ranging lists

[Ron]

Hi, I appreciate those who replied. Jackie, you've been a big help since HC
days many years ago. Thanks again for this suggestion. I have worked with
arrays a little, but it hadn't occurred to me in this case. The key was:

(theRangeArray[i] <> empty)

I hadn't made that connection and its one I'll try to remember. I modified
the script to fit my needs and it runs great.

Thanks
Ron 

PS the speed is quite acceptable, credit the engine again.

> 
> On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 04:57 AM, Ron wrote:
>> 
>> I have 2 lists. I need to check whether the values of list 2 fall
>> within the
>> range of the values of list 1. eg.
>> 
>> list 1
>> 1 10
>> 20 25
>> 45 55
>> 
>> list 2
>> 1,3,12,23,34,45,52,78
> 
> Arrays are very fast. I didn't benchmark it, but see if something like
> this is faster than what you are using now:
> 
> function checkRanges
> put fld 1 into theRanges -- this is List 1
> repeat for each line l in theRanges -- make an array
> put word 1 of l + 1 into theStart
> put word 2 of l - 1 into theStop
> repeat until theStart > theStop
> put theStart into theRangeArray[theStart]
> add 1 to theStart
> end repeat
> end repeat
> -- now check the items in list 2 against the array:
> put fld 2 into theList
> repeat for each item i in theList
> put (theRangeArray[i] <> empty) & comma after theResults
> end repeat
> return theResults
> end checkRanges
> 
> This returns a list of booleans corresponding to each item in List 2,
> indicating whether each item is within range or not.
> 
> Creating the initial array probably takes the most time (but it is still
> very fast.) If this is something you will use repeatedly, build the
> array only once and store it in a global variable so you don't have to
> rebuild it each time you want to use it.
> 
> -- 
> Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
> HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com