ActiveX

ActiveX( id String, forceNew Any)

id	CLSID or object title from the registry
forceNew	Try to create a new object
The constructor tries to connect the active object in a COM class. If there is no active object, it will try to create one with CoCreateInstance(). The constructor will throw an exception if the COM class does not implement the IDispatch interface. If you use a second parameter (of any value), a new COM object will always be created.

close( )

Closes the COM object and frees unused ActiveX libraries.

get( name String) returns Object

If a COM property ID is less than 255, it will appear as an automatic property of the JS object. Otherwise, use get() and set() to read and change property values. Recognized VARIANT types are BOOLEAN, INT4, DOUBLE, NULL, BSTR, IUnknown, and IDispatch.

set( name String, value Any) returns Object

If a COM property ID is less than 255, it will appear as an automatic property of the JS object. Otherwise, use get() and set() to read and change property values. The property must accept VARIANT types of BOOLEAN, INT4, DOUBLE, NULL, or BSTR.

toString( ) returns String

invokes the COM toString(...) method. If that function doesn't exist, it returns the property with index=0. idl file: [propget, id(0), helpstring("property toString")] HRESULT toString([out,retval] VARIANT *rv); implementation: STDMETHODIMP CFoo::get_whoami(VARIANT *rv) { rv->vt = VT_BSTR; rv->bstrVal = SysAllocString(L"[Foo object]"); return S_OK; }

Archive

Archive( file String|Stream)

The constructor needs a seekable stream (like a file or memory) or a filename. The stream used to open the archive will be kept open (even if it is deleted) until the archive is freed.

Archive.compress( data String) returns String

Returns the compressed string contents.

Archive.uncompress( compressed data String) returns String

Returns the uncompressed string contents.

close( )

Closes the archive and frees the stream.

extract( index Number|String, stream Stream) returns Number

If the 2nd parameter is a stream, data are uncompressed to that stream. Otherwise, a new memory stream is returned containing the file data.

find( name String) returns Number

Returns the index of the file, or -1 if it does not exist

has( name String|Number) returns Number

Returns true if the file is in the archive

name( index Number) returns String

Returns the filename.

size( index Number) returns Number

Returns the uncompressed size of the file.

Form

Form( name String|Stream, index Number) returns Form

name	Form filename, XML text, or a Stream.
index	A HTML file may contain multiple tags. If you don't want to load read the first of these, specify the form's index within the file.
Reads an EZF or HTML form into memory. This is a special-purpose XML interpreter. Question properties are accessed using the getXXX() and setXXX() functions. Question properties you can use are: Name (fieldname): String Text :String Description:String Length: Number Help: String Extra (unparsed XML within the question): String Type: String (see below) Responses: Record (names = codes, values = descriptions) Options: Record Skips: Record For each of these properties, there is a getXXX() and setXXX() function, whose syntax are similar to getType() and setType(), described below.

addQuestion( Type String, Fieldname String, Text String, Description String, Responses String, Length Integer, Options String, Before Integer) returns Number

Responses	Pipe-delimited list of codes and values
Options	Pipe-delimited list of options
Before	Insert before this question (-1 for end)

find( fieldname String) returns Number

fieldname	Field name
Returns the question number (starting with 0) that matches a given fieldname.

getType( index Number) returns String

index	Question number (starting with 0)
Retrieves a question type. Question types are: Text Password Date Time Number Radio Weighted Check Single Multiple Combo Rank Hidden Section Page RichText Image PlainText ToolButton

hasData( index Number) returns Boolean

index	Question number (starting with 0)
Returns true if the field can contain data, or false if it's a layout object.

isPageStart( index Number) returns Boolean

index	Question number
Determines if the question starts a new page. This is the case if the previous question has the "end-of-page" attribute (EZSurvey) the question is a PAGE type (created in InterForm) the question has the "new-page" attribute (EZSurvey) the question is a Section type following a non-Section type question the question is the first one in the form

move( start Number, finish Number) returns Boolean

start	Question index
finish	Question index
Moves a question from the start position to the finish position in the form. The other questions are rearranged, so you should be careful about using this while iterating over the questions.

remove( index Number) returns Boolean

index	Question index
Deletes a question. The questions after index are moved up, so you should be careful about using this while iterating over the questions.

save( filename String) returns String

filename	optional new file name
Saves changes.

setType( index Number, type String) returns String

index	Question number (starting with 0)
type	New value
Changes a question type. See getType() for the list of types.

Image

Image( height Number, width Number) returns Image

height	Height
width	Width
Creates a new GIF image. The background color is white (color 0) and the transparent color is 127. There are 126 user-definable colors.

arc( X1 Number, Y1 Number, R Number, start Number, stop Number, color Number) returns Boolean

X1	start point
Y1	start point
R	radius
start	start angle (radians)
stop	stop angle (radians)
color	Color index
Draws an arc.

color( R Number, G Number, B Number) returns Integer

R	0..255
G	0..255
B	0..255
Adds a new color and returns its index.

fill( X1 Number, Y1 Number, color Number) returns Boolean

X1	start point
Y1	start point
color	Color index
Fills all connected background-colored pixels with the new color.

getp( X1 Number, Y1 Number) returns Number

X1	x position
Y1	y position
Returns the pixel value at a point

line( X1 Number, Y1 Number, X2 Number, Y2 Number, color Number) returns Boolean

X1	start point
Y1	start point
X2	end point
Y2	end point
color	Color index
Draws a 1-pixel line.

print( X Number, Y Number, color Number, text String, background Number) returns Boolean

X	start point
Y	start point
color	Color index
text	Text to display
background	Background color index (default is 0)
Prints text. At present, the only font is 9-pixel sans-serif.

setBGColor( R Number, G Number, B Number) returns Boolean

R	0..255
G	0..255
B	0..255
Sets the background color value (color 0).

setp( X1 Number, Y1 Number, C Number) returns Boolean

X1	x position
Y1	y position
C	color
Set a pixel value

slice( X1 Number, Y1 Number, R Number, start Number, stop Number, color Number) returns Boolean

X1	start point
Y1	start point
R	radius
start	start angle (radians)
stop	stop angle (radians)
color	Color index
Draws a filled pie slice

write( out Stream) returns Boolean

out	destination file or web connection
Writes a GIF file

Index

add( value String)

value	Key value
Appends a key to the next slot in the index

find( value String) returns Number

value	Key value
Returns the index of one entry matching the key value, or -1 if the key is not in the index.

rebuild( )

Rebuilds an index created by Table.index().

Mail

Mail( type String, login String, password String, server String, smtpserver String, language String, return address String) returns Mail

type	mail system type: one of CCMAIL5, CCMAIL8, CCMAIL, BEYONDMAIL, VIM, NOTES, MAPI, MSMAIL, EXCHANGE, GROUPWISE, CMC, INTERNET, POP3, SMTP
login	account name
password	password
server	server address or windows mail profile
smtpserver	Internet mail server, if different from the POP3 server
language	MIME language string, like USASCII or ISO-8859-1
return address	Return mail address (generally useful if sending mail)
Connects to a mail server. In the case of internet mail (INTERNET, POP3, SMTP are equivalent), the password is unnessary. The return email address is login@server.

get( ) returns Table

Returns a message summary table. The table has a getMessage() function you can use to retrieve the message text. If the Mail system is closed, this table will be deactivated.

send( recipient String, subject String, textNote String, htmlNote String) returns Boolean

recipient	comma-delimited list of recipient email addresses
subject	subject line
textNote	note
htmlNote	HTML version of note (Internet mail only)
Sends a mail message.

sendFiles( recipient String, subject String, attachments String, textNote String, htmlNote String) returns Boolean

recipient	comma-delimited list of recipient email addresses
subject	subject line
attachments	comma-delimited list of files
textNote	note
htmlNote	HTML version of note (Internet mail only)
Sends a mail message with file attachments.

Matrix

Matrix( data String)

Constructs a new matrix, where rows are separated by , and columns by spaces. new Matrix("1 0, 0 1") is the 2x2 identity.

Matrix( rows Number, cols Number, data Array|Numbers)

rows	Number of rows
cols	Number of columns
data	Initial data
Constructs a new matrix, using data as its elements (in row-major order). You can pass a Numbers object if you plan to work with a lot of data.

Matrix.fit( O Integer, data Matrix) returns Array

Fits the Nx2 data to a polynomial of order O. Returns an array C such that the x^p coefficient of the least-squares fit is C[p].

Matrix.identity( N Integer)

Returns a new NxN identity matrix

Matrix.solve( S Matrix, Y Matrix)

Given a square matrix S and vector Y, returns X such that S · X = Y

at( row Integer, column Integer) returns Number

Same as get()

copy( ) returns Matrix

Returns a copy of the matrix.

get( row Integer, column Integer) returns Number

Returns the entry at row,column. No bounds-checking.

put( row Integer, column Integer, value Number) returns Number

Same as set()

set( row Integer, column Integer, value Number) returns Number

Updates the entry at row,column. No bounds-checking.

times( A Matrix, B Matrix) returns Matrix

Returns A · B.

toSource( ) returns String

toString( ) returns String

transpose( ) returns Matrix

Returns the transpose of the matrix.

zero( )

Resets the matrix to all zeros

Numbers

Numbers( length Integer)

Creates a new array, initialized to 0.

Numbers( values String)

Creates a new array, initialized by converting values to numbers. Space, comma, or tab are good delimiters, but other characters will work, too, with a slight performance penalty.

Numbers( source Numbers)

Creates a new array, copying an existing Numbers object.

add( value )

Increments each list element by value

at( index Integer) returns Number

Same as get()

close( )

Immediately frees the memory used for this object

exec( )

This is a special function for doing fast vector operations with a RPN evaluator. Each parameter passed to this function may be a Numbers object (all of the same length!) or a String naming the mathematical operation. In the example a = new Numbers(5) b = new Numbers("1 2 3 4 5") c = new Numbers("10 20 30 40 50") a.exec(b,c,'+') writeln(a) the result is 11,22,33,44,55 The calculator stack starts as (b, c, '+'), and the result is stored in a (the object that called exec()). Arguments are evaluated left-to-right, so a is always the result of each operation and the number on the bottom of the stack for the next operation You can also do a = new Numbers("1 2 3 4 5") b = new Numbers("10 20 30 40 50") a.exec(b,'+') writeln(a) with the same result -- in case of stack underflow, the object calling exec() is pushed to the bottom of the stack. This function may have as many arguments as you want, so long as all the lists are of the same length. The supported operators, and the number of arguments they take, are: + 2 * 2 - 2 (or 1 for negation) / 2 (or 1 for inversion) cos 1 sin 1 tan 1 atan2 2 atan 1 pow 2 exp 1 log 1 Special: unary negation and division (inversion) are allowed, as a shortcut

get( index Integer) returns Number

Returns the number at the index location. Throws an error if index is out of bounds.

log( )

Replaces each list element by its log (base e)

max( start Integer, length Integer)

Returns the index of the largest value in the list. Use start and length to operate on a subset of the list.

min( start Integer, length Integer)

Returns the index of the smallest value in the list. Use start and length to operate on a subset of the list.

pow( p )

Raise each list element to the power p

put( index Integer, value Number) returns Number

Same as set()

resize( length Integer)

Changes the length of the underlying list. If the length increases, new memory is allocated. If the length decreases, memory is not freed (but subsequent growth, up to the original length, will not use lead to a memory allocation). New entries are initialized to 0.

scale( value )

Multiplies each list element by value

set( index Integer, value Number) returns Number

Updates the number at the index location. Throws an error if index is out of bounds.

sum( start Integer, length Integer)

Returns the sum of all the numbers in the list. Use start and length to operate on a subset of the list.

sum2( start Integer, length Integer)

Returns the sum of the square of all the numbers in the list. Use start and length to operate on a subset of the list. Why would you want to do this? To calculate the standard deviation quickly. var n = new Numbers("1 495 52 2 34 5 6 1 12 35 6 2 34") writeln("Average: ",n.sum()/n.length) writeln("Average of the square: ", n.sum2()/n.length)

toString( delimiter string, start Integer, length Integer) returns String

Although the Numbers class acts like the JavaScript Array class by default, you may customize the formatting with any delimiter (default is a comma). Use start and length to operate on a subset of the list.

ODBC

ODBC( connection string String) returns ODBC

connection string

"DSN=source_name;UID=login;PWD=password;"

Connects to an ODBC driver. You can also use var myDB = new ODBC("DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 3.51 Driver};SERVER=localhost;DATABASE=dbname;USER=root;PASSWORD=password;OPTION=3;"); var myReader = myDB.query('select * from people'); or var myT = new Table('odbc://DRIVER={MySQL ODBC 3.51 Driver};SERVER=localhost;DATABASE=dbname;USER=root;PASSWORD=password;OPTION=3;/people') The difference is that the query() function gives you a read-only table, while the Table() constructor lets you make changes with set() and setRow(). You might see a "Dialog failed" message from Microsoft. This only means that there's something wrong with your connection string. JSDB is a mediocre command-line SQL console. Use Raosoft's SQL.exe instead.

close( ) returns Boolean

Closes the connection to the database and all tables that were opened with the query() function. The table objects are invalidated (further function calls will fail), but they are not deleted.

columns( table String, longFormat Boolean) returns Array

table	A table name
Returns an array of all the column names for the specified table. If longFormat is true, the return value will look like ["id INTEGER","name VARCHAR(32)","value DECIMAL(12,5)"].

commit( ) returns Boolean

Commits the current transaction.

escape( text String) returns String

text	Field text to send to the database
Quotes and escapes text as appropriate for the database. Usage: db.exec("insert into friends (name) values (" + db.escape('Cynthia') + ")")

exec( command String) returns Boolean

command	"ALTER TABLE ..."
Same as ODBC.execute().

execute( command String) returns Boolean

command	"ALTER TABLE ..."
This calls SQLExecDirect() on the database. Returns true if the operation was successful. You can read the error parameter to find out what went wrong otherwise.

keys( table String) returns Array

table	A table name
Returns a list of all the key names for the specified table.

query( query String) returns Table

query

"SELECT * FROM table WHERE ..."

Executes an SQL command, and returns the result set mapped into a read-only Table object. The Table object provides a cache and indexed access to records, even if the ODBC driver does not. If you just want to read from a SQL table with a simple query, this is equivalent to new Table('odbc://userid:password@service/tablename?field1=xxx*&field2=yyy'). Both ways of accessing the tables do on-demand loading of data from the database server.

rollback( ) returns Boolean

Rolls back the current transaction, if the database is not in AUTOCOMMIT mode.

setAutoCommit( value Boolean) returns Boolean

value	New setting
Sets the database AUTOCOMMIT flag, which usually defaults to true when the ODBC connection is opened.

table( name String) returns Table

name	Table name
Opens a Table object in the database.

tables( ) returns Array

Returns an array of all the table names in the database.

Process

Process( cmd String, args String)

cmd	Command line, .exe file name, or document name
args	Arguments
The constructor tries to start a program. Only programs ending in .exe will be run. On Windows, if cmd is a document file or URL, Process queries the Windows shell to run the appropriate program to open the document. Note that file names must be fully qualified.

close( )

Sends a quit message to the child process and frees associated handles.

Record

Record( initial String, delimiter String) returns Record

initial	Delimited string for initial values (a=b,c=d,e=f,...)
delimiter	Delimiter character, default is a comma
Creates a record with initial values. See read().

Record( caseSensitive Boolean) returns Record

caseSensitive	true for a case-sensitive list
Creates a record. Use Record(true) for name searches to be case-sensitive.

Record( caseSensitive Boolean) returns Record

caseSensitive	true for a case-sensitive list
Creates a record. Use Record(true) for name searches to be case-sensitive.

Record( data Object) returns Record

data	Any JavaScript object
Creates a record, copying fields and values from an Object. The Record will be case-sensitive.

append( data Record|Object) returns Number

data	Additional data
Appends the name/value pairs from another record or object. If field names match, they are overwritten.

clear( ) returns Boolean

Deletes all the name/value pairs from the record.

get( name String) returns String

name	Field name
Returns the value of a field, or an empty string if the field does not exist.

has( name String) returns Boolean

name	Field name
Returns true if the field exists in the record.

name( index Number) returns String

index	Index from 0 to length - 1
Name/value pairs are indexed sequentially. This function returns the name at a given position.

read( data String, delimiter String) returns Number

data	Delimited string to read (a=b&c=d&e=f&...)
delimiter	Delimiter character, default is & (think of HTTP GET)
Reads a delimited string into the record.

readINI( file String, section String) returns Number

file	INI file name (in Windows directory by default)
section	INI file section
Reads a Windows INI file section.Returns the number of entries.

set( name String|Integer, value String) returns Boolean

name	Field name or index
value	New value
Sets a field value, or creates a name/value pair if it doesn't already exist.

toObject( ) returns Object

Generates a JS Object from the record data.

toString( ) returns String

Returns a '\n'-delimited list of the record.

unSet( name String) returns Boolean

name	Field name
Removes a name/value pair if it exists.

value( index Number) returns String

index	Index from 0 to length - 1
Name/value pairs are indexed sequentially. This function returns the value at a given position.

write( delimiter String) returns String

delimiter	Delimiter character, default is & (think of HTTP GET)
Returns a delimited string of the record's name-value pairs.

writeINI( file String, section String) returns Number

file	INI file name (in Windows directory by default)
section	INI file section
Writes a Windows INI file section. Returns the number of entries.

SQLite

SQLite( database String)

database	File name
Opens or creates a SQLite3 database file. Creates an in-memory database if the file name is omitted.

close( )

Closes the database and frees associated memory.

columns( table String, longFormat Boolean) returns Array

table	A table name
Returns an array of all the column names for the specified table. If longFormat is true, the return value will look like ["id INTEGER","name VARCHAR(32)","value DECIMAL(12,5)"].

escape( text String) returns String

text	Field text to send to the database
Quotes and escapes text as appropriate for the database. Usage: db.exec("insert into friends (name) values (" + db.escape('Cynthia') + ")")

exec( command String, callback Function, opaque ) returns Boolean

command	SQL statement
callback	Callback function
opaque	Parameters passed to the callback function
Executes a SQL statement. If rows are returned, runs callback(record, opaque) for each row in the result set. The result record is reused. See Query Language Understood by SQLite.

keys( table String) returns Array

table	A table name
Returns a list of all the key names for the specified table.

tables( ) returns Array

Returns an array of all the table names in the database.

Server

Server( port Number) returns Server

port	Default port is 80.

accept( ) returns Stream

Accepts the next connection in the input queue and returns a Stream pointer to communicate with it.

close( ) returns Boolean

Closes the server and all connections.

toString( ) returns String

Describes the server configuration and port.

Stream

Stream( name String, mode String, header Record|Object) returns Stream

name	Filename, URL, Number of bytes for a memory stream. URLs are of the form: http://www.jsdb.org/ file://c:/test.txt net://server.com:port com1://56000 (or com2, com3, ...) text://number_of_bytes temp://number_of_bytes exec://command line
mode	For files mode, is the open mode (rwactb+). A + indicates an unbuffered stream and a b indicates binary mode. The default mode is 'rt' (read a text file). mode Description Combine with a Append to a file or write-only file device. You can not seek, so you can not read. +tb c Create or truncate a file in write mode. +rtb rw Create a new file or open an existing file with read and write access +tb w Create or replace a file with read and write access +tbr r Open an existing file with read access +tbw t Text mode: \r is stripped when reading, and \n is converted to \r\n when writing. seek and pos are accurate. arw+ b Binary mode: no CRLF mapping. arw+ + Unbuffered: does not use read-ahead or write-behind cache. arwtb d Pipes only: Creates a detached process with its own console window. (Windows) (none) For http:// streams, mode chooses how to connect and what data to retrieve. mode Description 0 The stream is a raw connection. To fetch the contents of a web page, do something like this: status = stream.readLine() header = stream.readMIME() data = stream.read(header.get("Content-Length")) 1 The stream starts with the HTTP header fields. The header is cached in the header property. The connection will use Internet Explorer's proxy settings and de-chunk "Transfer-encoding: Chunked" transmissions. (anything else) In version 1.7.2.3 and earlier, this is the same as 1. In 1.7.2.4 and later, the stream contains only the file data. Use the status, statusText, and header properties for connection information. The connection will use Internet Explorer's proxy settings and de-chunk "Transfer-encoding: Chunked" transmissions. For net:// streams, mode chooses the socket parameters. mode Description i Immediate mode: Do not use the Nagle algorithm (TCP_NODELAY). Prior to version 1.7.3.6, the number 0 was used instead of the string i. No code changes are required -- 0 still works. (anything else) Use the Nagle algorithm to group short write() calls so as to send fewer packets.
header	For http:// streams, pass additional header lines to the server.
If name is a string, jsdb will first try to open a URL. To retrieve a web page using GET and standard headers, use Stream('http://server.com/'). The status property will be initialized with the first line from the server response. To simply open a socket to the server and send your own headers, use a = new Stream('net://server.com:80/'); a.writeln('POST /file.cgi/ HTTP/1.1\r\n'). The port number defaults to 80 if it is omitted. A file:// URL is always opened in binary, read-only mode. If name does not appear to be a URL (no ://), jsdb will try to open a file instead. Forward slashes are converted to back slashes when opening files in Windows. If name is fifo://, an in-memory FIFO will be created. If name is omitted or is a number, an in-memory stream will be created, with the initial length given by name. If name starts with "exec://", the stream returns a pipe to a spawned process. Try this: p = new Stream("exec://jsdb.exe","d") p.writeln("writeln('hello world');") writeln(p.readln()) p.writeln("quit");

append( data Stream, length Number) returns String

data	Stream to append
length	Max number of bytes to read
Appends bytes from data until its end. Remember to rewind data before using it in a call to append()!

appendText( data Stream, length Number) returns String

data	Stream to append
length	Max number of bytes to read
Like append(), but maps '\n' to \r\n'. This is used to prepare text for a windows edit control.

clear( ) returns Boolean

Resets a memory stream. The length is set to zero, and the position returned to the beginning, but memory is not freed.

close( )

Closes the file and frees associated memory.

eatChars( skip String) returns String

skip	Characters to skip
Reads the stream one byte at a time. If a byte is not in the skip string, it returns a string containing that byte. A null character always stops the scan. Example: var lastchar = file.eatChars(' \t\r\n')

flush( )

For file streams, flush the 64k buffer. To create an unbuffered file stream, open it with the "+" option.

format( )

This function was removed in version 1.7.2.7. You can replace it with Stream.prototype.format = function(source, values) { this.write(source.replace(/{(.*?)}/g, function (x, name) {return values.get(name)} )) }

get( ) returns String

Reads one byte from the stream and advances the cursor.

goBack( offset Number) returns String

Moves the cursor backward offset bytes from the current position..

goForward( offset Number) returns String

Moves the cursor forward offset bytes from the current position.

peek( ) returns String

Returns the next byte in the file or memory stream, without advancing the cursor. Since HTTP and COM streams aren't buffered, you should avoid using this function unless you know the source of the stream.

put( ) returns String

Writes one byte to the stream and advances the cursor.

putBack( offset Number) returns String

Moves the cursor backward offset bytes from the current position..

read( count Number, dest Stream) returns String

count	number of bytes
dest	Optional target for retrieved data
Reads up to a fixed number of bytes from a file, and returns them as a string. If dest is provided, readFile() runs instead of read()

readByte( ) returns Number

Same as readUInt8()

readFile( size Number, dest Stream) returns String|Number

size	Maximum number of bytes
dest	Where to store the data
Reads the entire stream into a string in binary mode. size and dest may be in any order. If dest is provided, the return value is the number of bytes actually copied. Otherwise, the return value is a string. The stream is read in binary mode, so the string may contain embedded nulls.

readFloat32( ) returns Number

Reads a 32-bit floating point

readFloat64( ) returns Number

Reads a double from the stream

readInt( network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Reads a binary, signed 32-bit integer in Intel byte format. (JavaScript uses 31 bit integers internally). Set network=true for Sun or Mac native byte order.

readInt16( network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Reads a binary, signed 16-bit integer in Intel byte format.

readInt32( network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Same as readInt().

readInt8( ) returns Number

Reads a binary, signed 8-bit integer.

readLine( ) returns String

Same as readln.

readList( data Record, delimiter String, equals String) returns Number

data	Receptable for returned data
delimiter	Delimiter to use (default is probably "\n", but is not guaranteed)
equals	Name/value separator (default is "=")
Reads a delimited name-value list. The delimiter and equals sign must be single characters. Note that "\r\n" in files is mapped to "\n" in memory, so the default input it expects is name=value name1=value1 name2=value2 Returns the number of pairs read.

readListB( data Record) returns String

Deprecated in 1.7.2.5. Reads data from a Record in binary format. Each parameter is terminated with a null byte, the last with two null bytes.

readMIME( data Record) returns Number

data	Receptacle for parsed data
Reads a name-value list in MIME format. This takes whitespace after the colon into account, and assumes that any non-blank line beginning with whitespace is a continuation line. Returns the number of pairs read.

readMessage( delimiter String) returns String

delimiter	May be "" for null-byte termination
Reads the next string in a message queue, terminated by a delimiter character. If no message is available, returns null. If a message is in transmission, this function blocks until it is complete or the stream is closed.

readTag( data Record, allowed String) returns String

data	Tag fields
allowed	Comma-delimited list of allowed fields, case-sensitive
Used for parsing XML files. This function scans forward in a file until a markup tag is found. If allowed is given, only tags (and end-tags) in the list will stop a scan. Otherwise, any < sign stops the scan. The text skipped in this scan is stored in the stream's parameter tagText. When it reaches a tag, it reads the tag parameters, and stores them in data. The XML escape sequences < > & and " are automatically decoded in the parameters, but not in CDATA sections. If the tag has an end marker, (ex: <tag field=value />), the stream's parameter hasChildren is set to false. Otherwise, hasChildren is true. The tag name is returned. If the end of the file has been reached, the return value is an empty string. If the tag name is "![CDATA[", readTag() searches forward for "]]>", and appends the intervening text to tagText. For an example of how this is used, see the module "xml.js". var params = new Record; var name = stream.readTag(params,allowed);

readText( ) returns String

Reads the entire stream, converting all linefeeds to \r\n. Returns a string of the result.

readUInt16( network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Reads a binary, unsigned 16-bit integer in Intel byte format.

readUInt8( ) returns Number

Reads a binary, unsigned 8-bit integer.

readUntil( search String, skipped Stream) returns Boolean

search	String that stops the search
skipped	Skipped data is written to this stream
Returns true if the search string was found. readUntil() does a case-insensitive text search. For a binary search, use readUntilBytes(). If search is a unicode string, it will be converted to UTF-8. Example: var memory = new Stream var file = new Stream('test.txt') file.readUntil('</file>',memory) writeln(memory)

readUntilBytes( search String, skipped Stream) returns Boolean

search	Byte pattern that stops te search
skipped	Skipped data is written to this stream
The binary version of readUntil(), readUntilBytes() can search for patterns with embedded nulls.

readln( delimiter String) returns String

delimiter	End-of-line character (default '\n')
Returns the next line in the file. At the end of the file, it returns an empty string "".

resize( size Number) returns String

size	Specifies the new buffer size
Resizes a memory stream. If the stream decreases, data are truncated from the end. If the cursor is beyond the end of the stream, it is moved to the new end. If the stream is expanded, memory is allocated, but no new data are added.

rewind( ) returns String

For file and memory streams, moves the cursor to the beginning of the stream. Example: temp = new Stream temp.write('hello, world') temp.rewind() file = new Stream('test.txt','at') file.append(temp)

seek( location Number) returns String

Moves the cursor to a new offset from the beginning.

setEndOfFile( length Number) returns Boolean

length	New maximum file length
Changes the length of a a file or memory stream. Memory streams can be truncated. File streams can be truncated or extended.

toString( ) returns String

For a file, COM, or HTTP stream, this returns the filename. For a memory stream, it returns the entire buffer.

write( data... String) returns Number

data...	Objects to write to the stream
Example: stream.write('hello', '4', 5). If the parameters to this function are not strings, their toString() function will be called. Returns the number of bytes written.

writeByte( value Number) returns Number

Same as writeUInt8

writeFloat32( value Number) returns Number

Converts value to a number and writes it to the stream as a 32-bit floating-point number.

writeFloat64( value Number) returns Number

Writes a double to the stream.

writeInt( value Number, network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Writes a binary, signed 32-bit integer in Intel byte format.

writeInt16( value Number, network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Writes a binary, signed 16-bit integer in Intel byte format.

writeInt32( value Number, network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Same as writeInt().

writeInt8( value Number) returns Number

Writes a binary, signed 8-bit integer.

writeLine( ) returns String

Same as writeln.

writeList( data Record|Object, delimiter String, equals String) returns Number

data	Data to write
delimiter	Delimiter to use (default is probably "/", but is not guaranteed)
equals	Name/value separator (default is "=")
Writes a delimited name-value list. You can specify any string to use for the record and field delimiters. Default output is name=value/name1=value1/name2=value2/... Returns the number of pairs written.

writeListB( data Record|Object) returns String

Writes data from a Record in binary format. The C++ equivalent is for (int i=0; i< data.count; i++) { fwrite(data[i].name,1,strlen(data[i].name) + 1, file); fwrite(data[i].value,1,strlen(data[i].value) + 1, file); } fwrite("",1,1,file);

writeMIME( data Object|Record) returns Number

data	Data to write
Writes a name-value list in MIME format. This is equivalent to writeList(data,': ','\n'). A blank line ends the list. Returns the number of pairs written.

writeUInt16( value Number, network Boolean) returns Number

network	Network byte order?
Writes a binary, unsigned 16-bit integer in Intel byte format.

writeUInt8( value Number) returns Number

Writes a binary, unsigned 8-bit integer.

writeln( ) returns String

Like write(), but appends a newline (\n for memory, \r\n for files). The file I/O system ensures that, for text mode files, \n in memory is faithfully mapped to \r\n on disk. You can use pos and seek() to move the cursor in text files, but do not rely on counting the bytes in read() and write() operations.

Table

Table( name String) returns Table

name	data source name
Opens a table. The data source name may be omitted to create an in-memory spreadsheet, or like one of these: file://drive:/directory/filename.asc file://drive:/directory/filename.dbf file://user:password@DSN/filename.dsn odbc://login:password@data_source/table The file:// prefix is optional, except for the DSN hack to open an ODBC connections.

Table.create( name String, fields String) returns Boolean

name	Name of a new table to create
fields	"fieldname [type] length, ..."
(new in 1.7) Creates a new xBase table. name is a file name (.dbf). fields is a list of column definitions, for example name C 33, address C 33, age N 3. Field names can be up to 10 characters. The field type and length are optional, they defaul to C and 255. The maximum field length is 65535. For xBase compatibility, the total record length should less than 65535. type can be Character, Number, Date, or Time (only the first letter is needed).

add( data Record|Object) returns Boolean

data

initial values

Adds a new row to the table, populating it with values from data, and returning the number of the new row. SQL databases: JSDB will not set autoincrement fields in INSERT statements. Your database does this for you. If you have a key field which is not set and not autoincrement, JSDB will generate a unique 24-character value, based on the system time and a counter stored in the registry. This value will not repeat in the lifetime of the solar system. If you are adding to an Oracle table and do not provide a primary key value, JSDB will use seq_tablename.nextval. If the data parameter is an Object, string values will be converted to UTF-8.

addColumn( name String) returns Boolean

name	column name
Adds a new column, which must have a unique name, and returns the new column's number.

append( source String, callback Function, opaque Function) returns Boolean

source	source table
callback	callback function
opaque	opaque parameter for callback
Copies data from another table. The callback function is of the form function cb(record, opaque, ...), where record is the row number about to be transferred, and opaque (and the ...) are extra parameters passed to append().

column( column String) returns Number

column	field name
This finds the column number corresponding to a field name. If the field name does not exist in the database, the return value is zero.

data( row Number, column Number|String) returns String

row	row number (starting with 1)
column	column number or name
Returns text data at a position in the table. You can determine if a row is marked deleted if the first character of table.data(row,0) is 'D'.

del( data Number) returns Boolean

data	row number
Deletes a row from the table.

deleteColumn( column Number) returns Boolean

column	column number
Removes a column from a spreadsheet table.

find( query Record|Object, start Number, direction Number) returns Number

query	values to search for, for example: query = {name: 'Alice'} // faster: new Record('name=Alice'); row = table.find(query)
start	row number from which to start searching (defaults to the first row)
direction	+1 to search forward, or -1 to search backwards
The result of the last search is stored in the table's lastFind property. Deleted rows are skipped during the search.

findNext( query Record|Object) returns Number

query	query from find()
Continues the last search.

get( row Number, column Number|String) returns String

row	row number (starting with 1)
column	column number or name
Same as data()

getMessage( row Number) returns String

row	row number (starting with 1);
For mail message tables, returns the message text.

getRow( row Number, data Record) returns Boolean|Record

row	row number
data	data values
Returns a record containing the values from a row in the table. If the "data" parameter is used, then it is filled with the values and the function returns true or false.

getWhere( row Number) returns String

row	Row number (starting with 1)
For debugging ODBC tables, returns the WHERE statement used to identify a particular row.

index( column String|Number) returns Index

column

Column name

This function returns an index to the database. If you call index() with a single column name or number, the returned object will have find(key) function, where key can be either a field value or a Record/Object containing the appropriate field value. If you call index() with a list of field names, the index will be built from strings where data values are separated by newlines. Therefore, you can call index().find('value1\nvalue2\nvalue3') or index().find(new Record('field1=value1,field2=value2,field3=value3'). The index().find() function returns the number of a matching row, or -1 if none are found. Since it takes time to build the index, you can do something like this: data = {fieldname: 'Field Value'} var index = table.index('field') writeln('adding record ',table.addRow(data)) index.add(data) writeln('found record ',index.find(data));

save( file String|Stream, delimiter String, titles Boolean) returns Boolean

file	file name
delimiter	Defaults to the delimiter used to read the file or tab
titles	Defaults to true
Save databsae changes. If the database has no file name, the function fails. For ODBC databases, this forces a COMMIT statement. For DBF databases, nothing happens. For ASCII databases, you can save to a file name or a stream. In this case, you select a delimiter (or null for the default) and choose whether to include the header row.

set( row Number, column Number|String, value String) returns Boolean

row	row number (starting with 1)
column	column number or name
value	new value
Set text data at a position in the table. You can delete a row with table.set(row,0,'Delete') With DBF and SQL tables, you can un-delete a row with table.set(row,0,' ') DBF tables do not remove deleted rows. SQL tables remove deleted rows when they refresh, which is not necessarily immediate. Spreadsheets delete rows immediately.

setN( row Number, column Number|String, value Number) returns Boolean

row	row number (starting with 1)
column	column number or name
value	new value
Set number data at a position in the table. The number will usually be converted to text to store it in the database.

setRow( row Number, data Record|Object) returns Boolean

row	row number
data	data values
Sets data values into the table. Returns true on success.

setTitle( column Number, title String) returns Boolean

column	column number
title	new title
Changes a column's title. This only works for spreadsheet (ASCII and in-memory) tables.

title( column Number) returns Number

column	column number
Returns the title of a column. Column numbers start at 1. You can find the number of columns in a table from the colCount property.

toString( ) returns String

Returns the file name

type( column String|Number) returns String|Array

column	Column name
For one argument, this returns the data type corresponding to the row. For several arguments, this returns an array of data types. The possible types are C, N, D, T for Character, Number, Date, and Time.

width( column Number) returns Number

column	column number
Returns the width, in characters, of data that may be stored in this column. Spreadsheet tables do not have a width limit.

XML

The JavaScript 1.6 language includes a built-in XML parser complying with the E4X standard. This XML class pre-dates E4X, and can be used to replace the built-in XML object.
Standard usage: XML.read(stream,allowed_tags)

Properties

Functions

XML.read( source Stream|String, dtd String, ignored String, start XML) returns Boolean

dtd	comma-delimited list of tag names
ignored	comma-delimited list of tags to ignore (defaults to BR,P,B,I,C,TT,U,IMG,A)
start	an existing XML object to receive the new XML tags
This is a static function. Usage: XML.read(stream, 'html,head,body,p')

find( type String, parameter String, value String, parameter2 String, value2 String) returns Array

type	Child class
parameter	Field name
value	Field value
parameter2	Field name
value2	Field value
Returns an array of all the child objects whose name is equivalent (case-sensitive) to type

findChildren( type String, parameter String, value String) returns Array

type	Child class. If omitted, searches all children
parameter	Field name. If omitted, skips the field comparison
value	Field value
(Deprecated) Returns an array of all the child objects whose name is equivalent (case-sensitive) to type and which has a matching field value. Example: fn.find('parameter','optional','1') returns the list of optional parameters for the XML file that generates this document. Use XML.find() to return a list of all the children

get( name String) returns String

name	Parameter name
Returns the field value corresponding to name. If the field value is missing, this returns an empty string. To test for the existence of a field, use params.has('name').

getChildren( type String) returns Array

type	Child class
(Deprecated) Returns an array of all the child objects whose name is equivalent (case-sensitive) to type

select( type String, test Function, opaque ) returns Array

type	Child class
test	Test function
opaque	Parameter passed to the test function
Returns an array of all the child objects for which the test() function returns true. Example: >var x = XML.read('') >y = x.select(null,function (a,b) {return a.get('id') == b},55) >writeln(y)

sort( field String, descending Boolean)

field	Field to sort by
descending	Reverse order? (Default false)
Sorts the children array, according to the value in a given field.

toStream( output Stream) returns String

output	Appends the XML object to a stream.

toString( ) returns String

Appends the XML object to a memory stream, then returns a string.

global

copyFile( source String, destination String) returns Boolean

Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.copy() instead. Copies files. Fails if the destination file exists.

crc32( text , seed ) returns Number

seed	Usually -1
Calculates the 32-bit CRC of a text string, using the Adler32 polynomial. The initial seed may be specified (usually -1). The parameters may be passed in any order.

decodeANSI( text String) returns String

Converts a Windows-1252 (ANSI) string to a JS string (UCS-2)

decodeB64( text String) returns String

Removes base-64 (MIME) encoding and returns an decoded string. Does not convert to Unicode -- call decodeUTF8(decodeB64(...)) if you want a JS string.

decodeB64( in Stream|String, out Stream) returns Number

Applies base-64 (MIME) decoding and sends the result to out. Returns the size of the decoded data.

decodeHTML( text String) returns String

Removes & encoding and returns an decoded string. It decodes < > " & and &#XXX; sequences.

decodeURL( text String) returns String

Decodes a URL-encoded string.

decodeUTF8( text String) returns String

Converts UTF-8 string to a JS string (UCS-2)

encodeB64( text String) returns String

Applies base-64 (MIME) encoding and returns an encoded string.

encodeB64( in Stream|String, out Stream) returns Boolean

Applies base-64 (MIME) encoding and sends the result to out. Returns the size of the encoded data.

encodeHTML( text String) returns String

For XML and HTML printing, applies & encoding and returns an encoded string. It encodes < > " & and Unicode character values over 127.

encodeURL( text String) returns String

Applies URL (%) encoding and returns an encoded string. Alphanumeric and punctuation characters used in URLs are not translated.

encodeUTF8( text String) returns String

Converts a JS string (UCS-2) to UTF-8

fileExists( file )

Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.exists() instead. Returns true if the file exists and is available for reading.

jsBuildDate( ) returns String

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.buildDate() instead. Returns a string containing the build date of the JavaScript interpreter.

jsDebug( address String) returns Boolean

address	Debugger address
Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.debug() instead. Connects to a remote debugger. jsDebug('127.0.0.1:1002')

jsGC( ) returns Null

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.gc() instead. Runs garbage collection

jsIsSafe( ) returns Boolean

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.isSafe() instead. Tells whether the interpreter is in safe mode.

jsOptions( options String) returns String

options	'strict' or 'werror' (treat warnings as errors)
Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.options() instead. Toggles the interpreter options, and returns a comma-delimited string of the currently set options. By default, strict is active at startup.

jsRestart( )

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.restart() instead. Sets the "shouldStop" flag to true, and instructs the interpreter to repeat execution. This is only used in the XYKE web server.

jsSafeMode( code Number) returns Number

code

password

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.safeMode() instead. Sets a flag in the interpreter to indicate that file access should be forbidden while running an untrusted piece of code. The first call to jsSafeMode() returns a pseudo-random number, and locks file access. The second call, to unlock file access, must be of the form jsSafeMode(number), where the first parameter is the number returned by the call to jsSafeMode() that locked file access. In safe mode, email is blocked, and only memory streams and http:// streams may be created. File and serial port streams that were opened outside of safe mode may still be accessed.

jsShellExec( command String, dir String)

command	shell command line
dir	working directory
Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.execute() instead. Calls ShellExec() on Windows, or system() on UNIX.

jsShouldStop( )

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.shouldStop() instead. Returns true if the script should finish.

jsVersion( new version Integer) returns String

new version

New interpreter version number

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.version() instead. Returns a string containing the JavaScript interpreter version number (or the previous version, if the version is changing). The default version is presently 1.7. The version codes are defined as JSVERSION_1_0 = 100, JSVERSION_1_1 = 110, JSVERSION_1_2 = 120, JSVERSION_1_3 = 130, JSVERSION_1_4 = 140, JSVERSION_ECMA_3 = 148, JSVERSION_1_5 = 150, JSVERSION_1_6 = 160, JSVERSION_1_7 = 170, JSVERSION_DEFAULT = 0, JSVERSION_UNKNOWN = -1

listFiles( filespec )

filespec	defaults to "*.*"
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.files() instead. Returns an array of file names. Directories and are excluded. System files, hidden files, and names beginning with . are excluded.

listFolders( filespec )

filespec	defaults to "*.*"
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.folders() instead. Returns an array of directory names. Files are excluded. System folders, hidden folders, and names beginning with . are excluded.

load( filename ) returns Boolean

Runs a JavaScript file. JSDB looks first for files with the following precedence: In a ZIP archive appended to the program file. (This only works on UNIX if the program file is in the current directory.) In the current working directory In the library path. (Set this on the command line with -path, defaults to the executable's directory) JSDB ignores the system's path and will not run files from unusual directories. This order is chosen so that you may override the standard JSDB libraries, but carries certain security risks. For instance, someone might write a malicious "xml.js" in the current directory, expecing that library to be loaded by another script later. Therefore, you should be careful about calling the system.cwd() function. As with run(), load() will fail if JSDB is in safe mode. Unlike run(), load() will only execute a given source file only once. Files will be reloaded if they have been modified.

loadResource( name ) returns Stream

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.resource() instead. Returns a readable stream containing the resource data. The resource file is either in the ZIP file attached to or in the same directory as the interpreter program.

moveFile( source String, destination String)

Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.move() instead. Moves a file. Fails if the destination file exists.

openBrowser( file )

file	URL
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.browse() instead.

print, write( )

Prints the parameters to stdout, calling toString() if necessary. Does not convert to UTF-8. Unicode values in strings will be truncated to 8 bytes.

println, writeln( )

Like print() and write(), but writes CR/LF at the end.

quit,exit( )

Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.quit() or system.exit() instead. Sets the "shouldStop" flag to true. Execution does not stop immediately.

readln( end String) returns String

end	Line end marker, defaults to \n
Reads a line from stdin. Console mode only.

regGetKey( section , name )

section	"hkey_local_machine\SOFTWARE\..."
name	Key name
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.getKey() instead. Returns a string containing the registry data.

regSetKey( section , name , value )

section	"hkey_local_machine\SOFTWARE\..."
name	Key name
value	Key value
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.setKey() instead. Sets a registry entry. Returns true if successful.

remove( filename String) returns Boolean

Deletes a file or directory. Returns true if successful.

run( filename )

Runs a JavaScript file. Run uses the same file-finding rules as load().

run( text Stream, filename String, line Number)

Runs JavaScript code stored in a stream. The functions run() and load() are equivalent

sleep( time Number)

time	milliseconds
Deprecated in 1.6. Use system.sleep() instead. Suspends the process and yields control to other programs.

splitURL( URL String) returns Array

Parses a URL of the form service://user:password@host/file?query, and returns an array of strings: [service, user, password, host, file, query]

stripWhitespace( text String) returns String

Returns a string with initial and final whitespace characters removed.

system.kbhit( ) returns Boolean

Returns true if console input is available.

testCompile( code ) returns String

code	JS code to test
Deprecated in 1.7. Use system.compile() instead. Returns whatever error messages if there's a problem compiling the code.

system

attributes( filename ) returns String

Returns an object describing the specified file. { attributes: String, size: Number, date: Date, creation: Date } On Windows, attributes can include "archive, compressed, directory, hidden, offline, readonly, system, temporary". On Unix, attributes can include "directory, symlink, regular, chardev, blockdev, fifo, socket".

attributes( file String)

file	File name
Returns an object describing the file system attributes, {attributes: String, size: Number, creation: Date, date: Date}. Attributes may be Windows archive, compressed, directory, hidden, offline, readonly, system, temporary,; Unix directory, symlink, regular, chardev, blockdev, fifo, socket

browse()( file )

file	URL
Opens the default web browser on the console, and points it to the specified URL.

compile( code ) returns String

code	JS code to test
Returns error messages if there's a problem compiling the code.

copy( source String, destination String) returns Boolean

Copies files. Fails if the destination file exists.

debug( address String) returns Boolean

address	Debugger address
Connects to a remote debugger. system.debug('127.0.0.1:1002')

execute( command String, parameters String, dir String)

command	shell command line
parameters	parameters
dir	working directory
Calls ShellExec() on Windows, or system() on UNIX.

exists( file )

Returns true if the file exists and is available for reading.

exit( )

Sets the "shouldStop" flag to true. Execution does not stop immediately.

files( filespec )

filespec	defaults to "*.*"
Returns an array of file names. Directories and are excluded. System files, hidden files, and names beginning with . are excluded.

folders( filespec )

filespec	defaults to "*.*"
Returns an array of directory names. Files are excluded. System folders, hidden folders, and names beginning with . are excluded.

gc( ) returns Null

Runs garbage collection.

getKey( section , name )

section	"hkey_local_machine\SOFTWARE\..."
name	Key name
Returns a string containing the registry data. (Windows only)

getenv( name String) returns String

name	variable name
Returns an environment variable.

help( ) returns String

Returns information about the interpreter version. Look for "JSDB 1.1 ...".

isSafe( ) returns Boolean

Tells whether the interpreter is in safe mode.

mkdir( directory )

Creates a directory (recursively). Always returns true.

move( source String, destination String, replace Boolean)

replace	Set to true to overwrite existing files
Moves a file.

options( options String) returns String

options	'strict', 'werror' (treat warnings as errors), 'atline', 'xml' (enable E4X in subsequent load() and run() calls)
Toggles the interpreter options, and returns a comma-delimited string of the currently set options. By default, strict is active at startup.

print, write( )

Prints the parameters to stdout, calling toString() if necessary.

println, writeln( )

Like print() and write(), but writes CR/LF at the end.

quit( )

Sets the "shouldStop" flag to true. Execution does not stop immediately.

readln( end String) returns String

end	Line end marker, defaults to \n
Reads a line from stdin. Console mode only.

resource( name ) returns Stream

Returns a readable stream containing the resource data. The resource file is either in the ZIP file attached to or in the same directory as the interpreter program.

restart( )

Sets the "shouldStop" flag to true, and instructs the interpreter to repeat execution.

safeMode( code Number) returns Number

code

password

Sets a flag in the interpreter to indicate that file access should be forbidden while running an untrusted piece of code. The first call to jsSafeMode() returns a pseudo-random number, and locks file access. The second call, to unlock file access, must be of the form system.safeMode(number), where the first parameter is the number returned by the call to system.safeMode() that locked file access. In safe mode, email is blocked, and only memory streams and http:// streams may be created. File and serial port streams that were opened outside of safe mode may still be accessed.

setKey( section , name , value )

section	"hkey_local_machine\SOFTWARE\..."
name	Key name
value	Key value
Sets a registry entry. Returns true if successful. (Windows only)

setcwd( directory ) returns String

Note use system.cwd='foobar' instead Sets the current working directory (if directory is not empty) and returns the previous working directory. On Windows, the directory name is unicode. Otherwise, it is treated as ASCII, without UTF-8 encoding..

shouldStop( )

Returns true if the script should finish.

sleep( time Number)

time	milliseconds
Suspends the process and yields control to other programs.

stripWhitespace( text String) returns String

Returns a string with initial and final whitespace characters removed.

wait( objects Array, timeout Number) returns Array

objects	objects (like streams) which can be signalled
timeout	milliseconds
Suspends execution for timeout (default forever) milliseconds until one or more objects is signalled. Signals include: internet streams with incoming data, closed internet streams, servers with pending connection requests. If you want to test an object which is not an internet stream or a server object, that object can either have a canRead property which evaluates to true when the object is signalled, or it can have a toStream() function that returns an internet stream or server. The toStream() call is limited to 8 or so levels of recursion.