---
url: >-
  /statelake/scripting-reference/functions-and-procedures/what-is-a-function/functions-and-include-files.md
---

# Functions And Include Files

While functions can be typed directly into the **Map** through a script, they need to be entered into every script that you want them to run from, within the **Configuration**.

For multiple calls of the same function, there is an easier way – using what **Statelake** knows as an **Include File** or **Script File**. You can think of an **Include File** as a file that contains independent snippets of code that are called or run more than once within the **Configuration**.

Using include files means that any changes to those pieces of code need only to be made once – rather than hunt around and find every instance of the code within the **Map**, with the possibility of missing one that may cause some serious repercussions.

For more information about **Include Files**, please refer to [Include Files](/statelake/administering-statelake/designer/global-setup/include-files/).

And it is not necessary to have all your functions in these files – you can have a mixture of functions either typed into the script, or called from within an include file.

The following is an example of user-defined functions called within the **Statelake Map**. The function **MyFunc** is typed into the script, while **MyFunc2** is contained in an include file called **DaisyChain** as illustrated by the ($I DaisyChain) reference at the head of the code. This code uses both **MyFunc** and **MyFunc2**.

```pascal
($I DaisyChain)

function MyFunc(MyArg:string):string;
begin
  Result := '>>>'+MyArg+'<<<';
end;

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value:variant);
begin
  LogInfo('Hello World.  I am here!');
  LogInfo(StringReplaceAll('abc','a','x'));
  LogInfo('This is the next');
  LogInfo(MyFunc('Beth'));
  LogInfo(MyFunc('1234'));
  LogInfo(MyFunc2('5678'));
  Sleep(2000);
end;
```

Then, inside the **Include** file called **DaisyChain** is the following code.

```pascal
function MyFunc2(MyArg:string):string;
begin
  Result := '***'+MyArg+'***';
end;
```

**Include** files are available to be accessed by any script within the configuration.

However, if you want to have an **Include File** that is truly global and can be accessed by any configuration running on the same system, then the file can be stored on disk as a file in its own right. Within the script, the location specified for these **Include** files would be the full directory path.

So rather than just saying ($I DaisyChain) the code would say ($I C:\Documents\ThisProject\DaisyChain).

Not only limited to functions, procedures can also be detailed and coded in these **Include Files**.