Arrays

Description

Arrays are collections of indexed variables, which are defined as either string or numeric. They are most often used to store a list of related items, with any item's value being retrievable by referring to its index number. A clear example would be a string array of the days of the week, numbered weekDay$(1) thru weekDay$(7).

Syntax

Numeric array:

arrayName(indexNumber)=numeric value

String array:

arrayName$(indexNumber)="string value"

Hints

Dimensioning Arrays. An array that will hold more than 11 items (indexed 0 to 10), must be dimensioned with the DIM statement. Example, single dimensioned string array:

Dim monthOfYear$(12)

JB and LB4 support single and double-dimensioned arrays.

RB supports arrays with up to 5 dimensions, but all arrays need to be dimensioned before use

Double-dimensioned array with at least one dimension exceeding 10 must be DIM'ed before use. Example, double dimensioned numeric array:

Dim dayOfMonth(12, 31)

You must dimension an array large enough to hold all the items or you will get a runtime error: "Subscript out of range" if you try to access an item with an index number larger than the dimension number.

Indexing arrays.

Arrays always include 0-th item. That is, DIM a(15) actually makes a space for a(0), a(1), ... a(15) - total 16 items.

It allows you to use arrays from item 0, like then porting code from C language. Or you can ignore 0-th item and use array from item 1.

Arrays in a SUB/FUNCTION.

Arrays are always global in LB4 and JB, that is visible in any SUB or FUNCTION
- For RB arrays are only global, if they are dimensioned in the main program scope, arrays dimensioned in a procedure are local in scope
There are no way to pass an array into SUB or FUNCTION (that is, you cannot create a single procedure and use it on several arrays)
Passing array elements ByRef does not work (changes do not propagate back)

Using Arrays in Loops. Because an array is a collection (a structure in a sense), it is possible to obtain the value of all the items by using a FOR...NEXT loop, where each time through the loop the index number is incremented and points to the next item in the array. For example, to print all the days of the week, you might do this:

'assume the array holds the values "Monday", "Tuesday", etc.
for day = 1 to 7
    print weekDay$(day)
next day

Assigning Array Values. To "hard-code" in the values for an array, you use assignment statements. For example, to create an array that holds the names of all the days of the week, you could do this:

weekDay$(1) = "Monday"
weekDay$(2) = "Tuesday"
weekDay$(3) = "Wednesday"
weekDay$(4) = "Thursday"
weekDay$(5) = "Friday"
weekDay$(6) = "Saturday"
weekDay$(7) = "Sunday"

For Combo Boxes and List Boxes the following suggestion should be followed to keep the array index in sync with the display.

Incidentally, even though an array begins with index 0, it is best not to use index 0 and instead make your first item index 1. Any index that does not have a value assigned to it will be ignored.

Using Data Input to Fill an Array. You can read data from a data file directly into an array. See INPUT.

'create file
open "test.dat"  for output as #1
print #1, 101
print #1, 202
print #1, 303
close #1

'input to array
dim a(3)
open "test.dat"  for input as #1
for i = 1 to 3
    input #1, a(i)
next
close #1

'check
for i = 1 to 3: print a(i): next

You can also use READ statements to fill an array with DATA.

'reading array from DATA statement
data 101, 202, 303

'read to array
dim a(3)
for i = 1 to 3
'    read a(i)  'will not compile: In Just BASIC, data must first be read into a variable before
    read tmp
    a(i)=tmp
next

'check
for i = 1 to 3: print a(i): next

Example

'dimension the array
dim weekDay$(7)
'assign values to the array elements
weekDay$(1) = "Monday"
weekDay$(2) = "Tuesday"
weekDay$(3) = "Wednesday"
weekDay$(4) = "Thursday"
weekDay$(5) = "Friday"
weekDay$(6) = "Saturday"
weekDay$(7) = "Sunday"

    open "Array Demo" for window as #1
    #1 "trapclose [quit]"

    'results will print to mainwin
    for i = 1 to 7
        print weekDay$(i)
    next
    wait
[quit]
    close #1
    end

Useful Procedures

' Place a useful function using this keyword here