Script Tips

Seven of our favourite script tips - some old, some new, some borrowed.

Range operator

Quickly create a list of items representing a contiguous range.

$grades = 'A'..'F'    # A, B, C, D, E, F
$months = 1..12       # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Negative Index

Get elements from the end of the list instead of the start by counting back eg -1, -2...

$queue = ['Alice', 'Bob', 'James']
$last = $queue.get($queue.size - 1)    # James
$last = $queue.-1                      # also James

Like operator

Checks for a partial text match (as opposed to the == operator which is exact)

'Salesforce.com' like '%force.com'    # true

Optional parentheses

Not needed when the method has no parameters.

$length  = 'hello'.length()    # this works
$length  = 'hello'.length      # this also works

Ternary operator

Shorthand for condition { value_if_true } else { value_if_false }

$jackpot = $prize > 10000 ? 'big' : 'small'

Template

Combine text and data without the distraction of operators and formulas.

$concat = 'Hello' + ' ' + {!FirstName} + ' ' + {!LastName}    # quoted text
$template = `Hello {!FirstName} {!LastName}`                  # template text

Choice method

The choice method picks a friendly label for 0 items, 1 item, or 2+ items, based on the argument:

# Your cart contains 3 items
$items = ['Pens', 'Staples', 'Toner']
$message = `Your cart contains $items.choice('no items', 'one item', '% items')`Try

In this example $items references the list. The % symbol represents the items count.