Zugg Software :: View topic - [1.15] #ADDITEM does not convert a String to a String List

Magician Joined: 13 Oct 2000 Posts: 463

Recreate:

#VAR Working {First Item}
#ADDITEM Working {Second Item}

If you view the 'Working' variable in the Package Editor, it is a String List, with a database-record style UI.

#VAR Broken {First Item|Second Item}
#ADDITEM Broken {Third Item}

If you view the 'Broken' variable in the Package Editor, it is a plain expanded String, with the text 'First Item|Second Item|Third Item'.

Expected Result:

The 'Broken' variable should have been converted to a String List when the #ADDITEM command was used on it.

Comments:

There does not appear to be a programmatic way to change the type of a variable after it has been created. This makes it difficult to create string lists that are pre-filled with many items. It would be nice if there was a way to insta-create a variable (with a single command) that had many items in it, rather than having to start with one item and loop through #ADDITEM to add all the rest.

Another alternative would be a way to set the type of a variable explicitly from the code.

Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:43 pm

You can change a variable type using the %vartype function. Check the help file for it. And you *can* create a string list with all the items in it. Just do this:

#VAR Working {First Item|Second Item|Third Item}

So you don't need to use #ADDITEM if you don't want to.

In general, don't worry about the data type. The auto-type variables should work fine. But yes, I will fix #ADDITEM to mark it as a String List. It should have been set to AutoType and not an expanded String by the #VAR command because of the | character, so that's also a bug.

Magician Joined: 13 Oct 2000 Posts: 463

Thanks Zugg. I hadn't read closely enough... I thought the %vartype function only retrieved the type... I didn't realize it could set it.