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USA
Asked — Edited

Need Help With Plugin

I need some help with a plugin I am working on. I am new to C# and OOP.
Have went thru the Tutorial and the SDK Tutorials also.

User-inserted image


How do I get the values from the form in to my C# code?

Code:

 public enum LocationType
            {
                Wall = 255,
                Empty = 0,
                Destination = 254,
                Source = 1
            }
            public struct Location
            {

instead of Wall = 255, how do I get Wall = textBox1.Text. textBox1 being the Textbox name.

Thanks
RichardZ


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PRO
USA
#1  

Code:


//Option1:
//  null        => 0 AND returns false
//  empty       => 0 AND returns false
//  non integer => 0 AND returns false
int i1;
if (!int.TryParse(textBox1.Text, out i1))
{
    //it's not an integer 
    //raise an error
}

//Option2: 
//  null        => 0
//  empty       => raises an exception
//  non integer => raises an exception
int i2 = Convert.ToInt32(textBox1.Text);

//Option2: 
//  null        => raises an exception
//  empty       => raises an exception
//  non integer => raises an exception
int i3 = int.Parse(textBox1.Text);


If you're collecting input from a user, I'd go with option #1
PRO
USA
#2  
Thank you ptp,
I have decided to leave the values for Robot, Empty, Wall and Goal as set values.
Having them as part of an enumeration is my problem there I think.

In the picture I posted, Map Variable is $MyMap. This is a string of 6400 characters. Each character represents a 1'x1' block. How do I get this variable from ARC into my C#? I plan to use 2 for loops to move the data from the $MyMap variable to a 2 dimension array in the plugin.
PRO
USA
#3  

Code:


private void DoSomething()
{
	//Get EZScript's map variable
	var mapString = VariableManager.GetVariable("$MyMap");
	//example map 4 x 3 => "X....X....X."

	//Convert string to an array of 4 by 3
	var map4X3 = StringToMap(mapString, 4);

	DoSomethingWithMap(map4X3);

	//Convert array to string
	var newMapString = MapToString(map4X3);

	//Set EZScript's map variable
	VariableManager.SetVariable("$MyMap", newMapString);
}

private void DoSomethingWithMap(char[,] map)
{
	for (var rowIndex = 0; rowIndex < map.GetLength(0); rowIndex++)
	{
		for (var colIndex = 0; colIndex < map.GetLength(1); colIndex++)
		{
			var cellValue = map[rowIndex, colIndex];
			//DoSomething with cellValue
		}
	}
}

private static string MapToString(char[,] map)
{
	return new string(map.Cast<char>().ToArray());
}

private static char[,] StringToMap(string flatString, int width)
{
	var flatArray = flatString.ToCharArray();

	var height = (int)Math.Ceiling(flatArray.Length / (double)width);
	var result = new char[height, width];

	for (var index = 0; index < flatArray.Length; index++)
	{
		var rowIndex = index / width;
		var colIndex = index % width;
		result[rowIndex, colIndex] = flatArray[index];
	}

	return result;
}
PRO
USA
#4  

Quote:


instead of Wall = 255, how do I get Wall = textBox1.Text. textBox1 being the Textbox name.

Quote:


Having them as part of an enumeration is my problem there I think.


If your wall value is an enum you should use a ComboBox to capture the user input.

To load the ComboBox LocationTypeComboBox:

Code:


LocationTypeComboBox.DataSource = Enum.GetValues(typeof(LocationType));
LocationTypeComboBox.SelectedIndex = 0;


To get the enum from the ComboBox:

Code:


LocationType locationType;
Enum.TryParse<LocationType>(LocationTypeComboBox.SelectedValue.ToString(), out locationType);


The "Standard" for a Label and Input is:
Label TextBox
Label ComboBox
...
PRO
USA
#5  
Thank you
I believe this is what I was missing.
I have picked up a few books on C# and going thru the lessons. catching on to the syntax easy enough but some of the concepts are a bit tough to get my head around. It is a bit different from TRS-80 Basic.
PRO
USA
#6  
When I execute the plugin, I get an error:

An exception of type 'System.Exception' occurred in ARC.exe but was not handled in user code

Additional information: Variable is an array: $MyMap

Makes sense to me. in ARC $MyMap is an array of 6400

the line of code reads:

Code:


var mapString = VariableManager.GetVariable("$MyMap");
PRO
USA
#7  

Quote:


In the picture I posted, Map Variable is $MyMap. This is a string of 6400 characters.

You mentioned a string.

if your variable is an Array:

Code:


//Get value from position 0 of $MyMap array
VariableManager.GetVariable("$MyMap", 0)
PRO
USA
#8  
I'm curious, what you plan to do with EZ-Script and an Array of 80x80 i.e. 6400 positions ?
PRO
USA
#9  
if you want to minimize the code you can use my extension method.
EZ-Script doesn't have typed types, GetVariable always returns a string.
My method will convert the string or array of strings to the type specified in the invocation.

Examples:

Code:


var str1 = this.GetVariable<string>("$str1");
var int1 = this.GetVariable<int>("$int1");
var arrayOfString1 = this.GetVariable<string[]>("$arrayOfString1");
var arrayOfInteger1 = this.GetVariable<int[]>("$arrayOfInteger1");


although is your responsibility to store the correct data type when using EZ-Script.

Code:


private T GetVariable<T>(string variableName)
{
	if (!VariableManager.DoesVariableExist(variableName))
	{
		return default(T);
	}

	if (!typeof(T).IsArray)
	{
		if (!VariableManager.IsVariableArray(variableName))
		{
			return (T)Convert.ChangeType(VariableManager.GetVariable(variableName), typeof(T));
		}

		//requested type is array but the variable is not an array => return null;
		return default(T);
	}

	var arraySize = VariableManager.GetArraySize(variableName);
	var elementType = typeof(T).GetElementType();
	var array = Array.CreateInstance(elementType, arraySize);

	for (var i = 0; i < arraySize; i++)
	{
		var elementValue = Convert.ChangeType(VariableManager.GetVariable(variableName, i), elementType);
		array.SetValue(elementValue, i);
	}
	return (T)(object)array;
}
PRO
USA
#10  
@PTP,
I am working on a wavefront navigation plugin and $MyMap is the flat array of the house (80x80). I have written it in EZ-Script but it was extremely slow. So I decided to make a plugin. I have sense discovered that it I get rid of the variable monitor, the array initializes in less the a second instead of 20 min. I have thought of going back to the EZ-Script version but It is about time I learned C# anyway. My son if fluent in C# OOP, but he is so busy with his work and his 2 autistic children. I will read thru the code and get back with you soon. I could attach my C# project and the EZ-Script for that matter if you like.

Thanks again

RichardZ
PRO
Synthiam
#11  
Good discovery, Richard. Any of the debugging controls will dramatically slow down the project. It's because rendering a significant number of items to the screen is very taxing on the CPU.

Sounds like you have a pretty interesting and fun project over there! I bet everyone is excited to see and hear more - I sure am!
PRO
USA
#13  
DJ,
Is this valid?
It does not give me an error but it does not seem to work ether.

Code:


VariableManager.SetVariable("$Disp2[" + MyCount +"]", map[x1, y1]);
PRO
USA
#15  
Got it!

Ended up with this:

Code:


VariableManager.CreateVariableArray("$Disp2",0,0);


                for (int x1 = 0; x1 < map.GetLength(0); x1++)
                {
                    for (int y1 = 0; y1 < map.GetLength(1); y1++)
                    {
                        disp = map[x1, y1].ToString();
                        
                        VariableManager.AppendToVariableArray("$Disp2", disp);
                    }
            
                }
PRO
USA
#16  
I have read thru the Tutorial more time then I can count.
Digging thru the Object Browser and a lot of trial & even more error, I am getting close.
I will have a write up on it soon.
For now, you give the plugin a map of your home.
$MyMap
255 = Wall
254 = The Robot
1 = The Goal
0 = Open Space
Call the plugin and it will Return an Array named $MyRoute.
With in the Array Starting from the Robots position a "-" indicates the next location to move towards the goal.
So if you have an 80x80 map, $MyRoute[0 - 79] is column 0, [80 - 159] is column 1and so on.
On my map North and West are 0,0
To move east on the map +1 to current position, to move south +80 to current position. - 80 for north, -1 west.

Now to add movement and object avoidance. My plan is.. if an object is detected, mark the position on the map and resubmit it to the plugin to get a new solution.

Thank you both for your help.
Hope to have it public soon.
RichardZ
PRO
Synthiam
#17  
You got it! That's the correct code as posted.

Or since you know the size of the array, you can do this...

Code:



VariableManager.CreateVariableArray("$Disp2",0, map.GetLength(0) * map.GetLength(1));

int index = 0;

                for (int x1 = 0; x1 < map.GetLength(0); x1++)
                {
                    for (int y1 = 0; y1 < map.GetLength(1); y1++)
                    {
                        disp = map[x1, y1].ToString();
                        
                        VariableManager.SetVariable("$Disp2", disp, index)

                      index++;
                    }
            
                }
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