Frequently Asked Questions About Caché Basic

No, Caché Basic is completely platform-independent and works on any platform on which Caché runs. Caché Basic is built into the Caché kernel in the same way as ObjectScript and is not dependent on any external script engine, such as the Microsoft Scripting Host.

No, Caché Basic source is compiled into the same object code as ObjectScript, so the performance of Caché Basic is the same (with minor variations) as that of ObjectScript.

The syntax of Caché Basic is based on Microsoft VBScript. However, since Caché Basic is a server-side scripting language, tightly integrated with the database, there are a number of differences between these two implementations. For instance, there are no MsgBox or InputBox functions in Caché Basic, but there are a number of enhancements; for example, the ability to work directly with Caché-specific data types, such as globals, lists, and so on.

No, the main goal of Caché Basic is to ease the Caché learning curve for developers already familiar with Basic implementations such as Microsoft Visual Basic, not to replace ObjectScript. Both ObjectScript and Caché Basic will be supported and coexist indefinitely.

Yes, with the introduction of Caché Basic, companies using Caché will gain a number of benefits, including:

• Ease in hiring and educating new developers.

• Ease in selling applications developed with Caché. End users do not need to study a new language to use and enhance your applications.

• Re-hosting business logic of VB and ASP applications in Caché. You can migrate the business logic of existing applications from the VB client side or middle tier into Caché, achieving greater performance and scalability. The combination of CSP and Caché Basic is a good candidate for migrating Active Server Pages (ASP) applications.

• Access to interesting resources. By browsing source code archives for VB, Caché developers can find a multitude of valuable and entertaining code samples (for example, games).

No, but nothing prevents you from implementing your own. Contact an InterSystems representative for an example of a Caché Basic shell.

You can directly reference globals using the following syntax:

There are a number of enhancements in Caché Basic for List and Piece support. For example:

l = ListBuild("blue","red")
Println List(l,1)

p = "blue^red"
noOfItems = Len(p,"^") 
Println Piece(p,"^",1)

The Traverse() function provides the same functionality as $Order in ObjectScript.

i = Traverse(^MyData(""))
While (i <> "")
    Println ^MyData(i)
    i = Traverse(^MyData(i))
Wend

Me.Method

Use a dynamic query object:

result = New %ResultSet()
result.Prepare("SELECT Name,Age FROM Basic.Human WHERE Age<?")
result.Execute(Arg1)

While (result.Next())
    Println result.Data("Name") & ", " & result.Data("Age")
Wend

Use %File object:

    file = New %File("c:\test.txt")
    file.Open("WSN")    
    file.WriteLine("This is a test")    
    file.Close()

Use the On Error Goto statement:

Function ErrorTest(Arg1)
  On Error Goto errorhandler
  return 1/Arg1

errorhandler:
  PrintLn "Error ", Err.Number, " ", Err.Description, " ", Err.Source
  Err.Clear
  return 0

End Function

In Basic, each variable is the empty string by default, so instead of an <UNDEFINED> error you get "" when referring to an undefined variable or function.

Use the Option Explicit statement to avoid inadvertently referencing undefined variables and functions.

Yes, you can call both methods and functions/procedures, regardless of the language they are written in.

In ObjectScript:

 do Procedure^BasicRoutine()
 do ##class(MyClass).BasicClassMethod()

In Caché Basic:

Procedure@ObjectScriptRoutine()
"MyClass".ObjectScriptMethod()

This is correct behavior; the Basic language defines this functionality. The scope of all variables is limited to the procedure or function where it was defined. Exceptions are variable names that start with the % symbol, such as %myvar.

Available conversion functions are: DateConvert(), TimeConvert(), and DateTimeConvert(). For example:

myDate = "07/15/2002"
println DateConvert(myDate, vbToInternal)   ' returns $H format
myHDate = 59000
println DateConvert(myHDate, vbToExternal)

No.

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