Redim suggested additional example

[andykmv]

getting my head around dim redim and redim preserve i thought an additonal example for the FBWiki : KeyPgRedim page may be useful.
here's my example and example output:

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'Example of using ReDim to resize a variable-length array

Type FileSpecs
    FilenameOnly as string 
    FilePathOnly as string
    FileSize as longint
    FileDate as double
    Index as integer
End type
Dim as Integer x = 0

'create an array as a variable-length array
Dim MyFileList(any) as FileSpecs		
Print "Lower and Upper boundaries before array size is set";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)

'Use ReDim to set the bounds for the array
ReDim MyFileList(100) as FileSpecs 	
Print "Lower and Upper boundaries after array is sized: ";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)

'we have more data to store coming up than the current size set by ReDim MyFileList(100) allows
for x=1 to 500
	if x>ubound(MyFileList) then 
		ReDim Preserve MyFileList(ubound(MyFileList)+50) As FileSpecs
        Print "Array resized to: ";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)
	else
		MyFileList(x).Index=x
	endif
next x	

and the output :

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Lower and Upper boundaries before array size is set 0 -1
Lower and Upper boundaries after array is sized:  0  100
Array resized to:  0  150
Array resized to:  0  200
Array resized to:  0  250
Array resized to:  0  300
Array resized to:  0  350
Array resized to:  0  400
Array resized to:  0  450
Array resized to:  0  500

It's not elegant, but it illustrates how dynamic resizing can work to the uninitiated/inexperienced (although the type def could be removed and use Integer instead to simplify it a little more)

[fxm]

Your example causes index field initialization holes for some array variables (for the index values 101, 151, 201, ...).
My corrected version:

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'Example of using ReDim to resize a variable-length array

Type FileSpecs
   FilenameOnly as string
   FilePathOnly as string
   FileSize as longint
   FileDate as double
   Index as integer
End type

'create an array as a variable-length array
Dim MyFileList(any) as FileSpecs      
Print "Lower and Upper boundaries before array size is set";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)

'Use ReDim to set the bounds for the array
ReDim MyFileList(100)    
Print "Lower and Upper boundaries after array is sized: ";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)

'we have more data to store coming up than the current size set by ReDim MyFileList(100) allows
for x as integer=1 to 500
   if x>ubound(MyFileList) then
      ReDim Preserve MyFileList(ubound(MyFileList)+50)
      Print "Array resized to: ";lbound(MyFileList);" ";ubound(MyFileList)
   endif
   MyFileList(x).Index=x
next x   

But what more brings this example compared to the two existing on the page REDIM?

[andykmv]

@fxm, thanks for picking that up!

The last point in the ReDim notes talks about the use of Redim (resizing) with a complex expression, yet there is no example of resizing using a complex expression. The current examples use fixed values for the ReDim examples, therefore i thought an additional example using a complex expression may help to expand the understanding of the uses of ReDim on first read.

and i simplified the example so its more in keeping with existing examples

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'resizing a variable-length array using a complex expression
ReDim array(10) as integer
Dim as Integer x = 0
for x=1 to 100
	if x>ubound(array) then 
		ReDim Preserve array(ubound(array)+10)
        Print "Array resized to: ";ubound(array)
	endif
	array(x)=x
next x

[fxm]

About the following sentence on the REDIM documentation page:

• For use of ReDim (resizing) with a complex expression, (especially if the array expression itself contains parentheses), the array expression must be enclosed in parentheses in order to solve the parsing ambiguity.

Your provided example does not required additional parentheses surrounding the array expression like this :

• Redim (array_expression)(lowerbound To upperbound)

I just added this example to the documentation (REDIM page):

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'' Define a variable-length array as UDT field
Type UDT
   Dim As Integer array(Any)
End Type

Dim As UDT u(0 To 3)

'' For use of Redim with a complex array expression
'' (especially if the array expression itself contains parentheses),
'' the array expression must be enclosed in parentheses
'' in order to solve the parsing ambiguity:
''    Redim u(0).array(0 To 9)
''    induces error 4: Duplicated definition, u in 'Redim u(0).array(0 To 9)'
ReDim (u(0).array)(0 To 9)

• KeyPgRedim → fxm [Added example with complex array expression requiring enclosing parentheses]