Analysis Workbench Script Contents
Five script sections if they exist are processed in the order:
- Comments Section
- Startup Section
- Variables Section
- Process Section
- End Section
They do not have to be in this order in the script file and do not have to exist.
You do not need to call any of these sections. The script engine calls these sections automatically. The script engine does not call any other section that has been created unless it has been specified in a RUN_PROCESS command.
Any other sections in the script can be created and the lines do not have to be commented out if the section is not called by the script.
Comments Section
This section is usually placed at the beginning of the script file. The comments section does not have to exist and is normally used for comments such as the author, date written. It is recommended that a comments section is used. It may be useful to include the name of the author, the purpose of the script, and the date it was written. A version number should also be included so that it can be incremented every time changes are made to the script.
Any other comments made in other sections of the script are made using a semicolon (‘;’) at the start of the line.
The description in the Run script form is taken from the first valid line in the Comments section.
Startup Section
This section is used to set up initial load conditions for the script. Variables are not available in this section or any sections called by this section.
Commands that do not require variables can be used in this section. Typically, this section would be used to make sure that the Analysis Workbench was in the ‘condition’ expected before the main [Process] section was called by the script engine.
An Example of Typical [Startup] Code
[Startup]
BREAK_ON_ERROR ON
LOG_CLEAR
LOG_SCRIPT ON
DISPLAY_PROGRESS ON
UNLOAD ALL
SET_BUSINESS
Variables Section
This section is available to any section of the script apart from the [Startup] section and any sections called from the [Startup] section.
Variables are also available in a command script if declared in a subscript called by that script. They are ‘Global’ variables. Do not try to use a variable before it is declared.
This can occur if variables are declared in a sub script but are used in a different script. (It is recommended that you declare all variables in a main script file).
An Example of Typical [Variable] Section Code:
[Variables]
TestInt1 : integer
GatewayDirectory : string
StateImage : string
Note No assignments can be made to the variables in this section. This section is only for instructing the script engine to make these variables available to the script. The restrictions on variables are as follows:
Strings are limited to 64 characters in length.
Integer variables are valid from zero to over 2,000,000,000.
Process Section
This section is used for the main script loop or program. Any variables declared, are available in this section or any processes called from this section. All commands are available in this section.
Any sections created in the script have the same functionality as this section, except that they must be called in the script.
The different sections of the script should be named logically, so that the script makes sense when read as a text file.
A typical [Process] section does not have to be very long, because normally other sections would be called from the script in this section.
An Example of Typical [Process] Section Code:
[Process]
RUN_PROCESS SetupVariables
IF EXIST $StateImage THEN RUN_PROCESS LoadState
RUN_PROCESS LoadScanFiles
; load the machine export setup file - this sets up the files and columns to export
EXPORT_LOAD Gateway
; do the export
EXPORT_RUN
End Section
This section is used to tidy up after the script has finished, unload scan files from the program, save the script log file and so on. Variables are still available in this section.
When the main command script has finished, all variables are wiped from the memory, so if any results need to be saved, this should be done before the main script finishes.