Common API calls

This topic lists the basic building blocks from which you can create hooks.

Each API call is shown first in VBScript and then in Perl. The syntax uses an <object.><method> format.

In Perl, the current Entity object and Session object are predefined as entity and session (lowercase). For VBScript, the current Entity object is assumed and you do not need to explicitly identify it when calling its methods.

For more information, see the Compass API Reference.

API Call (VBScript/Perl)

Function

[entity.]GetSession $entity->GetSession

Gets the session, which is necessary to invoke many other APIs.

session.OutputDebugString $session->OutputDebugString

Outputs to the debug stream information that you can use for debugging your hook code or external application.

session.GetEntity $session->GetEntity

Retrieves a record from the database.

session.EditEntity $session->EditEntity

Edits a record retrieved from the database.

[entity.]SetFieldValue $entity->SetFieldValue

Assigns a value to a field.

[entity.]Validate $entity->Validate

Ensures that the data in a record is acceptable before the record is saved to the database.

[entity.]Commit $entity->Commit

Commits the record, including any edits, to the database.

[entity.]Revert $entity->Revert

Cancels the changes. A good method to use if validation fails and the record is not committed.

[entity.]GetFieldValue $entity->GetFieldValue

Retrieves the field info object for the specified field.

FieldInfo.GetValue $FieldInfo->GetValue

Retrieves the values of a field.

session.BuildQuery $session->BuildQuery

Builds a query.

QueryDef.BuildField $QueryDef->BuildField

Includes a field in a query result set.

QueryDef.BuildFilterOperator QueryFilterNode.BuildFilterOperator $QueryDef->BuildFilterOperator $QueryFilterNode->BuildFilter Operator

Builds a filter operator for a query such as "equal to" or "greater than."

QueryFilterNode.BuildFilter $QueryFilterNode->BuildFilter

Creates support for a complex query.

session.BuildResultSet $session->BuildResultSet

Creates the ResultSet object necessary to run a query.

ResultSet.Execute $ResultSet->Execute

Runs the query with the current ResultSet object.

ResultSet.MoveNext $ResultSet->MoveNext

Moves the cursor to the next record in the data set.

ResultSet.GetColumnValue $ResultSet->GetColumnValue

Retrieves the value in the column you specify of the current row.

session.GetUserLoginName $session->GetUserLoginName

Gets the user's login ID.

entity.Revert $entity->Revert

Discards any changes made to the Entity object. Do not use the Revert API to stop the current action from within a hook. This API is only for reverting an action that was explicitly started within a hook or script. If you must stop the current action, use the exception mechanisms of the scripting language to throw an exception or cause the action-validation hook to return "false."