ScriptForge.Array service (SF_Array)/text/sbasic/shared/03/sf_array.xhp
ScriptForge.Array service
Provides a collection of methods for manipulating and transforming arrays of one dimension (vectors) and arrays of two dimensions (matrices). This includes set operations, sorting, importing to and exporting from text files.Arrays with more than two dimensions cannot be used with the methods in this service, the only exception being the CountDims method that accepts Arrays with any number of dimensions.Array items may contain any type of value, including (sub)arrays.
Service invocation
Before using the Array service the ScriptForge library needs to be loaded using:GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.LoadLibrary("ScriptForge")Loading the library will create the SF_Array object that can be used to call the methods in the Array service.The following code snippets show the various ways to call methods in the Array service (the Append method is used as an example):SF_Array.Append(...)Dim arr : arr = SF_Arrayarr.Append(...)Dim arr : arr = CreateScriptService("Array")arr.Append(...)The CreateScriptService method is only available after you have loaded the ScriptForge library.
The first argument of most methods is the array object to be considered. It is always passed by reference and left unchanged. Methods such as Append, Prepend, etc return a new array object after their execution. Append -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Append
Append
Appends the items listed as arguments to the end of the input array.
SF_Array.Append(Array_1D As Variant, arg0 As Variant, [arg1 As Variant], ...) As Variant
Array_1D : the pre-existing array, may be empty.arg0, ... : a list of items to append to Array_1D.
Sub Example_Append()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Append(Array(1, 2, 3), 4, 5) ' (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)End Sub AppendColumn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;AppendColumn
AppendColumn
Appends a new column to the right side of a two dimensional array. The resulting array has the same lower bounds as the initial two dimensional array.
SF_Array.AppendColumn(Array_2D As Variant, New_Column As Variant) As Variant
Array_2D : the pre-existing array, may be empty. If that array has only one dimension, it is considered as the first column of the resulting two-dimensional array.New_Column : a 1-dimensional array with as many items as there are rows in Array_2D.
Sub Example_AppendColumn()Dim a As Variant, b As variant a = SF_Array.AppendColumn(Array(1, 2, 3), Array(4, 5, 6)) ' ((1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)) b = SF_Array.AppendColumn(a, Array(7, 8, 9)) ' ((1, 4, 7), (2, 5, 8), (3, 6, 9)) c = SF_Array.AppendColumn(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) ' ∀ i ∈ {0 ≤ i ≤ 2} : b(0, i) ≡ iEnd Sub AppendRow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;AppendRow
AppendRow
Append to the bottom of a two dimension array a new row. The resulting array has the same lower bounds as the initial two dimension array.
SF_Array.AppendRow(Array_2D As Variant, Row As Variant) As Variant
Array_2D : the pre-existing array, may be empty. If that array has 1 dimension, it is considered as the first row of the resulting 2 dimension array.Row : a 1D array with as many items as there are columns in Array_2D.
Sub Example_AppendRow()Dim a As Variant, b As variant a = SF_Array.AppendRow(Array(1, 2, 3), Array(4, 5, 6)) ' ((1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6)) b = SF_Array..AppendRow(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) ' ∀ i ∈ {0 ≤ i ≤ 2} : b(i, 0) ≡ iEnd Sub Contains -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Contains
Contains
Check if a one dimension array contains a certain number, text or date. Text comparison can be case-sensitive or not.
Sorted input arrays must be filled homogeneously, meaning all items must be scalars of the same type (Empty and Null items are forbidden).
The result of the method is unpredictable when the array is announced as sorted and is in reality not.
A binary search is done when the array is sorted, otherwise, it is simply scanned from top to bottom and Empty and Null items are ignored.
SF_Array.Contains(Array_1D, ToFind As Variant, [CaseSensitive As Boolean], [SortOrder As String]) As Boolean
Array_1D : the array to scan.ToFind : a number, a date or a string to find.CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.SortOrder : "ASC", "DESC" or "" (= not sorted, default)
Sub Example_Contains()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Contains(Array("A","B","c","D"), "C", SortOrder := "ASC") ' True SF_Array.Contains(Array("A","B","c","D"), "C", CaseSensitive := True) ' FalseEnd Sub ConvertToDictionary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;ConvertToDictionary
ConvertToDictionary
Store the content of a 2-columns array into a ScriptForge Dictionary object.
The key will be extracted from the first column, the item from the second.
SF_Array.ConvertToDictionary(Array_2D As Variant) As Variant
Array_1D : the first column must contain exclusively strings with a length > 0, in any order.
Sub Example_ConvertToDictionary()Dim a As Variant, b As Variant a = SF_Array.AppendColumn(Array("a", "b", "c"), Array(1, 2, 3)) b = SF_Array.ConvertToDictionary(a) MsgBox b.Item("c") ' 3End Sub CountDims -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;CountDims
CountDims
Count the number of dimensions of an array. The result can be greater than two.
If the argument is not an array, returns -1
If the array is not initialized, returns 0.
SF_Array.CountDims(Array_ND As Variant) As Integer
Array_ND : the array to examine.
Sub Example_CountDims()Dim a(1 To 10, -3 To 12, 5) MsgBox SF_Array.CountDims(a) ' 3End Sub Difference -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Difference
Difference
Build a set, as a zero-based array, by applying the difference operator on the two input arrays. Resulting items originate from the first array and not from the second.
The resulting array is sorted in ascending order.
Both input arrays must be filled homogeneously, their items must be scalars of the same type. Empty and Null items are forbidden.
Text comparison can be case sensitive or not.
SF_Array.Difference(Array1_1D As Variant, Array2_1D As Variant[, CaseSensitive As Boolean]) As Variant
Array1_1D : A 1 dimension reference array, whose items are examined for removal.Array2_1D : A 1 dimension array, whose items are subtracted from the first input array.CaseSensitive : Only if the arrays are populated with strings, default = False.
Sub Example_Difference()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Difference(Array("A", "C", "A", "b", "B"), Array("C", "Z", "b"), True) ' ("A", "B")End Sub ExportToTextFile -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;ExportToTextFile
ExportToTextFile
Write all items of the array sequentially to a text file. If the file exists already, it will be overwritten without warning.
SF_Array.ExportToTextFile(Array_1D As Variant, FileName As String, [Encoding As String]) As Boolean
Array_1D : The array to export. It must contain only strings.FileName : the name of the text file containing the data. The name is expressed as given by the current FileNaming property of the SF_FileSystem service. Default = any (both the URL format and the native operating system format are admitted).Encoding : The character set that should be used. Use one of the names listed in IANA character sets. Note that %PRODUCTNAME may not implement all existing character sets. Default is "UTF-8".
Sub Example_ExportToTextFile() SF_Array.ExportToTextFile(Array("A","B","C","D"), "C:\Temp\A short file.txt")End Sub ExtractColumn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;ExtractColumn
ExtractColumn
Extract from a two dimension array a specific column as a new array.
Its lower LBound and upper UBound boundaries are identical to that of the first dimension of the input array.
SF_Array.ExtractColumn(Array_2D As Variant, ColumnIndex As Long) As Variant
Array_2D : The array from which to extract.ColumnIndex : The column number to extract - must be in the interval [LBound, UBound].
Sub Example_ExtractColumn 'Creates a 3x3 matrix: |1, 2, 3| ' |4, 5, 6| ' |7, 8, 9| Dim mat as Variant, col as Variant mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(mat, Array(4, 5, 6)) mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(mat, Array(7, 8, 9)) 'Extracts the third column: |3, 6, 9| col = SF_Array.ExtractColumn(mat, 2)End Sub ExtractRow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;ExtractRow
ExtractRow
Extract from a two dimension array a specific row as a new array.
Its lower LBound and upper UBound boundaries are identical to that of the second dimension of the input array.
SF_Array.ExtractRow(Array_2D As Variant, RowIndex As Long) As Variant
Array_2D : The array from which to extract.RowIndex : The row number to extract - must be in the interval [LBound, UBound].
Sub Example_ExtractRow 'Creates a 3x3 matrix: |1, 2, 3| ' |4, 5, 6| ' |7, 8, 9| Dim mat as Variant, row as Variant mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(mat, Array(4, 5, 6)) mat = SF_Array.AppendRow(mat, Array(7, 8, 9)) 'Extracts the first row: |1, 2, 3| row = SF_Array.ExtractRow(mat, 0)End Sub Flatten -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Flatten
Flatten
Stack all single items of an array and all items in its subarrays into one new array without subarrays. Empty subarrays are ignored and subarrays with a number of dimensions greater than one are not flattened.
SF_Array.Flatten(Array_1D As Variant) As Variant
Array_1D : the pre-existing array, may be empty.
Sub Example_Flatten()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Flatten(Array(Array(1, 2, 3), 4, 5)) ' (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)End SubYou can use the Flatten method along with other methods such as Append or Prepend to concatenate a set of 1D arrays into a single 1D array.
Next is an example of how the methods Flatten and Append can be combined to concatenate three arrays.Sub Concatenate_Example 'Creates three arrays for this example Dim a as Variant, b as Variant, c as Variant a = Array(1, 2, 3) b = Array(4, 5) c = Array(6, 7, 8, 9) 'Concatenates the three arrays into a single 1D array Dim arr as Variant arr = SF_Array.Flatten(SF_Array.Append(a, b, c)) '(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)End Sub ImportFromCSVFile -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;ImportFromCSVFile
ImportFromCSVFile
Import the data contained in a comma-separated values (CSV) file. The comma may be replaced by any character.The applicable CSV format is described in IETF Common Format and MIME Type for CSV Files.Each line in the file contains a full record (line splitting is not allowed).
However sequences like \n, \t, ... are left unchanged. Use SF_String.Unescape() method to manage them.The method returns a two dimension array whose rows correspond to a single record read in the file and whose columns correspond to a field of the record. No check is made about the coherence of the field types across columns. A best guess will be made to identify numeric and date types.If a line contains less or more fields than the first line in the file, an exception will be raised. Empty lines however are simply ignored. If the size of the file exceeds the number of items limit (see inside the code), a warning is raised and the array is truncated.
SF_Array.ImportFromCSVFile(FileName As String, [Delimiter As String], [DateFormat As String]) As Variant
FileName : the name of the text file containing the data. The name is expressed as given by the current FileNaming property of the SF_FileSystem service. Default = any (both the URL format and the native operating system format are admitted).Delimiter : A single character, usually, a comma, a semicolon or a TAB character. Default = ",".DateFormat : A special mechanism handles dates when DateFormat is either "YYYY-MM-DD", "DD-MM-YYYY" or "MM-DD-YYYY". The dash (-) may be replaced by a dot (.), a slash (/) or a space. Other date formats will be ignored. Dates defaulting to "" are considered as normal text.
Given this CSV file:Name,DateOfBirth,Address,CityAnna,2002/03/31,"Rue de l'église, 21",ToulouseFred,1998/05/04,"Rue Albert Einstein, 113A",CarcassonneSub Example_ImportFromCSVFile()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.ImportFromCSVFile("C:\Temp\myFile.csv", DateFormat := "YYYY/MM/DD") MsgBox a(0, 3) ' City MsgBox TypeName(a(1, 2)) ' Date MsgBox a(2, 2) ' Rue Albert Einstein, 113AEnd Sub IndexOf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;IndexOf
IndexOf
Look in a one dimension array for a number, a string or a date. Text comparison can be case-sensitive or not.
If the array is sorted it must be filled homogeneously, which means that all items must be scalars of the same type (Empty and Null items are forbidden).
The result of the method is unpredictable when the array is announced as sorted and actually is not.
A binary search is performed on sorted arrays. Otherwise, arrays are simply scanned from top to bottom and Empty and Null items are ignored.
The method returns LBound(input array) - 1 if the search was not successful.
SF_Array.IndexOf(Array_1D, ToFind As Variant, [CaseSensitive As Boolean], [SortOrder As String]) As Long
Array_1D : the array to scan.ToFind : a number, a date or a string to find.CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.SortOrder : "ASC", "DESC" or "" (= not sorted, default)
Insert before a given index of the input array the items listed as arguments.
Arguments are inserted blindly. Each of them might be either a scalar of any type or a subarray.
SF_Array.Insert(Array_1D As Variant, Before As Long, arg0 As Variant, [arg1 As Variant], ...) As Variant
Array_1D : the pre-existing array, may be empty.Before : the index before which to insert; must be in the interval [LBound, UBound + 1].arg0, ... : a list of items to insert inside Array_1D.
Sub Example_Insert()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Insert(Array(1, 2, 3), 2, "a", "b") ' (1, 2, "a", "b", 3)End Sub InsertSorted -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;InsertSorted
InsertSorted
Insert in a sorted array a new item on its place.
The array must be filled homogeneously, meaning that all items must be scalars of the same type.
Empty and Null items are forbidden.
SF_Array.InsertSorted(Array_1D As Variant, Item As Variant, SortOrder As String, CaseSensitive As Boolean) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to sort.Item : The scalar value to insert, of the same type as the existing array items.SortOrder : "ASC" (default) or "DESC".CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.
Sub Example_InsertSorted()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.InsertSorted(Array("A", "C", "a", "b"), "B", CaseSensitive := True) ' ("A", "B", "C", "a", "b")End Sub Intersection -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Intersection
Intersection
Build a set, as a zero-based array, by applying the intersection set operator on the two input arrays. Resulting items are contained in both arrays.
The resulting array is sorted in ascending order.
Both input arrays must be filled homogeneously, in other words all items must be scalars of the same type. Empty and Null items are forbidden.
Text comparison can be case sensitive or not.
SF_Array.Intersection(Array1_1D As Variant, Array2_1D As Variant[, CaseSensitive As Boolean]) As Variant
Array1_1D : The first input array.Array2_1D : The second input array.CaseSensitive : Applies to arrays populated with text items, default = False.
Sub Example_Intersection()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Intersection(Array("A", "C", "A", "b", "B"), Array("C", "Z", "b"), True) ' ("C", "b")End Sub Join2D -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Join2D
Join2D
Join a two-dimensional array with two delimiters, one for the columns, one for the rows.
SF_Array.Join2D(Array_2D As Variant, ColumnDelimiter As String, RowDelimiter As String, Quote As Boolean) As String
Array_2D : Each item must be either text, a number, a date or a boolean.
Dates are transformed into the YYYY-MM-DD hh:mm:ss format.
Invalid items are replaced by a zero-length string.ColumnDelimiter : Delimits each column (default = Tab/Chr(9)).RowDelimiter: delimits each row (default = LineFeed/Chr(10))Quote : if True, protect strings with double quotes. The default is False.
Sub Example_Join2D()- | 1, 2, "A", [2020-02-29], 5 |- SF_Array.Join_2D(| 6, 7, "this is a string", 9, 10 |, ",", "/")- ' "1,2,A,2020-02-29 00:00:00,5/6,7,this is a string,9,10"End Sub Prepend -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Prepend
Prepend
Prepend at the beginning of the input array the items listed as arguments.
SF_Array.Prepend(Array_1D As Variant, arg0 As Variant, [arg1 As Variant], ...) As Variant
Array_1D : the pre-existing array, may be empty.arg0, ... : a list of items to prepend to Array_1D.
Sub Example_Prepend()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Prepend(Array(1, 2, 3), 4, 5) ' (4, 5, 1, 2, 3)End Sub PrependColumn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;PrependColumn
PrependColumn
Prepend to the left side of a two dimension array a new column. The resulting array has the same lower boundaries as the initial two dimension array.
SF_Array.PrependColumn(Array_2D As Variant, Column As Variant) As Variant
Array_2D : the pre-existing array, may be empty. If that array has 1 dimension, it is considered as the last column of the resulting 2 dimension array.Column : a 1 dimension array with as many items as there are rows in Array_2D.
Sub Example_PrependColumn()Dim a As Variant, b As variant a = SF_Array.PrependColumn(Array(1, 2, 3), Array(4, 5, 6)) ' ((4, 1), (5, 2), (6, 3)) b = SF_Array.PrependColumn(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) ' ∀ i ∈ {0 ≤ i ≤ 2} : b(0, i) ≡ iEnd Sub PrependRow -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;PrependRow
PrependRow
Prepend at the beginning of a two dimension array a new row. The resulting array has the same lower boundaries as the initial two dimension array.
SF_Array.PrependRow(Array_2D As Variant, Row As Variant) As Variant
Array_2D : the pre-existing array, may be empty. If that array has 1 dimension, it is considered as the last row of the resulting 2 dimension array.Row : a 1 dimension array containing as many items as there are rows in Array_2D.
Sub Example_PrependRow()Dim a As Variant, b As variant a = SF_Array.PrependRow(Array(1, 2, 3), Array(4, 5, 6)) ' ((4, 5, 6), (1, 2, 3)) b = SF_Array.PrependRow(Array(), Array(1, 2, 3)) ' ∀ i ∈ {0 ≤ i ≤ 2} : b(i, 0) ≡ iEnd Sub RangeInit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;RangeInit
RangeInit
Initialize a new zero-based array with numeric values.
SF_Array.RangeInit(From As [number], UpTo As [number] [, ByStep As [number]]) As Variant
From : value of the first item.UpTo : The last item should not exceed UpTo.ByStep : The difference between two successive items (default = 1).
Sub Example_RangeInit()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.RangeInit(10, 1, -1) ' (10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)End Sub Reverse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Reverse
Reverse
Return the reversed one dimension input array.
SF_Array.Reverse(Array_1D As Variant) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to reverse.
Sub Example_Reverse()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Reverse(Array("a", 2, 3, 4)) ' (4, 3, 2, "a")End Sub Shuffle -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Shuffle
Shuffle
Return a random permutation of a one dimension array.
SF_Array.Shuffle(Array_1D As Variant) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to shuffle.
Sub Example_Shuffle()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Shuffle(Array(1, 2, 3, 4)) ' UnpredictableEnd Sub Slice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Slice
Slice
Return a subset of a one dimension array.
SF_Array.Slice(Array_1D As Variant, From As Long, [UpTo As Long]) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to slice.From : The lower index in Array_1D of the subarray to extract (From included)UpTo : The upper index in Array_1D of the subarray to extract (UpTo included). Default = upper bound of Array_1D. If UpTo < From then the returned array is empty.
Sub Example_Slice()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Slice(Array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5), 1, 3) ' (2, 3, 4)End Sub Sort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Sort
Sort
Sort a one dimension array in ascending or descending order. Text comparisons can be case-sensitive or not.
The array must be filled homogeneously, which means that items must be scalars of the same type.
Empty and Null items are allowed. Conventionally Empty < Null < any other scalar value.
SF_Array.Sort(Array_1D As Variant, SortOrder As String, CaseSensitive As Boolean) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to sort.SortOrder : "ASC" (default) or "DESC".CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.
Sub Example_Sort()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Sort(Array("a", "A", "b", "B", "C"), CaseSensitive := True) ' ("A", "B", "C", "a", "b")End Sub SortColumns -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;SortColumns
SortColumns
Return a permutation of the columns of a two dimension array, sorted on the values of a given row.
The row must be filled homogeneously, which means that all items must be scalars of the same type.
Empty and Null items are allowed. Conventionally Empty < Null < any other scalar value.
SF_Array.SortColumns(Array_1D As Variant, RowIndex As Long, SortOrder As String, CaseSensitive As Boolean) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to sort.RowIndex : The index of the row to sort the columns on.SortOrder : "ASC" (default) or "DESC".CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.
Return a permutation of the rows of a two dimension array, sorted on the values of a given column.
The column must be filled homogeneously, therefore all items must be scalars of the same type.
Empty and Null items are allowed. Conventionally Empty < Null < any other scalar value.
SF_Array.SortRows(Array_1D As Variant, ColumnIndex As Long, SortOrder As String, CaseSensitive As Boolean) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to sort.RowIndex : The index of the column to sort the rows on.SortOrder : "ASC" (default) or "DESC".CaseSensitive : Only for string comparisons, default = False.
Remove from a one dimension array all Null, Empty and zero-length entries.
String items are trimmed with %PRODUCTNAME Basic Trim() function.
SF_Array.TrimArray(Array_1D As Variant) As Variant
Array_1D : The array to scan.
Sub Example_TrimArray()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.TrimArray(Array("A","B",Null," D ")) ' ("A","B","D")End Sub Union -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Union
Union
Build a set, as a zero-based array, by applying the union operator on the two input arrays. Resulting items originate from both arrays.
The resulting array is sorted in ascending order.
Both input arrays must be filled homogeneously, their items must be scalars of the same type. Empty and Null items are forbidden.
Text comparison can be case sensitive or not.
SF_Array.Union(Array1_1D As Variant, Array2_1D As Variant[, CaseSensitive As Boolean]) As Variant
Array1_1D : The first input array.Array2_1D : The second input array.CaseSensitive : Only if the arrays are populated with strings, default = False.
Sub Example_Union()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Union(Array("A", "C", "A", "b", "B"), Array("C", "Z", "b"), True) ' ("A", "B", "C", "Z", "b")End Sub Unique -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Array service;Unique
Unique
Build a set of unique values derived from the input array.
The input array must be filled homogeneously, its items must be scalars of the same type. Empty and Null items are forbidden.
Text comparison can be case sensitive or not.
SF_Array.Unique(Array_1D As Variant, CaseSensitive As Boolean]) As Variant
Array_1D : The input array.CaseSensitive : Only if the array is populated with texts, default = False.
Sub Example_Unique()Dim a As Variant a = SF_Array.Unique(Array("A", "C", "A", "b", "B"), CaseSensitive := True) ' ("A", "B", "C", "b")End Sub