How do I pass a value back to the calling script

Eggplant Functional
1

Question: How can I call a script in a different suite and return a value from that other suite back to the main runner.script and use it as a parameter while calling a script in a third suite from the primary bat.suite?

The issue seems to be that I don’t know how to bring back from the second script and access the value in the main runner script.

I have three suites: my bat.suite, lib.suite and reference.suite

In the three suites I use these three scripts. I open the suites and have access to the scripts.

There are three scripts I run.
runner.script -bat.suite
utils.script - lib.suite
tools.script. - reference.suite

In bat.Runner.script I call lib.utils.sendReceive with a parameter myTimeOut
Then lib.utils.sendReceive records how long outlook takes for a send/receive and puts that info into a property called sndRcvTime

Goal: In my bat.Runner Script I want to call reference.tools.email and pass it sndRcvTime (from lib.utils.sendReceive) and also pass reference.tools.email some other properties which are in the bat.runner.script

Thanks
-Tom

2

A quick question: Are these entire scripts you are calling, or handlers/functions you’re calling from within specific scripts? I don’t think there’s a difference (SenseTalkDoug will correct me if I’m wrong), so hopefully this (untested) solution will work. First, add a return statement to each of the scripts you call:

//other script stuff...
return sndRcvTime

This will ensure that “the result” has the right value.

Next, modify how you call your other script:

lib.utils.sendReceive param,param, param
put the result into someVar

Now you should be able to pass that on as a parameter.

As an aside question to Doug or Matt or Ellissin, could that be shortened onto one line?

email (the result of myScript param), someOtherParameter
3

Sure. To simplify it a bit and avoid having to use “the result” function to access the value, just call the other script as a function, something like this:

put utils.sendReceive() into someVar

Note that to be able to easily call a script in another suite, you should insert that suite into either the initialSuites (checked before the current suite) or the finalSuites (checked after the current suite – this is more often what you want).

So for what manradion asked for (and doing both calls on the same line), it might be done like this (in the runner script in the bat suite):

insert "/path/to/lib.suite" into the finalSuites
insert "/path/to/reference.suite" into the finalSuites

tools.email utils.sendReceive(myTimeout), anotherParam
4

I’m new, I’m thinking that these are handlers/functions inside scripts:

bat.runner.script

Properties
myTimeOut
end Properties

OpenSuite "lib.suite
OpenSuite "reference.suite

run lib.utils.sendReceive myTimeOut

lib.utils.script

to sendReceive myTimeOut
put the time into startTime
TypeText “F9”
WaitFor myTimeOut (“Send and Receive Complete”)
put the time - startTime into SndRcvTime
end sendReceive

5

Looks like we both posted at once… :wink:

You’re getting close. As Allen mentioned, you need to return a value from the sendReceive handler in the utils script, so add this line right before the “end sendReceive” line:

return SndRcvTime

Then call it as I showed in my last post.

BTW, your script uses OpenSuite, which is fine. However, I generally suggest inserting suites into the finalSuites instead, which is a newer, more flexible mechanism that was added in order to overcome some limitations that were present in the older OpenSuite/CloseSuite commands.

6

It is actually messier.

bat.runner.script

calls lib.utils.initialSndRcv myTimeOut

lib.utils.initalSndRcv myTimeOut
Calls lib.utils.sendRevieve myTimeOut

and lib.utils.sendReceive myTimeOut
generates sndRcvtime

What is preferred method to bring lib.utils.sendReveive value sndRcvTime back to bat.runner.script?

7

Well, it’s just one more step in that case:

(* utils.script *)

to initalSndRcv aTimeOut
    -- do stuff here
    put sendReceive(aTimeOut) into sendReceiveTime
    -- do more stuff, maybe
    return sendReceiveTime
end initialSndRcv

to sendRecieve aTimeOut
    -- do whatever processing here
    return SndRcvTime
end sendReceive

and then call initialSndRcv from your bat.script:

put initialSndRcv(myTimeOut) into someVar

Does that make it more clear?

8

Groovy, it all comes together
Thanks