Creating a variable name as the value of another variable.

[rdstevenson]

Hi,

Something I've never come across before and has given me a headache.
I have a txt file with content similar to below I want to read in each
line do a split on the = and then create a variable with the name of
the first value and the value of the second. I'm fine with the
splitting etc but I haven't got a clue of how to set the variable name
to the value on another variable?

any ideas anyone?



Variable1=Value1
Variable2=Value2
etc etc

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

Hi,

Something I've never come across before and has given me a headache.
I have a txt file with content similar to below I want to read in each
line do a split on the = and then create a variable with the name of
the first value and the value of the second. I'm fine with the
splitting etc but I haven't got a clue of how to set the variable name
to the value on another variable?

any ideas anyone?



Variable1=Value1
Variable2=Value2
etc etc

Why do you need dynamic variable names? If you could explain the necessity,
perhaps we could suggest an alternative, such as a Dictionary object.

 

[jp2code]

Your variables have to be declared before you can execute your code. How
would you be able to create a variable named, for example, Variable1 until
the program is executed and you actually encounter it.

You could create an array of 2 element arrays! The first element could
contain the name of Variable1, and the second element could contain the
value.

If this doesn't help, you might want to expand on your question.

Regards,
"Bondo" Joe

 

[Mark J. McGinty]

Your variables have to be declared before you can execute your code. How
would you be able to create a variable named, for example, Variable1 until
the program is executed and you actually encounter it.

Actually, the VBS Execute statement allows you to execute script code,
passed to it in a variable. It is possible to dynamically construct
variable declarations, assignments, functions, etc, and then run the
generated code in the same context as the static part of the script.

That part is easy; coming up with a valid and compelling reason to use this
is the challenge. In the case of dynamically declared variables, what good
are they, unless they're referenced elsewhere in the code (and if that was
the case, they really wouldn't be all that dynamic, would they?

As for the OP, if the .txt file contains legal VBS assignments, why split,
why not just execute the whole file? Otoh, allowing unknown script to be
executed on your server is pretty low on the list of safe and sane things
for your site to facilitate.

In almost all cases there are better design options to be had by using
arrays or a dictionary... in fact, the overwhelming majority of reasons
people think they want to write self-modifying code are really, really lame.
So to the OP, consider all options first; use Execute as a last resort.


-Mark

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

In almost all cases there are better design options to be had by using
arrays or a dictionary... in fact, the overwhelming majority of
reasons people think they want to write self-modifying code are
really, really lame. So to the OP, consider all options first; use
Execute as a last resort.

..
.... and [also to the OP] the reason why Execute should be avoided? Because
every use of Execute in your code causes a new instance of the vbscript
compiler to be spawned, impairing performance and utilizing extra server
resources.

 

[Mark J. McGinty]

In almost all cases there are better design options to be had by using
arrays or a dictionary... in fact, the overwhelming majority of
reasons people think they want to write self-modifying code are
really, really lame. So to the OP, consider all options first; use
Execute as a last resort.

.
... and [also to the OP] the reason why Execute should be avoided? Because
every use of Execute in your code causes a new instance of the vbscript
compiler to be spawned, impairing performance and utilizing extra server
resources.

....spawns a new instance of the vbscript compiler? Ooook... sounds
serious... I wonder if it spawns the vbscript linker too?

I don't suppose you have a link about this? I'd like to read more, but
can't seem to find anything on google.


-Mark

 

[Bob Barrows [MVP]]

In almost all cases there are better design options to be had by
using arrays or a dictionary... in fact, the overwhelming majority
of reasons people think they want to write self-modifying code are
really, really lame. So to the OP, consider all options first; use
Execute as a last resort.

.
... and [also to the OP] the reason why Execute should be avoided?
Because every use of Execute in your code causes a new instance of
the vbscript compiler to be spawned, impairing performance and
utilizing extra server resources.

...spawns a new instance of the vbscript compiler? Ooook... sounds
serious... I wonder if it spawns the vbscript linker too?

I don't suppose you have a link about this? I'd like to read more,
but can't seem to find anything on google.

Google for Eric Lippert's "famous" "Eval is Evil" blog entry (Fabulous
Adventures in Coding)