Collection Type Variables

Description

Collection New

A collection is a data type that may contain members of any type, and whose members are accessed by means of a key. Members of a collection need not be of the same data type as each other. After declaring a collection, create it using the keyword, "New"

Items of a collection spring into existence the first time they are assigned. Assigning a collection member to a value makes that member's type the type of the value being assigned. Each member in a collection has a key of type string, and each member can contain a value of any data type.

You may access members of a collection by using the dot operator followed by the key name, or by the key as a string enclosed in square brackets.

Syntax

Var 
	Collection col
Let col = New Collection
Let col.item = value

  • Col is a collection variable being declared and created.

  • Item is the name (or key) of a member in the collection being created.

  • Value is the value being assigned to a member of the collection.

Remarks

Declaring a collection does not create it. You must create the collection by means of the New statement.

Collection members are stored in alphabetical order of the member keys. If you know the name (or key) of a member in a collection, you can assign or retrieve that name (or key) using the dot operator. If the name (or key) of a collection member is enclosed in quotes or is contained in a variable, you must access that member using the variable name or quoted string enclosed inside square brackets instead of using the dot operator.

Collections are always passed to functions by reference.

::: .hint Assigning one collection to another results in two variables referring to the same collection. When retrieving a collection member into another variable, the script code must ensure that the value retrieved is stored in the appropriate type of variable. Retrieving a nonexistent item does not generate an error. :::

Code Sample

Script TestCollections ()
	CollectionOfFruitCollections()
EndScript

Void Function FRTINIT(Collection Frt, String Type, String Prep, String Cut)
Let Frt.Type = Type
Let Frt.Prep = Prep
Let Frt.Cut = Cut
EndFunction

Void Function CollectionOfFruitCollections()
Var
    Collection Fruit,
    Collection frt,
    String key,
    String sMsgFruitInfo
    sMsgFruitInfo = "%2 and %3 the %1."
Let Fruit = New Collection
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Bananas","peel","slice")
Let Fruit.Bananas = frt
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Apples","core","slice")
Let Fruit.Apples = frt
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Strawberries","sugar","halve")
Let Fruit.Strawberries = frt
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Oranges","peel","section")
Let Fruit.Oranges = frt
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Pears","peel","slice")
Let Fruit.Pears = frt
Let frt = New Collection
FRTINIT(frt,"Cherries","hull","chop")
Let Fruit.Cherries = frt
Let frt = New Collection
ForEach key in Fruit
    SayFormattedMessage(ot_line,
    FormatString(sMsgFruitInfo,
    Fruit[key].Type,
    Fruit[key].Prep,
    Fruit[key].Cut))
EndForEach
EndFunction