The VBScript Language (Language Reference) is used in the Command Line, for grid Formula's, and for script Macros. Three tutorials below introduce you to each.
Into the Command tab of the dockable History window, type
msgbox "hello, world"
App.Documents.New
Grid.Cell(1, 1) = "Hello"
pressing Enter after each line. Commands are not case sensitive.
If you have used Visual Basic, notice that Data Flask supports context information and lists (Intellisense). If you have not used vbscript before, congratulations. It is not necessary to understand vbscript in depth to use the command line.
Into cell 1,1, type "Goodbye". Notice that Grid.Cell(1, 1) = "Goodbye" was entered automatically into the Command line. Most commands that modify the grid will record into the command line. This makes it easy to create the code necessary to repeat an action.
Use the mouse to select the word "Goodbye" in the Grid.Cell(1, 1) = "Goodbye"
line. Include both double quotes (") in the selection. Next type
time
and press Enter. The current time should now appear in cell 1,1. Notice that when you type into any line other than the last line, the line is first copied.
Complete. For reference information about the command line, see Command Line.
Pick File/New Grid Into the Grid Properties dialog, type 3 into Rows: and 3 into Columns:, Press OK to make an empty 3x3 grid.
Pick Grid/Select All to select all nine cells. Pick Grid/Formula/Global. Type
cint(rnd*100)
over the default "Value". Press OK to close the script edit dialog.
Your 3x3 grid should fill up with random numbers between zero and one hundred.
Pick Grid/Refresh and notice that the cell values change with each refresh. Pick Grid/Select All again, then pick Grid/Formula/Type/None and press OK to close the Formula type dialog. Pick Grid/Refresh and notice that the numbers no longer change.
Mouse-click in cell 3,1 (first row in column C) to select it, and pick Grid/Select/Column to select all of the third column. Pick Grid/Formula/Column . Replace "Value" with
CInt(Grid.Cell(1, nRow)) + Grid.Cell(2, nRow)
in FormulaColC. Press OK to close the Script Edit dialog. Column C should now total values from columns A and B.
Pick File/Close/Yes/Save to save Grid2.dfg and close the file (it's ok if the number is not '2', please adjust similarly below).
Pick File/Open and select Flask Basic Files (*.dfb) from the Open dialog. Select Grid2.dfb. Note that formulas are kept in a separate file from the grid, and are automatically saved when the grid is saved. Pick File/Close to close the script document. The following step assumes that Script/Activate Automatically is unchecked, which is the install default.
Pick File/Open and select Grid2.dfg. Column C will now appear as FormulaColC text, rather than as a row subtotal. Pick Script/Activate to enable the script. Unless Activate Automatically is selected, or something is done to manually activate formulas, script will not execute without your permission.
Complete. Additional tutorials.
Data
Flask Copyright © 2006 Interscape
Corporation