how to create a list in easyJSON

[Richard Gaskin]

Matt Maier wrote:

 > This code:
 >
 >    put "12345" into tArray["one"][1]
 >    put "12345" into tArray["one"][2]
 >    put "12345" into tArray["one"][3]
 >    put "12345" into tArray["two"][1]
 >    put "12345" into tArray["two"][2]
 >    put jsonfromarray(tArray) into tWhatever
 >
 > gives me this result:
 >
 > {"one":{"3":12345,"1":12345,"2":12345},"two":{"1":12345,"2":12345}}
 >
 > which is a multi-level array, rather than this, which is a
 > single-level array with lists
 >
 > {"one":["12345","12345","12345"],"two":["12345","12345"]}
 >
 > I'm not even sure how to distinguish between the two in Livecode. We
 > parse strings into lists so often that I'm not aware of a pure list
 > data structure. Livecode can interpret "12345,12345,12345" as a list
 > if I tell it to go by item, but it's just a string and that's how
 > easyJSON is treating it, as one string, not a list of strings.

I think you hit on the core of the issue:  LiveCode Script does not
(yet) support true lists.

xTalks have traditionally approached that with strings, as you noted, 
and with the efficiency and ease of chunk expressions that's not a bad 
way to handle things.

But it becomes problematic when trying to move data between systems 
using a data structure like JSON designed specifically for JavaScript.

I believe LiveCode Builder supports true lists.

It would be nice of some of the language features in LC Builder that are 
also common in other languages could be migrated into LC Script as well.

As an interim workaround, I suppose you could write your own 
LCArrayToJSON function that handles the specific use cases you're 
looking for, but that's tedious and would need to be written and used 
carefully with specific tasks in mind.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
  ____________________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com                http://www.FourthWorld.com