CfgScript Introduction
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CfgScript is a full featured scripting language based on ACDK. CfgScript is used in the the ACDK Metacompiler and the ACDK Make.
About CfgScript
About CfgScript
CfgScript is a typed scripting language with similarities to Java and C#.
Nearly all that can be done with ACDK in C++ can also be done in CfgScript.
The same classes are used C++ as in CfgScript.
Of course some specific features of C++, like pointers, templates, and stack variables are not supported in the scripting language, but for compensation CfgScript provides high-level language constructs - missing in C++, like
foreach loops, lamda expressions,
backtick evaluation, multimethods and complex type literals.CfgScript has a similar relationship to ACDK C++ as Tcl has to C. In component based development C++ classes can be tied by CfgScript together to an application.
CfgScript can also serve configuration components to an C++ application, communicating via C++ interfaces.
Complete Applications can be build in CfgScript in various domains, like multi threaded network application, handling XML files, accessing SQL databases and easily and fast written rich GUI applications.
Use Cases
CfgScript can be used for many purposes.
Prototypes
On the basis of the ACDK libraries prototypes can be implemented
very fast.
- No creation of make files is needed.
- No compilation of the script needed.
- One click/enter to run the application.
- Easy translation from CfgScript to C++ if the prototype should
be transformed to a compiled application.
Tools
Often Prototypes lives longer than originally was planned.Simple tools - which are somewhere between shell scripts and C++/Java - can be easily developed.
Testing
For a given ACDK C++ library (or of course also CfgScript class libraries)
test driver can be 
implemented in CfgScript.In the ACDK library
ACDK WX most test applications are not in C++, but in CfgScript. Component glue
Because of the neat integration of CfgScript with components implemented C++, COM, CORBA
CfgScript is a good choice to connect these components with some scripting (see also below). Configuration
The standard configuration mechanism in ACDK for configuration are properties files
with the same format known from Java.But the properties files are limited to
key=value string pairs.CfgScript can be used to create typed, hierarchical structured configuration sets.
See in
Properties Type. Customization
Many complex software systems needs more than static data for configuration.Configuration with dynamic parts (program code) often called Customization.
CfgScript can also be used as extended configuration with does not only setup some configuration data, but setup and glue components to a customized application.
Some features
- Java/C# like syntax, with same constructs as in ACDK C++.
- Alternatively also ACDK C++ like syntax can be parsed. This is usable to use CfgScript
as prototype language, which may transferred later to C++.
- Runs on Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD
- common basic types, like bool char, short, int, long, float, double.
- Any-Type.
- container types like arrays and dictionaries.
- Literal support for Props (basically a hierarchical dictionary)
and arrays.
- Fully object oriented.
- Support for operation overloading.
- Customizable casting rules from strict (Java like) to lazy (Perl like)
- Support for lamda expressions.
- Support for delegates directly assigned from a lamda
expression of a object/class method.
- Support for enumerations.
- common control structures like: if, for, do, while, foreach, switch, break, return, continue, with
- Support for unicode character.
- Supports evaluate embedded variables in string like perl, tcl or sh
- Exceptions: throw, catch, finally
- Java like, multithreading support (synchronized)
- support for namespaces and modules, including using and
typealiase.
- Seamless integration of the interpreter into C++.
- Seamless using C++ classes in CfgScript.
- Seamless using CfgScript classes in C++.
- Seamless integration of other DMI Server like COM.
- ClassLoader for CfgScript files, C++ ACDK libraries, COM, JAVA and CORBA servers.
- Different to Java or C# CfgScript not compiled, but a true interpreted language.
- Integrated logging.
- Integrated debugger.
- Integrated JSP like templates.
Object Oriented Language
- Same object model as Java, C# with owner defined:
- Classes
- Interfaces
- Enums
Rich call interface
- user defined operator overloading
- in, out, inout parameter attributes
- byref, byval parameter attributes for remoting
- Polymorphic functions
- called by named parameters
- default value for parameter
- Call with rest (like ... in C/C++)
- Call with named rest (similar to ..., but the elements are named parameters)
- Delegates for signal/slot constructions
- lambda expressions for in place function definition
Instrumenting C++-Classes in scripting code
Every in ACDK defined C++-class, interface and Enumeration
can be used inside the script as naturally and seamless.
// CfgScript
// StringBuffer is an ACDK-C++ class
acdk.lang.StringBuffer sb = new acdk.lang.StringBuffer("asdf");
sb.append("asdf");
acdk.lang.System.out.println(sb.toString());
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CfgScript uses the ACDK C++ Classes as default library framework, which supports things like:
- Reflection mechanism
- IO
- collections
- regular expression
- logging
- networking
- and many other libraries
Using third part frameworks and scripting languages
ACDK has object integration of following frameworks:- Java
- COM
- CORBA
Object from these technology frameworks can be used inside CfgScript in a seamless way.
Example:
// create a Com Object, like Microsoft Word
word = new acdkx.com.ComObject("Word.Application");
// use this object, like it is own
word.Visible = 1;
doc = word.Documents.add();
sel = word.ActiveWindow.Selection;
sel.TypeText("This is ");
sel.Font.Bold = 1;
sel.TypeText("ACDK");
sel.Font.Bold = 0;
sel.TypeText(" instrumenting Word through acdk_cfgscript");
acdk.lang.Thread.sleep(3000);
word.Quit(0);
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Derive C++ in Scripting language
CfgScript can be used extend C++ classes. The extended
class / implemented interface can be used inside C++ code,
like it is a own native C++ class
A common sample is:
class MyElement
extends acdk.lang.Object
implements acdk.lang.Comparable
{
int _el;
MyElement(int e) { _el = e; }
int getElement() { return _el; }
int compareTo(acdk.lang.Object other) { return _el - other._el; }
}
acdk.util.Collection coll = new acdk.util.TreeSet(); // TreeSet is a native C++-Class
coll.add(new MyElement(1)); // C++ implementation calls the native C++
// interface method compareTo() to inserted the element sorted
coll.add(new MyElement(3));
coll.add(new MyElement(2));
it = coll.iterator();
while (it.hasNext() == true)
{
out.println(it.next().getElement());
}
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Server Objects implemented in CfgScript
Classes/Objects implemented in CfgScript can be used
by other component languages:
// MyElement.csf
class MyElement
extends acdk.lang.Object
{
int _el;
MyElement(int e) { _el = e; }
int getElement() { return _el; }
acdk.lang.String toString() { return String.valueOf(_el); }
void addElement(int i) { _el = _el + i; }
}
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Now in VBScript:
Dim acdk
Set acdk = CreateObject("Acdk.Object")
dim script
' load script
set script = acdk.New("acdk.cfgscript.Script", "MyElement.csf")
' class MyElement is now available as ActiveX component
Dim myElement
Set myElement = acdk.New("MyElement", 42)
dim i
i = myElement.getElement()
myElement.addElement 42
dim s
s = myElement.toString()
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CfgScript and GUI
I started a project ACDK WX to provide GUI functionality
to ACDK and CfgScript.