Efficiently assign an Array

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If I have 2+ arrays and I want to edit etc one of the arrays, how do I efficiently assign the array so I can make changes?

Lets say I have two arrays and I want to change j[0] to 10, and I've used some process to chose array "j" .... 

int i[]={1,2,3};
int j[]={1,2};
string arraytouse="j";

I don't want to use an if statement, as I would need to repeat the code for each array? And I can't assign a variable to the array.

if(arraytouse=="i")
  i[0]=10;
if(arraytouse=="j")
  j[0]=10;

// This wont work!
arraytouse[0]=10;

This does work ok; ArrayCopy of the selected array, make changes to the copy, then ArrayCopy back to the original .

int copy[];
 if(arraytouse=="i")ArrayCopy(copy,i);
 if(arraytouse=="j")ArrayCopy(copy,j);


copy[0]=10;  // use once for whatever array assigned

 if(arraytouse=="i")ArrayCopy(i,copy);
 if(arraytouse=="j")ArrayCopy(j,copy);

But that seems a bit cumbersome, for probably a simple task. Is there a better way?

  
#property strict

int i[]={1,2,3};
int j[]={1,2};

typedef void (*TVoidFunc)(const int index, const int value);

TVoidFunc        ptrArraySetter = NULL;            // ptr to the array setter

void OnStart()
{
    // and I've used some process to chose array "j"
    ptrArraySetter = ChangeJ;

    // Change it
    ptrArraySetter(0,10);

    // Prove it
    PrintFormat("j[0] should be 10. It is [%d]", j[0]);
}

void ChangeI(const int index, const int value)
{
    i[index] = value;
}

void ChangeJ(const int index, const int value)
{
    j[index] = value;
}
 
Anthony Garot:

I think it's very debatable whether that's less cumbersome than the original code. Still requires a set of if conditions to assign the correct value to ptrArraySetter, and adds a requirement for each array to have a setter function. If there needed to be a getter as well as a setter, plus the multiple arrays which andrew mentions, then things start multiplying unpleasantly.

In the absence of a Javascript-like langauge where we could do...

var arrays = {
  i: [1, 2, 3],
  j: [1, 2]
};
...
var array_to_use = "i";
arrays[array_to_use][0] = 10;

... then the best answer probably depends on exactly how andrew needs to read and write the data.

It may simply be a case for a multi-dimensional array:

int arrays[2][3];  
// Assignment of initial data into the arrays gets ugly, but access is then potentially easier.
// The current "i" becomes [0][x] and the current "j" becomes [1][x]
int array_to_change = 0;
arrays[array_to_change][0] = 10;

Or there may be a case for wrapping the array/data in a class, and making changes via object pointers. 

 
JC:

I think it's very debatable whether that's less cumbersome than the original code. Still requires a set of if conditions to assign the correct value to ptrArraySetter, and adds a requirement for each array to have a setter function. If there needed to be a getter as well as a setter, plus the multiple arrays which andrew mentions, then things start multiplying unpleasantly.

In the absence of a Javascript-like langauge where we could do...

... then the best answer probably depends on exactly how andrew needs to read and write the data.

It may simply be a case for a multi-dimensional array:

Or there may be a case for wrapping the array/data in a class, and making changes via object pointers. 

'j' - pointer to this function type is not supported yet        ArrayFill.mq5   36      62
I tried ...
 
Anthony Garot:
JC:
...

Why all these complications ? I missed something maybe.

void OnStart()
   {
   int i[]= {1,2,3};
   int j[]= {1,2};
   
   SetArrayValue(i,0,10);
   SetArrayValue(j,0,10);
   }
void SetArrayValue(int array[],int index,int value)
   {
   if(index>=ArraySize(array)) return;

   array[index]=value;
   }
 
Alain Verleyen:

Why all these complications ?

OP seemed to want a solution using a pointer to an array, so I showed a way that could be done.

As you have shown, and JC intimated, there are other ways to tackle the problem. The OP now has many options.

:-D

 
Thanks all. As Anthony says, I think, there are many different solution depending on the problems. I liked Alain's as I could understand it straight away!
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