How can I get an if statement working in the Allocate function of Dashboard creator script?

Question

My dashboard creates buttons using button box() just fine. But when I use an if statement it no longer works. Here is the If statement:

If( 1,
	Button1 = Button Box()
);
If( 1,
	Button2 = Button Box()
);

Everything compiles nicely and my dashboard comes up but these buttons are missing.
Thanks for the help

danschikore · Accepted Answer

Hi Kelly - I would caution against editing the content inside the Allocate() block for a Dashboard, unless you are just changing the value of a string.  Changing the structure can definitely result in a Dashboard (or Application) that does not execute correctly.  When I run your script with the If() blocks enabled, I see error messages in the log:

expecting: variable = object(); 2 times in access or evaluation of 'Plan' [...]

I'm not sure what you're trying to do with the conditional boxes, but Application Builder will work best if you put any additional logic that you need in the Application and Module scripts - these scripts are executed as plain JSL (or 99% so), while the other code within a JMPApp() has a very specific syntax.

Mark_Bailey · Accepted Answer

You could conditionally determine the expression that is evaluated when the button is clicked before the button is created by calling Button Box().

bb expr = If( 1, Expr( ... ), 2, Expr( ... ) );

Button Box( "name", bb expr )

Kelly · Accepted Answer

I did not see the error message in the log possibly due to different versions. I am using JMP 14.1.0 by the way.

I may be missing something but I am not sure why you suggest to use the application and module script instead of dashboard because they are the same with the exception of this line of code:

Dashboard Mode( 1 ),

I did find a work around by putting the condition statement in the Initialize() function of the JMP App() function. I have to create a button, but I can determine later on if I will let it show on the dashboard or not.

Button1 << Visibility(If(1,"Visible","Hidden") );

Thanks!

danschikore · Accepted Answer

To clarify my comment about the Application and Module scripts - Application Builder exposes scripts that are tied to the top-level application and each module.  These are accessed via the Scripts tab when you toggle off Dashboard mode (text still says "Dashboard" because the document was started in Dashboard mode):

This script is saved verbatim and will preserve any changes that you make.  In your example of editing the Initialize() script, you will note that while the button visibility may appear correct the first time you run the script, if you save the script from the Dashboard builder again, the line will have changed to:

Button1 << Visibility("Visible");

This will likely lose your intended behavior if you want to use expressions more complex than If(1).  All of the content in the Allocate(), Organize(), and Initialize() sections are generated from scratch each time the script is saved and will not retain customizations if you use the builder interface to change and then save the script.