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1.5.5 Script editor advantages

There are many advantages of actively using the script editor to execute sequences of commands:

  • Works as a work backup

    • When naming a script, it is stored in the system and may be retrieved again later

    • Scripts may be saved as text format by copying over to a text document externally. This serves as extra security. If the work is lost for some reason, it may be retrieved from your external document file and pasted into the editor for rerunning. In this way all the analysis work will be recreated as it was originally. Note: External script storage should be done in plain text format of the type ".txt" through applications such as Notepad etc. More advanced word processing tools such as Word and Google Doc perform text formatting that allows some characters to be altered, e.g. singular quotation marks. When this is then copied and pasted back into the microdata.no script editor, the characters may not be recognized and the system could actually shut down as a consequence.

  • Scripts are a way of systematizing and recollecting your work. The order of command sequences can be adjusted, and other adjustments may also be performed, such as adding comments/help-text (see section 1.5.4) which makes it easier to recollect and easier for third-parties to understand what the purpose of the various operations is.

  • Script works as a log of work (can be added to analysis reports to document your work)

  • It is easy to make adjustments on an analysis. If there is a need to do things a little differently, the script may be edited and rerun. Edited scripts may be stored with new names. This makes it easier to document and compare results

  • Using the scripting capability actively makes it easier to collaborate with others. Scripts may be sent in text format to other colleagues, e.g. via email

  • Scripts may be edited in the same way as in Google Doc or other word processing programs such as Word: It is possible to edit by cutting, copying and pasting text, as well as marking text-blocks and moving them around as needed

  • The system "remembers" previously run scripts given that they are unaltered. It will only take a few seconds to reproduce a previously run result. Note that if some parts in a script are altered and rerun, the system will treat it as a completely new set of commands, and it will take much longer time to execute it. If, on the other hand, there is a need to adjust command lines only at the end of a script, the system will jump right down and only use resources to process this part. The rest are retrieved from the memory.