Scripting is how you automate work in Analytics. You can gain a lot of value using Analytics in an ad hoc or manual fashion without ever writing a script. However, to gain the most value, power, and efficiency from Analytics you need to script.
The good news is that Analytics provides tools to make scripting relatively easy, even for a novice.
The power of Analytics scripts
An Analytics script is a series of ACLScript commands that performs a particular task, or several related tasks. Scripts are the key to harnessing the power of Analytics:
| Run more than one command at a time | Scripts allow you to assemble multiple Analytics commands and run them in an unbroken sequence. |
|---|---|
| Automate repetition | Scripts can be run repeatedly, which represents a huge savings of labor if you perform the same analytic tests, and the same analysis-related tasks such as importing and preparing particular data files, on a regular basis. |
| Ensure consistency | Scripts ensure consistency by executing the same commands in the same sequence every time they are run. |
| Share analysis | Scripts are portable and sharable. They can be sent to other users, made available in network locations, and copied between Analytics projects. |
| Disseminate expertise | Scripts allow expert Analytics users to develop analytic tests and share the tests with non-scriptwriting users. |
| Allow user interaction | Scripts can be designed to prompt users for input, allowing users to run them against their own uniquely named tables and fields, using their own input criteria. |
| Schedule unattended execution | Scripts can be scheduled, and can run unattended, which allows companies to perform time-intensive data processing overnight, and to set up programs of automated or continuous analysis. |
Core scripting resource
The core resource for anyone writing Analytics scripts is the ACLScript language reference, which fully explains every Analytics command, function, and analytic tag, with numerous examples and code snippets:
- Commands every Analytics command
- Functions every Analytics function
- Analytic scripts guidance for developing analytic scripts and analysis apps that can run in Robots, Analytics Exchange, or the Analysis App window
Scripting tutorials
Several tutorials are available to help you get started with scripting in Analytics. See Get started with scripting.
Working with scripts
For an explanation of the basics of creating scripts in the Analytics user interface, and the various scriptwriting tools, see Working with scripts.
