10.9 Running .net files in script mode

When you create a visual program using the User Interface, the .net file saved is a script, so you can run it in script mode. (User Interface-specific information, such as placement of tools on the canvas, is saved as comments in the script.) If you have a sequencer in your visual program, the User Interface adds a "play" command as the last line of the .net file. Thus you can edit this line out and add your own options if you want to do something other than play forward through the sequence once (see "Sequencer"). If you do not have a sequencer in your visual program, the User Interface adds a call to "main()", the main macro which is defined to be your top level visual program. If you do not want the program to automatically execute when you read it in as a script, remove or comment out the call to "main()".

If your visual program uses macros, the user interface will add an "include" line so that the macros will be included when the visual program is run as a script. You can look at the top of the .net file to see which macros are referenced by the program. Thus if you need to send a collection of visual programs and macros to another person, this can help you to make sure you have sent all the necessary tools.

It is possible to pass in script commands from the command line without making the user use shell scripting tricks or build temp script files. This is done with the -scriptcmd command line option. For example:

   dx -script script_macros.scr -scriptcmd "MyMacro(value1,value2)"

   dx -scriptcmd 'data = Import("junk"); Print(data);'