Basics of the Action Script Language

The Action Script language comes with a syntax scheme as explained below. Also, the reserved keywords of the Action Script language cannot be used as variable names.

When writing action scripts, you should respect the following explanations regarding

Creating Objects of Base and Complex Types

self Context

Object References

Guarded Statements

Local Variables

NULL Values

Constructors

Syntax Scheme

The following syntax scheme applies to the action script language.

Names

All object and attribute names in Action Scripts must follow the syntax below:

[a-zA-Z]([a-zA-Z0-9])*

However, UML names are not restricted and may contain any character. To use these names in Action Scripts apply backticks as follows:

If the name of an element contains other characters, it must be escaped by backticks as follows:

`invalid name`

Consequently, the only characters not allowed in element names that are to be used in action scripts are backticks (`).

If the invalid attribute name is given by an external representation, e.g. it has to be serialized into an XML document, flat file, IDocs or such, you can also use the attribute externalName on attributes to hold the external name.
This way, you can use a valid name internally. Once the data is serialized, the external name will be used.

Examples

Some escaping examples:

Element	Name	Usage With Escaping
Class attribute	strange name having blanks and dots: ...	object.`strange name having blanks and dots: ...`;
Class attribute	a-b	object.`a-b`;
Operation	::my strange operation name::	object.`::my strange operation name::`();
Parameter	äparam	set `äparam` = "test";
Object	a//b	create `a//b`;
Object	17_name	create `17_name`;

Case Sensitivity

All operations, statements, variable names, class names, and attribute names are case sensitive.

Examples

The variables myVar and myvar are two different variables.
The xUML Compiler will not recognize an assignment statement Set. You need to write set in lowercase instead.

Scripting Style

Operations can be scripted in an object-oriented or a procedural syntax style. The differences are shown in the example table on the right.

Examples

Object-oriented Style	Procedural Style
`myVariable.exists();`	`exists(myVariable);`
`myDataItem.myAttr.exists();`	`exists(myDataItem.myAttr);`
`s.substring(0, 5);`	`substring(s, 0, 5);`
`set aString = s.substring(0, 5).toUpper();`	`set aString = toUpper(substring(s, 0, 5));`

Object Navigation

Use the following syntax to navigate to properties and operations within an object:

Target	Syntax	Example
Property	`objectName.propertyName`	`product.category`
Operation	`objectName.operationName(parameters)`	`product.new()`
Sub-property of a complex property	`objectName.propertyName.subPropertyName`	`product.storage.area`
Array property	`objectName.arrayProperty`	`product.versions`
Array property element	`objectName.arrayProperty[index]`	`product.versions[3]`

Reserved Keywords

The following keywords, constants, operators etc. should not be used as variable names as they are reserved for action script execution:

and
append
apply
array
by
catch
create
distinct
each
else
errorCode
errorType

false
first
from
group
if
last
like
local
NULL
or
reduce
select

set
single
sort
then
to
true
unlike
use
using
where

Related Pages:

Creating Objects of Base and Complex Types

self Context

Object References

Guarded Statements

Local Variables

NULL Values

Constructors