Simple Arrays

Jim Ault jimaultwins at yahoo.com
Sun Jan 10 09:43:43 EST 2010


Split and combine only work on the last level of keys in an array, and  
they are a little too unwieldy for me, although I use them frequently  
for two-dimensional arrays and custom properties.
I prefer the following:

--there is no array named kitchen yet
put "bacon" into kitchen[refrigerator][drawer][top]
--  now there is an array with one value and 3 keys

put "cheese" into kitchen[refrigerator][drawer][top]
  --replaces bacon

--assuming 3 trays in the door
put "eggs" into kitchen[refrigerator][door][shelf][top][tray][1]
put "garlic" into kitchen[refrigerator][door][shelf][top][tray][2]
put "coffee" into kitchen[refrigerator][door][shelf][top][tray][3]

-- let's put part of the data into another array temporarily
put kitchen[refrigerator][door][shelf][top][tray] into foodArr

foodArr is two-dimensional and has 3 keys
[1] eggs
[2] garlic
[3] coffee

put "butter" into foodArr[2]
put "horseradish" into foodArr[3]

foodArr is two-dimensional and has 3 keys
[1] eggs
[2] butter
[3] horseradish

--now let's define a new array and put it into the big one
    put empty into foodArr
    put "meat" into foodArr[1]
    put "lettuce" into foodArr[2]
    put "milk" into foodArr[6]
    put "cream" into foodArr[jar in the door]

--now let's put the new data into the big array
    put foodArr into kitchen[refrigerator][door][shelf][top]
--this means that [tray] is gone
--   replace by 4 keys    1  2  6  "jar in the door"

All the keys in a particular dimension have to be unique.
Reusing the key means you are replacing that key's current definition

Unless you really want to study multidimensional arrays and learn the  
code tricks, be prepared for a mind bender as you attempt to debug  
your code, then wonder if you could ever trust it, let alone come back  
next year and modify it for version 2.16a

Fun, games, and then some.

Jim Ault
Las Vegas

On Jan 10, 2010, at 5:52 AM, Thomas McGrath III wrote:

> Pardon my question, but I have learned more about arrays in these  
> four posts than I ever thought about before:
>
> So given that I would want a multi-dimensional array where theData[2] 
> [3] = "Blue" as in the examples provided, what is the 'best' way to  
> enter data into this array, or is the way Bob did it the best way?
>
> Workflow:
> First;
>>> put "1"&  comma&  "A"&  comma&  "Green"&  return into theData
>>> put "2"&  comma&  "B"&  comma&  "Blue"&  return after theData
>>> put "3"&  comma&  "C"&  comma&  "Orange"&  return after theData
>>> put "4"&  comma&  "D"&  comma&  "White"&  return after theData
> Then ;
> split theData with cr
>
> Would this get me theData[2][3] = "Blue" ??? I thought the delimiter  
> was TAB?
>
> Would this be better:
> put "1"& tab& "A"& tab& "Green"& return into theData
>
> OR is this all wrong and if so what is the 'best' way to enter a lot  
> data into a mutli-dimensional array to get these results??
> Thank you for this.
>
> Tom McGrath III
> Lazy River Software
> 3mcgrath at comcast.net
>
> iTunes Library Suite - libITS
> Information and download can be found on this page:
> http://www.lazyriversoftware.com/RevOne.html
>
> On Jan 9, 2010, at 9:37 PM, Phil Davis wrote:
>
>> Hi Bob,
>>
>> On 1/9/10 5:12 PM, Bob Sneidar wrote:
>>> Hi all.
>>>
>>> Apparently I am not getting arrays AT ALL. I would think that given:
>>>
>>> put "1"&  comma&  "A"&  comma&  "Green"&  return into theData
>>> put "2"&  comma&  "B"&  comma&  "Blue"&  return after theData
>>> put "3"&  comma&  "C"&  comma&  "Orange"&  return after theData
>>> put "4"&  comma&  "D"&  comma&  "White"&  return after theData
>>>
>>> which would get me:
>>> 1,A,Green
>>> 2,B,Blue
>>> 3,C,Orange
>>> 4,D,White
>>>
>>
>> Actually either of these:
>>
>>   split theData with cr
>>   split theData by row -- where the rowDelimiter is CR
>>
>> would get you this:
>>
>>   theData[1] = "1,A,Green"
>>   theData[2] = "2,B,Blue"
>>   theData[3] = "3,C,Orange"
>>   theData[4] = "4,D,White"
>>
>>> I could then split by column (or by row I get confused) and get a  
>>> simple array where:
>>> theData[1,1] = "1"
>>> theData[1,2] = "A"
>>> theData[2,1] = "2"
>>> theData[4,3] = "White"
>>>
>>> And so forth. However, this is NOT the case!
>>
>> Right. Technically speaking, comma is not an array index separator.  
>> Commas in our array keys help us conceptually represent multiple  
>> array dimensions in our own minds, but Rev sees an array with such  
>> keys as a simple one-dimensional array with alphabetic keys (since  
>> commas are not numerals).
>>
>> Until version 3.0, Rev couldn't handle true multi-dimensional  
>> arrays. Since then, the thing that tells Rev "this is a multi- 
>> dimensional array" is multiple keys per element, with each key in  
>> its own bracket. Like this:
>>
>>   theData[1][1] = "1"
>>   theData[1][2] = "A"
>>   theData[1][3] = "Green"
>>
>>
>> Now do you see why 'transpose()' wouldn't work with your array? In  
>> part it's because your keys aren't numeric - they contain commas.  
>> (Also they have to be sequential numbers.)
>>
>> Welcome to array re-education camp!  ;-)
>>
>> Phil Davis
>>
>>
>>> If it were, I could issue a command:
>>>
>>> put transpose(theData) into myArray
>>>
>>> and:
>>> myArray[1,2] = 2
>>> myArray[1,3] = 3
>>>
>>> and so on. If I got the entire row (I think there's a function for  
>>> that) then I would have effectively gotten the column of the  
>>> original data. Seems reasonable eh?
>>>
>>> So can someone please explain to me why I cannot get a simple x,y  
>>> row,column grid-like array using these simple commands? Revolution  
>>> seems to think that the first column MUST be the key! I would LIKE  
>>> for revolution to simply create it's OWN numerical keys and let my  
>>> data be my data. Maybe in the future add an argument to the split  
>>> and combine commands to tell it whether or not I WANT Revolution  
>>> to treat my first column as the key?
>>>
>>> If arrays worked like I described above, it would be a simple  
>>> matter to get a single column of an array, just by transposing it  
>>> and getting an entire row, instead of writing complex repeat loops  
>>> to get a column of data. Am I missing something here?
>>>
>>> Thanks for any wisdom you can give. I can save some helpful souls  
>>> the trouble of responding by saying I am capable of making repeat  
>>> loops to accomplish this. I was just hoping that maybe I was  
>>> missing something and I can in fact do what I thought I could.
>>>
>>> Bob_______________________________________________
>>> use-revolution mailing list
>>> use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
>>> Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your  
>>> subscription preferences:
>>> http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
>>>
>>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Phil Davis
>>
>> PDS Labs
>> Professional Software Development
>> http://pdslabs.net
>>
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>
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Jim Ault
Las Vegas






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