Miscellaneous Functions

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Miscellaneous Functions

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- Action - Array - File - Lookup Table - Mathematical - Miscellaneous - Text - Variable - Database -
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These are the functions which do not fit into any other categories, and deal with areas such as colour manipulation, debugging and formula evaluation.

_OnEditChange [Action Only]
Postprocessing for changed value of system-reserved answer.
Syntax	_OnEditChange(string)
Inputs	String is a string.
Notes	Unused

_OnLoadAction
If present in the drawing properties when a drawing is loaded, it will execute this formula string.
Syntax	_OnLoadAction(Formula)
Inputs	Formula is a string which evaluates as a formula
Notes	It will execute just prior to looking for the optional AutoMerge.tab file, which will be merged if present. So there is the potential to copy a different AutoMerge.tab file into place (but this may in practice be more cumbersome than simply getting the action to explicitly merge the desired file).
See Also	_OnSaveAction

_OnOpenPage [Action Only]
Page initialisation for FPS which display specific sets of system-reserved answers.
Syntax	_OnOpenPage(string)
Inputs	String is a string.

_OnSaveAction
If present in the drawing properties (or currently selected library properties) it will execute this string instead of performing the usual Save or SaveAs menu options when you try to save the drawing.
Syntax	_OnSaveAction(Formula)
Inputs	Formula is a string which evaluates as a formula
Notes	If present and the formula when evaluated returns No then it will proceed to the default Save or SaveAs action that would have taken place.
See Also	_OnLoadAction

_OnShow
Formula which is evaluated whenever the Friendly Page tab in Define area goes on display.
Syntax	_OnShow(Formula)
Inputs	Formula is a string which evaluates as a formula
Notes	There is also an optional _OnShow variable in item level "All Answers" and this is executed whenever the item is selected into the preview pane. The control in the Define tabs area can be used for additional control of the preview pane, or for other things, depending on the choice of formula.

_SystemAction [Action Only]
Page initialisation for FPS which display specific sets of system-reserved answers.
Syntax	_SystemAction(string)
Inputs	String is a string.
Examples	_SystemAction("UpdateFolding") - see Sliders and Updatefolding

_UpdateProps [Action Only]
Updates editmode focus item.
Syntax	_UpdateProps(num)
Inputs	num is a number. 0 to 99 focal point. 100 to 199 focal HSection.
Notes	Unused

AverageColor
Calculates the overall color of a specified image
Syntax	AverageColor (imageFile)
Inputs	ImageFile is the location of the image to average. If no path is included, BITMAP_FOLDER is assumed
Outputs	If the image is not found, 0 (black) is returned
Notes	If no file extension is included with imageFile, the image Search Order rule is applied
Examples	AverageColor("rosewood.jpg") = this color where rosewood.jpg looks like this:
See Also	RGB

Choose
Selects a specified value from a list of values
Syntax	Choose (index, value1, value2, ...)
Inputs	Index indicates which of the values is to be returned. Value1, value2, ... are the values to select from, you can provide several
Outputs	If index is out of range, an empty string is returned
Notes	As with an Array, the index of the first item is one, not zero
Examples	Choose (3, "red", "indigo", "orange", "green") = "orange"

CVErr
Generates an error message
Syntax	CVErr (message)
Inputs	Message is reported as the cause of the error
Notes	The result of CVErr is just like any other error, and can hence be detected by the Error function
Examples	CVErr ("Could not find pricing table")
See Also	Error

Debug
Displays the steps taken when a formula is evaluated for debugging purposes
Syntax	Debug (formula)
Inputs	Formula is the statement to be debugged
Outputs	Messages are added to the program log describing the steps.
Notes	The purpose of this function is so that when a formula is returning an unexpected result, you can put a Debug around it and see which parts of the formula are not working correctly. See also All Answers
Examples	Debug (5 + (2 * 4)) produces two log entries: "(2 * 4) evaluates to 8" and "5 + (2 * 4) evaluates to 13"

Error
Returns the message describing a specified error
Syntax	Error (errCode)
Inputs	ErrCode is a code produced by an error
Notes	You should use IsErr first to check that errCode actually is an error. Because error codes are just numbers, using Error on a formula that produces a number will result in message, even when there was most likely no actual error
Examples	Error (1 / 0) = "Cannot DIV(), division by zero"

Eval
Evaluates a string as a formula
Syntax	Eval (expression)
Inputs	Expression is a string which is evaluated as a formula
Outputs	Indirect and Val are equivalent to Eval. Eval returns the output of the original expression
Notes	Eval works exactly the same as if you had typed expression into a formula box. Also note that strings with a leading : or = will be evaluated just before use. This is called deferred evaluation and is useful when variables required are not defined in the context of the formula, but will be defined at the time you plan to use it.
Examples	Eval ("if (1+1=2) then yes else no") = Yes

Format
Display a formatted version of a date string
Syntax	Format (date, format)
Inputs	Date is the date to be formatted. Commonly you would use such variables as Create_DTM (Date drawing was created) and Lastsave_DTM (Date drawing was last saved) or Now (The current time) for this value (see the list of Constants). Format controls the format which the date is in. There are five values that you can use for this, 0 through to 4, and the result of these can be seen in the examples. Alternatively you can use the formatting information found here to create your own format. (If you have trouble with this link google msdn strftime or see Strftime)
Outputs	A string containing the date in the format you requested.
Notes	Creating your own format string can be a complicated task, and should only be attempted by advanced users. If you cannot understand how to do it, simply use one of the preset values.
Examples	Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM",0) = Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM",1) = 28/01/2004 11:56:34 AM Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM",2) = Wednesday, 28 January 2004 Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM",3) = 28/01/2004 Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 11:56:34 AM",4) = 11:56:34 AM Format ("Wednesday, 28 January 2004 10:23:00 PM","Created on a %A in %Y") = Created on a Wednesday in 2004

Formula
Returns a representation of a value which can be evaluated as a formula
Syntax	Formula (value)
Inputs	Value is an expression which needs to be converted to a formula
Notes	This function effectively turns value into a string, the same as the Text function. The difference is that if value already is a string, it will be enclosed in double quote marks so that when it is evaluated, the result is the original string. Ie, if the string "x" is evaluated with Eval("x"), the program will look for a variable called x. But if Formula("x") is evaluated with Eval(Formula("x")), the result is the string "x". This means that you should put a value through the Formula function before passing it to Eval, just in case it is a string
Examples	Formula ("a string") = ""a string"" Formula(5) = "5"
See Also	Eval

HasDeveloper
Tests for presence of the developer addon in hasp lock
Syntax	HasDeveloper
Inputs	None
Outputs	Returns Yes if Developer addon present

HasHost
Tests if there is a Host ready to receive messages
Syntax	HasHost
Inputs	None
Outputs	Returns Yes if Host is ready to receive messages
Notes	This allows a library to provide conditional support for actions that only make sense in a host/guest environment

Info
Displays requested system information
Syntax	Info(k)
Inputs	Specify k to request various types of information. Info(k) has no default, returns empty value for invalid k
Outputs	Returns k=1:userid, k=2:usercode, k=3:username, k=4:ver, k=5:build
Notes	Info(101) returns name of Layer override table for DXT if in use. Note that this tests the current Options DXTasXML value first, and returns an empty string if there is no active layer override table. Currently layer mappings only happen for DXTasXML=7 (Biesse Nest), but other future formats may use layer mapping. The string returned is the name of the layer override table (relative to Table folder). The default name is "Machining\Layers\LayerOverride.qlt" but this string can be overridden by the optional reg Options string DXTAsXMLLayerOverride
Examples	k=1 UserID eg lockid (hex) or cloud userid (^800123) k=2 usercode eg "ABC12", k=3 username eg "ABC Kitchens" k=4 version eg "11.1.0.123" returns library version by reading !version.txt in Library folder k=5 build eg "2022.3.1.20" k=6 libver eg "11.0.0.44)"
See Also	USERID

LibraryList
Returns all codes in the Library or catalog, as pipe separated string
Syntax	LibraryList (library,matchcode,matchtype,matchsubtype)
Inputs	Library currently loaded or user defined
Outputs	LibraryList() all codes in the currently loaded library, equivalent to LibraryList(""). Variations of this function with extra parameters for filtering do also accept "" to indicate the currently loaded library. library - selected library, e.g. LibraryList("CM-Cabinets\Extras") lists all codes in Extras.qil (or Extras.qim if there is a catalog). matchcode,matchtype - all codes matching the regular expression matchcode and type matching the regex matchtype. matchsubtype - all codes with subtype matching the regex matchsubtype.
Notes	This is really one function internally with lots of calling options. Things to note... ".*" - means match everything "abc" - means the substring "abc" must appear somewhere ^ - matches beginning of string $ - matches end of string "^abc$" - matches only if the whole string is "abc" Lots of characters need to be escaped with a backslash, e.g. to match (copy) you need to write "\(copy\)". Note regex in general is case dependent, however, for AMS middleware everything is matched in a case independent way, as library codes are not case dependent.
Examples	Here is a simple library (3 Cab Library) with a catalog and the full list of codes is as shown in the drop list.

LibraryListByType
Return pipe separated list of codes matching the regex provided for type.
Syntax	LibraryListByType (library,matchtype,matchsubtype)
Inputs	matchtype - LibraryListByType("MyLibName","Floor") lists all codes with any name but type must contain the string "floor" (case independent). matchsubtype - LibraryListByType("MyLibName",".","Floor") lists all codes with any name, any type but subtype contains the string "floor" (case independent). Note that the regex "." matches everything.

ResolveImagePath
Returns the full filename
Syntax	ResolveImagePath(filename stub)
Inputs	Filename stub is used to look for a matching file in the system
Outputs	Returns either the full filename if something appropriate is found, or an empty string if it is not
See Also	ResolveModelPath

ResolveModelPath
Returns the full filename
Syntax	ResolveImagePath(filename)
Inputs	Filename is used to look for a matching file in the system
Outputs	Returns either the full filename if something appropriate is found, or an empty string if it is not
See Also	ResolveImagePath

RGB
Produces a color code from the specified red, green and blue values
Syntax	RGB (red, green, blue)
Inputs	Red, green, blue are the values of the three color components, each between 0 and 255
Notes	For pre-defined common colors - see the list of Constants. See also the Colours Tutorial.
Examples	RGB (255, 0, 0) = pure red RGB (128, 128, 128) = gray
See Also	AverageColor, PickColor

Stopwatch
Returns time taken in mSec to evaluate the expression
Syntax	Stopwatch(expression)
Inputs	Expression is a string which is evaluated as a formula
Outputs	Time taken in milliseconds
Notes	This implementation actually clobbers the result of the expression EVAL
See Also	EVAL

TotNHoles
Counts all drill holes in the machining for a cabinet, optionally filtered by layer, diameter and depth
Syntax	TotNHoles(Layer,Diameter,Depth)
Inputs	Layer (if not "") filters and only counts holes in layer specified Diameter (if not 0) filters and only counts holes with diameter specified Depth (if not 0) filters and only counts holes with depths specified
Notes	All parameters are optional. Context must be a cabinet or be within a cabinet, and then holes anywhere in that cabinet will be counted
Examples	TotNHoles() counts all holes TotNHoles("",5mm) counts all 5mm diameter holes TotNHoles("Shelf") counts all holes in the layer "Shelf"

UserID
Displays user identification
Syntax	UserID()
Inputs	None (you still need to use the empty brackets)
Outputs	Returns lockid (hex) or cloud userid (^800123)
Examples	Equivalent to INFO(1)
See Also	INFO

UsingMetricUnits
Determines if metric or imperial unit systems used
Syntax	UsingMetricUnits( )
Inputs	None (you still need to use the empty brackets)
Outputs	Returns true if the user is in a metric length unit system, or false for imperial unit systems

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