I'm a novice with dictionaries and collections. I have a problem that
I'm sure they can solve, but the cryptic RB documentation, or my
inability to read it, has left me confused.
I have a set of structures that may have one or several blobs
associated with each. Each structure has a name and each blob has a
unique number. I start with a list of name-blob number pairs. Names
may or may not be unique. I want to end with a list where each name
is present once and is associated with all of its blob numbers.
My idea was to associate each name with an integer array.
Because the number of structures is undetermined, I think I have to
wrap the integer array into a class, so they can be created as needed.
I want to process a series of name-number pairs. If the name is
unique, I want to add the pair as a new entry, with the number being
entered into an integer array with one entry. If the name is already
there, I want to append the number to the array associated with the
name. After the dictionary/collection is constructed, I want to use
the name to retrieve the associated blob number or set of blob numbers.
I think I could do this with a collection, where the key-value syntax
is fairly clear. But the RB documentation emphasizes the speed
advantage of dictionaries. Could anyone please:
1. comment about whether my problem is appropriately addressed with a
dictionary or a collection.
2. give the rough syntax of the solution.
Thanks in advance,
John Kubie
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