Class reference
PackedStringArray
A packed array of Strings.
Description
An array specifically designed to hold Strings. Packs data tightly, so it saves memory for large array sizes. If you want to join the strings in the array, use String.join().
var string_array = PackedStringArray(["hello", "world"])
var string = " ".join(string_array)
print(string) # "hello world"
Differences between packed arrays, typed arrays, and untyped arrays: Packed arrays are generally faster to iterate on and modify compared to a typed array of the same type (e.g. PackedStringArray versus Array[String]). Also, packed arrays consume less memory. As a downside, packed arrays are less flexible as they don't offer as many convenience methods such as Array.map(). Typed arrays are in turn faster to iterate on and modify than untyped arrays. Note: Packed arrays are always passed by reference. To get a copy of an array that can be modified independently of the original array, use duplicate(). This is not the case for built-in properties and methods. In these cases the returned packed array is a copy, and changing it will not affect the original value. To update a built-in property of this type, modify the returned array and then assign it to the property again.
Constructors
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray()
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray()Constructs an empty PackedStringArray.
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray(PackedStringArray from)
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray(PackedStringArray from)Constructs a PackedStringArray as a copy of the given PackedStringArray.
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray(Array from)
PackedStringArray PackedStringArray(Array from)Constructs a new PackedStringArray. Optionally, you can pass in a generic Array that will be converted.
Methods
bool append(String value)
bool append(String value)Appends an element at the end of the array (alias of push_back()).
void append_array(PackedStringArray array)
PackedStringArray array)Appends a PackedStringArray at the end of this array.
int bsearch(String value, bool before = true)
int bsearch(String value, bool before = true)Finds the index of an existing value (or the insertion index that maintains sorting order, if the value is not yet present in the array) using binary search. Optionally, a before specifier can be passed. If false, the returned index comes after all existing entries of the value in the array. Note: Calling bsearch() on an unsorted array results in unexpected behavior.
void clear()
Clears the array. This is equivalent to using resize() with a size of 0.
int count(String value) const
int count(String value) constReturns the number of times an element is in the array.
PackedStringArray duplicate()
PackedStringArray duplicate()Creates a copy of the array, and returns it.
bool erase(String value)
bool erase(String value)Removes the first occurrence of a value from the array and returns true. If the value does not exist in the array, nothing happens and false is returned. To remove an element by index, use remove_at() instead.
void fill(String value)
String value)Assigns the given value to all elements in the array. This can typically be used together with resize() to create an array with a given size and initialized elements.
int find(String value, int from = 0) const
int find(String value, int from = 0) constSearches the array for a value and returns its index or -1 if not found. Optionally, the initial search index can be passed.
String get(int index) const
String get(int index) constReturns the String at the given index in the array. Returns an empty string and prints an error if the access is out of bounds. Negative indices are not supported; they will always consider the value to be out of bounds and return an empty string. This is similar to using the [] operator (array[index]), except that operator supports negative indices and causes a debugger break if out-of-bounds access is performed.
bool has(String value) const
bool has(String value) constReturns true if the array contains value.
int insert(int at_index, String value)
int insert(int at_index, String value)Inserts a new element at a given position in the array. The position must be valid, or at the end of the array (idx == size()).
bool is_empty() const
bool is_empty() constReturns true if the array is empty.
bool push_back(String value)
bool push_back(String value)Appends a string element at end of the array.
void remove_at(int index)
int index)Removes an element from the array by index.
int resize(int new_size)
int resize(int new_size)Sets the size of the array. If the array is grown, reserves elements at the end of the array. If the array is shrunk, truncates the array to the new size. Calling resize() once and assigning the new values is faster than adding new elements one by one. Returns OK on success, or one of the following Error constants if this method fails: ERR_INVALID_PARAMETER if the size is negative, or ERR_OUT_OF_MEMORY if allocations fail. Use size() to find the actual size of the array after resize.
void reverse()
Reverses the order of the elements in the array.
int rfind(String value, int from = -1) const
int rfind(String value, int from = -1) constSearches the array in reverse order. Optionally, a start search index can be passed. If negative, the start index is considered relative to the end of the array.
void set(int index, String value)
int index, String value)Changes the String at the given index.
int size() const
int size() constReturns the number of elements in the array.
PackedStringArray slice(int begin, int end = 2147483647) const
PackedStringArray slice(int begin, int end = 2147483647) constReturns the slice of the PackedStringArray, from begin (inclusive) to end (exclusive), as a new PackedStringArray. The absolute value of begin and end will be clamped to the array size, so the default value for end makes it slice to the size of the array by default (i.e. arr.slice(1) is a shorthand for arr.slice(1, arr.size())). If either begin or end are negative, they will be relative to the end of the array (i.e. arr.slice(0, -2) is a shorthand for arr.slice(0, arr.size() - 2)).
void sort()
Sorts the elements of the array in ascending order.
PackedByteArray to_byte_array() const
PackedByteArray to_byte_array() constReturns a PackedByteArray with each string encoded as UTF-8. Strings are null terminated.
Operators
bool operator !=(PackedStringArray right)
bool operator !=(PackedStringArray right)Returns true if contents of the arrays differ.
PackedStringArray operator +(PackedStringArray right)
PackedStringArray operator +(PackedStringArray right)Returns a new PackedStringArray with contents of right added at the end of this array. For better performance, consider using append_array() instead.
bool operator ==(PackedStringArray right)
bool operator ==(PackedStringArray right)Returns true if contents of both arrays are the same, i.e. they have all equal Strings at the corresponding indices.
String operator [](int index)
String operator [](int index)Returns the String at index index. Negative indices can be used to access the elements starting from the end. Using index out of array's bounds will result in an error.