Documentation forKiwi Syslog Server NG

Scripting dictionaries

This documentation is for legacy Kiwi Syslog Server versions 9.8.2 and older.

When you write scripts, you can use the dictionaries collection to create named dictionaries that store data key and item pairs. The data stored in these dictionaries exists for the lifetime of the application. Dictionaries have the same scope as the VarGlobal variables in the Fields namespace.

A named Dictionary is the equivalent of a PERL associative array. Dictionaries store items (data) in the array and each item is associated with a unique key.

The key is used to retrieve an individual item and can be anything except an array, such as an integer or string.

Find dictionary methods and properties through the dictionaries namespace.

Built in functions of the Dictionaries object

StoreItem(dicName As String, dicKey As String, dicItem As Variant)

The StoreItem function stores a key and item pair to a named dictionary.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary. If dicName does not exist, it is created.
dicKey Required

The key associated with the stored item. If dicKey does not exist, is

created.

dicItem Required The item associated with the stored key.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.StoreItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName", "MyItemValue")

AddItem(dicName As String, dicKey As String, dicItem As Variant)

The AddItem function stores a key and item pair to a named dictionary. A script error occurs if the key dicKey already exists in the dictionary dicName.

dicName

Required

The name of the dictionary. If dicName does not exist, it is created.
dicKey Required The key associated with the item added.
dicItem Required The item associated with the key added.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.AddItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName", "MyItemValue")

The .AddItem() and .UpdateItem() have been supplanted by the .StoreItem() function as of Kiwi Syslog Server version 8.1.4. However, to ensure backwards compatibility the usage of .AddItem() and .UpdateItem() will continue to be supported.

UpdateItem(dicName As String, dicKey As String, dicItem As Variant)

The UpdateItem function updates the item associated with key dicKey to the value in dicItem. Only the dictionary dicName is affected. A script error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist, or if the key dicKey does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.
dicKey Required The key associated with the item updated.
dicItem Required The new item to be updated.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.UpdateItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName", "MyNewItemValue")

RemoveItem(dicName As String, dicKey As String)

The RemoveItem function removes a key and item pair from the dictionary dicName. A script error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist, or if the key dicKey does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.
dicKey Required The key associated with the item removed.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.RemoveItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName")

RemoveAll(dicName As String)

The RemoveAll function removes all key and item pairs from the dictionary dicName. A script error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary removed.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.RemoveAll("MyDictionary")

Delete(dicName As String)

The Delete function deletes the entire dictionary dicName. A script error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required

The name of the dictionary being deleted.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.RemoveItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName")

DeleteAll

The DeleteAll function deletes all dictionaries.

Example syntax: Call Dictionaries.DeleteAll()

GetItemCount(dicName As String) As Long

The GetItemCount function returns the number of items in the dictionary dicName. A script error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.

Example syntax: ItemCount = Dictionaries.GetItemCount("MyDictionary")

GetItem(dicName As String, dicKey As String) As Variant

The GetItem function returns an item for a specified key dicKey in the dictionary dicName. An error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist, or if the key dicKey does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.
dicKey Required

The key associated with the item fetched.

Example syntax: MyItem = Dictionaries.GetItem("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName")

ItemExists(dicName As String, dicKey As String) As Boolean

The ItemExists property returns True if the specified key dicKey exists in the dictionary dicName. An error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.
dicKey Required The key associated with the item fetched.

Example syntax: If Dictionaries.ItemExists("MyDictionary", "MyKeyName") Then
...
End If

GetKeys(dicName As String) As Variant

The GetKeys property returns an array containing the keys in the dictionary dicName. An error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.

Example syntax: MyKeyArray = Dictionaries.GetKeys("MyDictionary")
For i = 0 to UBound(MyKeyArray)
ThisKey = MyKeyArray(i)
...
Next

GetItems(dicName As String) As Variant

The GetItems property returns an array containing the items in the dictionary dicName. An error occurs if the dictionary dicName does not exist.

dicName Required The name of the dictionary.

Example syntax:
MyItemArray = Dictionaries.GetItems("MyDictionary")
For i = 0 to UBound(MyItemArray)
ThisItem = MyItemArray(i)
...
Next

Error Reference

The following table lists and provides a brief explanation of some of the common errors you may receive when attempting to execute each function.

Function Name Error Description
GetName() Script Error executing .GetName() - Dictionary does not exist
Delete() Script Error executing .Delete() - Dictionary [x] does not exist
AddItem() Script Error executing .AddItem() - Dictionary Key [x] already exists in dictionary [y]
UpdateItem()

Script Error executing .UpdateItem() - Dictionary Key [x] does not exist in dictionary [y]

Script Error executing .UpdateItem() - Dictionary [x] does not exist

RemoveItem()

Script Error executing .RemoveItem() - Dictionary Key [x] does not exist in dictionary [y]

Script Error executing .RemoveItem() - Dictionary [x] does not exist

RemoveAllItems() Script Error executing .RemoveAllItems() - Dictionary [x] does not exist
GetItemCount() Script Error executing .GetItemCount() - Dictionary [x] does not exist
GetItems() Script Error executing .GetItems() - Dictionary [x] does not exist
GetKeys() Script Error executing .GetKeys() - Dictionary [x] does not exist
GetItem()

Script Error executing .GetItem() - Dictionary Key [x] does not exist in dictionary [y]

Script Error executing .GetItem() - Dictionary [x] does not exist

ItemExists() Script Error executing .ItemExists() - Dictionary [x] does not exist