- Roger Waters
Array Methods
| Size() | Returns the total size of the array |
| Size() | Returns the size of one dimension in the array |
| Dimensions() | Returns the number of dimensions in the array |
| ArrayId() | Returns the unique Array Id for this array |
| ArrayClass() | Returns the Class metadata object corresponding to the data type of the array |
| Clear() | Clears the contents of each element in the array |
| AutoResize() | Returns the current value of the "auto resize" flag, which controls auto resizing of this array |
| SetAutoResize() | Sets the value of the "auto resize" flag, which controls auto resizing of arrays |
| Resize() | Manually resizes the first dimension of the array |
| Resize() | Manually resizes any dimension of the array |
| Sort() | Performs a Sort operation on the array with several comparison options |
See Also
Script, ArrayException, QuickSort<>
public method<int> Size()
Parameters
None
Return Value
Total size (number of elements) of the array
Description
Returns the total size for the array, accounting for all of the dimensions in the array. For a three dimensional array with 10, 20 and 30 elements, respectively, the method will return a size of 6000.
Array
public method<int> Size(int Dimension)
Parameters
Dimension
One based array dimension
Return Value
Total size (number of elements) in the specified dimension of the array.
Description
Returns the number of elements in a single dimension of an array. For a three dimensional array with 10, 20 and 30 elements, respectively, the method will return a size of 20 for a Dimension of 2..
Array
public method<int> Dimensions()
Parameters
None
Return Value
Number of dimensions in the array
Description
Returns the number of dimensions in the array.
Array
public method<int> ArrayId()
Parameters
None
Return Value
Unique array ID
Description
Returns the unique Array Id. The Array Id is created and assigned by the Aztec Virtual Machine when the array is created. Array Ids are distinct and separate from Aztec Object Ids, but they work in a similar fashion. When the VM starts up, the starting point for Array Ids is randomly selected within a specific range (different from the range used by object Ids), and then the Array Ids are incremented from there with each successive dynamic allocation.
When comparing two Aztec array objects, it will always be true that the array with the smaller Array Id is "older".
Array
public method<Class> ArrayClass()
Parameters
None
Return Value
Class object corresponding to array data type
Description
Returns a reference to a Class object that corresponds to the data type associated with the array.
Array
public method Clear()
Parameters
None
Return Value
None
Description
Clears all of the elements from the array, but does not resize the array. It effectively sets each element in the array with the default value for that data type. For arrays of primitive values, each element is set with the default value for that primitive type (0 for int, 0.0 for float, "" for string, etc.). For arrays ofprimitive references or any type of non-primitive class, each element is set with null.
Array
public method<bool> AutoResize()
Parameters
None
Return Value
Value of the "auto resize" flag for the array
Description
This method returns the current value of the auto resize flag for this array. The value is false by default for all arrays, but each array can be set to true if needed. If an array's auto resize flag is false, accessing an element that is outside the current size of the array will cause an array exception. But if the auto resize flag is turned on, the array will automatically be resized and the request satisfied. If the array is resized, all newly created elements will be properly initialized based on the array data type.
Array
public method SetAutoResize(bool AutoResize = true)
Parameters
AutoResize
New value for auto resize flag for this array (true by default)
Return Value
None
Description
This method is used to set the value of the auto resize flag for this array. The value is false by default for all arrays, but each array can be set to true if needed. If an array's auto resize flag is false, accessing an element that is outside the current size of the array will cause an array exception. But if the auto resize flag is turned on, the array will automatically be resized and the request satisfied. If the array is resized, all newly created elements will be properly initialized based on the array data type.
Array
public method Resize(int NewSize)
Parameters
NewSize
New size for the first dimension of the array
Return Value
None
Description
This method resizes the first dimension of array. It works for one dimensional and multi-dimensional arrays. If the array is resized to be bigger, all newly created elements will be properly initialized based on the array data type. If it is resized to be smaller, all elements in the array which are eliminated are properly cleaned up based on the array data type.
Array
public method Resize(int Dimension, int NewSize)
Parameters
Dimension
One based dimension to be resized
NewSize
New size for the first dimension of the array
Return Value
None
Description
This method resizes the specified dimension of array. It works for one dimensional and multi-dimensional arrays. If the array dimension is resized to be bigger, all newly created elements will be properly initialized based on the array data type. If it is resized to be smaller, all elements in the array which are eliminated are properly cleaned up based on the array data type.
Array
public method Sort(BaseSortHandler CompareHandler, bool Ascending = true, Base ExtraObject = null, int StartIndex = 1, int EndIndex = 0)
Parameters
CompareHandler
Handler to be used for comparison
Ascending
Sorts in ascending fashion if true and descending if false (true by default)
ExtraObject
Extra object to be passed to the comparison method (null by default)
StartIndex
Array index for start of the sort operation (1 by default)
EndIndex
Array index for end of the sort operation (0 by default)
Return Value
None
Description
This method performs a sort operation on the array. The entire array can be sorted, or just a portion of the array can be sorted. The StartIndex and EndIndex are used to specify the portion of the array to be sorted. If EndIndex is 0, the end of the array is used, so the default (StartIndex of 1 and EndIndex of 0) causes the entire array to be sorted. If StartIndex is greater than 1, and EndIndex is less than the number of elements, just that portion of the array will be sorted.
The sort operation works by performing a comparison between two elements at a time, and repeating the process until the entire array (or subset) has been sorted. The comparison can be performed in two different ways.
If the ComparHandler is null, the system performs an automatic comparison based on the data type of the array. If the array contains primitive data (value or reference), standard comparison rules will be used for the value. If the array contains non-primitive Class objects, the default comparison will be performed against the ObjectId of each element.
If the CompareHandler is not null, the system invokes that handler to perform the operatiion. Since the same handler type needs to be used for arrays of all types, the arguments to the handler will be generic in nature (Base). The BaseSortHandler data type is the method reference used to define the comparison method for the array Sort method, and it is defined as follows.
public type<int method<Base,Base,bool,Base>> BaseSortHandler
Given this definition, the method handler must be defined with the following signature (name can be anything):
method<int> CompareMethod(Base FirstCompareItemt, Base SecondCompareItem, bool Ascend, Base ExtraObject) { }
The code in the method will need to convert these two "Base" pointers to the actual type of data that is being analyzed. The third argument is the same Ascend flag and the fourth argument is the same ExtraObject reference that were passed into the Sort method, so they are available to the comparison methods. The ExtraObject argument is application specific, but the Ascend flag should be honored and the comparison result should take the Ascend flag into consideration. Once the application specific comparison logic has been performed, If the two items are considered equal, the comparison method should return 0, If FirstCompareItem is greater than SecondCompareItem, it should return 1 and if the first is less than the second it should return (-1).
This array Sort method is a convenient option for sorting, but it also requires the user of the method to handle the comparison data as generic (Base) data. There is also a separate QuickSort<T> template class that can be used to perform sort operations on an array, and the comparison methods are specific to the data type in question. It provides a much more eloquent solution to the sorting process.
Array