Second Life Forums Archive - list param functions improvement (llParticleSystem and llSetPrimParameters)

Ama Omega

Lost Wanderer

Join date: 11 Dec 2002

Posts: 1,770

03-16-2004 18:41

Currently the functions that use lists of parameters are very type set. Passing in an integer instead of a float will give a run time error.

AHere is an idea I had, that I don't know if it would break other stuff.

Essentially I would like it if the system did some casting for you. Really my issue isn't with ints to floats, thats just a little annoying. Really what I want is for it to be able to take a string that contains a vector and cast it as a vector.

Primary use? One big advantage of the new prim functions will be the ability to read in parameters from a notecard, or even from RPC or email. Both of these send string data. It is a lot of data on my end to figure out what type it should be and cast it to the right type as I build the list. However the system already knows what type it should have - its in the error message even. If it could just cast it that would really help, because then I can use parameters like [PRIM_SIZE,"<1,2,3>"] etc. instead of either looking at the param name (PRIM_SIZE) to figure out what the next value should be, or a more generic parser that looks at the value itself (if it has < and 2 commas ...).

I dunno its a weird request and probably asking too much. All right I will quit asking others to do my work for me and get back to writing a better parser.

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Moleculor Satyr

Fireflies!

Join date: 5 Jan 2004

Posts: 2,650

03-16-2004 21:54

Please!

(*deletes other particle system requests, so as to not derail thread*)

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</sarcasm>

Neil Protagonist

FX Monkey

Join date: 11 Jul 2003

Posts: 346

08-28-2004 22:11

Yup! This would be good!

Mole: Post em in my thread, its specifically for that purpose.

_____________________

"Control the things you can control, maggot. Let everything else take a flying f**k at you, and if you must go down, go down with your guns blazing." -Cort

Need fire? Visit my FX Store in Bisque(232, 4

Sick-N-Wrong

Like Anime? Visit Nakama!

Christopher Omega

Oxymoron

Join date: 28 Mar 2003

Posts: 1,828

08-30-2004 15:01

Lists have been pretty skewed in their support of type-differentiation. One of my pet peeves is llListFindList's sensitivity to this type-checking. The llList2* functions' inconsistancy when it comes to type-checking also annoys me greatly.

Either make lists fully type-centric or totally typeless. MAKE UP YOUR FRICKEN MINDS LL!

In the ideal world, lists will store their elements as typeless blobs (or strings) internally, so all operations involving element comparisons (like those used in llListFindList) will give constant results.

Eliminating type-specific list functionality will also reduce the footprint of the list, since it would no longer need to store information about an element's type. Also, with typeless lists, converting lists to strings and vice versa could be done with no information loss whatsoever. (Currently, type info is lost when a list is converted into a string using the standard llDumpList2String and llList2CSV functions.)

/rant
bleh.
==Chris

list param functions improvement (llParticleSystem and llSetPrimParameters)
Ama Omega Lost Wanderer Join date: 11 Dec 2002 Posts: 1,770	03-16-2004 18:41 Currently the functions that use lists of parameters are very type set. Passing in an integer instead of a float will give a run time error. AHere is an idea I had, that I don't know if it would break other stuff. Essentially I would like it if the system did some casting for you. Really my issue isn't with ints to floats, thats just a little annoying. Really what I want is for it to be able to take a string that contains a vector and cast it as a vector. Primary use? One big advantage of the new prim functions will be the ability to read in parameters from a notecard, or even from RPC or email. Both of these send string data. It is a lot of data on my end to figure out what type it should be and cast it to the right type as I build the list. However the system already knows what type it should have - its in the error message even. If it could just cast it that would really help, because then I can use parameters like [PRIM_SIZE,"<1,2,3>"] etc. instead of either looking at the param name (PRIM_SIZE) to figure out what the next value should be, or a more generic parser that looks at the value itself (if it has < and 2 commas ...). I dunno its a weird request and probably asking too much. All right I will quit asking others to do my work for me and get back to writing a better parser. _____________________ -- 010000010110110101100001001000000100111101101101011001010110011101100001 --
Moleculor Satyr Fireflies! Join date: 5 Jan 2004 Posts: 2,650	03-16-2004 21:54 Please! (deletes other particle system requests, so as to not derail thread) _____________________ </sarcasm>
Neil Protagonist FX Monkey Join date: 11 Jul 2003 Posts: 346	08-28-2004 22:11 Yup! This would be good! Mole: Post em in my thread, its specifically for that purpose. _____________________ "Control the things you can control, maggot. Let everything else take a flying fk at you, and if you must go down, go down with your guns blazing." -Cort Need fire? Visit my FX Store in Bisque(232, 4 Sick-N-Wrong Like Anime? Visit Nakama!
Christopher Omega Oxymoron Join date: 28 Mar 2003 Posts: 1,828	08-30-2004 15:01 Lists have been pretty skewed in their support of type-differentiation. One of my pet peeves is llListFindList's sensitivity to this type-checking. The llList2* functions' inconsistancy when it comes to type-checking also annoys me greatly. Either make lists fully type-centric or totally typeless. MAKE UP YOUR FRICKEN MINDS LL! In the ideal world, lists will store their elements as typeless blobs (or strings) internally, so all operations involving element comparisons (like those used in llListFindList) will give constant results. Eliminating type-specific list functionality will also reduce the footprint of the list, since it would no longer need to store information about an element's type. Also, with typeless lists, converting lists to strings and vice versa could be done with no information loss whatsoever. (Currently, type info is lost when a list is converted into a string using the standard llDumpList2String and llList2CSV functions.) /rant bleh. ==Chris

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list param functions improvement (llParticleSystem and llSetPrimParameters)