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How to Add Folders and Text Outputs via QScript

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Introduction

There are many things you can automate in Q to speed up your analyses. This is the way to use QScripts to add folders to your report tree and customized text outputs.

Requirements

 

Method

In QScript, the project is referenced as the project object and the Report tree is the project.report. You can append various objects to your project, such as folders, tables, R calculations, and charts. However, folders are the most fundamental.

 

In Q there are several key items to understand before working with folders in a QScript:

  • A folder is not required to add objects to it. By default, any new object will be added directly to the Report tree.
  • Objects within a folder are subItems of that folder which in turn is a subItem of project.report.
  • A folder can be nested within another folder.

 

Appending folders and text outputs

In our first example we will add a folder called Nested Folder which appears within a folder called Folder. Nested Folder will additionally have a text output that includes the folder name.

mceclip1.png

The workflow for this is as follows:

  • Create the "folder" page.
  • Add a nested folder.
  • Add the text output to the nested folder.

Here is the code:

// Add folder
var folder = project.report.appendGroup();
folder.name = "Folder";

// Add nested folder
var folderName = "Nested Folder";
var nestedFolder = folder.appendGroup();
nestedFolder.name = folderName;

// Add text output
var text = nestedFolder.appendText();
var html = Q.htmlBuilder();
html.append(folderName, { font: 'Open Sans', color: 'red', size: 18 });
text.content = html;
  • We begin by using appendGroup() to add a blank folder to our project, that is project.report, called folder, and set the name.
  • As we will use the folder name more than once, we will first declare it as folderName.
  • We again use appendGroup() but instead, add a folder to folder and set its name.
  • The nested folder's text output is then created using the appendText() property and its content is set with an HTML builder function called html.append() that allows us to set the text and styling.

Instead of only appending the folder name, we can also append other items, such as paragraphs and bullet points:

// Add text output
var text = nestedFolder.appendText();
var html = Q.htmlBuilder();
html.append(folderName, { font: 'Open Sans', color: 'red', size: 18 });
html.appendParagraph('Most interesting results in the survey:');
html.appendBulletted(['Coke tastes great', 'Diet drinks becoming more popular']);
text.content = html;

 

mceclip2.png

Updating folder names

Once you have created your folders, you may wish to rename them. This is also possible via QScript. For example, to rename the first folder in our project, we reference the first subItem of report and set the name property:
var folder = project.report.subItems[0];
folder.name = "Our report";

Page references can also be based on current selection by using project.currentPage():

var report = project.currentPage();
report.name = "Renamed Page";

Next

How to Create Tables and R Calculations via QScript

 

Later

How to Create a Chart via QScript

How to Modify Tables via QScript

 

See Also

How to Work with Variables via QScript

How to Create a Custom QScript

How to Use QScripts in Q

JavaScript Fundamentals

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