Q on Accessing multi-dimension arrays.

[Richard Gaskin]

Alex Tweedly wrote:

 > I have a multi-dimension array, say created by
 >
 > put "answer" into tArray["firstkey"]["secondkey"]
 >
 > Is there some way or format to specify the array elements using the
 > "path" of the keys, rather than each one at its own level) ?
 >
 > i.e. something like (but obviously not exactly)
 >
 >    put tArray["firstkey,secondkey"]
 >
 > where each item/part of the key is interpreted s the next level in the
 > multi-dimension.

You may be thinking of the matrixMultiply function, which requires each 
array key to be a comma-separated pair of numbers.  That was written 
before LC had multidimensional arrays; not sure if it would have been 
written that way if deeper arrays were available at the time.

All array keys in LC are strings.  Whether a number, or a pair of 
numbers with some punctuation included - all just a string.

It would be nice to be able to represent deep arrays with paths, though. 
  That's been a dream of mine for years, to be able to use XPath-like 
functions on LC arrays.

But alas my best efforts at simulating that in script ultimately require 
dynamic evaluation (do, value, etc.), where the speed loss adds up 
quickly since this is most worth applying to large arrays.

And given that the engine doesn't currently prohibit "/" from being part 
of an array key (only NULL is prohibited), I haven't bothered submitting 
a feature request for path syntax for arrays because I can think of no 
universally-applicable way to expect the engine team to do it.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Systems
  Software Design and Development for the Desktop, Mobile, and the Web
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