JudoScript Language Version 0.9 Release Note

1. Install and Run
2. Release Notes
3. Changes
4. Documentation and Examples
5. Report Bugs and Feedbacks
6. Copyright and Warranty Notice
7. Acknowledgement

Now that you are reading this page, you have successfully obtained the software and have it unpacked. Check the following list before run any JudoScript programs:

1. Your JVM version must be JDK 1.3 or equivalent or highter. Better to use JDK 1.4 or equivalent or higher.
2. Put file judo.jar in your JVM's class path.
3. If you intend to use Windows COM and/or registry scripting, make sure the jcom.dll and/or ICE_JNIRegistry.dll are in the path!
4. If you intend to use JDBC, make sure the JDBC driver classes for your database is in the class path.
5. If you intend to use XML features, make sure a Java XML parser is in the class path. We recommend Apache Xerces parser, available from Apache's site. For JDK 1.4 users, a XML parser is already included; Xerces may still be preferrable for advanced XML features. Just make sure Xerces class files are before JDK classes.
6. If you intend to send e-mail, make sure javax.mail.* classes are in your class path. The JavaMail package can be downloaded from JavaSoft's site. It is also part of J2EE.
7. If you intend to use Ant task scripting, you need to need ant.jar from Apache.
8. If you intend to use JUSP to develop web sites, register the servlet class com.judoscript.jusp.JuspServlet to your servlet engine and provide a juspRoot init parameter that serves as the root directory for all JUSP pages. If it is not specified, JUSP pages are resolved the same way as other web pages.
9. To use the SSH and SCP features, the MindTerm/SSH package must be downloaded and installed.

Changes for 0.9 are mainly directed towards ECMAScript compatibility. There are incompatible syntactic changes but hopefully acceptable to current users.

• [2005-5-1] Added exponential operator **.
• [2005-5-1] Added getOne() method to the Set.
• [2005-4-6] Added `..` and ``..`` expression to take shell executable output as string or array.
• [2005-4-6] Added openSocket(), pushd() and popd() functions.
• [2005-4-6] String literals can be used directly to call their methods.
• [2005-4-6] The loadProperties() function can optionally evaluate ${} tags in the values with corresponding key values.
• [2005-4-6] Added these methods to String: chomp(), replaceTags(), linesToArray() and writeToZip().
• [2005-4-6] Support for (x, y, ..) = array; and var (x, y, ..) = array;
• [2005-4-6] Added "copy .. into .. as .." for single file archiving.
• [2005-3-11] Support /xxx options for exec. Added "asis" option not to convert command line and env var values to OS style.
• [2005-3-11] eval, evalFile, evalSeparate and evalFileSeparate now takes parameters.
• [2005-2-23] The JuSP Platform!
• [2005-2-23] Added robust logging, using Jakarta's commons-logging package.
• [2005-2-23] Added embedded function declartion.
• [2005-2-23] Added function annotation, which is programmatically available via $$annotation
• [2005-2-23] Added function context access via $$context.
• [2005-2-23] Added these pragmas: !pragma undefinedAccessPolicy and !pragma assertAs.
• [2005-2-23] Added the copy operator := for maps, arrays, sets and lists.
• [2005-1-30] Added Hibernate ORM/HQL support.
• [2004-11-27] Added wsdl:: operator and support for SOAP web service scripting!
• [2004-11-14] Added do .. as jsp statement.
• [2004-11-14] Added saveProperties system function.
• [2004-11-14] In copy command, added a dupOk option to allow duplicate entries copied from multiple file sets into a single archive.
• [2004-11-9] For the simple values, added splitWithMatches() and splitWithMatchesOnly() and writeToFile() methods, and improved startsWith(), endsWith() and trim() methods.
• [2004-11-9] In listFiles command, option fileOnly is now default. To show directories as well, specify showDir option.
• [2004-11-3] Use db:: namespace for all SQL scripting statements.
• [2004-11-3] Use mail:: namespace for mail statements/functions: mail::connect, mail::send (instead of sendMail) and mail::disconnect.
• [2004-11-3] Use new com:: to obtain ActiveX controls.
• [2004-11-3] Use gui::events instead of guiEvents.
• [2004-11-3] Change eval/evalExternal/evalFile to systems functions and become eval, evalFile, evalSeparate and evalFileSeparate. The latter two commands return the exit values.
• [2004-11-3] Change SGML/XML events to be prefixed with ":", to reduce reserved words.
• [2004-09-22] Support named bind parameters within prepared SQL statements!
• [2004-09-22] Allow name-value pair initialization of new java.util.Map instances, and allow dots in keys in Object and java.util.Map initialization.
• [2004-09-22] Add addToClasspath and limit clause to the listFiles command.
• [2004-09-22] Support closure-like syntax for annonymous function declaration.
• [2004-09-12] Greatly enhanced listFiles, so that this command not only finds and return files, but also a generic file processing statement. For each selected file, you can also choose to do remove, setFileTime, setReadOnly, or apply O.S. commands via the exec clause, or do any processing with a block of code, where $_ represents the file. Consequently, a number of file processing commands, such as remove, chmod, chgrp, chown, setFileTime and setReadOnly have be removed. Also, the transform clause in copy has been removed as well.
• [2004-09-12] Now $_ can be used in string literals directly just like ${xxx}.
• [2004-08-14] Enhanced Java interface adapter, so that you can do like this:

  a = new java::MouseListener, WindowListener, KeyListener {
    .... // The body is same as Java-extension class.
  };
  

• [2004-08-14] Added #classpath and user classpath support.
• [2004-08-14] exec by default runs synchronously. To run asynchronously, use this syntax:

  exec && cmdline;
  

• [2004-07-30] Ant task scripting support. Any Ant action tasks can be specified with this syntax:

  anttask::<echo message="Hello, ${var}!"/>
  anttask::<echo>
   Hello, ${var}!
  </echo>
  

• [2004-07-30] Have a native <judoscript> tag for Ant build scripts. Enhanced ${} operator to take names with dots. ${} searches for variables first; if not found, it tries the system properties. This feature is mainly for use in Ant build scripts.
• [2004-07-30] Use predefined #sysprops to get and set system properties.
• [2004-07-14] The list command has been replaced by listFiles! The listPrint command has been replaced by listPrintFiles!
• [2004-07-14] The regex() system function has been deprecated (but not removed); use an array of two elements if regex mode is needed and simply pass it to String's regex methods.
• [2004-07-14] The dynamic function parameters with an array is changed to use {{ }} instead of { }, as { } is also used to initialize an Object which can be passed as a parameter as well. So now,

  params = [ 1, 2, 4 ];
  foo({{params}});
  

  instead of

  params = [ 1, 2, 4 ];
  foo({params});
  

• [2004-06-20] The preparedExecuteQuery, preparedExecuteUpdate, preparedExecuteQueryCall and preparedExecuteUpdateCall have all been deprecated and replaced by the counterparts without prepared prefix.
• [2004-06-20] Syntax for using Java has been improved by treating Java classes as a special namespace; also supports the Java-like import mechanism. The old way is deprecated but is kept for backward compatibility for now. The following are examples of the new way:

  a = new java::Hashtable;
  b = new java::int[4];
  c = java::Map;
  
  class MyClass extends java::HashMap { ... }
  

  where the old way is:

  a = javanew java.util.Hashtable;
  b = javanew int[4];
  c = javaclass java.util.Map;
  
  class MyClass extendsjava HashMap { ... }
  

• Syntax for array, struct and set initialization has been changed! The following are examples of the new initialization syntax:

  a = [ 1, 'abc', Date(2003,6,26) ]; // array
  a = new Array(); // same as a = new array;
  a = Set [ 1, 'abc', Date(2003,6,26) ]; // set
  a = new Set( 1, 'abc', Date(2003,6,26) ); 
  a = { name : 'James Huang', 'last name' : 'Huang' }; // struct
  a = new Object(); // same as a = new struct;
  

  where the old way is:

  a = { 1, 'abc', Date(2003,6,26) }; // array
  a = new Struct ( name : 'James Huang', 'last name' : 'Huang' );
  

  Hence, the new syntax is [] for array literals and {} for struct.
• The + operator has changed meaning! It is also used for string concatenation. This means the string values are not converted to numbers automatically in arithmic expressions. The @ operator is still available as explicit string concatenation.
• Added NaN (Not-a-Number) and Infinity values. There are also MAX_VALUE and MIN_VALUE for nubmers.
• Function reference calls have been simplified. The -> is still available but is not necessary any more. For foo(), it looks for the function named foo first; if not found, JudoScript tries to resolve the name from the variable foo for a function reference. If -> operator is used, it will explicitly use function reference.
• Built-in object names have the first letter capitalized. They become Struct, Array, TableData, Set, etc. The old names are still available but not recommended.
• The Struct is deprecated and becomes Object.
• The for-in for struct and java.util.Map iterates through the keys.
• Tim Endre's Windows Registry package is bundled with software.
• Example library has been re-tested and updated, and documentation, including articles, are updated for the new features.

Changes for 0.8a and 0.8:

1. JudoScript supports ActiveX scripting!
2. JudoScript supports Java extension classes, that is, you can extend Java classes and interfaces. Because of this, the embedded Java class and adapter mechanisms are deprecated.
3. JudoScript supports variables embedded inside string literals with ${Xyz}. They can be used individually as well. If a variable named Xyz exists, its value is taken, otherwise, the environment variable with that name, if exists, is retrieved. There are also a number of predefined shortcuts, such as ${~} for home directory, ${.} for the current directory, ${:} for path separator and ${/} for file separator.
4. JudoScript now uses an easy way to consistently document scripts with its usage mechanism.

Changes for 0.7:

1. Documentation has been completely re-written, accompanying the overall code review and functionality finalization. There are still a few areas need be finished, but it is much better than the older version under the title Language Specification.
2. Variable names no longer need to start with $! Dollar signs in variable names make an immeidate false impression that JudoScript is somewhat like some archaic language, which is unfortunate. However, it does segregate the name spaces for variables, object data members and function names. Now that dollar sign is not required to start variable names, they all fall in the same name space and can potentially clash. This causes two problems in terms of the syntax:
   • Class data member and variables:

     class Foo {
       function bar { aData = 'abcde'; }
     }

     Is aData a local variable or a data member of class Foo? It is resolved to be a variable if already exists (not available in this example), or a data member if the variable did not exist but the data member does, or as a new variable if not variable nor data member exist at the moment. To ensure it is a data member, use the this modifier to reference a data member inside a class method: this.aData = 'abcde';
   • Function variables. In the case of a(), say, it is not clear whether a is a function name or a variable that holds a reference to a function. JudoScript chooses to interpret it as a function name. To invoke a function reference, use this new notation: a->(). This applies to class data members as well: obj.a->(), whereas obj.a() invokes the object's method. If the function reference is stored in an array, however, this notation is not needed: arr[i]().
3. Changed the way static Java member usage, e.g.
   java.lang.System::out.println('hello');
4. Changed function alias declarations for Java static methods, e.g.
   function rt for java.lang.Runtime::getRuntime();
5. Added "sgml" as a synonym to "html".
6. Added "do ... as lines" statement.
7. String contains() method also works with regex's.
8. Added "hsqldb" and "pointbase" to the known JDBC driver list.
9. Added <!--> as a separate case than <!>; <!> includes <!--> only if the latter is not handled.
10. UserDefined, added method "copy(UserDefined)".
11. Added isA() method to all value objects.
12. Added "isOdd" and "isEven" user methods to values.
13. Added "fmt/formatRoman" and "parseIntRoman" user methods to numeric values.
14. Added "isAlpha/isLetter", "isAlnum/isLetterOrDigit" and "isWhite/isWhitespace" user methods to character values.
15. Added "exists" user methods to array.
16. Added "createTreeOutput" system method.
17. Added "ear" and "war" in addition to "jar" for FS commands.

  java judo -x . versionInfo()