Question

Is it possible to have an array with size that is determined at runtime like so,

Procedure prog is
   type myArray is array(Integer range <>) of Float;
   arraySize : Integer := 0;
   theArray : myArray(0..arraySize);
Begin
   -- Get Array size from user.
   put_line("How big would you like the array?");
   get(arraySize);

   For I in 0..arraySize Loop
      theArray(I) := 1.2 * I;
   End Loop;
End prog;

Is there a way to achieve this result other than using dynamically Linked Lists or another similar structure? Or is there a simple built in data structure that would be simpler than using dynamically linked lists?

Answer 1

Sure, declare it in a block as follows:

procedure prog is
   arraySize : Integer := 0;
   type myArray is array(Integer range <>) of Float;
begin
   -- Get Array size from user.
   put_line("How big would you like the array?");
   get(arraySize);

   declare
      theArray : myArray(0..arraySize);
   begin
      for I in 0..arraySize Loop
         theArray(I) := 1.2 * I;
      end Loop;
   end;
end prog;

or pass the arraySize as an argument into a subprogram and declare and operate on it in that subprogram:

procedure Process_Array (arraySize : Integer) is

    theArray : myArray(0..arraySize);

begin
   for I in arraySize'Range Loop
      theArray(I) := 1.2 * I;
   end Loop;
end;

This is just illustrative (and not compiled :-), as you need to deal with things like an invalid array size and such.