_ArrayDeclareFromString, _ArrayToDeclarationString, _ArrayShuffleMultiDim, _ArrayCompare, _ArrayEnumValues, _ArrayAssign, ...

[jguinch]

Hello all !

Here are some functions that I have created to manipulate multidimensionnal arrays. I think some of them can be useful.
Some functions are limited to 32 dimensions.

List of the functions :

_ArrayAssign : Assigns an array variable by name with the data.
_ArrayCompare : Checks if two array are identical (size or data)
_ArrayDeclare : Creates an empty array with the specified size.
_ArrayDeclareFromString : Creates an array from an array declaration type string.
_ArrayEnumValues : Returns all values and indexes of an array in a 2D array.
_ArrayEval : Returns the array from an array variable name, or the value of an array element by its name
_ArrayShuffleMultiDim : Shuffle the whole data of an array.
_ArrayToDeclarationString : Returns an array declaration string. The returned string can be used with _ArrayDeclareFromString.

Some examples :

expandcollapse popup

_Example1()
_Example2()
_Example3()
_Example4()
_Example5()
_Example6()
_Example7()

Func _Example1()
    Local $aArray1 = _ArrayDeclareFromString("[ [ 1, 2, 3], ['a', 'b', 'c'], [True, False, Null], [], [0x10, 1.3, -10.2E-3] ]")
    _ArrayDisplay($aArray1, "_ArrayDeclareFromString")
EndFunc


Func _Example2()
    Global $aArray2 = [[1,2,""], [4,5,6]] ; Must be a global variable
    _ArrayDisplay($aArray2, "Before _ArrayAssign")
    _ArrayAssign("aArray2[0][2]", 3)
    _ArrayDisplay($aArray2, "After _ArrayAssign")
EndFunc

Func _Example3()
    Local $aValues = [ [1,2,3], ['a', True, False] ]
    _ArrayAssign("aArray3", $aValues)
    Local $aRet = _ArrayEval("aArray3")
    _ArrayDisplay($aRet, "_ArrayEval")
    MsgBox(0, "", "Value for aArray3[1][0] : " & _ArrayEval("aArray3[1][0]") )
EndFunc

Func _Example4()
    Local $aArray3 = [ [[ "000", "001", "002"], ["010", "011", "012"]] , [[ "100", "101", "102"], ["110", "111", "112"]]  ]
    Local $aArray = _ArrayEnumValues($aArray3)
    _ArrayDisplay($aArray)
EndFunc

Func _Example5()
    Local $aArray4 = [ [1, 2, 3], [], ['A string', "That's so ""cool"" !"], [0x10, 1.3, -10.2E-3] ]
    Local $sDeclaration = _ArrayToDeclarationString($aArray4)
    MsgBox(0, "", $sDeclaration)
EndFunc

Func _Example6()
    Local $aArray5 = [ [[ "000", "001", "002"], ["010", "011", "012"]] , [[ "100", "101", "102"], ["110", "111", "112"]]  ]
    Local $aBefore = _ArrayEnumValues($aArray5)
    _ArrayDisplay($aBefore, "Before shuffle")

    _ArrayShuffleMultiDim($aArray5)
    Local $aAfter = _ArrayEnumValues($aArray5)
    _ArrayDisplay($aAfter, "After shuffle")
EndFunc

Func _Example7()
    Local $aArray6 = [[1, 2], [3, 4]]
    Local $aArray7 = [["", 2], [3, 4]]
    Local $iRet = _ArrayCompare($aArray6, $aArray7)
    If $iRet Then
        MsgBox(0, "", "Arrays have exactly the same size")
    Else
        MsgBox(0, "", "Arrays do not have the same size and dimension.")
    EndIf

    $iRet = _ArrayCompare($aArray6, $aArray7, 1)
    If $iRet Then
        MsgBox(0, "", "Arrays have exactly the same size and values")
    Else
        MsgBox(0, "", "Arrays do not have the same size and values.")
    EndIf
EndFunc

 

ArrayMultiDim.au3

Edited September 17, 2020 by jguinch
update / bug correction

[czardas]

I like the idea of _ArrayToDeclarationString() - that is a very useful concept. One suggestion - I think you could add more information about dimension limitations in the comments to these functions. How many dimensions does _ArrayToDeclarationString() cater for?

[jguinch]

You're right,  I will change it.  This function has no dimension limit ... Try it :-)

[czardas]

Nice!

Local $aSubjects = [[["Art"],["Painting",2,7],["Music",2,3],["Drama",3,4],["Dance",1,10]],[["Science"],["Maths",6,6],["Physics",5,1],["Chemistry",5,6],["Biology",5,6]],[["Sport"],["Football",12,8],["Golf",4,0],["Snooker",1,1],["Chess",10,0]]]

 

[jguinch]

Thanks.
Now, you can do the reverse, build the array from a string :

$array = _ArrayDeclareFromString('[[["Art"],["Painting",2,7],["Music",2,3],["Drama",3,4],["Dance",1,10]],[["Science"],["Maths",6,6],["Physics",5,1],["Chemistry",5,6],["Biology",5,6]],[["Sport"],["Football",12,8],["Golf",4,0],["Snooker",1,1],["Chess",10,0]]]')
$aEnum = _ArrayEnumValues($array) ; useful for arrays > 2 dimensions
_ArrayDisplay($aEnum)

 

[jguinch]

Edit : _ArrayEnumValues no longer needs to be a recursive function

 

[Celina76]

Hello yy, I searched for what felt like forever until I found this brilliant script! What a great job! 👋

I haven't been working with Autoit for long and I'm having a lot of trouble reading into other people's scripts and even more problems understanding them. 

So I have a question: I would like to use the "_ArrayAssign" function in a "for ... next" loop and add a new line to the array with each new loop. What would be the easiest way to do this?

Thanks in advance

[jguinch]

Hello @Celina76.

Thanks for your message.

In fact, the _ArrayAssign function is only useful in very rare cases. I think you have a 99.9% chance of not needing it.
I advise you to use the native array declaration method, and in particular ReDim which will allow you to resize an array and therefore add rows easily