Chapter 23
Converting Visual Script to IDEAScript
Visual Script provides a convenient method for creating simple macros that you don't plan to customize in any way. Even though the result is quite simple, it does work. For some people, Visual Script is all they'll ever need because they aren't looking for anything complicated. However, you might start with Visual Script and find that it doesn't quite provide everything you need. When this happens, you can always convert your Visual Script macro to an IDEAScript macro, then add the customizations you require using the techniques described in this book. The following sections tell you how to convert a Visual Script macro to an IDEAScript macro so that you can customize the result as needed.
Considering the Benefits of Using IDEAScript
Visual Script is a good way to start scripting, but if you're like most people, you'll eventually want more. IDEAScript can perform just about any task that you can imagine and probably a bit more. There are some significant benefits to moving from Visual Script to IDEAScript:
- Flexibility: IDEAScript lets you control precisely how the task is performed.
- Forms: Obtaining information from the user is important for many tasks. Using forms makes it possible to do more with the application.
- External Application Access: In many cases, you must interact with other applications to complete a task. IDEAScript makes it significantly easier to work with other applications.
- Data Manipulation: Sometimes data doesn't ...
