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Xbasic

Using the Interactive Window

Description

result of an Xbasic method, command or expression immediately, you can type an Xbasic statement directly into Alpha Anywhere's Interactive window. Alpha Anywhere uses auto-completion logic to help you enter commands in the Interactive window. Like in the Code Editor, Alpha Anywhere displays Bubble Help showing the syntax of every command you enter.

When you want to see theTo display the Interactive window:

  1. From the Control Panel, select View > Code Editor. The Code Editor window appears.

  2. Display the Interactive tab if it is not already selected.

Code Editor Toolbar

images/UG_Code_Editor_Toolbar_Commented_V8.gif

Executing a Statement

Any valid Xbasic script statement can be executed interactively. To execute a statement:

  1. Put the cursor on an empty line in the Interactive window.

  2. Type an Xbasic statement.

  3. Press ENTER. The cursor can be anywhere within the line when you press ENTER. It does not have to be at the end of the line.

  4. If you want to see the value of a variable or expression, place a question mark at the left margin (at the beginning of the statement).

    images/Interactive_Window.gif
Pressing Control-ENTER when the cursor is in a line will move the insertion point to a new line without executing the Xbasic statement on the current line.

If you have a code block in the Interactive editor, you can edit it freely. To run it again, you just have to go to the end of the last line and press ENTER.

Combining Multiple Commands

To combine multiple commands into a single line, use a semi-colon between commands. For example:

for i = 1 to 10; trace.writelni?; next i

Loops and Command Blocks

You can easily enter command blocks ( For ... Next, While ... Wend, If ... Then ... End if ) in the Interactive window. When you press ENTER after beginning a command block, Alpha Anywhere will automatically enter the pound (#) symbol on the next line to indicate that you are in a command block. None of the lines that begin with the # character are executed, until you enter the last line of the block. For example:

for i = 1 to 10
# trace.writelni?
#next i

You can select multiple lines of code in the Interactive window and execute them all at once (rather than line by line), by clicking the Run icon on the toolbar, or by right-clicking on the selected code.

Adding and Removing Code Indents

You can indent code by selecting one or more lines and clicking TAB. You can remove an indent level by selecting one or more lines and clicking SHIFT + TAB. The same functions are found on the right click menu.

Running Functions in the Interactive Window

You can even go as far as Defining a function right in the Interactive window:

function welcome as C (name as C)
#welcome = "Welcome to the interactive window, " + w_upper(name)
#end function
? welcome("tom")
= "Welcome to the interactive window, Tom"

Setting the Variable Frame for the Interactive Window

The Interactive window has its own variable frame. You can override the Interactive window's variable frame and set it to be the same as the variable frame of another session. This can be very useful in debugging an application.For example, assume that you have opened a form called Invoice.

  1. From the Interactive window, select Interactive > Set Interactive Session.

  2. Select "Invoice".

    images/Set_Interactive_Window_Session.gif

Now, the Interactive window lets you directly examine variables in the "Invoice" form. For example:

? toparrent.name() = "Invoice"
? table.current().name_get()
"INVOICE_HEADER"

Font Selection

In addition, you can set the font and point size of the text in the Interactive window.

See Also