Native JavaScript in Hyperion Intelligence
Unleashing the Power of Object-Oriented Programming
What is JavaScript?
Created in 1995 by Brendan Eich of Netscape as “LiveScript”
Interpreted, object-oriented/procedural programming language
Extensively used in web pages in conjunction with HTML
Event-driven, case-sensitive, ignores extra spaces
How Does Hyperion Intelligence Use JavaScript?
Introduced Netscape v1.4 JavaScript interpreter in v6.0
Supports all standard JavaScript commands Used in dashboards, computed items (except
in query sections), calculated report fields and document scripts
Proprietary object model
Proprietary Object Model
Web object model uses objects like window, document, and location
Hyperion object model uses objects like Application, ActiveDocument and ActiveSection
Properties and methods will vary Core objects such as String, Number and Date
will be unchanged
What About “_____”?
We will not cover anything proprietary to Hyperion Intelligence
We will not cover the basics (syntax, conditional statements, loops, etc.)
We will not cover redundancies (for example, the concat() method of a string object)
We will not cover advanced topics that would require a separate presentation altogether (for example, regular expressions)
We will cover everything else!
Object-Oriented Programming
Objects, sub-objects and object collections Methods –
– Actions performed on or by an object– Called with parenthesis at the end to allow for the
passing of parameters Properties –
– Descriptive traits of objects– Sometimes read-only
Other JavaScript Terms
Functions: parameters are passed in parenthesis returning a result
Statements: cause an action or series of actions
Operators: Used for mathematical calculations, value comparisons and shortcuts
Constants: Built-in variables (Infinity, NaN, null and undefined)
Functions
eval() – evaluates a string of code and (optionally) returns a result
eval(“Alert(1)”) //returns no value
var x = eval(“10 * 10”) //returns a value of 100
Functions (cont.)
isFinite() – returns true if the number is neither positive nor negative infinity
var x = isFinite(10) //returns true
var x = isFinite(Infinity) //returns false
Functions (cont.)
isNaN() – returns true if the parameter is not or cannot become a number
var x = isNaN(10) //returns false
var x = isNaN(“Adam12”) //returns true
var x = isNaN(“1000”) //returns false
Functions (cont.)
Number() – converts a non-numeric value to a numeric value
var x = Number(“10”) //returns the numeric value 10
String() – converts any value to its string representation
var x = String(10) //returns the string value “10”
Statements
break – breaks a loop or conditional statement // - comments out a line of code /* - comments out several lines of code (closed
with */) continue – opposite of break do{} while() – executes a loop at least once for(){} – executes a loop
Statements (cont.)
function(){} – declares a local function if(){} else{} – executes a condition return – returns a value from a function var – declares a local variable while(){} – executes a loop with(){} – declares top level object
with(ActiveDocument.Sections[“Query”]){ Name = “MyQuery”}
Statements (cont.) switch(){} – executes a conditional statement with
multiple conditions possibleswitch(x){ case “A” : var y = 1 break case “B” : var y = 2 break default : var y = 3}
Statements (cont.)
try{} catch(){} – attempts to execute a statement in the try{} and executes the catch(){} if an error occurs
throw – passes a value to the catch(){}
Statements (cont.)
try{ if(x == 1){throw "Error 1"} else if(x == 2){throw "Error 2"}} catch(er){ if(er == "Error 1"){Alert(“Contact SysAdmin")} if(er == "Error 2"){Alert("Please Reload the page")}}
Operators
Mathematical+ Add/Concatenate++ Increment+= Add/Append- Subtract-- Decrement-= Subtract/Remove/ Divide* Multiply% Modulus
Comparison== Equal!= Not Equal> Greater>= Greater or Equal< Less<= Less or Equal
Assignment= Assign
Operators (cont.)
Backslash Escaped\’ Quote\” Double Quote\\ Backslash\b Backspace\f Form Feed\n New Line\r Carriage Return\t Tab
Logical&& And|| Or! Not
Special…
Operators (cont.)
Question mark & colon – executes a single condition
(rowCount > 0) ? var x = “Rows” : var x = “No Rows”
new – creates an object
function makeBook(title){this.Title = title}var book = new makeBook(“Don Quixote”)Alert(book.Title) //returns “Don Quixote” as a property
Operators (cont.)
typeof – returns the type of object
var x = typeof(10) // returns “number”var x = typeof(“ABC”) // returns “string”var x = typeof(true) // returns “boolean”var x = typeof(null) // returns “object”
Methods & functions return “function”
Operators (cont.)
Comma – used to separate multiple values delete – deletes an object, property or array
element this – used to refer to the parent object
Alert(this.Name) //returns the name of the object used
Objects
String Number Date Array Math
String Object
The length property returns the string length Methods include charAt(), charCodeAt(),
fromCharCode(), indexOf(), lastIndexOf(), slice(), split(), substr(), substring(), toLowerCase(), toUpperCase()
We will NOT be discussing regular expressions in this presentation
String Object - Methods
String.charAt() – takes 1 argument, returns the character at the index of the argumentvar x = “AdamFranz”Alert(x.charAt(0)) // returns “A”
String.charCodeAt() – takes 1 argument, returns the ASCII value of the character at the index of the argumentAlert(x.charCodeAt(0)) // returns 65 (ASCII for “A”)
String Object – Methods (cont.)
String.fromCharCode() – builds a character from the ASCII value specified in the argumentAlert(String.fromCharCode(65)) // returns “A”
String Object – Methods (cont.)
String.indexOf() – takes one or two arguments, returns the index of the first argument in the string (starting from the index of the second argument)Alert(x.indexOf(“a”)) // returns 2Alert(x.indexOf(“a”, 4)) // returns 6
String.lastIndexOf() – same as above but returning the index of the last instance of the argument
String Object – Methods (cont.)
String.slice() – returns a portion of the string between 2 specified indexesAlert(x.slice(1, 3)) // returns “da”
String.split() – returns an array from the string being broken on a designated charactervar y = “A, B”var z = y.split(“,”)Alert(z[0]) // returns “A”Alert(z[1]) // returns “B”
String Object – Methods (cont.)
String.substr() – returns a portion of the string starting at the index of the first argument for the length of the second argument (defaults to end of string)Alert(x.substr(2, 2)) // returns “am”
String.substring() – basically the same as String.slice()
String Object – Methods (cont.)
String.toLowerCase() – returns the string in all lower caseAlert(x.toLowerCase()) // returns “adamfranz”
String.toUpperCase() – opposite of aboveAlert(x.toLowerCase()) // returns “ADAMFRANZ”
Number Object
Represents a solely numeric value Number.MAX_VALUE = 1.79769e+308 Number.MIN_VALUE = 5e-324 Number.NaN, Number.NEGATIVE_INFINITY
and NUMBER.POSITIVE_INFINITY for comparison purposes
Date Object
It is always a good idea to explicitly declare dates before performing any comparisons, calculations or calling any methods
var x = new Date(yourDateValue)
Date Object - Methods
Date objects have a series of get & set methods used to return or set any specific portion of the date object
A get method, such as getFullYear(), returns the year from the date object whereas a set method, such as setFullYear(), sets the year portion of the date to the argument passed
A getUTC or setUTC gets or sets according to Universal Time (not discussed)
Date Object – Methods (cont.)
.getDate() .getDay() .getFullYear() .getHours() .getMilliseconds() .getMinutes() .getMonth()* .getSeconds()
.setDate() .setDay() .setFullYear() .setHours() .setMilliseconds() .setMinutes() .setMonth()* .setSeconds()
* - zero-based, watch out!
Date Object – Methods (cont.)
Date.getTimezoneOffset – returns the difference in minutes between local time and Greenwich Mean Time
Date.getTime(), Date.parse() and Date.valueof() used to return the number of milliseconds since 1/1/1970
Array Object
Contains a series of values of any datatype designated by their array index (starting with zero)
The length property will return the total amount of elements in the specified array
Array Object - Methods
Array.concat() – joins two or more array objects (passed as arguments) into a single array object (without effecting the original array)
Array.join() – converts an array object to a string separated by the character used in the argument (or a comma by default)
Array Object – Methods (cont.)
Array.pop() – removes the last element of an array
Array.push() – adds an element specified as the argument to the end of an array and returns the new array length
Array.shift() – removes and returns the first element of the array
Array Object – Methods (cont.)
Array.slice() – Returns a new array from a portion of the original array starting at the index of the first argument and ending at the second (or to the end of the array by default)
Array.sort() - re-indexes the array in ascending order by default or in the order provided as an argument in the form of a function
Array Object – Methods (cont.)
Array.splice() – used to add, remove or replace elements of an arrayArray_name.splice(starting_index,
how_many_to_remove, replacement_value_1, replacement_value_2, etc.)
Math Object
A native object accessible by direct reference without requiring instantiation
Used for performing calculations and to access unique mathematical values such as Pi, random numbers, etc.
Includes geometrical properties and methods such as Math.tan for calculating Tangent (not discussed)
Math Object - Properties
Math.E – Euler’s constant Math.LN10 – Natural logarithm of 10 Math.LN2 – Natural logarithm of 2 Math.LOG10E – Base 10 logarithm E Math.LOG2E – Base 2 logarithm of E Math.Pi – Pi Math.SQRT1_2 – 1 divided by sq. rt. of 2 Math.SQRT2 – Square root of 2
Math Object - Methods
Math.abs(x) – returns the absolute value of x Math.ceil(x) – returns x rounded up to nearest
whole number Math.exp(x) – returns Euler’s constant to the
power of x Math.floor(x) - returns x rounded down to
nearest whole number Math.log(x) – returns the natural logarithm
(base E) of x
Math Object – Methods (cont.)
Math.max(x,y) – returns the greater of x or y Math.min(x,y) – returns the lesser of x or y Math.pow(x,y) – returns x to the power of y Math.random() – returns a pseudo-random
number (based on the current time) between 0 and 1
Math.round(x) – returns x rounded off Math.sqrt(x) – returns square root of x
Conclusion
JavaScript is a powerful scripting language which extends beyond the Hyperion platform
All applicable JavaScript is valid in Hyperion Intelligence
JavaScript can be used in dashboards, document scripts, and any computed items (other than in a query)
Get out there and get scripting!!!
Helpful Websites
http://www.devguru.com - an excellent JavaScript reference
http://www.adamfranz.com - sample code and presentations available for download
The End
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