gmStudio is a platform for building VB6/ASP upgrade solutions that meet real-world requirements. The platform offers several very powerful and expressive ways to Initially, the platform offered two ways that developers could customize how it works:

• gmPL Scripts using an XML-like notation to implement declarative specifications that direct and inform the translation engine's operation

• gmSL Scripts using a C-like notation to implement classes, methods, and event handlers that can extend the translation engine's operation

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The introduction of gmPL Extensions makes integrating gmAPI logic with the translation engine more robust and seamless. gmPL Extensions define the conventions for defining new gmPL language elements and integrating gmAPI assemblies with the core translation engine. gmPL Extensions extend the set of gmPL statements that are recognized and processed by the gmStudio platform allowing motivated users to develop the code analysis and transformation features they need.

gmPL Extension dll Resolution and Invocation

When gmBasic is processing a gmPL script and it encounters a script statement that it does not recognize, it looks for a .NET assembly named "gmPL_(%statement%).dll". If the dll is found, gmBasic looks for a class "gBasicMain.gmPL_(%statement%)". If that class can be instantiated, the resulting instance is used to invoke a method named XeqStatement to handle the extended command.

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Unable to find source-code formatter for language: csharp. Available languages are: actionscript, ada, applescript, bash, c, c#, c++, cpp, css, erlang, go, groovy, haskell, html, java, javascript, js, json, lua, none, nyan, objc, perl, php, python, r, rainbow, ruby, scala, sh, sql, swift, visualbasic, xml, yaml*** gmPL_GlobalStubs.dll *** <-- recommended name is gmPL_<ExtensionName>.dll

   namespace gmBasic <-- namespace must be gmBasic
   {
      public class gmPL_GlobalStubs <-- class name must be gmPL_<ExtensionName>
      {
         XeqStatement(string record); <-- extension command handler

Building a gmPL Extension

The high-level process for creating and using a gmPL Extension is as follows:

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If your gmPL extension will interact at several points in the translation process, XeqStatement must return Script.HasEventHandlers. This tells gmBasic to hand-off processing to the gmPL dll when it encounters the three main processing operations (Compile, Analyse, and Author). During each hand-off, the gmPL extension may engage its own pre- and post-processing logic and engage the tools standard processing for these operations. For example, see the implementation of the gmPL_CodeStyle below.

Examples of gmPL extensions

As of the September 2024 Release, gmStudio ships with several gmPL extensions:

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• Single Statement,

• Multiple Statement, and

• Event handler.

gmPL_Search.dll (Single Statement)

gmPL_Search.dll is a single statement gmPL extension command that executes the "Search" command.

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   returnCode = ExecuteExtendedStatement("search", 
      "<Search identifier=\"" + fileName + "\" />");

gmPL_SharedFile.dll (Single Statement)

gmSharedFile.dll is single statement gmPL extension library that executes the "SharedFile" command.

<gmBasic>
<Storage Action="Create" Identifier="SharedFile" />

<Load project="%VirtualRoot%\A.vbp" SourceCode="On" />
<Load project="%VirtualRoot%\B.vbp" SourceCode="On" />
...

<Output Status="New" Filename="%BndPath%" />
 
<SharedFile  RegistryFile="..\usr\Registry_SharedFile" >   
   <VbiFile identifier="A.vbi" />
   <VbiFile identifier="B.vbi" />
...
</SharedFile>
<Storage Action="Close" />
</gmBasic>

gmGlobal.dll (Multiple Statement)

gmPL_gmGlobal.dll is a multiple statement gmPL extension library that executes the 5 gmPL commands:

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See Support Statement: Unused Symbol Analysis and Reporting

gmCodeStyle.dll (event handler)

The gmCodeStyle.dll is an event handler gmPL extension that assists with generating "CodeStyle" translations. In order to engage this dll, the translation script must contain a <CodeStyle> statement. For example:

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public class gmPL_CodeStyle {
...

   public static int XeqStatement(string record)
   {
      string scriptTag = null;
      string configuration = null;
      int     returnCode = 0;
      bool    ending = false;

      scriptTag = Script.GetTag(record,out ending);
      if(String.Equals("CodeStyle", scriptTag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
         configuration = Script.GetAttribute("Configuration",record);
         if(configuration == null) returnCode = 0;
         else
         {
            Configuration.Startup(configuration);
            returnCode = Script.HasEventHandlers;
         }
      }
      else if(String.Equals("Compile", scriptTag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
         returnCode = Execute.gmPL(record); // no special processing during Compile
      }
      else if(String.Equals("Analyse", scriptTag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
         returnCode = Execute.gmPL(record);
         if (returnCode == 0)
         {
            ScanCode(); // CodeStyle Analyser post-processing
         }
      }
      else if(String.Equals("Author", scriptTag, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
      {
          record = record.Replace("<Author", "<Author Finish='off' ");
          returnCode = Execute.gmPL(record); // Partial Authoring
          if (returnCode == 0)
          {
             if (Configuration.TargetCode)
             {
                Parser.SetReserved(Dialects.xml);  
                Runtime.EditTarget editor = new Runtime.EditTarget(TargetCode.Edit);
                Runtime.TargetCodeScan(editor); // CodeStyle Author post-processing
             }
             VerticalList.TargetCode(); // CodeStyle Author post-processing
             Runtime.FinishTranslation();  // Final Authoring and Publishing
          }
      }
      else
      {
         returnCode = Script.UndefinedNestedStatement;
      }
      return returnCode;
   }

gmPL_GlobalStubs.dll (Single Statement)

gmPL_GlobalStubs.dll is a single statement gmPL extension that executes the "GlobalStubs" command. With this library loaded gmBasic is able to execute the GlobalStubs statement using C# code. The extension dll handles loading all of the VBI files for a system then generates the GlobalStubs bundle. This command will typically be placed at the bottom of a gmBasic script that references the external IDFs used by the VBIs. See Incremental Scope Analysis using gmStudio

<GlobalStubs>
   <Load id="A.vbi" />
   <Load id="B.vbi" />
...   
</GlobalStubs>

gmPL_WpfSubsystem.dll (Single Statement)

gmPL_WpfSubsystem.dll is a single statement gmPL extension that executes the "WpfSubsystem" command. With this loaded, gmBasic is able to produce WPF translations. The WPF extension handles authoring XAML files instead of Designer files for Forms and UserControls as well making various changes to code and project structure. This command will typically be placed at the top of a gmBasic script and tell the translator to handle compile, analyse, and author operations adding special processing for WPF features.

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