Introspecting Functions and Arrays

[Rexkix]

Q1: Is there any way to know what function's signature is from within another AutoIt function? I'm hoping to develop a service that performs a callback, but I'd like that mechanism to work irrespective of whether the call function takes an argument, doesn't take an argument, or takes an argument with a default value. I could call Call() twice, once with an argument and once without. Unfortunately, while this works great for the situations of callbacks with no arguments and with one argument, it means that the situation of the callback function with a default argument would get called twice.

Sadly, I suspect AutoIt does not have such a capability.

Q2: Regarding arrays, since their sizes are available to be inspected via UBound(), why do so many AutoIt functions that return arrays put the number of elements in the array at element #0? Examples include $cmdLine[], _FileListToArray(), and others. This strategy means that an array that ordinarily would be homogenous is not.

My guess is that this choice occurred because UBound() was introduced after those other features.

Thanks in advance,

Edited February 13, 2013 by Rexkix

[BrewManNH]

In answer to question 2, using UBound is slower than using the number stored in the first element of the array. Some people prefer one method over the other (using UBound instead of using an array with the count in the first element), some people don't like keeping track of the count of elements in the first element because it takes a lot more work to keep the number correct if you're adding/deleting things from the array.

[Shaggi]

For #2 i think it's a lot about style. Also, consider you have an array that's larger than what it's supposed to be, and only the first 75% is relevant. This might happen if you have an array decreasing and increasing in size. Instead of resizing and copying when it gets a little smaller, you can explicitly state the size.

e: for #1, no.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Shaggi

[guinness]

In answer to question 2, using UBound is slower than using the number stored in the first element of the array.

I used to think this as well, but after a quick discussion with trancexx in Dec/Jan and looking back through old threads, the conclusion was there is very little difference in execution time.