AutoIt Data Type for VB DateTime type

[JerryD]

I'm working on converting a VB Script to AutoIt. I'm by no means fluent in VB, but can usually figure out what's going on.

The script is using a built in function IsNull which I originally thought would mean to return 1 if the variable was either equal to zero or a null string, but that didn't seem to be it.

I found a site that has a list of VB Script Commands and discovered that IsNull returns 1 if the variable passed is a DateTime type (IsNull(expression) Is expression a DateTime? True/False).

What AutoIt variable type or types would this be? Specifically, how might one write a function IsNull that operates the same way on a variable - specifically part of an object.

Or am I oversimplifying the question?

Thanks!

[enaiman]

In AutoIt you have either strings or numbers.

You can have the date/time in two formats:

- string: 21/06/2010 10:20

- Unix Time Format: (the number of seconds that have elapsed since midnight 1.1.1970 UTC)

So, in order to check if something is a "valid time" you will need to use some checks (best with RegEx). Not very easy but doable.

That's what "I" know; others might know more than myself. Good luck.

[ResNullius]

@JerryD,

Looking at the script you linked to, the 1st use of IsNull is this

Set UpdateSession = CreateObject("Microsoft.Update.Session")
if IsNull(UpdateSession) then
  wscript.quit
end if

If that's the use you're wondering about, then this is simply testing for the valid creation of the Update.Session object.

So AutoIt equivalent would be

$oUpdateSession = ObjCreate("Microsoft.Update.Session")
If Not IsObj($oUpdateSession) then
  exit
EndIf

Hope that helps.

Edit: Looking at the rest of the script, IsNull is also sometimes being used as you suspected, to test whether a string is passed (as in arguements to a function).

Perhaps if you post your conversion efforts and where you feel the script is failing, we can offer more insight.

Edit 2: Looks like the VB Functions page you linked to is a victim of a cut and paste error for their IsNull definition. See this one instead: http://www.w3schools.com/vbscript/func_isnull.asp

Edited June 21, 2010 by ResNullius