Arrays ====== {{#include ../links.md}} ```admonish tip.side "Safety" Always limit the [maximum size of arrays]. ``` Arrays are first-class citizens in Rhai. All elements stored in an array are [`Dynamic`], and the array can freely grow or shrink with elements added or removed. The Rust type of a Rhai array is `rhai::Array` which is an alias to `Vec`. [`type_of()`] an array returns `"array"`. Arrays are disabled via the [`no_index`] feature. Literal Syntax -------------- Array literals are built within square brackets `[` ... `]` and separated by commas `,`: > `[` _value_`,` _value_`,` ... `,` _value_ `]` > > `[` _value_`,` _value_`,` ... `,` _value_ `,` `]` `// trailing comma is OK` Element Access Syntax --------------------- ### From beginning Like C, arrays are accessed with zero-based, non-negative integer indices: > _array_ `[` _index position from 0 to (length−1)_ `]` ### From end A _negative_ position accesses an element in the array counting from the _end_, with −1 being the _last_ element. > _array_ `[` _index position from −1 to −length_ `]` Out-of-Bounds Index ------------------- Trying to read from an index that is out of bounds causes an error. ```admonish tip.small "Advanced tip: Override standard behavior" For fine-tuned control on what happens when an out-of-bounds index is accessed, see [_Out-of-Bounds Index for Arrays_](arrays-oob.md). ``` Built-in Functions ------------------ The following methods (mostly defined in the [`BasicArrayPackage`][built-in packages] but excluded when using a [raw `Engine`]) operate on arrays. | Function | Parameter(s) | Description | | ------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `get` | position, counting from end if < 0 | gets a copy of the element at a certain position ([`()`] if the position is not valid) | | `set` |
  1. position, counting from end if < 0
  2. new element
| sets a certain position to a new value (no effect if the position is not valid) | | `push`, `+=` operator | element to append (not an array) | appends an element to the end | | `append`, `+=` operator | array to append | concatenates the second array to the end of the first | | `+` operator |
  1. first array
  2. second array
| concatenates the first array with the second | | `==` operator |
  1. first array
  2. second array
| are two arrays the same (elements compared with the `==` operator, if defined)? | | `!=` operator |
  1. first array
  2. second array
| are two arrays different (elements compared with the `==` operator, if defined)? | | `insert` |
  1. position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
  2. element to insert
| inserts an element at a certain position | | `pop` | _none_ | removes the last element and returns it ([`()`] if empty) | | `shift` | _none_ | removes the first element and returns it ([`()`] if empty) | | `extract` |
  1. start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
  2. _(optional)_ number of elements to extract, none if ≤ 0, to end if omitted
| extracts a portion of the array into a new array | | `extract` | [range] of elements to extract, from beginning if ≤ 0, to end if ≥ length | extracts a portion of the array into a new array | | `remove` | position, counting from end if < 0 | removes an element at a particular position and returns it ([`()`] if the position is not valid) | | `reverse` | _none_ | reverses the array | | `len` method and property | _none_ | returns the number of elements | | `is_empty` method and property | _none_ | returns `true` if the array is empty | | `pad` |
  1. target length
  2. element to pad
| pads the array with an element to at least a specified length | | `clear` | _none_ | empties the array | | `truncate` | target length | cuts off the array at exactly a specified length (discarding all subsequent elements) | | `chop` | target length | cuts off the head of the array, leaving the tail at exactly a specified length | | `split` |
  1. array
  2. position to split at, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
| splits the array into two arrays, starting from a specified position | | `for_each` | [function pointer] for processing elements | run through each element in the array in order, binding each to `this` and calling the processing function taking the following parameters:
  1. `this`: array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `drain` | [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]) | removes all elements (returning them) that return `true` when called with the predicate function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `drain` |
  1. start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
  2. number of elements to remove, none if ≤ 0
| removes a portion of the array, returning the removed elements as a new array | | `drain` | [range] of elements to remove, from beginning if ≤ 0, to end if ≥ length | removes a portion of the array, returning the removed elements as a new array | | `retain` | [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]) | removes all elements (returning them) that do not return `true` when called with the predicate function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `retain` |
  1. start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
  2. number of elements to retain, none if ≤ 0
| retains a portion of the array, removes all other elements and returning them as a new array | | `retain` | [range] of elements to retain, from beginning if ≤ 0, to end if ≥ length | retains a portion of the array, removes all other bytes and returning them as a new array | | `splice` |
  1. start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
  2. number of elements to remove, none if ≤ 0
  3. array to insert
| replaces a portion of the array with another (not necessarily of the same length as the replaced portion) | | `splice` |
  1. [range] of elements to remove, from beginning if ≤ 0, to end if ≥ length
  2. array to insert
| replaces a portion of the array with another (not necessarily of the same length as the replaced portion) | | `filter` | [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]) | constructs a new array with all elements that return `true` when called with the predicate function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `contains`, [`in`] operator | element to find | does the array contain an element? The `==` operator (if defined) is used to compare [custom types] | | `index_of` |
  1. element to find (not a [function pointer])
  2. _(optional)_ start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
| returns the position of the first element in the array that equals the supplied element (using the `==` operator, if defined), or −1 if not found | | `index_of` |
  1. [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure])
  2. _(optional)_ start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
| returns the position of the first element in the array that returns `true` when called with the predicate function, or −1 if not found:
  1. array element (if none, the array element is bound to `this`)
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `find` |
  1. [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure])
  2. _(optional)_ start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
| returns the first element in the array that returns `true` when called with the predicate function, or [`()`] if not found:
  1. array element (if none, the array element is bound to `this`)
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `find_map` |
  1. [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure])
  2. _(optional)_ start position, counting from end if < 0, end if ≥ length
| returns the first non-[`()`] value of the first element in the array when called with the predicate function, or [`()`] if not found:
  1. array element (if none, the array element is bound to `this`)
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `dedup` | _(optional)_ [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]); if omitted, the `==` operator is used, if defined | removes all but the first of _consecutive_ elements in the array that return `true` when called with the predicate function (non-consecutive duplicates are _not_ removed):
1st & 2nd parameters: two elements in the array | | `map` | [function pointer] to conversion function (usually a [closure]) | constructs a new array with all elements mapped to the result of applying the conversion function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `reduce` |
  1. [function pointer] to accumulator function (usually a [closure])
  2. _(optional)_ the initial value
| reduces the array into a single value via the accumulator function taking the following parameters (if the second parameter is omitted, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. accumulated value ([`()`] initially)
  2. `this`: array element
  3. _(optional)_ index position
| | `reduce_rev` |
  1. [function pointer] to accumulator function (usually a [closure])
  2. _(optional)_ the initial value
| reduces the array (in reverse order) into a single value via the accumulator function taking the following parameters (if the second parameter is omitted, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. accumulated value ([`()`] initially)
  2. `this`: array element
  3. _(optional)_ index position
| | `zip` |
  1. array to zip
  2. [function pointer] to conversion function (usually a [closure])
| constructs a new array with all element pairs from two arrays mapped to the result of applying the conversion function taking the following parameters:
  1. first array element
  2. second array element
  3. _(optional)_ index position
| | `some` | [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]) | returns `true` if any element returns `true` when called with the predicate function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `all` | [function pointer] to predicate (usually a [closure]) | returns `true` if all elements return `true` when called with the predicate function taking the following parameters (if none, the array element is bound to `this`):
  1. array element
  2. _(optional)_ index position
| | `sort` | [function pointer] to a comparison function (usually a [closure]) | sorts the array with a comparison function taking the following parameters:
  1. first element
  2. second element
    return value: `INT` < 0 if first < second, > 0 if first > second, 0 if first == second
| | `sort` | _none_ | sorts a _homogeneous_ array containing only elements of the same comparable built-in type (`INT`, `FLOAT`, [`Decimal`][rust_decimal], [string], [character], `bool`, [`()`]) | ```admonish tip.small "Tip: Use custom types with arrays" To use a [custom type] with arrays, a number of functions need to be manually implemented, in particular the `==` operator in order to support the [`in`] operator which uses `==` (via the `contains` method) to compare elements. See the section on [custom types] for more details. ``` Examples -------- ```rust let y = [2, 3]; // y == [2, 3] let y = [2, 3,]; // y == [2, 3] y.insert(0, 1); // y == [1, 2, 3] y.insert(999, 4); // y == [1, 2, 3, 4] y.len == 4; y[0] == 1; y[1] == 2; y[2] == 3; y[3] == 4; (1 in y) == true; // use 'in' to test if an element exists in the array (42 in y) == false; // 'in' uses the 'contains' function, which uses the // '==' operator (that users can override) // to check if the target element exists in the array y.contains(1) == true; // the above de-sugars to this y[1] = 42; // y == [1, 42, 3, 4] (42 in y) == true; y.remove(2) == 3; // y == [1, 42, 4] y.len == 3; y[2] == 4; // elements after the removed element are shifted ts.list = y; // arrays can be assigned completely (by value copy) ts.list[1] == 42; [1, 2, 3][0] == 1; // indexing on array literal [1, 2, 3][-1] == 3; // negative position counts from the end fn abc() { [42, 43, 44] // a function returning an array } abc()[0] == 42; y.push(4); // y == [1, 42, 4, 4] y += 5; // y == [1, 42, 4, 4, 5] y.len == 5; y.shift() == 1; // y == [42, 4, 4, 5] y.chop(3); // y == [4, 4, 5] y.len == 3; y.pop() == 5; // y == [4, 4] y.len == 2; for element in y { // arrays can be iterated with a 'for' statement print(element); } y.pad(6, "hello"); // y == [4, 4, "hello", "hello", "hello", "hello"] y.len == 6; y.truncate(4); // y == [4, 4, "hello", "hello"] y.len == 4; y.clear(); // y == [] y.len == 0; // The examples below use 'a' as the master array let a = [42, 123, 99]; a.for_each(|| this *= 2); a == [84, 246, 198]; a.for_each(|i| this /= 2); a == [42, 123, 99]; a.map(|v| v + 1); // returns [43, 124, 100] a.map(|| this + 1); // returns [43, 124, 100] a.map(|v, i| v + i); // returns [42, 124, 101] a.filter(|v| v > 50); // returns [123, 99] a.filter(|| this > 50); // returns [123, 99] a.filter(|v, i| i == 1); // returns [123] a.filter("is_odd"); // returns [123, 99] a.filter(Fn("is_odd")); // <- previous statement is equivalent to this... a.filter(|v| is_odd(v)); // <- or this a.some(|v| v > 50); // returns true a.some(|| this > 50); // returns true a.some(|v, i| v < i); // returns false a.all(|v| v > 50); // returns false a.all(|| this > 50); // returns false a.all(|v, i| v > i); // returns true // Reducing - initial value provided directly a.reduce(|sum| sum + this, 0) == 264; // Reducing - initial value provided directly a.reduce(|sum, v| sum + v, 0) == 264; // Reducing - initial value is '()' a.reduce( |sum, v| if sum.type_of() == "()" { v } else { sum + v } ) == 264; // Reducing - initial value has index position == 0 a.reduce(|sum, v, i| if i == 0 { v } else { sum + v } ) == 264; // Reducing in reverse - initial value provided directly a.reduce_rev(|sum| sum + this, 0) == 264; // Reducing in reverse - initial value provided directly a.reduce_rev(|sum, v| sum + v, 0) == 264; // Reducing in reverse - initial value is '()' a.reduce_rev( |sum, v| if sum.type_of() == "()" { v } else { sum + v } ) == 264; // Reducing in reverse - initial value has index position == 0 a.reduce_rev(|sum, v, i| if i == 2 { v } else { sum + v } ) == 264; // In-place modification a.splice(1..=1, [1, 3, 2]); // a == [42, 1, 3, 2, 99] a.extract(1..=3); // returns [1, 3, 2] a.sort(|x, y| y - x); // a == [99, 42, 3, 2, 1] a.sort(); // a == [1, 2, 3, 42, 99] a.drain(|v| v <= 1); // a == [2, 3, 42, 99] a.drain(|v, i| i ≥ 3); // a == [2, 3, 42] a.retain(|v| v > 10); // a == [42] a.retain(|v, i| i > 0); // a == [] ```