Course Overview

This 3 day course, worth 21 CPD credits, will provide a thorough introduction to the programming language IDEAScript – an intrinsic part of IDEA. You will learn how to create and edit scripts, insert standard dialog and message boxes, handle arrays, design personalised dialog boxes and identify files in a directory.

Delegate Requirements

In order to get the most value from this course you should already be familiar with standard IDEA functionality, as per our CIDA Foundation Course. Some prior exposure to programming, scripting, or VBA would also be beneficial.

Training Scenarios

The emphasis is on practical exercises, based on real-world examples, to give hands-on experience of writing and debugging scripts.

IDEA Functionality Covered

Concentrating on matters directly related to scripting and automation, this course will cover how to use IDEAScript, the syntax (which is very similar to Visual Basic Script), and an insight into the underlying IDEA objects.

Recording a Script

• Script Recorder, Visual Script Editor, Planning
• Saving and running tasks
• Converting Visual script to IDEAScript
• IDEAScript Editor, code, building from history log, assigning scripts to the ribbon

Working with Scripts

• How to use constants and variables in scripts
• Understanding data types
• Refreshing file explorer and releasing objects
• Documenting scripts
• Customizing scripts
• Using message boxes and input boxes to communicate with the user
• Presenting decision points to and obtaining information from the user

Language Browser & IDEA Objects

• Using structures: control, repeating, looping, conditional, branching
• Functions and subroutines
• Array handling (to store lists of items, such as the field names needed for custom dialog boxes)
• Creating customized dialogue boxes using the Dialog Editor