Alyce Apr 12, 2012
**Filling String Arrays** [[user:Alyce]] [[http://alycesrestaurant.com/|Alyce's Restaurant]] ---- [[toc|flat]] ---- =String Array Notation= String array names end with the **$** character. Numeric array names do not have an appended character. StringArray$() NumericArray() =DIM String Arrays= Arrays with 11 elements, numbered 0-10 do not need to be dimensioned before use. Arrays with more elements and double-dimensioned arrays must be dimensioned. [[code format="lb"]] DIM color$(20) [[code]] =Assign a Value= Assign values to array indices in the same way you assign values to variables, with the **=** character. The index number appears in the parenthesis. To assign the string "Potato" to index 1 of the array named **array$()**: [[code format="lb"]] array$(1) = "Potato" [[code]] =Filling Arrays= You may fill an array with string literals, string variables, or string expressions. [[code format="lb"]] array$(1)="Green" array$(2)=upper$("red")+" "+upper$(blue) color$="orange" array$(3)=color$ [[code]] =Filling Arrays from Files= Arrays may be filled by inputting to an array from an open file. In the following demo a file is opened for output and filled with five color names, separated by commas. The file is closed, then opened again for input. The **input** statement reads items deliminated by commas or CRLFs. Each item in the file is assigned to an array index in a loop. [[code format="lb"]] open "colors.txt" for output as #f print #f, "red, green, blue, yellow, brown" close #f open "colors.txt" for input as #f for i = 1 to 5 input #f, col$(i) next close #f for i = 1 to 5 print col$(i) next [[code]] =Filling Arrays with WORD$()= An earlier example showed how to fill each array index individually. That requires a lot of typing and many lines of code for larger arrays. It is faster and easier to use a long string to hold the data and use the **WORD$()** function in a loop to fill the array, like so: [[code format="lb"]] terms$ = "red green blue yellow brown" for i = 1 to 5 col$(i) = word$(terms$,i) next for i = 1 to 5 print col$(i) next [[code]] If the array elements contain more than a single word, use the optional delimiter with the **WORD$()** function. In the following code, a comma is used to separate items in a string, and then used as the delimiter in the **WORD$()** function. This allows each array element to contain a string of multiple words. [[code format="lb"]] terms$ = "bright red,light green,pale blue,sunshine yellow,muddy brown" for i = 1 to 5 col$(i) = word$(terms$,i, ",") next for i = 1 to 5 print col$(i) next [[code]] =DATA and Arrays= The information to be loaded into an array can be contained in **DATA** statements. It is then read into a variable with the **READ** command. The value of the variable is then assigned to the array index. This can also be done in a loop in a similar fashion to reading data from a file or from a large string. [[code format="lb"]] for i = 1 to 10 read val$ col$(i) = val$ next for i = 1 to 10 print col$(i) next data "bright red","light green","pale blue","sunshine yellow","muddy brown" data "pewter","terra cotta","deep purple","gray","tangerine" [[code]] Notice that the **DATA** is **READ** into a variable. **READ** will not allow assignment directly to an array. **THE FOLLOWING CODE WILL HALT WITH A SYNTAX ERROR WHEN YOU TRY TO RUN IT** [[code format="lb"]] for i = 1 to 10 'SYNTAX ERROR: read col$(i) next for i = 1 to 10 print col$(i) next data "bright red","light green","pale blue","sunshine yellow","muddy brown" data "pewter","terra cotta","deep purple","gray","tangerine" [[code]]
Alyce
Apr 12, 2012
Alyce
Apr 12, 2012