Syntax Review

The echo(...) method syntax is extremely easy to memorize, which you should do since it is a valuable debugging command:

Syntax:

// Print "Hello World" in the console
echo("Hello World");

Example

Start by running a Torque 3D project. Once the game is up, open the console by pressing the ~ key. In the console, type the following:

Example 1

echo("Hello World");

OUTPUT: Hello World

Now, let's make use of the second parameter. Passing in a value for the second argument will append it to your text:

Example 2

echo("Hello World", 3);

OUTPUT: Hello World3

Notice how there is no space between World and 3. The optional text is appended exactly how you type it. If you want, you can include your own white space to format the output:

Example 3

echo("Hello World: ", 5);

OUTPUT: Hello World: 5

As you can see, the colon and space are included in the output. 5 is still appended, but does not ignore the whitespace. In addition to echo(...), there are two other output functions you will find useful. Their syntax and functionality are nearly identical to echo, but the output is different.

The two functions I'm referring to are warn(...) and error(...). You can post a message in the console and log the same way you echo:

Example 4

warn("Be careful. Something bad might happen");

error("Something has gone horribly wrong");

OUTPUT: 
Be careful. Something bad might happen (teal color)
Something has gone horribly wrong (red color)

You can use these functions to output multicolored text to the console, which will help you identify problems with your scripts.

Creating the Script

There is no real reason to have a script full of echo statements. You will want to use echo(...) in your other functions. However, you can still have a script consisting only of output statements without breaking the system. Go ahead and run your script editor of choice.

Create a new script called Output.cs and save it in YOUR_PROJECT/game/scripts/client directory. Write the following code:

Output.cs

//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Torque 3D
// Copyright (C) GarageGames.com 2000 - 2009 All Rights Reserved
//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

// Create a nice border effect around these echos, makes it easier to find
echo("************************************************************");
echo("************************************************************");

// Standard use
echo("Hello");
echo("World");
echo("Hello World");

// With escape commands
echo("H\ne\nl\nl\no\nW\no\nr\nl\nd\n");

// Appending
echo("Hello World", 1);
echo("Hello World ", 2);
echo("Hello World: ", 3);

// Warning
warn("Warning! Watch for teal text");

// Error
error("Something has gone horribly wrong");
echo("************************************************************");
echo("************************************************************");

Save your script now.

Testing the Script

Open game/scripts/client/init.cs and locate the initClient() function. At the end of that function, execute your new script by typing the following:

exec("./Output.cs");

Run your game, then open the console by pressing (~). Look for the long string of asterisks (*****), and you will find your echo statements.

Conclusion

Use echo(...), warn(...), and error(...) as often as you can. They can be very helpful when debugging your scripts. The rest of the TorqueScript documentation will use these functions to demonstrate functionality and give you cues on how things are being run.

To download this script example, CLICK HERE.