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Using conditional arguments in SSJS functions for XPages

06/10/2011 12:34 AM by Chris Toohey

IBM Lotus Notes Domino
XPages In JavaScript, arguments is a reserved word variable which contains an array of the arguments passed to the given function.

You can use the arguments to conditionally check for function arguments in JavaScript -- and thus Server-side JavaScript.

Here's a simple abstracted example of an @Post SSJS function that I'm using for an XPages MVC architecture framework that I'm writing:


var @Post=function() {



    var xDoc;



    if (arguments[0] != 
undefined && arguments[0] != null) {

        if (currentDocument == 
undefined) {

            xDoc = 
database.createDocument();

        } else {

            xDoc = 
currentDocument;

        }

    } else 
{

        xDoc = arguments[0];

    }



    ...



    xDoc.Save();



    if (arguments[1] != 
undefined) {

        context.redirectToPage(arguments[1]);

    }

}

This function should be pretty simple to follow. Let's say I wanted to simply submit the currentDocument from within a NotesDocument-DataSource'd XPage:


@Post()

In another case, I might want to call this from a dataTable Control (where rowData is the control variable and said dataTable is bound to a NotesDocumentCollection) to update a given NotesDocument from a view:


@Post(rowData)

You can even pass a null for the first argument, saving either the currentDocument or creating a new NotesDocument, and finally redirecting the user back to the index.xsp XPage post-save:


@Post(null, 
"index.xsp")

Or, I dunno, update the parent NotesDocument of a given NotesDocument from a view dataTable Control:


@Post(database.getDocumentByUNID(rowData.getParentDocumentUNID()))

Of course, this is just a simple example. Once you get the idea behind using arguments, you can do some really slick stuff... like feed a function a list of UNIDs:


var @ApproveRequest = function() {



    var xDoc:NotesDocument;



    for( var i = 0; i < 
arguments.length; i++ ) {

        xDoc = database.getDocumentByUNID(arguments[i]);

        xDoc.replaceItemValue("status", "Approved");

        @Post(xDoc);

    }



}

Now, of course I'd use an Array object in JavaScript to store those UNIDs... but you get the idea. Pretty slick stuff once you get your head around it.

Have a better example use of conditional arguments? Share them below in the comments section!

About the author: Chris Toohey

Thought Leadership, Web & Mobile Application Development, Solutions Integration, Technical Writing & Mentoring

A published developer and webmaster of dominoGuru.com, Chris Toohey specializes in platform application development, solutions integration, and evangelism of platform capabilities and best practices.