Table scripting syntax quick reference

UNICOM Intelligence Reporter uses the mrScriptBasic syntax. This topic shows examples of some of the scripting syntax that you might find in the sample table scripts.

'! and !' surrounding multiple lines of text indicate comment text that is ignored when the script is run.

'! *********************************************
This sample creates a number of tables that
illustrate how the Base element is calculated.
********************************************* !'

"meanvisits 'Average number of visits' mean(visits) }", _ "Modified Signs variable with mean of Visits")

A space followed by underscore ( _) at the end of a line signifies that the syntax continues on the next line.

You cannot split a line in the middle of a parameter by using the underscore character. This example splits a line in the middle of a parameter by closing the parameter, splitting the line, and then reopening the parameter, using the syntax " + _. The " character closes the parameter, the + adds the two halves of the syntax together again, and the _ is the line continuation character. The next line begins with ", to reopen the parameter.

.AddNew("Table2", "salary{base() [IsHidden=True]," + _
  "Mn 'Lowest' min(salary), Mx 'Highest' max(salary)," + _
  "Av 'Average' mean(salary) [Decimals=0]} * gender",
  "Salary level by gender of employee")

TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table1", "!
  age {
      E1116_years,
      E1720_years,
      E2124_years,
      E2534_years,
      E3544_years
  }
  *
  gender!"
)

"! and !" enclosing a string (instead of " and ") enable you to split the string over several lines for display purposes.

TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table1", "age * interview + gender")

Where the + symbol is used in a table specification, it indicates that two variables are concatenated together on an axis. For more information, see Concatenation and nesting.

TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table2", "age * interview > gender")

Where the > symbol is used in a table specification, it indicates that variables are nested. For more information, see Concatenation and nesting.

age{.., E65_years [IncludeInBase=False]}

If more than one property is defined for the same element, both are enclosed in a single set of square brackets, separated by a comma.

age{.., E65_years [IsHidden=True, IncludeInBase=False]}

TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table1", "interest{Whales, Fossils, Dinosaurs} * gender")

Braces surround the lists of categories and other elements that form a variable’s axis expression.

TableDoc.Default.Annotations[7].Specification = "<IMG SRC=""[INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\ Output\logo.gif""/>"

In cases where you want to nest syntax containing quote marks inside other syntax that also contains quote marks, you must “escape” the quote marks in the inner section of the script so that they are not interpreted as forming the end of the outer section. You do this by using two sets of quote marks instead of one.

.AddNew("Table7", "Region{.., ^No_answer} * NumRooms > Person.Gender", "Filtered table")

The ^ character represents the NOT operator; in this example, it excludes the No_answer category from the variable.

.Table7.Filters.AddNew("MalesAndMotorBikesAtPerson", _
"Gender = {Male} And ^.Sum(Vehicle.(VehicleType = {Motorbike})) > 0", , "person")

Select Case Field.ObjectTypeValue
Case 0 ' mtVariable - Simple variable
If Field.DataType = mr.Long Or Field.DataType = mr.Double Then
' It's a numeric - autosummarize
AutoSummarizeNumeric(Field)
TableDoc.Tables.AddNew("Table" + CText(TableDoc.Tables.Count + 1), _
Field.FullName, Field.Label)
End If
Case 1, 2, 3, 18 ' Array, Grid, Class, or Compound
' It's a container, process the contents
MakeTablesFromNumerics(TableDoc, Field.Fields)
End Select

Case statements conditionally execute a group of statements, depending on the value of an expression.

Const MDD_FILE = "[INSTALL_FOLDER]\IBM\SPSS\DataCollection\7\DDL\ Data\Xml\Museum.mdd"

The Const keyword introduces a user-defined constant that you can use to replace parameters that you want to reuse or change. The constant replaces the parameter elsewhere in the script, for example:

TableDoc.DataSet.Load(MDD_FILE, , XML_FILE, "mrXmlDsc")

The Dim keyword introduces the syntax that declares one or more variables for use in your script.

Do Until AdoRS.EOF
For Each Field In AdoRS.Fields
Set XmlAnswerElement =
XmlTextElement.appendChild(XmlDoc.CreateElement("answer"))
Set CDATASection = XmlDoc.createCDATASection(Field)
XmlAnswerElement.appendChild(CDATASection)
Next
AdoRS.MoveNext()
Loop

The Do Until Loop repeats a block of statements while a condition is True or until a condition becomes True.

For Each Field In AdoRS.Fields
  Set XmlAnswerElement =
          XmlTextElement.appendChild(XmlDoc.CreateElement("answer"))
  Set CDATASection = XmlDoc.createCDATASection(Field)
  XmlAnswerElement.appendChild(CDATASection)
Next

For... Next repeats a group of statements a specified number of times. For more information, see For...Next.

For Each... Next repeats a group of statements for each element in a collection. For more information, see For Each...Next.

If Field.AxisExpression.IsEmpty() Then
  ' It hasn't already got an axis expression, so create one
  Field.AxisExpression = "{min 'Minimum' min(" + Field.FullName + _
    "), max 'Maximum' max(" + Field.FullName + _
    "), mean 'Mean' mean(" + Field.FullName + _
    "), StdDev 'Standard deviation' StdDev(" + Field.FullName + _
    "), StdErr 'Standard error' StdErr(" + Field.FullName + ")}"
End If

If...Then...Else conditionally executes a group of statements, depending on the value of an expression.

On Error Resume Next

Set TableDoc = CreateObject("TOM.Document")

The Set keyword introduces an assignment statement, which evaluates an expression and assigns the results to a variable.

With TableDoc.Tables
.AddNew("Signs", "signs", "Unmodified Signs variable")
.AddNew("SignsNew", "signs{Yes, No}", "Two elements of the Signs variable")
End With

The With and End With keywords surround a block of statements that all apply to the same object (in this example, adding two new tables to the Tables object). This is a compact way of carrying out a number of actions on a single object.

Set MyElement = MyTable.Top.Gender.Elements.Male

Examples such as this use dynamic property expansion to provide a shorter way of writing a complex line of script. The equivalent script without dynamic property expansion would look like this:

Set MyElement = _
MyTable.Axes.Item["Top"].SubAxes.Item["gender"].Elements.Item["Male"]

When you create variables and elements, you must follow the mrScriptBasic naming conventions. See Naming conventions.

A number of keywords in scripts are reserved words; you can use reserved words in scripts. See mrScriptBasic keyword summary.

See also Learning mrScriptBasic in the UNICOM Intelligence Developer Documentation Library.

For more information about the features that help you write and run mrScriptBasic scripts, see Creating your first mrScriptBasic script.