CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vb.netvariablesbasicrefer
Aleksa Kojadinovic
Aleksa Kojadinovic

Reputation: 337

Reference a variable using a string

I have a few variables called: _2sVal, _3sVal, _4sVal, etc I want to change each of their values through a loop. Like:

For i = 1 To 10
    'set the value
Next

I've tried putting them in a dictionary like:

Dim varDict As New Dictionary(Of String, Integer)
varDict.Add("2sVal", _2sVal)
varDict.Add("3sVal", _3sVal)
varDict.Add("4sVal", _4sVal)

I can retrieve the value using

MsgBox(varDict(i.ToString & "sVal"))

But when I try to change it like

varDict(i.ToString & "sVal") = 5

It doesn't do anything. No errors or exceptions either, just the value stays unchanged

Upvotes: 0

Views: 300

Answers (1)

Nizam
Nizam

Reputation: 4699

When you are using 

varDict.Add("4sVal", _4sVal)

You are not putting the _4sVal variable inside the dictionary, but its value.

Then, changing the dictionary will not change the _4sVal, since there is no reference of it inside the dictionary.

What I mean is

varDict("4sVal") = 5

will change the value of dictionary but not the variable _4sVal itself.

I think the correct to do is define that variables as Properties, defined like:

Property _4sVal As Integer
    Get
        Return varDict("4sVal")
    End Get
    Set(value As Integer)
        varDict("4sVal") = value
    End Set
End Property

This way you will not have to change anything in the rest of your code. It will be transparent.

Upvotes: 1

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