Using an array in Java

Painting Code 128A in Java Using an array

Now that you ve created an array, you can do something more with it than just dump it to the screen A common use for one-dimensional arrays is to populate lists in form elements In the following example, you create a dropdown list using the elements from an array:

1 Create a new file entitled inc_arraycfm and include the array information from the previous example in it Figure 5-7 shows what the code and filename should look like on your screen in Dreamweaver We put this in a separate file so that it can be made available to other forms on the site that might need the same list, and so that, if we ever need to update that array, we would only need to do it in one location

A CFML tag for this very purpose is called <CFINCLUDE> With the <CFINCLUDE> tag, you specify a file that will have its contents swapped in for the tag when the page is processed by the ColdFusion server In this case, we call a template, which is just a reference to another file Here s what it looks like:

At present, the array is still just a single comma-separated collection of information Before it can be output to the screen, it needs to be broken down into its individual elements To do this, use a function

called ArraytoList With ArraytoList, you can specify an array and a delimiter (optional), and the function creates a new variable as a list Here s the code:

Now that you ve got the list settled, you can go about creating the form Here s some basic code that creates a form element For the time being, leave all the <OPTION> tags out:

<FORM action= paramcfm method= post > <SELECT name= job > </SELECT> <INPUT type= submit value= Go > </FORM>

uses the values in option tags for the drop-down list Here is the resulting code first, followed by an explanation:

<CFLOOP index= FormOptions list= #JobsList# > <CFOUTPUT><OPTION value= #FormOptions# >#FormOptions# </OPTION></CFOUTPUT> </CFLOOP>

To make this work is a tad bit tricky First you need to create a <CFLOOP> and give the index a name In this case, call it FormOptions Then, you call the new #JobsList# variable using a <CFOUTPUT> tag to get the list elements Finally, you create a single option tag and use the #FormOptions# index value to output the values and names for each drop-down list

Figure 5-8: Congratulations, you ve used your first array!

Two-dimensional arrays give you even more options for adding complex datasets to your site without necessarily using a database To show you what we mean, we walk you through how to create a dynamically generated text navigation by using a two-dimensional array First, take a look at this array:

<CFSET <CFSET <CFSET <CFSET <CFSET <CFSET <CFSET MyTwoDArray = ArrayNew(2)> MyTwoDArray[1][1] = Home > MyTwoDArray[1][2] = indexcfm > MyTwoDArray[2][1] = Products > MyTwoDArray[2][2] = productscfm > MyTwoDArray[3][1] = About Us > MyTwoDArray[3][2] = aboutcfm >

A couple of things jump out immediately as being different from the previous arrays in this chapter: We designated this array as a two-dimensional array by adding a 2 in the parentheses following the ArrayNew function Two sets of numbers are in brackets next to the variable when you re setting the values Because this is a two-dimensional array, two number pairs specify which row things are in (the first number), and which column they re in (the second number) In this case, we ve made all the row to column combinations equal, but they don t need to be that way After you have created this two-dimensional array, you can turn it into a navigation bar And here s some good news: It s actually easy to do! Just follow these steps:

1 Make sure that you ve included the previous array in your document 2 Create a <CFLOOP> tag with an index of count that starts at one and