3D Array

[kylomas]

There is no "real" football in the US today so it's a nice afternoon to get your mind bent. And the bender is 3D arrays.

I understand the theory of it, an index of 2D arrays. I also understand some possible applications, calendar (day, month, year), etc.

What I don't understand is the "how" (and maybe the "why") of it.

Consider this:

A group of people (one dimension)

with access to resources (another dimension)

with each resource having permissions by person (a third dimension)

This is the problem that started me down the 3D path. I HAVE considered associating 2D arrays and database solutions (which seems most appropriate).

So my long winded question is simple, how do you declare and initialize a 3D array in AI (I've been searching and playing with this for about 2 hours). More importantly, what are your thoughts on choosing a solution strategy, given the basics of the problem?

Gotta go pick up the wife from a poker all-nighter, look forward to reading your replies!

kylomas

[AdmiralAlkex]

Have you used a 1d or 2d array? Just do the same but with 3 dimensions.

$avArray1d[1]
$avArray2d[1][1]
$avArray3d[1][1][1]

If you are still unsure about anything, there's a Array Tutorial in the wiki you could look at

More importantly, what are your thoughts on choosing a solution strategy, given the basics of the problem?

Sorry, but I'm too confused by your description of the "second" and third" -dimension to answer that.

A group of people (one dimension)

with access to resources (another dimension)

with each resource having permissions by person (a third dimension)

Person? Permissions? Resource?

Maybe a drawing or something would help

[kylomas]

admiralalex, daddy,

yes, I use 1 and 2D array extensively.

I've read and re-read everything on this forum and Wiki concerning arrays. Also many discussions in C and VB.

I understand how to declare the 3D array, but, not how to initialize it in the declaration. Can probably figure out how to populate it with nested loops but that would detract from all the fun

EG APP:

1D 2D 3D

jon file1 yes

joe file1 no

joe pgm1 yes

john pgm1 no

As I said, there's alot of ways to skin this cat, but I was feeling too good so thought I would tackle a 3D array

thanks, and "Go Pack",

kylomas

[JohnOne]

Have you looked into using a scripting dictinary object?

Its akin to an assosiative array if I understand it correctly and could suit your purpose.

[kylomas]

yes, JohnOne, it is likely that I am wasting everyone's time as this is not something commonly done. Now it's going to bug me till I can code something in 3D (talk about stubborn)

thanks,

admiralalkex

daddy

JohnOne

kylomas

[PsaltyDS]

I understand how to declare the 3D array, but, not how to initialize it in the declaration. Can probably figure out how to populate it with nested loops but that would detract from all the fun

EG APP:

1D 2D 3D

jon file1 yes

joe file1 no

joe pgm1 yes

john pgm1 no

First, that is not a 3D array data set. It is only 2D (like a spreadsheet with 4 rows/3 cols). But here are some examples for initializing arrays at declaration:

#include <Array.au3>

Global $sTxt = ""

; 1D array
Global $aOne[4] = ["jon", "joe", "jim", "john"]
_ArrayDisplay($aOne, "$aOne")

; 2D array
Global $aTwo[4][3] = [["jon", "file1", "yes"],["joe", "file2", "no"],["jim", "pgm1", "yes"],["john", "pgm2", "no"]]
_ArrayDisplay($aTwo, "$aTwo")

; 3D array
Global $aThree[3][5][3] = [[["Red Team", "", ""], ["jon", "file1", "yes"],["joe", "file2", "no"],["jim", "pgm1", "yes"],["john", "pgm2", "no"]], _
        [["Blue Team", "", ""], ["kevin", "file3", "yes"],["kari", "file4", "no"],["keith", "pgm3", "yes"],["karl", "pgm4", "no"]], _
        [["Gold Team", "", ""], ["lenny", "file5", "yes"],["lawrence", "file6", "no"],["louis", "pgm5", "yes"],["larry", "pgm6", "no"]]]
For $a = 0 To UBound($aThree) - 1
    $sTxt = $aThree[$a][0][0] & @LF & "--------------------------" & @LF
    For $b = 1 To UBound($aThree, 2) - 1
        For $c = 0 To UBound($aThree, 3) - 1
            $sTxt &= "[" & $a & "][" & $b & "][" & $c & "] = " & $aThree[$a][$b][$c] & @TAB
        Next
        $sTxt &= @LF
    Next
    ConsoleWrite($sTxt & @LF)
Next

[UEZ]

When I converted a JS code to AutoIt I used a 3D array to save all needed values.

A 3D array is something like a 3D cube.

If you want, you can hava a look to (example 24).

Br,

UEZ

[kylomas]

psalty,

That is EXACTLY what I thought (a simple row/col 2D array) and why I am having trouble seeing this concept mentally. Thanks for the syntax, that's where I was going but did NOT have the bracketing correct.

I am going to look at UEZ's "real life" example to try to bridge between theory and practice.

Thanks to all that took the time to respond.

kylomas

[kylomas]

psalty, UEZ,

I see it now

UEZ alluded to a ribic's cube. When I saw the initialization code it began to make sense. I ran the code and seeing the results married the idea to the practicality of the idea.

A quote once heard:

"I am standing in a field,

in the bright sunlight,

amoung the flowers,

on a steaming pile of cow shit"

- author unknown (but probably worked with 3D arrays)

Again,

thanks

kylomas

[Javik]

There is technically no limit to the dimensions of an array, but after a few dimensions it gets hard to remember what you were trying to do, and some other way might be easier to comprehend.

Dim $warehouseitem(aisle,row,column,warehouseid,cityid,countryid,planetid,paralleluniverseid)

$warehouseitem(1,2,2,7,5,2,5,5) = 20

,

Also, declaring an empty multidimensional array rapidly consumes memory.

Dim $item(10,10,10,10,10,10,10) ... 10,000,000 items

If $item is a 256 byte string, then the array needs 2.3 gigabytes of memory, even containing no data

Note that the number of items in this example is "small".. a multidimensional array with 100's of items per dimension will be insanely huge.

Edited February 1, 2011 by Javik

[PsaltyDS]

There is technically no limit to the dimensions of an array, but after a few dimensions it gets hard to remember what you were trying to do, and some other way might be easier to comprehend.

There is a limit of 64 subscripts (dimensions) in AutoIt (and your examples are NOT in AutoIt syntax).

Also, declaring an empty multidimensional array rapidly consumes memory.

Dim $item(10,10,10,10,10,10,10) ... 10,000,000 items

If $item is a 256 byte string, then the array needs 2.3 gigabytes of memory, even containing no data

Note that the number of items in this example is "small".. a multidimensional array with 100's of items per dimension will be insanely huge.

Not exactly. It is true that Dim $vArray[10][10][10][10][10][10][10] (seven subscripts) produces 10M elements, but AutoIt initializes them as null string variants so the memory footprint will not become huge until you start putting data in the cells. You could also create a simple 1D array with only three elements and put a 1GB string in each element to cause the same issues.

[czardas]

When I wish to visualize a 4 dimensional array, I just think of it as an array of rubix cudes. So $my4DArray[3][3][3][3] would contain three Rubux Cubes, and $my5DArray[3][3][3][3][3] would contain a 3x3 grid in which each field contains a Rubix Cube. If that makes any sense. There are also other ways to visualize this.

Edited February 2, 2011 by czardas

[kylomas]

czardas,

Thanks, think I got it now...by the way if this (Rubux) was intentional, very clever. I caught my earlier misspelling.

kylomas

[czardas]

LOL! Rubux is the more difficult one.