Carapace

Built-in Functions

Carapace supports the following sorts of built-in functions:

Most of the functionality within Carapace is contained within the built-in classes.

Core Language

function name description
class create a scripted class definition
classInfo return information about a class definition
function declare a script function
defun define a script function or method
local declare one or more variables which are local in scope to the current script function or method
create create an object
createAux create an object allowing the type of object to be determined at runtime
getInterface get a given interface for an object
. the dot operator is used to access object properties and to invoke object methods
export export a global variable so that child threads inherit a copy of the value
isDefined test if the variable has a non-nil value
isFunction test if the supplied Symbol represents a function
isClass test if the supplied Symbol represents a class
join join a list of objects together
length calculate the length of the argument - can work on multiple object types
load load a package of script definitions
loadLibrary load a dynamic library and register the class and function definitions it contains
print print the arguments, each on a new line
printAux print the arguments with no newlines added
printStackFrames print the evaluation stack frames -- useful for debugging scripts
reverse reverse the argument - works on multiple object types
scramble scramble the supplied text
unscramble unscramble the supplied text
typeOf return the type of the argument
faceOf return the interface no. of the argument
isEmpty determine if the argument is empty -- many different data types have a sensible value for 'empty'

Control

function name description
break break out of a looping construct
continue continue around a loop within a looping construct
do perform a sequence of commands
doWhile do a sequence of commands - maybe interrupted by break or continue statements
for looping construct to work down a list or along an enumerator
if simple conditional test
cond powerful conditional test
return return a value from a script function
set assign a variable to hold the reference to the argument object
unset remove any assignment for the supplied variable
while loop while a given condition holds

Error Handling

Click here for an overview of error handling within Carapace.

function name description
try show the intention to catch errors generated by the supplied expression
catch catch a given class of errors
throw throw an error - so it can be caught elsewhere

Logic

function name description
&& logical and
|| logical or
! logical not
== test for equality between two objects
!= test for inequality between two objects
> test if one quantity is greater than another
< test if one quantity is less than another
>= test if one quantity is greater than or equal to another
<= test if one quantity is less than or equal to another

List Handling

function name description
cons construct a list by creating a new one with the supplied head and tail
headOf return the first item in the list
tailOf return a list of all items excluding the first in the supplied list
list create a list out of the arguments

Evaluation

function name description
apply apply the given function to the supplied list of arguments
objectApply apply the method of the given object to the supplied list of arguments
eval evaluate the supplied expression
quote protect the argument from evaluation
stop stop the interactive parser

System Functions

function name description
messageBox generate a message box containing the supplied text
processId return the id of the current process
threadId return the id of the current thread
wait wait for one of the supplied events to be set within the supplied number of milliseconds
sleep wait for the supplied number of milliseconds
time return the system time
formattedTime format the current, or supplied, time
uniqueId generate a unique id -- unique within this process
system run a system command - this could be an executable file or a batch file/shell script
systemInfo return information about the particular Operating System
hostName lookup the supplied host name
getenv lookup the value for the supplied environment variable
putenv set the value for the supplied environment variable
sendWindowMessage send a Windows message to the supplied window

File & Directory Functions

function name description
currentDir determine the current working directory
currentDrive determine the current drive letter
changeDir change to a different working directory
changeDrive change to a different drive
chmod change file permissions
makeDir create a directory
removeDir remove a directory
fileStatus return information about the status of the file
fileVersion return any embeddeded version information for the file
listFiles list files whos names match the supplied pattern
listDirectories list directories whos names match the supplied pattern
rename rename a file or a directory
copyFile copy a file
removeFile remove a file

COM Functions

function name description
progId return the progId for the supplied Dispatch object
interfaceName return the name for the current inteface of the supplied object
invoke invoke the specified dispatch method or property
method invoke the specified dispatch method
getProperty get the specified dispatch property
putProperty set the specified dispatch property
putPropertyRef set the specified dispatch property reference
dllServer register or un-register the supplied DLL COM server
comLink link up matching event source/sink interfaces on the COM client and server
comUnlink break the link between matching event source/sink interfaces on the COM client and server

Arithmetic Functions

function name description
+ add two numbers
- subtract two numbers
% return the remainder when dividing the first integer by the second
* multiply two numbers
/ divide two numbers
random generate a random number

Contents Index Current topic: functions Related topics: objects