Workarounds for parameter limit (I come up with them, you pick one)

[SupSuper]

So, I was calmly working on my module when all of a sudden "Script link failed: Runtime error: unresolved import 'Gooey::Animate^11'". Oh crap, I finally did it, I broke AGS with my grossly lazy code. So, time to start cutting down on my function.

This is what I currently have. It basically looks for an empty spot in the array and assigns stuff to it.

Code: ags

static function Gooey::Animate
(GUIControl* targ,
 int norm_viw, int norm_lop,
 int min_viw, int min_lop,
 int mout_viw, int mout_lop,
 int mdown_viw, int mdown_lop,
 int mup_viw, int mup_lop)
{
  int i = 0;
	while (i < 20)
	{
		if (gooey_animate[i].target == null)
		{
			gooey_animate[i].target = targ;
			gooey_animate[i].norm_view = norm_viw;
			gooey_animate[i].norm_loop = norm_lop;
			gooey_animate[i].min_view = min_viw;
			gooey_animate[i].min_loop = min_lop;
			gooey_animate[i].mout_view = mout_viw;
			gooey_animate[i].mout_loop = mout_lop;
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_view = mdown_viw;
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_loop = mdown_lop;
			gooey_animate[i].mup_view = mup_viw;
			gooey_animate[i].mup_loop = mup_lop;
			gooey_animate[i].status = eGooey_None;
			return;
		}
		i++;
	}
}

So it'd be called like so:

Code: ags

Gooey.Animate(btnHover1, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 4);

My first idea was to have an array:

Code: ags

static function Gooey::Animate
(GUIControl* targ, int views[10])
{
  int i = 0;
	while (i < 20)
	{
		if (gooey_animate[i].target == null)
		{
			int j = 0;
			while (j < 20)
			{
				if (views[j] == null) views[j] = 0;
				j++;
			}
			gooey_animate[i].target = targ;
			gooey_animate[i].norm_view = views[0];
			gooey_animate[i].norm_loop = views[1];
			gooey_animate[i].min_view = views[2];
			gooey_animate[i].min_loop = views[3];
			gooey_animate[i].mout_view = views[4];
			gooey_animate[i].mout_loop = views[5];
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_view = views[6];
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_loop = views[7];
			gooey_animate[i].mup_view = views[8];
			gooey_animate[i].mup_loop = views[9];
			gooey_animate[i].status = eGooey_None;
			return;
		}
		i++;
	}
}

So it'd be called like so:

Code: ags

int view[10];
view[0] = 2;
view[1] = 0;
view[2] = 2;
view[3] = 1;
view[4] = 2;
view[5] = 2;
view[6] = 2;
view[7] = 3;
view[8] = 2;
view[9] = 4;
Gooey.Animate(btnHover1, view);

The downside is, well, the user has no idea what each value is for without constantly looking up the documentation (not that the old method was any clearer, but I would fix that... eventually ). And it looks like an awful lot of code, but you could use while loops or some such thing for it. Plus you could have optional parameters in any order.

My other idea is having a pseudo-pointer:

Code: ags

static function Gooey::Animate()
{
  int i = 0;
	while (i < 20)
	{
		if (gooey_animate[i].target == null)
		{
			gooey_animate[i].target = null;
			gooey_animate[i].norm_view = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].norm_loop = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].min_view = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].min_loop = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mout_view = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mout_loop = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_view = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mdown_loop = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mup_view = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].mup_loop = 0;
			gooey_animate[i].status = eGooey_None;
			return i;
		}
		i++;
	}
}

So it'd be called like so:

Code: ags

int i = Gooey::Animate();
gooey_animate[i].target = btnHover1;
gooey_animate[i].norm_view = 2;
gooey_animate[i].norm_loop = 0;
gooey_animate[i].min_view = 2;
gooey_animate[i].min_loop = 1;
gooey_animate[i].mout_view = 2;
gooey_animate[i].mout_loop = 2;
gooey_animate[i].mdown_view = 2;
gooey_animate[i].mdown_loop = 3;
gooey_animate[i].mup_view = 2;
gooey_animate[i].mup_loop = 4;

This last method looks nice in theory. Gooey::Animate finds and initializes a spot for the user to fill in the values, you can easily cut down on lines if you're not gonna use every value (optional parameters), plus you can actually read what it does. The downside is exposing the gooey_animate[] array means the user can play all kinds of unexpected havoc if he wants. And then I have to clean up the mess.

Thoughts?

[Khris]

Not that intuitive, but easy:

Code: ags

Gooey.Animate(btnHover1, "2021222324");

Code: ags

static function Gooey::Animate(GUIControl*trag, String par) {
  ...
  String s;
  s=par.Substring(0,1);
  gooey_animate[i].norm_view=s.AsInt;
  s=par.Substring(1,1);
  gooey_animate[i].norm_loop=s.AsInt;
  ...
}

[SupSuper]

I think a user can have more than 9 views and 9 loops though. Although I could make it break strings like "10,0,5,2,4,39" into integers. Something like:

Code: ags

static function Gooey::Animate(GUIControl*trag, String par) {
  ...
  int i = 0;
  String s = "";
  while (i < par.Length)
  {
    if (par.Chars[i] == ",")
    {
      gooey_animate[i].norm_view=s.AsInt;
      s = "";
    }
    else
    {
      s.AppendChar(par.Chars[i]);
    }
  }
  ...
}

...dammit, I'm never sticking with a method at this rate.

[Khris]

Sounds even better, I'd use that. Although you won't get around doing it without a loop unless you'd use two-dimensional arrays.