issaved confusion

ID:974280
 
Sep 11 2012, 1:39 pm (Edited by moderator on Sep 11 2012, 1:44 pm)
BYOND Version:496
Operating System:Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
Web Browser:Chrome 21.0.1180.89
Applies to:Dream Maker
Status: Open
Issue hasn't been assigned a status value.
issaved is not exactly clear on how it should be used as you can't specify an object to use it on. Every time I have to use it I'm confused by this proc, and I've been around for 8 years. I think this proc confuses a lot of people and could do with some better documentation + examples of code (especially an example of a loop).
Sep 11 2012, 1:47 pm
I don't think there is a bug here but we'll take a look and clarify the docs if needed.
Sep 11 2012, 1:51 pm
IMHO any functionality that is not clear to the end user is something that needs to be addressed. Especially in an application that emphasizes ease-of-use the way BYOND does.
Sep 12 2012, 8:36 am
I believe it works like initial(), where when you pass a variable to it, it also somehow passes the object used to reference that variable. If I had to guess, I would say it's just a preprocessor macro trick.

mob/verb/Test()
    world<<issaved(src.x)
    world<<issaved(src.icon_state)
    var/obj/A = new()
    world<<issaved(A.loc)
    world<<issaved(A.overlays)


Anyways, I miss the newer version of the reference where there were notes to clarify things. :P
Sep 12 2012, 9:17 am
In response to DarkCampainger
The strange part is how it picks up on the variable itself, rather than the value contained by it.
Sep 12 2012, 6:44 pm
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
The strange part is how it picks up on the variable itself, rather than the value contained by it.

I recall messing around with something like that. I don't remember exactly what, but I think uh, something relating to vars["var"] - where the variable, not the value would be...picked up?

I think time2text works the same way - it checks the variable. I'm not 100%, but I've tried to use my own "time" values, and nothing good came out of it when trying to turn it into a time/date, or I was just doing something wrong, who knows.
Sep 12 2012, 6:48 pm
In response to Super Saiyan X
vars is a simple list that works exactly like all other lists. I don't think you can add/remove an item from it at runtime, but you can definitely dynamically get/set arbitrary variables using strings.

Also, time2text takes a number and a string. Nothing special there.
Sep 12 2012, 6:50 pm
I know, Kaiochao. I'm just saying, the thing with the variable being read instead of the value has occurred with the usage of vars[]. vars["x"] should reference the actual value, not the variable.

I know what it takes, gosh. I'm just saying I've ran into issues with using my own time variables. Maybe I just assumed too much about what the procedure does. (time as '0' wouldn't be 12:00, it was like, 20:00 instead?) But, that's unrelated to this, I guess.
Sep 12 2012, 6:57 pm
In response to Super Saiyan X
It works like lists how you can set list associations using square brackets the same way you access them. I see what you mean, though.
var L[] = list(a=2, b=6)
world << L["a"] // read as: world << 3 (makes sense)
L["a"] = 3 // read as: 2 = 3 (maybe possible confusion?)
// no, it's really read as:
// set index "a" of L to 3

Sep 13 2012, 1:18 am
What, you expect L["a"] = 3 to read as 2 = 3? Needless to say, I'm confused.
Sep 13 2012, 2:32 am
In response to Stephen001
That's just what I thought SSX was possibly being confused about.
Sep 13 2012, 2:54 am
Well, I think it's fair to say that would be a very wrong way to presume it would work. But as he says, this is pretty well unrelated to issaved(), initial() and company.
Sep 13 2012, 6:31 am
In response to Kaiochao
Kaiochao wrote:
That's just what I thought SSX was possibly being confused about.

I wasn't confused about anything. All I said was I recalled a time where the vars["bleh"] would read the variable - like issaved - instead of the value. It wasn't when assigning it, but something different entirely...but, like I said. Don't remember exactly.