m Programming

After having explored the m application, you are ready to start writing m scripts. This chapter will introduce you to the m language and some of its functions. At the end, you will have seen how a keyword driven SMS service can be implemented, including a persistent database for its content, and a user interface to edit it.

In particular, you will see how to:

build a small database of keywords and responses using m arrays,
monitor incoming SMS traffic,
send SMS responses on incoming messages matching a keyword from the database,
implement a user interface to edit the database,
combine SMS monitoring and user interface with a menu,
save and load the database from and to a file,
move the database part to its own module, so it is reusable from other scripts.

The resulting m components, the script SmsService and the module MyDB, are part of the standard installation.

Basic Arrays
Associative Arrays
Accessing SMS
Editing Data
Making it a Function
Combining SMS and User Interface
Reading and Writing Files
Making it a Module
Conclusion

Next: Basic Arrays