Filter an Array

[williamk]

Am creating a file list array and want to go through the array and delete all elements that don't meet my criteria. The first 8 characters of each element in the array represent a date (ie 20070801) and it is the date I want to filter by. So to filter the array to consist of only elements between 08/02/2007 and 08/03/2007 I wrote the following:

#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <Date.au3>
$dirpath = "D:\Datatrack\";set the path for the folder where the data extraction files are
$sfilter = "*.PRO"; set the filter for the files you want to extract data from
$FileList = _FileListToArray($dirpath, $sfilter, 1);get the list of files you want to extract data from
If @Error=1 Then
    MsgBox (0,"","No Files\Folders Found.")
    Exit
EndIf
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[0]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    if $fd NOT <= 20070802 or $fd NOT >= 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

This does not work though. Seems to be hanging up on the StringLeft command. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks.

[seandisanti]

Am creating a file list array and want to go through the array and delete all elements that don't meet my criteria. The first 8 characters of each element in the array represent a date (ie 20070801) and it is the date I want to filter by. So to filter the array to consist of only elements between 08/02/2007 and 08/03/2007 I wrote the following:

#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <Date.au3>
$dirpath = "D:\Datatrack\";set the path for the folder where the data extraction files are
$sfilter = "*.PRO"; set the filter for the files you want to extract data from
$FileList = _FileListToArray($dirpath, $sfilter, 1);get the list of files you want to extract data from
If @Error=1 Then
    MsgBox (0,"","No Files\Folders Found.")
    Exit
EndIf
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[0]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    if $fd NOT <= 20070802 or $fd NOT >= 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

This does not work though. Seems to be hanging up on the StringLeft command. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks.

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[weaponx]

The StringLeft isn't working because the filenames are strings in the array and you're comparing them to integers in your "if" statement. Wrap quotes around them.

Edited February 1, 2008 by weaponx

[williamk]

The StringLeft isn't working because the filenames are strings in the array and you're comparing them to integers in your "if" statement. Wrap quotes around them.

Ok so I changed it to:

[CODE}
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[0]
$fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
if $fd < "20070802" or $fd > "20070803" Then
_ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

But I get the error "Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts or subscript dimension range exceeded.:" on the StringLeft command. What does that mean?

[weaponx]

Thats because _ArrayDelete is resizing your array after each delete but your loop is relying in the size of the array stored in element zero.

[seandisanti]

Ok so I changed it to:

[CODE}
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[0]
$fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
if $fd < "20070802" or $fd > "20070803" Then
_ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

But I get the error "Array variable has incorrect number of subscripts or subscript dimension range exceeded.:" on the StringLeft command. What does that mean?

your for loop is running too many times because you're deleting items but not decrementing the upper bound of your for loop. add the line

$FileList[0] --

after your _arrayDelete

[weaponx]

That syntax won't work in AutoIT you have to use $FileList[0] -= 1

[seandisanti]

That syntax won't work in AutoIT you have to use $FileList[0] -= 1

oops, java flashback

[williamk]

your for loop is running too many times because you're deleting items but not decrementing the upper bound of your for loop. add the line

$FileList[0] --

after your _arrayDelete

I tried the $FileList[0] but that gave me a "= expected" error so it want to know the value of the variable. I than tried the following, but get the same error:

$a=0
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[$a]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    if $fd < "20070802" or $fd > "20070803" Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $a = $a-1
    Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

Edited February 1, 2008 by williamk

[seandisanti]

I tried the $FileList[0] but that gave me a "= expected" error so it want to know the value of the variable. I than tried the following, but get the same error:

$a=0
For $MA = 1 to $FileList[$a]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    if $fd < "20070802" or $fd > "20070803" Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $a = $a-1
    Endif
Next
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

your first line on that last section should be $a = $FileList[0] instead of $a = 0

[williamk]

your first line on that last section should be $a = $FileList[0] instead of $a = 0

Tried that, didn't work. So I tried this:

For $MA = 1 to $FileList[$a]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $a = $FileList[0]-1
    Endif
Next
;$FileList[0] = UBound($FileList) - 1
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

This runs but just displays the entire array and does no filtering. I also figured I had to convert my string to an integer so I so accurately use the <>. Arg this is frustrating.

[danielkza]

Tried that, didn't work. So I tried this:

For $MA = 1 to $FileList[$a]
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $a = $FileList[0]-1
    Endif
Next
;$FileList[0] = UBound($FileList) - 1
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

This runs but just displays the entire array and does no filtering. I also figured I had to convert my string to an integer so I so accurately use the <>. Arg this is frustrating.

To loop through arrays while changing their size you must use While,because For only queries the stop value at the first iteration.

[williamk]

To loop through arrays while changing their size you must use While,because For only queries the stop value at the first iteration.

OK so I would need to write it something like below, but what do I condition the WHILE statement on ?

$MA = $FileList[0]
while $MA ?????
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $MA = $MA-1
    Endif

[bluebearr]

This appears to work:

#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <Date.au3>
$dirpath = "D:\Datatrack\";set the path for the folder where the data extraction files are
$sfilter = "*.PRO"; set the filter for the files you want to extract data from
$FileList = _FileListToArray($dirpath, $sfilter, 1);get the list of files you want to extract data from
If @Error=1 Then
    MsgBox (0,"","No Files\Folders Found.")
    Exit
EndIf
$MA = $FileList[0]
While $MA >= 1
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
    ;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
        _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    EndIf
    $MA = $MA - 1
WEnd
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

[seandisanti]

OK so I would need to write it something like below, but what do I condition the WHILE statement on ?

$MA = $FileList[0]
while $MA ?????
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    $MA = $MA-1
    Endif

basically you are just setting your exit condition to be whenever your iterator is equal to your upper bound

$y = $FileList[0]
$x = 1
while $x <= $y
if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
$y = $y - 1
else
$x = $x + 1
    Endif
wend

***edit*** typo'd

Edited February 1, 2008 by cameronsdad

[williamk]

basically you are just setting your exit condition to be whenever your iterator is equal to your upper bound

$y = $FileList[0]
$x = 1
while $x <= $y
if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
$y = $y - 1
else
$x = $x + 1
    Endif
wend

***edit*** typo'd

Think we are almost there. If I run the below my array is reduced from 121 elements to 51 elements, however I should only end up with 3 elements. Any ideas?

$y = $FileList[0]
$x = 1
while $x <= $y
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$y],8)
    $fdi = int($fd)
if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $y)
$y = $y - 1
else
$x = $x + 1
    Endif
wend

[andybiochem]

I think I'd attack it like this:

#include <Array.au3>
#include <date.au3>

Dim $array[4]
$array[1] = "20070802 some other text"
$array[2] = "20070801 some other text"
$array[3] = "20070804 some other text"

$start = _DateToDayValue("2007","08","02") ;this is the start date (YYYY,MM,DD)
$end = _DateToDayValue("2007","08","03")  ;this is the end date (YYYY,MM,DD)

for $i = (UBound($array) - 1) to 1 step -1
    
    $date = _DateToDayValue(StringMid($array[$i],1,4),StringMid($array[$i],5,2),StringMid($array[$i],7,2))
    
    if  $date < $start or $date > $end Then
        _ArrayDelete($array,$i)
    EndIf
Next

_ArrayDisplay($array)

....only the string "20070802 some other text" is left in the array.

Hope this helps.

Edited February 2, 2008 by andybiochem

[seandisanti]

Think we are almost there. If I run the below my array is reduced from 121 elements to 51 elements, however I should only end up with 3 elements. Any ideas?

$y = $FileList[0]
$x = 1
while $x <= $y
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$y],8)
    $fdi = int($fd)
if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
    _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $y)
$y = $y - 1
else
$x = $x + 1
    Endif
wend

well, first lets identify why there are more elements than there should be. are there invalid (outside of range) elements left after stepping through the array?

[andybiochem]

......as per my code above but using your array populator:

#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <Date.au3>

$dirpath = "D:\Datatrack\";set the path for the folder where the data extraction files are
$sfilter = "*.PRO"; set the filter for the files you want to extract data from
$array = _FileListToArray($dirpath, $sfilter, 1);get the list of files you want to extract data from
If @Error=1 Then
    MsgBox (0,"","No Files\Folders Found.")
    Exit
EndIf

$start = _DateToDayValue("2007","08","02");this is the start date (YYYY,MM,DD)
$end = _DateToDayValue("2007","08","03");this is the end date (YYYY,MM,DD)

for $i = (UBound($array) - 1) to 1 step -1
    
    $date = _DateToDayValue(StringMid($array[$i],1,4),StringMid($array[$i],5,2),StringMid($array[$i],7,2))
    
    if  $date < $start or $date > $end Then
        _ArrayDelete($array,$i)
    EndIf
Next

_ArrayDisplay($array)

Edited February 2, 2008 by andybiochem

[bluebearr]

williamk, did you try my code? does it not work?

#include <file.au3>
#include <array.au3>
#include <Date.au3>
$dirpath = "D:\Datatrack\";set the path for the folder where the data extraction files are
$sfilter = "*.PRO"; set the filter for the files you want to extract data from
$FileList = _FileListToArray($dirpath, $sfilter, 1);get the list of files you want to extract data from
If @Error=1 Then
    MsgBox (0,"","No Files\Folders Found.")
    Exit
EndIf
$MA = $FileList[0]
While $MA >= 1
    $fd = StringLeft($FileList[$MA],8)
    MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fd)
    $fdi = int($fd)
    ;MsgBox(4096, "emp detail records", "Number of emp detail records for profile is:" & $fdi)
    if $fdi < 20070802 or $fdi > 20070803 Then
        _ArrayDelete ($FileList, $MA)
    EndIf
    $MA = $MA - 1
WEnd
_ArrayDisplay ($FileList)

I think the problem with your code earlier is that you are indexing on $y instead of $x, and so you are actually skipping some values.