Script Collection

How to use the Script Collection robot skill

The Script Collection robot skill lets you keep many scripts together in a single robot skill window instead of filling your workspace with a separate Script skill for every routine.

Each script has its own name, Run/Stop controls, and independent executor. Scripts can run at the same time and can be started, stopped, or queried by name from anywhere else in the project.

Use Script Collection when your robot has a group of related routines, such as:

• Demo routines
• Startup sequences
• Behaviors
• Movement sequences
• Scripts for a specific limb or mechanism

Use the regular Script robot skill when a script is important enough to have its own dedicated window.

The Window

Each script appears in the collection with its own controls and status.

• Run / Stop - Starts or stops the script. The button is green when ready, red while running, and amber when the script is empty.
• Last Run Status - Shows how long the previous execution took and whether an error occurred.
• Run All / Stop All - Starts or stops scripts across the entire collection. The window also displays how many scripts are currently running.
• Log - A shared output log for every script. Each line is prefixed with the name of the script that generated it.

A script's description is also displayed as its tooltip in the window.

Configuration

Each script in the collection has the following settings:

The configuration lists the scripts on the left, grouped the same way the robot skill window groups them, and edits the selected script on the right. The list shows each script's language (JS, PY or BL, or a dashed tag when the script has no code yet), a lightning icon for a script that starts on project load, and a warning icon for a script whose name is missing or shared with another script. Type in the filter box to narrow the list by name, group or description, and use the + button to add a script to the group you are looking at. The editor shows the first lines of the script's code, so you can tell scripts apart without opening the script editor.

Use the arrow buttons at the top of a script to move it up or down (within its group when Group Scripts is on), the copy button to duplicate a script and its code, and the delete button to remove it. The collection's own settings are under Collection options at the top of the list.

The Script Collection itself also has several settings:

The configuration dialog cannot be opened while a script in the collection is running. If configuration is blocked, the message identifies the scripts that are still active.

Saving the configuration rebuilds all script executors so the updated scripts and settings are used the next time they run.

The Window tab sets the robot skill's window title, its size on the workspace and notes about what it does in this project.

Custom UI Widgets

Script Collection provides two widgets for the ARCx Custom UI designer under Workspaces Custom UI.

Script Button

Displays a single button that starts and stops a specific script.

Settings:

• Script - The name of the script controlled by the button.
• Caption - Text displayed on the button. Leave this empty to automatically use the script's name.

Script List

Displays scripts from the collection as a list of Run/Stop buttons.

Settings:

• Group - Displays only scripts belonging to the specified group. Leave empty to display every script.
• ShowStopAll - Displays a button for stopping all running scripts.

Both widgets reflect the same live state as the Script Collection window. For example, if a script is running, its button appears as running everywhere it is displayed.

Stopping and Threads

Each script has its own executor, allowing Script Collection to manage multiple scripts independently.

• Run starts a script on its own thread, leaving the Script Collection window and other scripts responsive.
• Multiple scripts in the same collection can run simultaneously unless Run One Script At A Time is enabled.
• A script started using StartWait runs on the caller's thread and blocks the caller until it finishes.
• If the calling script is stopped while using StartWait, cancellation is passed to the script being executed.
• Calling halt() from inside a script stops that script.
• Pressing ARCx's global Panic button stops every running script in the collection unless Stop All On Panic is disabled.
• Removing the Script Collection robot skill or loading another project disposes every executor and stops all scripts in the collection.

Each script also appears in ARCx's Script Manager using the following format:

<window title> - <script name>

This makes it possible to locate and stop an individual script from Script Manager if necessary.

Troubleshooting

See Also

• Script robot skill - Use when a single script should have its own dedicated robot skill window.
• Script Manager - Displays every running script in the project and allows individual scripts to be inspected or stopped.
• Control Command Cheat Sheet - Lists the Control Commands available throughout the project with syntax ready to paste into a script.

Control Commands for the Script Collection robot skill

There are Control Commands available for this robot skill which allows the skill to be controlled programmatically from scripts or other robot skills. These commands enable you to automate actions, respond to sensor inputs, and integrate the robot skill with other systems or custom interfaces. If you're new to the concept of Control Commands, we have a comprehensive manual available here that explains how to use them, provides examples to get you started and make the most of this powerful feature.

This robot skill has 4 control commands, listed below. Send them from a JavaScript or Python script, from Blockly, or from another robot skill.

The first value is always the window title, which is the name in the title bar of the robot skill on your workspace. It starts out as Script Collection, which is what every example below uses. If you rename the robot skill, or add a second copy of it to the project, use the title as it appears on that window instead.

ControlCommand() can be shortened to CC(), and both spellings work in JavaScript and in Python. The examples are JavaScript; Python is the same call, except that true and false are written True and False.

GetRunningCount

How many scripts of this collection are running right now.

Syntax

ControlCommand("Script Collection", "GetRunningCount")

Returns: Integer [-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647]

Example

var result = ControlCommand("Script Collection", "GetRunningCount");

GetScriptNames

The names of every script in this collection, which are the names the other commands take.

Syntax

ControlCommand("Script Collection", "GetScriptNames")

Returns: Array of String

Example

var result = ControlCommand("Script Collection", "GetScriptNames");

StartAll

Start every script of this collection that is not already running. Ignored when the collection is set to run only one script at a time.

Syntax

ControlCommand("Script Collection", "StartAll")

Returns: Boolean [true or false]

Example

var result = ControlCommand("Script Collection", "StartAll");

StopAll

Stop every running script of this collection.

Syntax

ControlCommand("Script Collection", "StopAll")

Returns: Boolean [true or false]

Example

var result = ControlCommand("Script Collection", "StopAll");

This list is read out of the robot skill itself each time its package is uploaded, so it matches the published version (v4).