How to invoke a pre-defined data function in Spotfire® using IronPython Scripting

Introduction

This example shows how to invoke pre-defined data functions in Spotfire using IronPython scripting.

Before we invoke the data function it must already be defined in Spotfire. This is done in the 'Edit > Data Function Properties' interface. After this is done we can descide how we want the function to execute (asyncrous/syncronous), if we need to define the input / output settings and other relevant items.

Note: Executing data functions without a dedicated TERR server is only possible on the desktop version of Spotfire (Analyst) to use this on the Spotfire Web Player a dedicated Statistics Services Server (TSSS) must be used.

Code samples

This is the easiest method. It will use the default settings and input and output options already defined in the data function.

Execute data function using the DataFunctionExecutorService (simple)

# Copyright © 2017. TIBCO Software Inc.  Licensed under TIBCO BSD-style license.

# Datafunction service
from Spotfire.Dxp.Data.DataFunctions import DataFunctionExecutorService, DataFunctionInvocation, DataFunctionInvocationBuilder
dataManager = Document.Data
app = Application
dataFunction = None
for function in dataManager.DataFunctions:
	if function.Name == 'Test2':
		dataFunction = function
		dataFunction.Execute()

There are two ways to execute data functions synchronously (waiting for it to finish). The first is the ExecuteSynchronously method. This will run the function directly and return a boolean value with the execution result. The second method is also asynchronous but with a callback that occurs after the function has completed. When choosing between the two types of synchronous execution, the callback method should be preferred since it will delegate when and how the function is executed to Spotfire that will optimize internally depending on the current state of the application.

Execute data function synchronously

# Copyright © 2017. TIBCO Software Inc.  Licensed under TIBCO BSD-style license.

import clr
from Spotfire.Dxp.Data.DataFunctions import *
from Spotfire.Dxp.Framework.ApplicationModel import ConnectivityService, NotificationService
from Spotfire.Dxp.Framework.Library import LibraryException, LibraryManager, LibraryItemType

# add a simple data function that creates a new table with one single column.
builder = clr.Reference[DataFunctionDefinitionBuilder](); 
builder = DataFunctionDefinitionBuilder("myNewDF", DataFunctionExecutorTypeIdentifiers.TERRScriptExecutor);
outputBuilder = clr.Reference[OutputParameterBuilder]();
outputBuilder = OutputParameterBuilder("output", ParameterType.Table);

output = outputBuilder.Build();
builder.OutputParameters.Add(output);
builder.Settings["Script"] = "col <- 1:100; output <- data.frame(col=col);";
dataFunctionDefinition = builder.Build();

dataFunction = Document.Data.DataFunctions.AddNew("myNewDF", dataFunctionDefinition);
dataFunction.UpdateBehavior = DataFunctionUpdateBehavior.Manual;
dataFunction.Visible = True;
dataFunction.Outputs.SetTableOutput(output, "myNewTable");

dataFunction.ExecuteSynchronously();

Execute asynchronously (using callback)

# Copyright © 2017. TIBCO Software Inc.  Licensed under TIBCO BSD-style license.

def datafunction_callback():
    # Execute the next function after the first has returned
    OtherDataFunction.Execute()
    
# DataFunction represents data function defined from a DataFunctionDefinition
DataFunction.Execute(datafunction_callback)

References

• API Reference: DataFunctions Namespace

• API Reference: DataFunction. ExecuteSynchronously Method

• API Reference: DataFunction.Execute(DataFunctionCompletionCallback) Method

License:  TIBCO BSD-Style License