Skip to main content

Embedded Script Editing

Ignition stores the Python that lives inside Perspective views, transforms, message handlers, and tag event scripts as escaped strings inside JSON files — one long line with \n and \t sequences instead of real line breaks. Flint decodes those strings into proper Python documents with syntax highlighting and IntelliSense, and re-encodes them back into the JSON when you save.

Prerequisites

Works completely offline. No gateway connection, API token, or Designer Bridge module is required — only a valid flint.config.json (see Configuration).

Edit Script​

With a .json resource open, place your cursor inside an encoded script value and run Flint: Edit Script (Cmd+Shift+E on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+E on Windows/Linux). Flint:

  1. Detects which script the cursor is in and decodes it.
  2. Opens the decoded script as a Python document beside the JSON file.
  3. Prepends the correct function signature for that script type, so the code reads exactly as it does in Designer.
  4. Re-encodes the script and writes it back into the JSON file when you save the Python document.

The decoded document uses the virtual flint-script URI scheme — it is not a file on disk. The JSON resource remains the single source of truth; saving the virtual document updates the JSON, which you then commit as usual.

Recognized script types​

Flint identifies the script type from its position in the JSON and applies the matching signature wrapper:

Script typeJSON key patternSignature wrapper
Component event scriptconfig.scriptdef runAction(self, event):
Binding transformtransforms.codedef transform(self, value, quality, timestamp):
Custom methodcustomMethods.scriptdef <name>(self, <params>): (from the method definition)
Message handlermessageHandlers.scriptdef onMessageReceived(self, payload):
Tag event scripteventScripts.scriptdef valueChanged(tag, tagPath, previousValue, currentValue, initialChange, missedEvents):
Property change scriptonChange.scriptdef valueChanged(self, previousValue, currentValue, origin, missedEvents):
warning

The signature line is context only — it is stripped out before re-encoding, because Ignition stores only the function body. If you modify or delete the signature line, saving fails with an error so the JSON is never corrupted.

Decoded scripts get the same language features as project script files, including Jython-aware completion and system.* IntelliSense — see Language Features.

Compare Decoded with Git​

Run Flint: Compare Decoded with Git on a JSON resource to open a diff against the Git HEAD version, with your current file shown in decoded form. This makes it much easier to review what actually changed in a view than reading escaped one-line strings in a raw diff.

Limitation

The left side of the diff (the Git HEAD version) is shown in its original encoded form; only the right side (your current file) is decoded. You can still read your current scripts as real Python, but the HEAD side displays escaped strings.

If the file has no Git history, the command falls back to comparing the decoded version against the original encoded file.

Paste as JSON​

Copying data structures out of Ignition — script console output, dataset dumps, property values — often yields Python notation rather than valid JSON: u'string' prefixes, True/False/None, single quotes. Flint: Paste as JSON reads the clipboard, converts that Python notation to valid JSON, and pastes the result at the cursor.