<- Functions ^ ^ Miscellaneous ->

====== Scopes ======

The following scopes (namespaces) are defined:

  * Each module has its own global scope.
  * Each function has its own local scope.
  * In a class definition, the scope is the [[records#classes|class namespace]].

===== Global assignment =====

The global assignment '':='' operator inserts variables to the module's global namespace.

  a = 1
  def globalAssign()
      a := 2
  end
  globalAssign()
  print a

Output:

  2

===== Local namespace =====

Built-in function ''locals()'' returns the local namespace as a record.

  # script "test.ds"
  a = 'hello'; b = 'world'
  print locals()

Output:

  __file__:/src/test.ds
  a:       hello
  b:       world

===== Importing modules =====

The ''import'' keyword is used to import modules. All built-in modules and all script files on the [[fs:packages#scripting|import path]] are available for importing.

  import App

When a module is first imported, its global namespace is initialized by executing all statements in the module's global scope. All modules that then import the module will receive a reference to the same record.

The import statement can also be used to make a copy instead of regular importing.

  import record other

This imports //other// (from a file called **other.ds** somewhere on the import path), makes an owned copy of the record, and assigns it to a local variable named //other//. It is equivalent to the following:

  import other
  other = Record(other)