Roku Developer Program

[joetesta]

Hello -

I have an array (of shows) and I'm trying to create a parallel array that has one field different (no show description in 2nd array). So far whatever I try has the effect of altering both arrays. I tried setting newArray = oldArray, then when I modify the elements of newArray it also affects oldArray. I also tried looping over oldArray and Push'ing the elements to newArray, then loop over newArray and modify the field. Unfortunately oldArray's fields were also modified. It seems like there must be a way to do this without modifying the oldArray?

tyvmia

[destruk]

That's weird Joe - one of those methods should work.
What seems to have worked for myself in the past is to create a new array entirely, grab values from the old array and push them individually to the new one, and then modify the new one, and use the new one for the new screen - that way the old array is never displayed except on the prior screen it came from. Unless the arrays are global, this should work all the time - but it's more work.

[joetesta]

thanks destruk! I think it happens because it's an array of objects; & I think i'd have to push the inner values of each object, rather than just pushing the objects themselves. But that's just my theory, i didn't go so far as to actually test that yet.
The goal is we want to hide the descriptions on the grid view but have them available on the detail view. The only way I could think to do this is to have parallel show lists, one with blank descriptions. I wonder if there's any other way to customize the grid view display...

[destruk]

Yeah that's what I did before - create a new object entirely, push the values individually for that new object, and then push the object over. 😞
It might be a better idea to simply create a new array, and then re-download and re-parse the xml, and then make the change to the new array.

[RokuJoel]

An array is an object and even if you assign arrayB=arrayA you are still pointing at the same object. The only way to copy the array is to copy it one data item at a time by iterating over all elements in the array, as well as sub elements of those elements (for example if your array contains arrays).

- Joel

[joetesta]

OK i went that route, create the new object and push the values in, then push the object onto the new array. Now it works, original array is unmodified. Rather than double the server requests for it. thanks!

[TheEndless]

A quick array copy can be achieved by appending to a new array:

array1 = [
    "value1"
    "value2"
    "value3"
]
array2 = []
array2.Append(array1)

This will still have the issue of copying references to the inner objects to the new array, but it's a quicker way to break the top-level reference if using base types.

For deeper references, I use the following function which will copy all elements of an array or associative array down to the specified depth. A depth of 0, the default, does basically the same as the Append method above:

Function ShallowCopy(array As Dynamic, depth = 0 As Integer) As Dynamic
    If Type(array) = "roArray" Then
        copy = []
        For Each item In array
            childCopy = ShallowCopy(item, depth)
            If childCopy <> invalid Then
                copy.Push(childCopy)
            End If
        Next
        Return copy
    Else If Type(array) = "roAssociativeArray" Then
        copy = {}
        For Each key In array
            If depth > 0 Then
                copy[key] = ShallowCopy(array[key], depth - 1)
            Else
                copy[key] = array[key]
            End If
        Next
        Return copy
    Else
        Return array
    End If
    Return invalid
End Function

[destruk]

"Return invalid" will never be hit - so you can save a line there.
Thanks for posting that code.

[joetesta]

"TheEndless" wrote:
A quick array copy can be achieved by appending to a new array

that append trick is very cool, exactly what i was looking for. Thanks!

[Komag]

I realize this is years old, but I just can't believe this isn't an official Function by now! I use TheEndless' ShallowCopy() Function now in several key places to copy Associative Arrays of various depths where I don't want references but actual new copies.