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Why does my Key and Value pair print differently in certain contexts?

Asked by

5 years ago

function DrawCard()
    local Random = math.random(1,7)
    -- Create Switch Case
    local Factions =
    {
        [1] = 'Wisdom',
        [2] = 'Bounty',
        [3] = 'Might',
        [4] = 'Culture',
        [5] = 'Balance',
        [6] = 'Marauders',
        [7] = 'Privateer'
    }
    print(Factions[Random])
    script.Parent.Factions[Random].Value = -1
end

Say that Random = 1

print(Factions[Random])
-- Prints Wisdom to output

Then why does

script.Parent.Factions[Random].Value = -1
-- Throw an exception of "1 is not a valid member of script?

I know I can reverse the table to do this, however I am trying to find a much more efficient way and I think there is a much simpler way to do this if I don't reverse it.

https://scriptinghelpers.org/questions/60697/why-does-the-table-not-printing-in-logical-order#59068 User#19524 175 — 5y

The word Random is a keyword in roblox. Consider using a different variable name. I am not saying this will fix your problem. User#21908 42 — 5y

I am just saying that using a keyword as a variable is not encouraged. User#21908 42 — 5y

@Plegethon5778 This is wrong. `Random` is not a keyword, it is only a global variable. A table, to be specific, that holds functions to create Random objects. It's perfectly fine to name a local variable after an existing variable if you do not intend to use it for the duration of the local variable's scope. Link150 1355 — 5y

2 answers

Answered by

Link150 1355

5 years ago

Edited 5 years ago

Random in your example is a number. You are trying to access your Factions object using this number in square brackets. You need to access your faction by its name, not using a number.

local factions = {
    'Wisdom',
    'Bounty',
    'Might',
    'Culture',
    'Balance',
    'Marauders',
    'Privateer'
}

-- we generate a random number ranging from [1, #factions], where
-- `#factions` is the length of the `factions` table.
local rand = math.random(#factions)
local chosen = factions[rand]   -- we then get the name out of the table
                                -- from the random position

-- finally, we get the faction object itself using this name
local faction = script.Parent.Factions:FindFirstChild(chosen)

-- ensure `faction` exists
if faction then
    -- it exists; we can continue on
else
    -- it does not exist :(
end

As a side note, I'd like to encourage you to use different variable names for your Factions object and your factions table, to make your code less ambiguous and easier to read.

Followup question: Is there a way to use my method(index with value) with it working? Formidable_Beast 197 — 5y

I don't understand. The reason your last line of code doesn't work is to retrieve objects from the explorer you need to access them by name. Link150 1355 — 5y

My solution instead uses the random number as a position in a list of names and then uses that name to access the corresponding object. You nearly had all of that down yourself, your only mistake was to reuse the number instead of using the name. Link150 1355 — 5y

Answered by

chomboghai 2044

5 years ago

Edited 5 years ago

I am going to assume here that your structure is organized in your workspace like so:

Parent
    ThisScript
    Wisdom
    Bounty
    Might
    Culture
    Balance
    Marauders
    Privateer

So you seem to want to access these IntValue objects (I assume they are), depending on what card is drawn. To do this, you should use FindFirstChild rather than indexing using .. This is true for any time you want to index a varying property or child.

You should change the line to:

local chosenFaction = script.Parent:FindFirstChild(Factions[Random])
if chosenFaction then
    chosenFaction.Value = -1
end

Hope this helps! :)

Why does my Key and Value pair print differently in certain contexts?

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