{35}

Vassal works with whole numbers. Decimal numbers are treated as strings.

{"German"}

A String literal, or text message, must be enclosed in "" quotation marks

$..$

{"$Nation$"}
{$Attack$}

Property names enclosed by $..$ symbols immediately substitute the property value, based on the piece or component issuing the command. Not normally needed in BeanShell as there are simpler ways to use a property value in an expression, but sometimes useful in Property Match Expressions to use properties from the issueing piece rather than target piece.

{Nation}
{LocationName}
{CurrentMap}
{playerName}

Any word not enclosed in "" is interpreted as a Property name.

Can refer by name to Global Properties, Marker and Dynamic Properties of pieces, and properties exposed by traits. The current value of the property will be used.

+ Add
- Subtract
* Multiply
/ Divide
% Modulo

{(CurrentHP + 2) * (Damage - Resistance)}
{FirstName + "-" + Surname}
{Height * 10}
{width / 5}
{Level % 10}

Using the + operator on two String will concatenate (join) them. If the values on both sides of the + look like whole numbers, Vassal will attempt to add them.

Parentheses can be used to organize operations and/or override the ordinary order of operations.

> Greater than
< Less than
>= Not less than
<= Not greater than
== Equals
!= Not Equals
=~ Match regular Expression

{height > 10 && width >= Level}
{length < maxlength || breadth <= maxbreadth}
{Nation=="Germany"}
{Army!="Allied"}
{Type=="^A$"}

Comparison operators are used primarily in Property Match Expressions and also with the ? (ternary) operator.

Parentheses can be used to organize operations and/or override the ordinary order of operations.

&& Logical AND
|| Logical OR
! Logical NOT
() Grouping

{Nation=="Germany" && Type=="Unit"}
{Nation=="Germany" || Type=="Unit"}
{Nation=="Germany" && Type=="Unit"}
{!isInUse}
{A==B && (C==1 || D==2)}

Comparison operators are used primarily in Property Match Expressions and also in the If function.

Expr ? IfTrue : IfFalse

{ (Nation=="Germany") ? "Axis" : "Allies" }
{ (Nation=="Germany") ? 5 : 2 }
{ States.contains(CurrentZone) ? 1 : 0 }
{ IsRandom() ? "Heads" : "Tails" }
{A==B ? C : D}

The Ternary or "?" operator can be thought of as posing a yes/no question: if the expression before the ? symbol evaluates as "true", then the value of the expression as a whole is equal to the middle ("if true") part of the expression; otherwise (initial part is false), the result is the right ("if false") side.

Math.abs(value1)
Math.min(value1, value2)
Math.max(value1, value2)

{Math.abs(Number - 5)}
{Math.min(Health, Armor)}
{Math.max(3, Random(6))}

Math.abs() Returns the absolute value of the numeric property value1.

Math.min() Returns the smaller of two numeric values.

Math.max() Returns the larger of two numeric values.

GetProperty(property)
GetString(property)
GetMapProperty(property,map)
GetZoneProperty(property,zone)
GetZoneProperty(property,zone,map)

{GetProperty("Nation"+myNation)}
{GetString("HowManyDogs")}
{GetMapProperty("Owner",CurrentMap)}
{GetZoneProperty("Militia","Georgia")}
{GetZoneProperty("Modifier",OldZone,OldMap)}

All GetProperty() family functions return the value of a named property. The name of the property can be constructed from an expression.

GetString() returns a string value even if the property contains a number or a boolean. You can also append .toString() to any other function or property to achieve the same effect.

GetMapProperty() looks only on the specific map for the property.

GetZoneProperty() looks only in a specific zone (and if specified, map) for the property.

Random(value1)
Random(value1,value2)
IsRandom()
IsRandom(percent)

{Random(6)}
{Random(AttackPower,AttackPower * 2)}
{IsRandom()}
{IsRandom(75)}

Random(value1) returns a random number between 1 and value1.

Random(value1,value2) returns a random number between value1 and value2.

IsRandom() returns "true" 50% of the time.

IsRandom(percent) returns "true" the specified percent of the time.

.length()
.contains(string2)
.startsWith(string2)
.endsWith(string2)
.matches(regExpr)
.indexOf(string2)
.lastIndexOf(string2)
.substring(start)
.substring(start, end)
.replace(old, new)
.toString()

{ LocationName.length() }
{ States.contains("Arkansas") }
{ OwnerString.startsWith("Axis") }
{ MaybeQuestion.endsWith("?") }
{ String.matches("[^abc]") }
{ WhereIsTheColon.indexOf(":") }
{ MaybeLotsOfDivs.lastIndexOf("div") }
{ CurrentZone.substring(5) }
{ PlayerName.substring(1,5) }
{ GetProperty("XX").replace("A","YY") }
{ AttackValue.toString() }

length() the length in characters of the string.

contains(string2) true if string2 is a substring of the original string.

startsWith(string2) true if string2 is the starting sequence of the original string.

endsWith(string2) true if string2 is the final sequence of the original string.

matches(regex) true if the original string matches the regular expression regex.

indexOf(string2) the first index where string2 can be found in the original string.

lastIndexOf(string2) the last index where string2 begins within the original string.

substring(start) from character indexed by start, the rest of the string.

substring(start,end) returns the substring from start to end, exclusive.

replace(old,new) the original string with all instances of the string old replaced by the string new

toString() converts the property or result into a string even if it was a number or a boolean

SumStack(propertyName)
CountStack()
CountStack(propertyName)
Sum(prop, expression)
Sum(prop, expr, map)
Count(expr)
Count(expr, map)

{SumStack("Attack")}
{CountStack()}
{CountStack("Russian")}
{Sum("Defense", "{Type != \"Artillery\"}")}
{Sum("Cost", "{ Value > 0 }", "Purchases")}
{Count("{ Nation == \"$Nation$\" }")}
{Count("{ CombatValue > 0 }", "BattleMap") }

SumStack(prop) returns the total of the specified property in all pieces in the same stack as this one.

CountStack() returns the total number of pieces in the same stack as this one (including this piece)

CountStack(prop) returns the number of pieces in the same stack as this one, that have a non-blank value for the named property. If this piece has a non-blank value for the named property, it is counted in the total.

Sum(prop, expr) returns the total of the specified property for all pieces in the game matching the expression.

Sum(prop, expr, map) returns the total of the specified property for all pieces on a specific map matching the expression.

Count(expr) returns the number of pieces in the game that match the expression.

Count(expr, map) returns the number of pieces on a specific map matching the expression.

NOTE: Except for SumStack, these functions can have substantial performance cost as they must check all of the pieces on the map or in the entire game against the expression. Also, because Java requires that the expression itself must be passed as a string, the syntax is tricky here and quotation marks inside the expression must be quoted as \"

Alert(message)

{Alert("Adding 1 to HP")}

Alert displays a message in a popup dialog box, to the currently active player only. If a message needs to be shown to all players, the recommended method is to send something to the Chat Log e.g. with a Report Action trait or other Message Format field.

A Simple Integer Expression:

A whole number. In general, Vassal does not support decimal numbers, except when stored and used as Strings.

A basic Simple String Expression:

A String in a Simple Expression is defined without quotation marks.

A more complex example:

The string $Nation$ will be replaced by the value of the Nation property. You can use multiple $…​$ strings in an expression ($Nation$-$Division$), but can NOT nest them ($Nation$Count$$).