Am I correct that automise variables only store text? And they cannot act as a pointer?
Am I correct that if you want something to act as a pointer, you have to use a fileset?
Hi Katie,
Variables act as the type that is set when they are defined. Typically though as most entry boxes, or scripts use text this is what they are converted to most of the time.
For example you will get an error settings a number variable to the text “word”. The system will throw an error at the point this is done.
FileSets, FTP Connections, and some other action specific objects are not specifically pointers. They are just more complex variables which we have given some logic and extra state to for the purposes of the actions. For example the FileSet the creation date/time can be stored with the filename. With FTP connections the username and password is kept with the connection so that a reconnect can be performed by any FTP action.
Another note is that you can’t define a FileSet or FTP connection twice, once defined it does not change. It might seem as though the FileSet changes, as the files located in the directory its been defined to look in have changed. Yet the definition of the FileSet hasn’t altered. So its more like an instantiated object, rather than a pointer if that helps any.