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I would like to embed one array within another array.

The reason behind it is basically to learn how it would work. I have some ideas how to use this kind of encapsulation, but first let's see if this is possible :)

MWE

\documentclass[10pt,oneside,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{ifthen}
\usepackage{pgffor}
\setlength\parindent{0pt}

\def\componentArray{{X-Pos},{Y-Pos},{Z-Pos},{Sicherung},{Phase},{Status}}
\def\combinedArray{{room},{\componentArray}}
\def\combinedArrayByHand{{room},{{X-Pos},{Y-Pos},{Z-Pos},{Sicherung},{Phase},{Status}}}

\newcounter{myCounter}
\newcommand{\iterateThroughUnusedCells}[1]{
    \setcounter{myCounter}{1}
    \foreach \elementX in #1 {
        \ifthenelse{\isodd{\value{myCounter}}}{
            \expandafter\gdef\expandafter\componentType\expandafter{\elementX}%
            $COMPONENT:\componentType$\newline
        }{
            $ELEMENT_{X}:\elementX$\newline
            \foreach \elementY in \elementX {
                $ELEMENT_{Y}:\elementY$\newline
            }
        }
        \stepcounter{myCounter}
    }
}

\begin{document}
Embedded array:\newline
\iterateThroughUnusedCells{\combinedArray}

Copied array by hand into the other array\newline
\iterateThroughUnusedCells{\combinedArrayByHand}
\end{document}

RESULT

Result

As you can see, the first function call doesn't work as expected whereas the injection by hand seems to work pretty well.

For me this seems to be a problem with expanding \componentArray, but when I try something like:

\def\temp{\elementX}%
\foreach \elementY in \temp {
   ELEMENT\_Y:\elementY\newline
}

It still doesn't work... For me this should be the same like:

\def\combinedArrayByHand{{room},{{X-Pos},{Y-Pos},{Z-Pos},{Sicherung},{Phase},{Status}}}

But it isn't obviously...

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  • 2
    it's rather hard to understand the question as you don't really say what output you want but \edef\combinedArray{{room},{\componentArray}} would expand the list so be the same as your "by hand" example. Commented Jul 26, 2024 at 19:54
  • Such a slight difference in the definition makes such a huge difference in the result. Thank you! That's it, now it works. And btw: I thought, that when I define this \iterateThroughUnusedCells{\combinedArray} and \iterateThroughUnusedCells{\combinedArrayByHand} it's clear that I'm aiming for the second one "edited by hand". But you are right, next time I will be more clear. Commented Jul 26, 2024 at 20:04

1 Answer 1

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it's rather hard to understand the question as you don't really say what output you want but

\edef\combinedArray{{room},{\componentArray}}

would expand the list so be the same as your "by hand" example.

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3
  • You are right, for my question this works! But what's about such an scenario: When I have more than one array reference like this: \def\combinedArray{{room},{\firstComponentArray},{distributionBox}{\secondComponentArray}}? The clue behind the scenes should be, to be able to iterate through the unexpanded \combinedArray but in case the \counter is odd then I want to iterate through the firstComponentArray and secondComponentArray. This makes it generic for the user independent how long the dedicated ComponentArrays are. Commented Jul 26, 2024 at 20:46
  • I'm sorry if I expressed myself imprecisely. But it is difficult for me to fully explain all the background information in this context. In general I just want to iterate through an unexpanded array. I know, that this array has the format: ODD = component / EVEN = ComponentArray. So when the \counter is odd => Save the component Name and when the \counter is even then iterate through the given 'ComponentArray` Commented Jul 26, 2024 at 20:54
  • if I understood the real use case it is almost certainly easiest to use expl3 and remove all the pgf \foreach and certainly not use \ifthenelse but to be honest I can't work out what the high level aim is, @PascalS Commented Jul 26, 2024 at 21:41

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