Types
0.1.0

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SUMMARY

Useful objects (stacks, queues, dictionaries, etc.)

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COMMANDS

makeAssociativeList() -- make a case-insensitive associative list [1]
	Result : script -- an AssociativeList object

makeAssociativeListConsideringCase() -- make a case-sensitive associative list
	Result : script -- an AssociativeList object

makeDict() -- make a case-insensitive dictionary [1] that uses Unicode text keys
	Result : script -- a Dictionary object

makeDictConsideringCase() -- make a case-sensitive dictionary that uses Unicode text keys
	Result : script -- a Dictionary object

makeSDict() -- make a case-insensitive dictionary that uses string keys
	Result : script -- a Dictionary object

makeSDictConsideringCase() -- make a case-sensitive dictionary that uses string keys
	Result : script -- a Dictionary object
	
makeQueue() -- make a new queue
	Result : script -- a Queue object

makeStack() -- make a new stack
	Result : script -- a Stack object

--

[1]  Also commonly referred to as associative arrays, hash arrays, hashes, etc. Dictionaries (unrelated to application dictionaries) are faster, while AssociativeLists can use any values for keys.

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OBJECTS

AssociativeList -- stores values by key, where keys can be anything
	Methods:
		countItems()
			Result : integer -- number of items
		
		itemExists(theKey)
			theKey : anything -- item's key
			Result : boolean -- does an item exist?
		
		setItem(theKey, val)
			theKey : anything -- item's key
			val : anything -- item's value
		
		getItem(theKey)
			theKey : anything -- item's key
			Result : anything -- item's value
		
		deleteItem(theKey)
			theKey : anything -- item's key
			Result : anything -- item's value
		
		getKeys()
			Result : list -- all keys [1]
		
		getValues()
			Result : list -- all values [1]
			


Dictionary -- stores values by key, where keys are strings/Unicode text depending on constructor used [2]
	Methods:
		countItems()
			Result : integer -- number of items
			
		itemExists(keyTxt)
			keyTxt : Unicode text -- item's key
			Result : boolean -- does an item exist?
		
		setItem(keyTxt, val)
			keyTxt : Unicode text -- item's key
			val : anything -- item's value
		
		getItem(keyTxt)
			keyTxt : Unicode text -- item's key
			Result : anything -- item's value
		
		deleteItem(keyTxt)
			keyTxt : Unicode text -- item's key
			Result : anything -- item's value
		
		getKeys()
			Result : list -- all keys [1]
		
		getValues()
			Result : list -- all values [1]



Queue -- stores values on a first-in, first-out basis
	Methods:
		addItem(val) -- add a value to end of queue
			val : anything
		
		getItem() -- get the value at the head of queue
			Result : anything
		
		removeItem() -- remove and return the value at the head of queue
			Result : anything
		
		isEmpty() -- is queue empty?
			Result : boolean



Stack -- stores values on a first-in, last-out basis
	Methods:
		push(val) -- push a value onto top of stack
			val : anything
			
		top() -- get the value at top of stack
			Result : anything
			
		pop() -- remove and return value at top of stack
			Result : anything
		
		isEmpty() -- is stack empty?
			Result : boolean

--

[1] The order of keys is always same as order of values. Note, however, that scripts that call these methods shouldn't rely on the returned keys/values being in a particular order (e.g. alphabetical) as this is an unpublished internal implementation detail and could change at any time.

[2] Dictionary keys must be string/Unicode text (depending on constructor used), or values which can be cleanly coerced to string/Unicode text (constants, numbers, strings, file specifications, POSIX files). Dates can be used as keys, but remember that date string formatting varies according to each Mac's International settings so will have poor portability/durability. Aliases can also be used as keys, but if the alias changes (eg if the file is moved or renamed) the key won't change to reflect this. Using lists as keys is not recommended.

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NOTES

- Dictionary objects created with makeDict and makeDictConsideringCase store and compare keys as Unicode text internally. Older versions of AS may contain bugs or insufficient Unicode text support to use this type. Users on older machines may prefer to use makeSDict and makeSDictConsideringCase commands to create dictionary objects which store keys internally as strings.

- Dictionary keys consider diacriticals, hyphens, punctuation and white space but ignore expansion. Keys' classes are ignored; for example, setItem(3, true) and setItem("3", true) are equivalent.

- AssociativeLists consider everything when searching for keys - diacriticals, class, etc, and optionally case. For example, setItem("3",Ętrue) is not equivalent to setItem(3,Ętrue) though setItem(3.0,Ętrue) is. Note that you're somewhat at the mercy of the types involved - for example, the Unicode text type doesn't respect all considering/ignoring constants; mutable types such as lists and records can change at any time. Take care if using these as keys.

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TO DO

- Decide if 	getValues methods on assoc lists and dicts are kosher or not. (And, if they are, is stating 'order of keys = order of values' in OBJECTS > [1] acceptable?)

- Better AssociativeList performance?

- Change Dicts to use balanced b-tree, skip lists, or some other structure that'd give better performance when adding/removing items [currently O(n^2)]?

- Examples of use

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RELEASES

2003-11-01 -- 0.1.0; first release

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AUTHORS

- HAS

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COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2003 HAS

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The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

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