Client Script Editor

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What are Client Scripts? 1

Working with Client Scripts 1

Toolbar 2

Right Click Menu. 2

Code-Assist 2

Ctrl click drilldown. 3

See also: Client Javascript and Rich Client Features, Client API

What are Client Scripts?

These are client-side scripts that will be loaded and executed in a browser and are nearly always written in JavaScript. Don’t confuse these scripts with server side scripts which can also be written in Javascript but run on the Server. Client scripts can be associated directly with Pages, or indirectly via Presentation Templates and Forms. They can be used to generate a richer client interface than can be achieved with just static pages. See Working with Web Resources and Client Javascript and Rich Client Features for more information.

Working with Client Scripts

Client Scripts are created and maintained using the Client Script Editor as shown below. The script editor is opened by selecting an existing script in the hierarchy tree panel (Web Resources --> Client Script) or by creating a new script from the file menu (File --> New --> Client Script). To delete and copy a Client Script, right-click on the name of the script in the hierarchy tree panel and choose an option from the menu.

Any function libraries can be used in a Client Script (for example the JQuery JavaScript library), but these libraries must also be associated with the form page; see here for more information. A Client Script can also use functions in another Client Script as long as the other Client Script is associated with the form page.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains the following icons:

	Ctrl-S	Save
		Content Type: the Content Type and Character Set can be changed here. The default is: text/javascript and ISO-8859-1 respectively.
	Ctrl-X	Cut
	Ctrl-C	Copy
	Ctrl-V	Paste
	Ctrl-F	Find/Replace – shows the find and replace dialog
		Maintain Documentation
		Show information: shows userid and dates for creation, last update and import of this script
	F1	Help – shows this documentation page
	Undo/Redo	See undo/redo.

Right Click Menu

Contains the following:

	Undo	See undo/redo.
	Redo	See undo/redo
	Ctrl-X	Cut
	Ctrl-C	Copy
	Ctrl-V	Paste
	Ctrl-A	Select All
	Ctrl-F	Find/Replace – shows the find and replace dialog
	Ctrl-L	Go to line
	Ctrl-/	Toggle comment – comments or uncomments selected lines.
	Folding	Submenu containing expand/collapse options for comments and functions

Code-Assist

The code-assist feature can be activated at any time by pressing Ctrl+Space. It is also displayed automatically after a period (.) is entered following a variable name or method/function call. Two panels are displayed: the left-hand panel shows a list of available variables, functions, methods etc, and the right-hand panel shows corresponding documentation (Javascript functions can be documented using Javadoc notation where comments are enclosed within a /**..*/ block). The example below shows use of the $eb function to execute a Javascript function on the server – see Client API for more details on this.

Bear in mind that Javascript is a language that supports dynamic types and it isn’t always possible to know accurately which type a variable or expression resolves to. For this reason, the methods and properties shown by the code-assist feature should not be interpreted as the limit of what is available. As a programmer, you may know that a certain variable is of a different type and therefore you can invoke any methods applicable for that type.

Ctrl click drilldown

You can “drill down” into functions and attributes within your Javascript code by holding down the Ctrl key and moving the cursor over the appropriate function or attribute reference. The referenced item is then displayed as a hyperlink, and clicking on the link will open it. You can navigate backwards and forwards by using the arrow keys on the right-hand side of the open items toolbar at the top of the designer window.