dictionaryfromvariables(
dictionaryfromvariables(
VARIABLES
)

The dictionaryfromvariables( function builds a new dictionary and initializes it from a list of variables (carriage return delimited).

Parameters

This function has one parameter:

variables – carriage return separated list of variables to be copied into the new dictionary. Any kind of variable may be listed: local, windowglobal, fileglobal, permanent or global.

Description

The dictionaryfromvariables( function creates a new collection of values (dictionary) and initializes it with the contents of one or more variables. The variables to be included are specified by a carriage return delimited list.

This example creates a new dictionary collection containing all of the local variables that currently exist in the current procedure.

    dictionaryfromvariables(info("localvariables"))

When combined with the setlocalsfromdictionary statement, this function can be used to quickly transfer multiple variables from one procedure to another.

    call mySubroutine,dictionaryfromvariables(info("localvariables"))

The first line of the mySubroutine procedure can use the setlocalsfromdictionary statement to turn the values back into variables.

    setlocalsfromdictionary parameter(1)
    // mySubroutine now has all the same variables that the calling procedure had

Important Note: Keep in mind that the mySubroutine procedure now has a copy of the variables in the calling procedure, not the original variables. If you have programmed using other languages, these variables have been passed by value, not by reference. So if you modify any of these variables, the modified value will not be passed back to the original procedure when the subroutine is finished. The original procedure will still have its original, unmodified variables. Of course you could pass the new values back the same way.

See Also

- appenddictionaryvalue -- appends a value to an item in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- changedictionaryname -- changes the name (key) of an item in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- changedictionaryvalues( -- changes one or more values in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- clearglobaldictionaryvalues -- clears (removes) all the keys and values from the specified global dictionary.
- copypartialdictionary -- builds a new dictionary and initializes it with values from an existing dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- copypartialdictionary( -- partially copies a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- Data Dictionaries -- Overview of Panorama's key/value data dictionaries.
- deletedictionaryvalue -- deletes a key/value pair from a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- deletedictionaryvalue( -- deletes one or more key/value pairs from a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- deleteglobaldictionaryvalues -- deletes one or more global dictionary values.
- dictionaryassignmentscode( -- returns code that can be used to take the values in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries) and assign them to fields or variables based on the dictionary keys.
- dictionarydifference -- builds an array that lists keys of dictionary values that are different between two dictionaries (see Data Dictionaries).
- dictionaryfromarray( -- builds a new dictionary and initializes it from a two dimensional text array (see Data Dictionaries and Text Arrays).
- dictionaryvalueexists -- returns true or false depending on whether or not a key/value pair exists in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- dictionaryvalueexists( -- returns true or false depending on whether or not a key/value pair exists in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- dumpdictionary -- returns a carriage return separated array of dictionary keys and values (see Data Dictionaries).
- dumpdictionary( -- returns a carriage return separated array of dictionary keys and values (see Data Dictionaries).
- dumpdictionaryquoted -- returns a carriage return separated array of dictionary keys and values (see Data Dictionaries).
- dumpdictionaryquoted( -- returns a carriage return separated array of dictionary keys and values (see Data Dictionaries). The text values are quoted.
- dumpdictionarysource( -- returns a carriage return separated array of dictionary keys and values (see Data Dictionaries). The keys and values are quoted so that they could be used to re-assemble the dictionary with the initializedictionary( function.
- getdictionarykey -- returns the key of an item in the dictionary, given its value. This is essentially the opposite of the getdictionaryvalue( function (see Data Dictionaries).
- getdictionarykey( -- returns the key of an item in the dictionary, given its value). This is essentially the opposite of the getdictionaryvalue( function (see Data Dictionaries).
- getdictionaryvalue -- returns the value of an item in the dictionary, given its key (see Data Dictionaries).
- getdictionaryvalue( -- returns the value of an item in the dictionary, given its key (see Data Dictionaries).
- getglobaldictionary( -- converts a global dictionary into a regular dictionary.
- Global Dictionaries -- alertnate high performance method to store multiple data items, much faster than regular data dictionaries.
- globaldictionarybuild -- builds a global dictionary by scanning a database.
- globaldictionarykeys( -- returns a cr()-separated array containing the keys in a global dictionary, or the names of all global dictionaries.
- globaldictionaryvalue( -- returns the value of an item in a global dictionary, given its key (see Global Dictionaries).
- info("timerinfo") -- returns a dictionary that contains all of the properties of the currently running timer.
- initializedictionary -- builds a new dictionary and initializes it with one or more key/value entries (see Data Dictionaries).
- initializedictionary( -- builds a new dictionary and initializes it with one or more key/value entries (see Data Dictionaries).
- initializedictionaryvalue( -- builds a new dictionary and initializes it with one or more entries (see Data Dictionaries). This function is deprecated, we recommend using the initializedictionary( function instead.
- listdictionarykeys( -- returns a list of the keys in a dictionary collection.
- listdictionarynames -- returns a list of the names (keys) in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- mergedictionaries -- merges the contents of two or more dictionaries (see Data Dictionaries).
- mergedictionaries( -- merges the contents of two or more dictionaries (see Data Dictionaries).
- renamedictionarykey( -- changes the key (name) of one or more values in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- setdictionaryvalue -- changes a value in a dictionary (see Data Dictionaries).
- setglobaldictionaryvalues -- sets one or more key/value pairs in a global dictionary.
- setlocalsfromdictionary -- converts a dictionary into a collection of local variables. The names and values of the local variables will be derived from the dictionary contents.
- timerinfo( -- returns a dictionary that contains all of the properties of a timer.

History

Version | Status | Notes
10.2 | New | New in this version.