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The last installment went through all the other tabs on PrimalScript 2012’s new ribbon interface. Today we explore some really small new feature. But sometimes it is the small things that make a difference. Many versions ago we added a “Go to Declaration” to the editor’s context menu. Right click on any function or variable and select that and PrimalScript will take you there. So this time around we added the corresponding function going the other way: “Find all references”. This will search your current file for all occurrences and list them in the search results window. Unless your script…   More »

Last time we looked at the new code navigator on top of the source code views in PrimalScript 2012. Today we’ll have a look at the other tabs on the new ribbon interface. There are four additional tabs that are always available: View This is the place where you can show or hide all the secondary windows, or things you switched of by accident. Most items are pretty self-explanatory. The Debug console only applies to PowerShell, so don’t expect that to be available when  you are debugging VBScript. ‘Call Stack’, ‘Variables’ and ‘Watch’ become visible automatically when you start debugging,…   More »

New versions of PrimalScript, PowerShell Studio, PrimalSQL, PrimalXML, PrimalForms and ChangeVue are available. Registered users can download the latest service builds from MySAPIEN. Release Notes: 2012 Versions: PrimalScript 2012 v6.5.125 - VBScript debugger fails on 32 bit only machines- "Search again" renamed to "Repeat last search"- Encoding displayed for embedded VBScript file in WSF- Erroneous SaveAs dialog when closing embedded script without saving- "Toggle outline" not available or functional  on last line of region- Cursor moves to a wrong place when inserting a multi-line snippet- Change marker is moving with inserted empty lines- Opening an embedded file shows all lines…   More »

Last time we told you about some new debugger features in PrimalScript 2012. And you already know all about the new Ribbon user interface this new version sports. One thing that we were really focused about in this version was to make navigating your code easier. Since there is no “PrimalSense” toolbar anymore the method combo box that enabled you to jump between functions needed to find a new home. If you load a file into PrimalScript 2012 you will notice the two new combo boxes on top of the edit window: The right-hand combo box serves as an indicator…   More »

VBScript users have told me on occasion that they are really jealous of one feature of PowerShell: Write-Debug Depending on the value of $DebugPreference this produces output when needed but makes it easy to silence diagnostic output once a script moves to production. VBScript and JScript developers have to sprinkle WScript.Echo calls through their code and then go and comment them out before handing the script off. In a large script with hundreds or even thousands of lines that can be a daunting and error prone task. You don't want to disable real output and not forget any diagnostic output.…   More »

As promised last time we take a look at the new version of the Object Browser in PrimalScript 2012. As soon as you click on the PowerShell node you will notice two things: It opens a LOT faster. PrimalScript 2012 loads its information from a cache rather than instantiating a slow starting copy of PowerShell. This will actually come in handy in other aspects, which we will cover later. You see a 32 bit and a 64 bit node. While PrimalScript 2011 already supported both platforms in almost every aspect, the PowerShell browser was a strictly 32 bit affair. Not…   More »

We get that question all the time. Before we start, please note that we do not advise to ever put credentials as plain text into any kind of code. Use encrypted strings, store encrypted credentials in files or, if all else fails, prompt. Now, having said that we all know that sometimes schedules and pressure from “above” forces you to do things you normally wouldn’t do. So for the sake of argument we have created a variety of executables which use SUPERADMINUSER and SUPERSTRONGPASSWORD to run a WMI query on SUPERSECRETSERVER. We used VBScript PowerShell C# C++ Obviously all of…   More »

In the last post we completed our look at the Home tab of PrimalScript 2012's new ribbon interface. In this installment we will examine the File menu. Located to the left of the Home tab, the "File" tab doesn't reveal another ribbon tab but rather opens what is commonly called a "backstage view" This menu includes full sized views as well as regular menu topic which usually open secondary dialogs if selected. By default this view opens to the Recent file lists, which offer a new feature in 2012. Users who have used PrimalScript's start page are familiar with the…   More »

So far we introduced you to the PrimalScript 2012 Ribbon interface and the first 4 categories in the Home tab. Today we take a closer look at the remaining 4 items.   Platform The platform selector lets you choose between 32 and 64 bit, provided you are running a 64 bit operating system. Otherwise it is quite obviously nailed to 32 bit and won't do anything. It determines the platform you want to use for executing and debugging scripts. So if you have 32 bit VBScripts and 64 bit PowerShell script, here is where you change the target.STA (Single Thread…   More »

Last time we introduced you to the PrimalScript 2012 Ribbon interface. Today we take a closer look at the Home tab, which is the default tab visible and, if we got it right, on which you will spend most of your time. The Home tab has 8 categories. Four of those we will examine a bit closer today. Clipboard This category is a standard in virtually all Ribbon interface applications. Cut, Copy, Paste and Erase shouldn't need any explanation. The little arrow on the Copy topic gives you access to the "Append" topic which adds the current selection to the…   More »