ScriptForge.Services service

The main purpose of the Services module is to provide access to the CreateScriptService method, which can be called in user scripts to instantiate services that are implemented using the ScriptForge framework.

In ScriptForge terminology a service is a collection of methods and properties that can be used for a common purpose. For example, the String service provides methods for manipulating strings whereas the FileSystem service allows for the manipulation of files and folders.

The Services module of the ScriptForge library provides additional methods that are used either internally to register available services or by developers who are interested in extending ScriptForge by creating new services. The only method that is relevant for user scripts is CreateScriptService.

CreateScriptService

This method is used to instantiate a ScriptForge service so it can be called in user scripts.

The returned value is a Basic object or Nothing if an error occurred.

Syntax:

svc.CreateScriptService(service: str, [arg0: any] ...): svc

Parameters:

service: The name of the service identified as a string in the format "library.service":

The library is a Basic library that must exist in the GlobalScope. The default value is "ScriptForge".
The service is one of the services registered by the ScriptForge library.

arg0, ...: A list of arguments required by the invoked service.

If the first argument refers to an event manager, then arg0 is mandatory and must be the UNO object representing the event provided as argument to the user macro.

Example:

In Basic


    GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")
    ' To be done once
    Dim svc As Object
    Set svc = CreateScriptService("Array")
    ' Refers to the "ScriptForge.Array" service or SF-Array
    Set svc = CreateScriptService("ScriptForge.Dictionary")
    ' Returns a new empty dictionary class instance; "ScriptForge." is optional
    Set svc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Calc")
    ' Refers to the Calc service, implemented in the associated SFDocuments library
    Set svc = CreateScriptService("Timer", True)
    ' Returns a Timer class instance starting immediately
    Set svc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.DocumentEvent", oEvent)
    ' Refers to the DocumentEvent service implemented in the associated SFDocuments library
    ' Returns the instance of the Document class that fired the event

In Python


    from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
    svc = CreateScriptService("Array")
    svc = CreateScriptService("ScriptForge.Dictionary")
    svc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.Calc")
    svc = CreateScriptService("Timer", True)
    svc = CreateScriptService("SFDocuments.DocumentEvent", oEvent)

Python scripts support keyword arguments when calling CreateScriptService. The following example illustrates this concept by instantiating the Timer and Document services using keyword arguments.


    from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
    # Timer
    my-timer = CreateScriptService("Timer", start = True)
    # Document
    my-doc = CreateScriptService("Document", windowname = "some-file.ods")

To make writing Python scripts more fluid, ScriptForge provides the Basic service which allows Python scripts to call a collection of methods with the same syntax and meaning as their homonymous native Basic functions.

The following example instantiates the Basic service and calls the MsgBox method, which is equivalent to the MsgBox function available in Basic:


    from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
    bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
    bas.MsgBox("Hello World!")

Beware that the Basic service has to be instantiated in Python scripts using the CreateScriptService method.

All ScriptForge Basic routines or identifiers that are prefixed with an underscore character "-" are reserved for internal use. They are not meant be used in Basic macros or Python scripts.