RMXP - Passing Arrays into a function

[Memor-X]

how exactly do i do it, all i can remember from c++ programming is that you pass the memory address to the function to allow it to explicitly access the array outside it's scope.

i particularly want to know how i pass an array created using Table.new since i've now started to get in the habit of using the Table CXlass rather than creating a normal array

[ForeverZer0]

Ruby does not support pointers if that is what you are talking about. There is no such thing, nor any equivalent.

Ruby uses a strange blend of "pass by reference" and "pass by value" unlike other languages. When you pass an object as an argument, you are passing an object, but the object is a reference to the object. It is basically a copy of the object that represents it.

def my_method(string)
  string.gsub!(/foo/, 'bar')
end

str = "the word: foo"
my_method(str)
p str # "the word: bar"

[Memor-X]

so i take it the following code

myArray = Table.new(2,2)
myArray[0,0] = "cows "
myArray[0,1] = "are "
myArray[1,0] = "my "
myArray[1,1] = "friends ,' )"

printArray(myArray)

def printArray(passedArray)
    
    for i in 0...1
        for j in 0...1
            p passedArray[i,j]
        end
    end
    
end

should work find right?

EDIT: oh what the hell, just hooked up my laptop cause i got some time before work just to test the code and keep getting an error saying that it can't convert a string to an integer........any idea why?

[ForeverZer0]

Yes, that will work fine.

[KK20]

The multidimensional array class. Each element takes up 2 signed bytes, ranging from -32,768 to 32,767.

You can only store integers (or a 'short' in this case) in a Table instance. So...sorry, if you want an array of strings, gotta use an Array.

[ForeverZer0]

KK20 is correct. I didn't notice you were attempting to place strings into a Table.

For normal function, there is no real advantage to using a Table anyway. A Table is simply a 1-dimensional C array of shorts. RMXP uses this only because Ruby's Array class is not fit to handle very large amounts of data, and you can get a slight performance increase when the amount of data is very large and accessed often.

In your case, if you need a container that is not so penalized for containing large amounts of data, just use a Hash. If performance is that critical where a Hash is not even acceptable in terms of perforamce, then you are using the wrong language.

[nathmatt]

@ForeverZer0 true but was bored so i made a class that would allow it

Spoiler: ShowHide

class Enhanced_table
  
  def initialize
    @data = {}
  end
  
  def [](*args)
    return @data[args]
  end
  
  def []=(*args)
    value = args.pop
    @data[args] = value
  end
  
end

edit fixed to allow any size

myArray = Enhanced_table.new
myArray[0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] = "cows "

[ForeverZer0]

Ruby natively supports multidimensional arrays. Simply place an array into an array, and its the same thing. A Ruby class that is simply a copy of the Table class that allows Ruby objects has even less performance than a standard array. RMXP's Table class is only better on performance because it is simply a wrapper for a class of a much lower-level language.

[Memor-X]

@ForeverZer0 true but was bored so i made a class that would allow it

Spoiler: ShowHide

class Enhanced_Table
  
  def initialize
    @data = {}
  end
  
  def [](key1,key2=nil,key3=nil)
    key = [key1,key2,key3].compact
    return @data[key]
  end
  
  def []=(key1, key2, key3=nil, value=nil)
    if value != nil
      return @data[[key1,key2,key3]] = value
    elsif key3 != nil
      return @data[[key1,key2]] = key3
    else
      return @data[[key1]] = key2
    end
  end
  
end

so if i want to use this class i use Enhanced_Table.new instead of Table.new (and also making sure that the script is in my script list), nice, i honestly can not remember now why i was using strings for testing but i prefer flexibility, in case if i need to store an array of strings and strings can easily be converted to integers with .to_i (or was it .to_int)

KK20 is correct. I didn't notice you were attempting to place strings into a Table.

For normal function, there is no real advantage to using a Table anyway. A Table is simply a 1-dimensional C array of shorts. RMXP uses this only because Ruby's Array class is not fit to handle very large amounts of data, and you can get a slight performance increase when the amount of data is very large and accessed often.

In your case, if you need a container that is not so penalized for containing large amounts of data, just use a Hash. If performance is that critical where a Hash is not even acceptable in terms of perforamce, then you are using the wrong language.

using Table just seems easier to be easier to create blank multi-dimensional arrays which i populate with for loops or having a variable indicating the last index (if the variable is set to 5, then index 0 to 4 have data while all the rest are blank), with a normal array i think it's like

myArray1 = []
myArray2 = [[],[]]
myArray3 = [[[],[],[]],[[],[],[]]]

or something like that, i know the first differently works cause i use it in my Pandora Plugin Script before i go to import data from a file (i only ever used 1d arrays in that)

anyway, i'm not passing in huge arrays, all what needed to do is pass an array of indexs for an array created in a class to change the values of, insted of using

class.array[0] = 2
class.array[1] = 2
class.array[5] = 2
class.array[4] = 2
class.array[7] = 2
class.array[15] = 2
class.array[14] = 2

i pan to do this

indexArray = Table.new(7)
indexArray = [0,1,5,4,7,15,14]
class.changeArray(indexArray)

class class

    classArray = Table.new(100)
    
    def changeArray(array)
    
    for i in 0...array.length
        classArray[array[i]] = 2
    end
    
    end

end

the second is a hell lot neater and i'm less likely to forget what the hell i'm doing if i forget to document

[ForeverZer0]

Wow, you are really over-complicating basic things.

[0, 1, 5, 4, 7, 15, 14].each {|i| class.array[i] = 2 }

or if you prefer:

indices = [0, 1, 5, 4, 7, 15, 14]
indices.each {|i| class.array[i] = 2 }

[Memor-X]

Wow, you are really over-complicating basic things.

[0, 1, 5, 4, 7, 15, 14].each {|i| class.array[i] = 2 }

or if you prefer:

indices = [0, 1, 5, 4, 7, 15, 14]
indices.each {|i| class.array[i] = 2 }

ahhhhhhh, i've seen that code in Blizzard's and your scripts when i was snooping around, never understood it though cause it was mixed in code that i was unfamiliar with but now that it's using code i am familiar with then it makes sense to me now

and for the record, what i was going to do was basic for me so i didn't think it was overly complex, it was the first system i developed during my Game Design Course back in Uni, a function that takes an array of indexs and alters the data in an array corresponding to those indexes and thus bypassing you having to overload the function or call the function multiple times, i had a headache, was falling asleep almost every 3 minutes and was out of Cola so given all of that it was very simple to me, very little thought went into it,

ofcause i'm still learning Ruby and RGSS so i'm bound to find ways to improve my already existing code, kinda hoping it carries into other languages, lucky i shared that, thanks ForeverZer0