Scripts are not limited to running in Analytics only. By converting regular scripts to analytic scripts, you can schedule and run scripts in the Robots app on the HighBond platform.
Note
Version 16 of Analytics, and all subsequent versions, are not intended for use with Analytics Exchange (AX). Diligent ended support for Analytics Exchange on January 1, 2023. Learn more or upgrade to Robots.
For information about using Analytics in conjunction with Analytics Exchange, see Analytics and ACLScript 15.1 Help.
What are analytic scripts?
An analytic script, or "an analytic", is a regular script with an analytic header. The analytic header is a series of declarative tags that allow the script to run in Robots. The analytic header includes input parameters that a user populates in advance, which allows the analytic script to run unattended, either immediately, or at a scheduled time.
Turning regular scripts into analytic scripts
Analytic scripts begin as regular scripts. To run a regular script in Robots, you must convert the regular script into an analytic script:
- Create and test a script in Analytics.
- Add the appropriate analytic header tags to make the script an analytic script.
- Commit one or more analytic scripts, and any auxiliary scripts, as a script version to development mode in Robots, and schedule and run an activated script version in production mode.
For more information, see Developing analytic scripts.
Adding analytic headers
Analytic headers are defined in a comment block that starts on the first line of the script. At a minimum, an analytic header declares the script is an analytic script:
COMMENT
//ANALYTIC Identify missing checks
This analytic script identifies missing check numbers
END
For more information, see Working with analytic headers.
What are auxiliary scripts?
An auxiliary script is a regular script without an analytic header that is designed to work in conjunction with an analytic script. In a typical design, an analytic script uses the DO SCRIPT command to call one or more auxiliary scripts. Once an auxiliary script completes, processing returns to the analytic script, which continues to execute.
Auxiliary scripts can also be referred to as subscripts, secondary scripts, utility scripts, or helper scripts. You do not have to use auxiliary scripts. They offer an option for compartmentalizing blocks of script logic that might be conditional, reusable, or simply unwieldy to include in the parent analytic script.
Auxiliary script restrictions
Auxiliary scripts can be used in a variety of different ways, but because no analytic header exists, two restrictions apply:
- No input or output tags you cannot specify input or output analytic tags, which means you cannot create input or output parameters in the auxiliary script itself. Any required parameters must be created in the analytic header in the parent analytic script.
- Cannot be run directly users cannot schedule or run auxiliary scripts directly. They can only be called from an analytic script – either directly, or indirectly through another auxiliary script.
