Commenting

Q-SYS Control 101 Training : Scripting Basics

1 ) Introduction

8m 37s

3 ) Simple Communication

12m 49s

4 ) Feature License Activation

4m 12s

5 ) Block Controller

19m 7s

7 ) Flow Control

34m 20s

8 ) Control 101 Conclusion

1m 42s

Lesson Description

Commenting 4m 4s

Use the Commenting tool to leave organizational and instructional notes within your Lua script or Block Controller.

Video Transcript

Commenting 4m 4s
0:08
Let’s start our scripting lessons with commenting. As you start writing code, you’ll often
0:13
discover the desire to leave notes within that code. These are called comments, and you can leave
0:19
comments within the code about anything you want. This might be for your own organizational
0:24
purposes to label different sections, or you might use it to include instructions to other users who
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might look at your code later on. These comments – HEY! Different kind of comments, come on get
0:35
back up here. A comment in code could be defined as information that is only intended for human
0:42
eyes, and gets ignored by the compiler. Basically, it has no effect whatsoever on the script.
0:48
First let’s look at Lua. To create a comment, simply type in two dashes. Anything you type after this
0:55
point will be considered a comment, and its color changes green to denote this. This comment is
1:01
specifically called a line comment, because it only comments out the line that you’re on.
1:06
When you proceed to the next code line, the script is grey again.
1:10
If you wanted to add multiple lines of comments, you could enter another double-dash, or you could
1:15
instead choose to use a “mutli-line” comment. To create a multi-line comment, you can add two
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dashes, and then two open brackets. This will comment everything that follows, across as many code
1:27
lines as you wish until you end that comment with two closed brackets followed by two more dashes.
1:33
There is one slight anomaly in using this multi-line comment – what if, within your comment, you
1:39
need to include two closed brackets for some reason? You wouldn’t want to end the comment early
1:44
by including this in the text.
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In this case, you could alter the double-brackets you’ve used to start your comment by adding an
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equal sign between them, which basically changes the type of bookend you’re using to mark your
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comment’s end points. You would then use this same symbol to close the multi-line
2:02
comment later on.
2:04
You could use this same idea with a double- or triple- equal sign if you needed additional layers of
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unique bookends. This may seem extreme for something as simple as leaving comments, but
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knowing about it now will help later on when we talk about some other ways of manipulating
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strings. But for most cases, a simple double-dash will be all the comment you need,
2:25
or the traditional multi-line comment.
2:27
Switching over to the Block Controller, you can add a comment by looking in the System category,
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and adding this block here. It clearly states “A comment for this block,” and you could then type your
2:39
comment into the text area.
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Alternatively, you could build a comment directly into most blocks by right-clicking on the block and
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selecting “Show Comment”. This embeds a Comment block into the top of the block, letting you use
2:53
this for titling, instructions, etc..
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And if you navigate to the Lua tab, you can see that these comments are being created using the
3:02
same double-dash we just learned about, or even the double-bracket version for the comment block.
3:08
These comments may not appear green on this screen, but don’t forget that this white script page
3:14
cannot be edited. If you were to Convert your blocks to an editable scripting screen, then you’ll see
3:21
these comments as green type.
3:23
If you want to add comments to your Control Components, it’s as simple as adding labels!
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If you were to use the Graphic Tools, you could add a Text Block, a Header, or a Group Box,
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which are all fine ways of labelling your design or giving instructions
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to someone else who’s looking at it.
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You could also rename any of your Control Components just by selecting the component and typing a
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new name, which could be a good way to describe its function – which is,
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in essence, leaving a comment.
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Go ahead and do a quick exercise with comments in the Control Worksheet,
3:58
and then move on to the next video.