One is~~ the increment ("+=") assignment and ~~the other is the~~ decrement ("–=") assignment. Both are essentially a shorthand notation for the statements "x=x+y" and "x=x–y", respectively. Consequently, the statement "x+=y" is equivalent to "x=x+y". This can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.		\|Four additional assignment behaviors are supported that are exclusive to numeric values. The first two are the increment ("+=") assignment and decrement ("–=") assignment. Both are essentially a shorthand notation for the statements "x=x+y" and "x=x–y", respectively. Consequently, the statement "x+=y" is equivalent to "x=x+y". The other two are the multiply ("=") assignment and divide ("/=") assignment, which are a shorthand for the statements "x=xy" and "x=x/y", respectively. This assignment syntax can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.
	\|-		\|-
	\|String Assignment		\|String Assignment
	\|One additional assignment ~~behaviors~~ is supported that is exclusive to string values. It is the concatenate ("&=") assignment, which is essentially a shorthand notation for the statement "x=x&y". Consequently, the statement "x&=y" is equivalent to "x=x&y". This can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.		\|One additional assignment behavior is supported that is exclusive to string values. It is the concatenate ("&=") assignment, which is essentially a shorthand notation for the statement "x=x&y". Consequently, the statement "x&=y" is equivalent to "x=x&y". This can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.
	\|-		\|-
	\|Arithmetic Expressions		\|Arithmetic Expressions
	\|Complex arithmetic expressions are fully supported by the scripting language. All of the standard operators are supported (+–*/), as is the use of parentheses to control the order of evaluation in an expression. An additional operator (%) is supported, which returns the remainder after dividing x by y (also called the "modulus").		\|Complex arithmetic expressions are fully supported by the scripting language. All of the standard operators are supported (+–*/), as is the use of parentheses to control the order of evaluation in an expression. An additional operator (%) is supported, which returns the remainder after dividing "x" by "y" (also called the "modulus").
	\|-		\|-
	\|String Expressions		\|String Expressions
Line 21:		Line 21:
	\|-		\|-
	\|Implicit Type Casting		\|Implicit Type Casting
	\|The scripting language will automatically convert a variable or attribute between the two types when necessary. If you assign a numeric variable to a string, the value is converted to a string automatically (e.g. the value 521 is converted to the string "521"). Conversely, assigning a string variable to a number converts the string before the assignment takes place. However, going from a string to a number only converts the leading numeric portion of the string, so the string "1234hello789" is converted to the value 1234.		\|The scripting language will automatically convert a variable or attribute between the two types when necessary. If you assign a numeric variable to a string, the value is converted to a string automatically (e.g. the value 521 is converted to the string "521"). Conversely, assigning a string variable to a number converts the string before the assignment takes place. However, going from a string to a number only converts the '''leading''' numeric portion of the string, so the string "1234hello789" is converted to the value 1234.

	Type casting only occurs with individual variables/attributes and not with entire expressions. Therefore, it is not valid to assign an arithmetic expression to a string, although it is valid to use a string variable within an arithmetic expression. If you want to assign an arithmetic expression to a string variable, you must first assign the expression result to a numeric variable and then assign that variable to the string. Similarly, is it valid to use a string variable as a parameter to an intrinsic function where a number is required, or vice versa.		<span class="important">IMPORTANT!</span> Type casting only occurs with individual variables/attributes and not with entire expressions. Therefore, it is not valid to assign an arithmetic expression to a string, although it is valid to use a string variable within an arithmetic expression. If you want to assign an arithmetic expression to a string variable, you must first assign the expression result to a numeric variable and then assign that variable to the string. Similarly, it is valid to use a string variable as a parameter to an intrinsic function where a number is required, or vice versa.
	\|-		\|-
	\|}		\|}

Rob: New page: Category:Basic Concepts and Terminology [Context: HL Kit … Basic Concepts and Terminology … Scripting Language] The scripting language supports the followin...

2008-11-18T03:27:08Z

New page: Category:Basic Concepts and Terminology [Context: HL Kit � Basic Concepts and Terminology � Scripting Language] The scripting language supports the followin...

New page

[[Category:Basic Concepts and Terminology]]
[Context: [[Home|HL Kit]]  [[Basic Concepts and Terminology]]  [[Scripting Language]]]

The scripting language supports the following basic language mechanisms:

:{| class="infotable"
|class="leftnormal"|Assignment
|Variables and attributes can be assigned values from other variables, attributes, and literal values. Assignment statements typically take the traditional form "x = y".
|-
|Numeric Assignment
|Two additional assignment behaviors are supported that are exclusive to numeric values. One is the increment ("+=") assignment and the other is the decrement ("–=") assignment. Both are essentially a shorthand notation for the statements "x=x+y" and "x=x–y", respectively. Consequently, the statement "x+=y" is equivalent to "x=x+y". This can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.
|-
|String Assignment
|One additional assignment behaviors is supported that is exclusive to string values. It is the concatenate ("&=") assignment, which is essentially a shorthand notation for the statement "x=x&y". Consequently, the statement "x&=y" is equivalent to "x=x&y". This can be incredibly convenient when identifiers are used with lengthy context transitions and target references.
|-
|Arithmetic Expressions
|Complex arithmetic expressions are fully supported by the scripting language. All of the standard operators are supported (+–*/), as is the use of parentheses to control the order of evaluation in an expression. An additional operator (%) is supported, which returns the remainder after dividing x by y (also called the "modulus").
|-
|String Expressions
|Strings can be concatenated together through string expressions. To concatenate two strings, use the '&' operator (e.g. "str1 & str2"). No other string operators are supported.
|-
|Implicit Type Casting
|The scripting language will automatically convert a variable or attribute between the two types when necessary. If you assign a numeric variable to a string, the value is converted to a string automatically (e.g. the value 521 is converted to the string "521"). Conversely, assigning a string variable to a number converts the string before the assignment takes place. However, going from a string to a number only converts the leading numeric portion of the string, so the string "1234hello789" is converted to the value 1234.

Type casting only occurs with individual variables/attributes and not with entire expressions. Therefore, it is not valid to assign an arithmetic expression to a string, although it is valid to use a string variable within an arithmetic expression. If you want to assign an arithmetic expression to a string variable, you must first assign the expression result to a numeric variable and then assign that variable to the string. Similarly, is it valid to use a string variable as a parameter to an intrinsic function where a number is required, or vice versa.
|-
|}

The following sample code demonstrates the basic language mechanisms in use:

<pre>
~Declare a variable and put a number into it.
var myint as number
myint = 7

~Declare another variable and set it equal to an arithmetic expression.
var temp as number
temp = (myint + 100) * 3

~Decrement temp by the value of "myint" times three.
temp -= myint * 3

~Set the value of a string to a numeric value, converting it to a string.
var mystr as string
mystr = temp

~Append the contents of two strings
mystr = "123" & mystr

~Append text to the end of the current string
mystr &= "123"

~Set a numeric variable to a string, automatically converting the result.
myint = mystr
</pre>