Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

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Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Maxwell Makoski 23 Sep 2019 19:26

I am completely new here and hopefully my programming vocabulary is up to the task of explaining what I am about to ask.

I want to create a program where a code is input by the user such as "HR400" which corresponds to another number such as 12.5, that number will then be stored in a string. I have around 200 short codes which correspond with other numbers. What would be the best way to go about doing this? You could just write 200 lines of if statements but that doesnt feel right, and I will be relating 6 short codes to numbers which will then be stored in 6 seperate strings to be displayed later.

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Trenly 23 Sep 2019 20:22

The best way to do this would be to use some sort of Codec, HashId, or key where each 5 digit code corresponds to a number through some mathematical equation. For example, lets say you want to always use 5 digit codes. The first two letters could correspond to their alphabetical positioning. H would be 8, R would be 18. The second 2 numbers could be treated as a hex number, and used in the equation. In your example, 40 would be the hex equivalent of 64. The last digit could be a signifier for a power of 2 used in the equation.

Your codec would then be represented by $codec(ABCDE) = [0xCD\ mod\ (A+B)] + [0.5/(2^E)]$
In essence, this means that the code "HF400" would be interpreted as $[0x40\ mod\ (8+18)] + [0.5/(2^0)] = 64\ \%\ 26 + 0.5/1 = 12 + 0.5 = 12.5$

Of course this would result in different values for every string, but it would always return a value. This particular codec does not return unique values, but it would be possible to make one that does.

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Maxwell Makoski 23 Sep 2019 21:10

I was thinking something along these lines actually but didnt pursue the idea further becasue i figured id never be able to create an equation where it would return unique values. Is it possible to create a codec that does this? The values linked to the codes are not related in any way.

Another idea I had was to just define 200 strings in the start of the program. The user would input a the code then the program would just use that imput to define a string name and find the value for it. Would something along these lines be possible?

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Maxwell Makoski 23 Sep 2019 21:31

I guess the question is can you use a use a variable as a list name. Using a command like Input "TMY400",A
then ∟A=12.5 where a list called "TMY400" is already defined.

thanks for your quick reply by the way :)

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Trenly 23 Sep 2019 23:59

If the values can be any value, then this codec should work:

DelVar ʟPOW
SetUpEditor ʟPOW
"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ→Str0
0→A
Input "Code:",Str1
For(E,1,length(Str1)
  inString(Str0,sub(Str1,E,1)→ʟPOW(1+dim(ʟPOW
End
For(E,1,dim(ʟPOW
  If ʟPOW(E):Then
    A+E^(1/ʟPOW(E)→A
  Else
    A+expr(sub(Str1,E,1))*ln(E)→A
  End
End
A-fPart(Aᴇ4)/ᴇ4→A
Disp A

The way it works is this:

Start with A=0, and read each individual character in the string.
If the character is a letter:
    Get the letters position in the alphabet, as P
    Take our current position in the input string, as E
    Add E^(1/P) to A
    Next character
If the character is a number:
    Take our current position in the input string as E
    Take the characters numerical value as V
    Add V*ln(E) to A
    Next character

By using the position of the character in the value, each input string will have its own unique value. There are cases where it will be the same, particularly when there are no letters, or when the string is just a number, or when the string is really short. Bur for your application, it might work

Last edited on 24 Sep 2019 00:20 by Trenly Show more

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

UBERhelp1 24 Sep 2019 18:03

One way to solve this problem would be to use two values for each symbol in the input code:

so, for example, the places are:

[#1] [#2] [#3] [#4] [#5]
[. . ] [. .] [. .] [. .] [. .]

where the dots represent the digits that will be output.

So, for example, ABCDE would become
0102030405 (when using A=01, B=02, etc.) * **

That way, for each symbol input there is a unique code that will be output. You would, of course, have to create the code to do this, but it would mean that you would be able to store those codes for the ones you want in a list, maybe.

_{*to avoid having a zero at the beginning so as to break it because the zero would be chopped off, you could start at 10.}

_{**you could have it like:}

0→x
(x>99999999(max value of 4 symbols, so once it is greater that means there are 5 characters decoded))
(code for determining the value)+x→x
x*10→x
(end loop)

_{If you need anything explained I could explain it better (if you need it clarified)}

---

🧟Initiating Project Horde 🧟

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Maxwell Makoski 24 Sep 2019 18:51

Thanks Uber and Trenly! I think i get the gist of what your both talking about. I should have clarified in my first post honestly but it does have to be a specific value.

Basically im creating a program that calculates the time for a 6 different photographic films to be developed in one bath but each film taken out individually when said time is up. So an input of "TX4" for example needs to somehow spit out 9 (minutes) into a string which will take room temp, developer dev, conductivity and using a bunch of math tell me what time that film should be in the developer for given the other inputs. If its too much hassle or not possible I could just get user (me) to input the number instead of a short code its just easier to remember the codes than the default dev time for every single film.

So for ubers method or trenlys as well after converting the input to a specific number could that specific number then be linked to another number and then put in a string? maybe the first column could be 0102030405 and the second column would have 9 then 9 would be put into s string to spit out a final value later? ^I actually don't understand what I am saying here but hopefully it makes some sense.

Do you guys know of anyone I could basically just pay to build this with me over skype or something? I have no programming experience but I need it built somewhat fast. Anyway all your help is much appreciated!

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Trenly 24 Sep 2019 22:10

So basically you need a dictionary

Re: Storing large amount of data to be referred to?

Maxwell Makoski 25 Sep 2019 18:43

Wow, solved all my problems, just like that, thanks so much :) Im sure ill be back here with many more questions, Ill try to do my research next time :D