How to execute a skill script at command line

Hi Harish,

SKILL can only be executed or run in an executable that has a SKILL interpreter built into it.  From the command line you can use skill for programs that only use core-SKILL functions, dbAccess for those that need to interact with the database, and virtuoso -nograph for all other programs.  Since you mention "widget", I'm assuming this is a GUI/graphical entity, in which case you will need the last of the above, since dbAccess and skill do not contain any GUI programming. In addition to the -nograph argument you will probably need to use the -replay argument to load and run a SKILL script.

Hopefully this answers your question?

Regards,

Lawrence.

 I have tried virtuoso -nograph -replay <skill file>, but this does not opening a widget, written in the skill file.

If I use virtuoso -replay <skillfile>, it is working fine, and opening my widget along with CIW.

The dbAccess <skillfile> also does not open widgets.

Is there any way to execute a skill code having widgets, at command line with out opening the CIW. 

Is there any alternate solution to this.

Thanks,

Harish

Hi Harish,

I presume that by 'widget' you mean a form or other GUI objects written in SKILL - the answer is No, you need the graphics to be available to do this, so -nograph is not what you want.  Likewise, as I mentioned earlier, skill and dbAccess have no graphical interfaces.

What are you trying to do?  Does it have to be done by a GUI, and does that have to be done using SKILL?

With more details we might be able to suggest alternatives.

Regards,

Lawrence.

 Hi,

I have written a skill code which creates a GUI object, and based on the inputs given to the GUI object, my skill code is executed. The skill code consists of db* commands.

So, my doubt is can we create a GUI object, with out opening the CIW window with -nograph option, and execute the skill code having db* commands.

Creating GUI with out opening CIW, and executing skill procedure is possible at a time ?

I think you got my problem now..

Thanks,

Harish

You have to have graphics if you use a GUI. -nograph will not work. You need the hi- functions.

Consider your architecture. You should actually have 3 levels of code:

1.  create and display the GUI

2. the form callback: This interprets the form and fields and calls the database operation function.

3. The database operation function. It is independent from the GUI and knows nothing about it. It is driven by the values of the arguments to the function. When executed as part of the form, the form callback reads the form fields, generates the database operation argument values and calls the function. When called from a script, the script figures out the argument values and then calls the function, no form involved.

It is not hard to refactor your code in this way. You already create the form. From your database operation function, separate the form analysis into a callback and the execution into its own function. Probably about 10 lines of code. The database operation function should not reference the form at all, everything should be passed through the arguments. The callback calls the database operation function with the arguments gathered from the form.

For the nonGUI script, the script figures out the arguments, and then calls the database operation function without the GUI or the callback.

By structuring your form/callback/functionality in this way, you increase your testability, you can run unit tests on the database operation function independently from the form and insert them into regression tests. It also improves maintainability, you can make changes with minimal impact. 

Ted

You could use "virtuoso -restore code.il -nographE". This will give you a text prompt (after the code has been loaded, assuming that it "finishes") and no CIW, but the graphics are still enabled - so any forms or windows opened will still appear.

Regards,

Andrew.