Simple Variable Commands
Variables are the main way of dealing with data during the preprocessing phase. If you want to store, keep track of, or modify data in some way, you'll need to use variables. The easiest way to create a variable is using the syntax:
This will create a variable with a name and value. Preprocessor variables can hold as many values as you would like, sort of like how lists work in other languages; however, their behavior remains consistent whether they have one value, multiple, or even zero. This is expanded upon later.
Incrementation (and how to specify 'id')
You can increment and decrement variables using $inc and $dec respectively. These commands will increment all values in the given preprocessor variable at once.
These commands accept one parameter, being of the type id. It is not looking for a value, but rather the identifier of a preprocessor variable. Consider the following example, which would not be valid:
By dereferencing the variable "example," we place its contents into the command, making it effectively $inc 15. Of course, this doesn't make any sense. You can't do anything by incrementing a literal number, you want to increment the variable itself.
The proper way to do this is simply to specify the identifier of the preprocessor variable, or in this case, example. The command knows it will be given an identifier (evidenced by its parameter, <id: variable>), and thus it knows what to do with this identifier.
Simple Math Operations
MCCompiled has all the necessary commands for doing math with preprocessor variables. Don't let this be a red flag, as there are still inline operations you can perform. The main advantage of using these commands is that
It's clear that a change is happening to the input variables.
These commands loop the operands to match the number of inputs.
Looping Operands
When one of these operations is run without enough operands to match the number of entries in the preprocessor variable, the operands are looped. If you had a preprocessor variable containing 2 3 4 5 6, and ran $add variable 10 1, you would get the result 12 4 14 6 16. This is because the operands you specify are looped to match the input length (5).
All of Them
Here's a list of all the math operations in MCCompiled which follow the rules described in this section.
- Add to Preprocessor Variable
Performs addition. A += B for each item in the variable.
- Subtract from Preprocessor Variable
Performs subtraction. A -= B for each item in the variable.
- Multiply with Preprocessor Variable
Performs multiplication. A *= B for each item in the variable.
- Divide Preprocessor Variable
Performs division. A /= B for each item in the variable.
- Modulo Preprocessor Variable
Performs modulus. A %= B for each item in the variable.
- Exponentiate Preprocessor Variable
Performs exponentiation (power). A to the power of B for each item in the variable.
Other Variable Operations
There are some other less widely used operations that deserve their own list... just away from everything else.
Swap
Swap will swap the contents of two given preprocessor variables, regardless of length. In the following example, the variable two ends up containing "hello" "world" and vice versa.