1.6

Object Usage
Through the merge object you can find out which context is currently being
merged: merge.context.
"template"
on
page487
The template object contains all contexts and sections. It is accessed
through the merge object: merge.template.
"merge" on
page479
The merge object gives access to the template with all of its contexts and
sections .
channel
(see
"Channel"
on
page489)
The channel for which output is generated. This is registered in the merge
object: merge.channel.
Note that the channel doesn't change when the output consists of different
contexts. When generating email, for example, the channel is EMAIL, even
when merging the Print context to attach it to the email.
"record" on
page466
The current record in the main data set. To get the value of a field in the
record, use record.fields['fieldname'] or record.fields.fieldname.
Other objects that are available to Control Scripts
The list above isn't exhaustive: most of the objects listed in the Designer API (see "Designer
Scripts API" on page427) are also available in Control Scripts. Not all of those objects can be
used in Control Scripts, however. This is because Control Scripts differ from template scripts in
two ways:
l Control Scripts don't have a selector, like template scripts do.
A selector selects parts of the content of a section and stores them in the results
object, so that they can be modified in the script. As Control Scripts don't have a selector,
the results object can't be used there. Control Scripts don't touch the content -
meaning, the text flow - of the sections.
l Control Scripts run before all other scripts.
When a template consists of several contexts, and these contexts are combined in the
output - for example, when an Email is generated with the Print context as attachment - all
scripts run once for each context, but Control Scripts always go first.
Page 477