Use Variable in Variablename

[VVind0wM4ker]

Hello!

I'm stuck at a problem:

 

My Situation

I have an Autoit Script. In this script it comes to the point, where a function needs an specific value, wich is saved as an variable. The point is: how to insert the variable.

Cause there are a lot differen variables an the function needs to pick the right one, depending on another value. You'll understand when reading "The Problem".

 

The Problem

Let's say we have a List of variables:

$Name1 = "Max"
$Name2 = "Juliet"
$Name3 = "Peter"
$Name4 = "Andrea"
$Name5 = "Pauline"

And we have an answer variable: $Answer.

This should be used in an function, let's say an messagebox:

;The $Answer variable is normally set by another function

$Answer = "$Name5"

MsgBox(0,"","The Persons Name is " & $Answer & ".")

Ofcourse it does not just work, if variable value is the name of another variable.

But how i can get the the messagebox to tell me "The Persons Name is Pauline." (or different if $Answer has different value)

Any solutions ?

VVind0wM4ker

[water]

Couldn't you use an array?

[water]

$Name[] = ["", "Max", "Juliet", "Peter", "Andrea", "Pauline"]
$Answer = 5
MsgBox(0, "", "The Persons Name is " & $Name[$Answer] & ".")

[jdelaney]

Use an array...but:

$Name1 = "Max"
$Name2 = "Juliet"
$Name3 = "Peter"
$Name4 = "Andrea"
$Name5 = "Pauline"

For $i = 1 To 5
    ConsoleWrite(Eval("Name" & $i) & @CRLF)
Next

[czardas]

Similar to the previous example + some explanation:

;

Local $Name1 = "Max"
Local $Name2 = "Juliet"
Local $Name3 = "Peter"
Local $Name4 = "Andrea"
Local $Name5 = "Pauline"


Local $Answer = "$Name5" ; Your method?

; Dollar will be removed for use with Eval.
Local $ShortAnswer = StringTrimLeft($Answer, 1) ; ==> Name5

MsgBox(0,"","The Persons Name is " & Eval($ShortAnswer) & ".")

;

Using an array is preferable.

Edited January 14, 2015 by czardas

[VVind0wM4ker]

@water no cant use an array. The variable part hast to look clean and i have about 20 sets wich have like 25 variables each and the variables are 6-10 letters/numbers.

   so would look clean in a way, but also would be pretty confusing when making changes for same of the values

@jedelane That's what I was looking for

@czardas Thanks for explanation! also gave me an idea how to change other part of mycode

Eval was what i needed.

Thanks to all. Problem solved!

VVind0wM4ker

[czardas]

@czardas Thanks for explanation! also gave me an idea how to change other part of mycode

 

Good idea to remove unnecessary steps!

[guinness]

I agree with czardas and water, an array is a better choice over Eval().

Example 2 in the help file will be fixed tonight with a comment.

Edited January 14, 2015 by guinness

[VVind0wM4ker]

@guinness wow devs actively answer on posts ? Never seen that before fromother devs

why Arryay would be better ? cause Eval is a nother calculation script has to do ? 

Oh I messed something up.. forgot, that you can declare array like this:

$Name[1] = "Max"

$Name[2] = "Juliet"

$Name[3] = "Peter"

$Name[4] = "Andrea"

$Name[5] = "Pauline"

So i guess i try this

[guinness]

If you decide to broaden outwards in the future to languages like C# or Java, then it's useful to understand the fundamentals of arrays, as they don't have the likes of Eval(). My advice would be to look at the AutoIt wiki on arrays, as there are multiple ways to declare an array.

Local $aArray = ['John', 'James', 'Janet', 'Dave'] ; An array with 4 elements. Use UBound() to get the length.

Edited January 14, 2015 by guinness

[kylomas]

but also would be pretty confusing when making changes for same of the values

 

Maybe the single best reason not to use EVAL and an argument for converting to arrays.

20 sets with 25 values each is easily represented/accessed using a 2D array with each row representing a "set".  Something like this...

#include <array.au3>

local $aSets[20][26]

for $1 = 0 to 19
    $aSets[$1][0] = 'Set # ' & $1+1
    for $2 = 1 to 25
        $aSets[$1][$2] = 'Value # ' & $2
    Next
next


_arraydisplay($aSets)

The array could be populated in a loop from a file instead of the hardcoded values that I'm using.

kylomas

[Valuater]

This is how I create a list like this. It does not matter how long the list is or if you add data.

$Name = "Bill,George,Sue,Debbie,arnold"

_StringSplit($Name, ",")

 

For $i = 1 to $name[0]

consolewrite($name[$i} & CRLF)

Next

 

Not Tested... done on notepad..

 

8)

[VVind0wM4ker]

@Valuater Yeah i meant that it has to be tidy cause i have to change some values from time to time. So only one Value per line... But forgot that Arrays can also be formatted like this. Works fine, problem solved

[guinness]

This is how I create a list like this. It does not matter how long the list is or if you add data.

 

$Name = "Bill,George,Sue,Debbie,arnold"

_StringSplit($Name, ",")

 

For $i = 1 to $name[0]

consolewrite($name[$i} & CRLF)

Next

 

Not Tested... done on notepad..

 

8)

My examples works late that too, especially with the latest version of AutoIt.