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Python for Spike users Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

This cheat sheet provides a overview of the aspects of the Python coding langauge useful to users of the Spike prototyping software

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Data Types

String
'Hello', "­234­5", 'This is a string'
Integer (Int)
2, 5, -7
Double (float)
2.1, 5.0, -7.778
Boolean
True, False

Assignment operator

x = y
The value of y is assigned to the variable x

Comparsion operator

x == y
x is equal to y
x != y
x is not equal to y
x < y
x is less than y
x > y
x is greater than y
x <= y
x is less than or equal
x >= y
x is greater than or equal

Identity operators

x is y
x references the same data as y
x is not y
x does not reference the same data as y

Logical operators

x == y And x > 0
If both the expres­sions are True then the ‘and’ operator returns True
x== y Or x > 0
If either of the expres­sions are True then the ‘or’ operator returns True
See lesson 5 of Basics of Python for Spike users in the helpfiles

Variable Scope/­all­owable context

command
global interp­reter
(work)unit cfb/em(eu) command
procedural step/t­ran­sition
unit
NO
YES
YES - S88
em
NO
YES
NO
workUnit
NO
YES
YES - S95
EU
NO
YES
NO
See the 'Variable Scope' section of the help files.

Arithmetic Operators

x + y
add
x - y
subtract
x * y
multiply
x / y
divide
x ** y
x ^ y
x % y
modulus
abs(x)
absolute

Potential pitfalls

object compar­sion*
while*
The while loop statement repeatedly executes a target statement as long as a given condition is true. However if while loops are used inappr­opr­iately they will trash CPU perfor­mance. In most cases the 'if' statement, waitFor function and timers would be more apprio­pate.
rounding errors*
Double values can only be approp­riate
'True' v 'true'
In Spike, 'True' refers to a boolean value while 'true' is the name of an object
*See the potential progra­mming pitfalls section of the help files for more detail
  

Useful Spike functions

opc('N­ame­OfO­bject')
Access an object in the opc model
opc('N­ame­OfO­bject').
The '.' operator provides access to all commands and properties of the object
unit.
Provides access to the commands and properties of the current unit
unit.Suppor­tModule
Provides access to unit parame­ters, timer and counters
unit.Messa­geM­odule
Provides access to create messages, prompts and call work instru­ctions
em.
Provides access to the commands and properties of the current equipment module
info()
Prints a string variable to the console tab
str()
Converts an object into a string
waitFo­r(c­ond­ition met)
Wait for the value of given property on given module to equal given condition
sleep(­dur­ation)
Put current script to sleep for duration seconds
resetM­odu­les()
Reset parent associated modules
firstScan
do something when running a script the first time

Useful code snippets

$creat­etimer
Recomm­ended method of creating a timer
$creat­eco­unter
Recomm­ended method of creating a counter
$ calls various pre-cr­eated code snippets which can be viewed in the snippets folder of the Type Explorer

Statements

If Statement
if condition met:
do Something

elif other condition met:
do Something Else

else:
do Something Else

While Loop
while condition is met:
do Something

For Loop

For variable in collection:
do Something with variable