Getting Started with the Automation Engine Scripting Language

The Automation Engine, which is the backend of Automic Automation, provides a proprietary scripting language called the Automation Engine scripting language. You can use it in your scripts to automate a wide range of activities, execute arithmetic operations, add functional logic to executable objects, control and handle various processes, modify objects, and so on.

With the Automation Engine scripting language you expand the functionality of the Automic Web Interface with more sophisticated logic (loops, system variables, and so on). It follows the same principles as other languages such as DOS, Shell or Perl. If you are familiar with any other scripting language, learning the Automation Engine scripting language will be very easy for you.

The topics in this Getting Started section are an introduction to the Automation Engine scripting language. They are intended for object designers who want to add coded logic to the objects.

Important!

  • You need write (W) permissions to the objects where you want to include scripts and execute (E) permissions in the objects that your script starts.

  • The script interpreter does not run on the Agents; it runs on the Automation Engine server.

  • You can combine the Automation Engine scripting language language with regular scripting languages. If you do so, the Automation Engine scripting language is interpreted first and then the other codes.

This page includes the following:

Scope of this Getting Started Section

In the following topics, we outline the principles of the Automation Engine scripting language. This Getting Started section contains many links to the scripting guide that is located in the Using section of this documentation, and that explains those principles in detail. You can find the scripting guide here: Scripting and the Automation Engine Scripting Language.

What You Should Know Beforehand

Before you start with the Automation Engine scripting language, you should be familiar with the following concepts and actions:

  • You know the most important executable objects, such as Jobs and Workflows. You have created (without code) and executed them and understand how they work.

  • You are familiar with the execution stages that objects go through when they are executed.

    You can add code to your objects in various ways. One option is writing it on the object Process pages. Depending on which page you add it, the code is generated at different points in time. This has an important impact in the behavior of your objects.

    For more information, see Execution Stages, particularly Generation.

  • You are aware of the difference between the Generate task at activation time and Generate task at runtime setting that you configure on the Attributes page of your objects. This setting has an important impact on the time at which the script is generated.

    For more information, see:

Where You Can Write Scripts

You can add coded logic to your objects in various ways:

  • Process pages of executable objects

    All executable objects have a Process page. Jobs have a Pre Process and a Post Process page too. SAP and PeopleSoft Jobs have an additional Child Post Process page.

    The script that you write on the Pre Process page is generated before the script on the Process page, which in turn is generated before the script on the Post Process page.

    Again, it is important to understand what happens during the object execution stages and the implications of writing scripts on either of these pages.

    For more information about the various process pages, see Process Pages.

  • Script objects (SCRI)

    These are simple executable objects designed strictly for the purpose of storing code. You can reuse them repeatedly throughout the product. When Script objects are executed, their logic is processed by the script interpreter on the Automic Automation server and not on the Agent.

    For more information, see Scripts (SCRI).

  • Include objects (JOBI)

    These objects also store blocks of code. While Script objects are stand-alone objects that you can execute or insert in a Workflow or in a Schedule, Include objects simply store blocks of code that you can reuse. You embed Include object in other scripts, in their script editor.

    For more information, see Includes (JOBI).

You enter your code in the script editor available on the process pages, Script and Include objects. The script editor provides many useful functions that assist you when writing scripts and it provides context-sensitive help. For more information, see Working with the Script Editor.

Automation Engine Scripting Language Reference

You can find detailed descriptions of all script elements and many examples of how to use them in the Automation Engine Script Reference section of this documentation. These links lead you to the top-level topics, from where you can easily access the descriptions you need:

See also: