Finding which variable name contains the lowest value

Comments

• Electrodude Posts: 1,682

  2016-02-24 18:28

  You could move the " smallest" text into a separate DEBUG statement after the ENDIF:

  IF (A<B) AND (A<C) AND (A<D) THEN
    DEBUG "A"
  ELSEIF (B<C) AND (B<D) THEN
    DEBUG "B"
  ELSEIF C<D THEN
    DEBUG "C"
  ELSE
    DEBUG "D"
  ENDIF
  
  DEBUG " smallest"
  

  
  You could also replace each of the DEBUG statements with a line that sets a byte variable to "A", "B", "C", or "D" and then put `DEBUG char, " smallest"` after the ENDIF:

  char VAR byte
  
  IF (A<B) AND (A<C) AND (A<D) THEN
    char = "A"
  ELSEIF (B<C) AND (B<D) THEN
    char = "B"
  ELSEIF C<D THEN
    char = "C"
  ELSE
    char = "D"
  ENDIF
  
  DEBUG char, " smallest"
  

  
  I suspect the first might be both faster and smaller, but I really don't know, so try both if it matters. The second one has the advantage that it leaves the result in char, in case you need it later.
  
  There's not much else you can do, since variable names don't make it into the tokenized binary that gets sent to the Stamp.
• Tracy Allen Posts: 6,667

  2016-02-24 22:38 edited 2016-02-25 19:07

  I like your algorithm. For the sake of variety and PBASIC tricks, here's another.
  

  smallest VAR Byte
  name VAR Byte
  idx VAR Nib
  smallest = A max B max C max D  ' strangely enough, finds the minimum value
  LOOKDOWN smallest,[A,B,C,D],idx  ' the index of the minimum value
  LOOKUP idx,["A","B","C","D"],name   '  the name associated with that index
  DEBUG "Smallest is: ",name,CR,LF
  
• Sapphire Posts: 497

  2016-02-25 00:12

  Even smaller:
  

  idx VAR Nib
  LOOKDOWN A max B max C max D,[A,B,C,D],idx  
  DEBUG "Smallest is: ","A"+idx,CR
  
• Tracy Allen Posts: 6,667

  2016-02-25 17:33 edited 2016-02-25 19:08

  (edited my previous post, syntax, lookup and lookdown take square brackets for the argument list.)
  
  Another possibility is that the names will actually be strings. Here is a way to manage that.
  

  nameloc VAR WORD
  A VAR BYTE
  B VAR BYTE
  C VAR BYTE
  D VAR BYTE
  char VAR BYTE
  smallest VAR BYTE
  idx VAR NIB
  main:
    DO
    ' ...
    ' gosub findname
    LOOP
  
  findName:
    smallest = A MAX B MAX C MAX D  ' strangely enough, finds the minimum value
    LOOKDOWN smallest,[A,B,C,D],idx  ' the index of the minimum value
    LOOKUP idx,[aname,bname,cname,dname],nameloc   '  nameloc points to the name
    GOSUB showname
    RETURN
  
  showname:
    DEBUG "name is  "
    idx=0
    DO
      READ nameloc+idx,char
      IF char=0 THEN EXIT
      DEBUG char
      idx=idx+1
    LOOP
    DEBUG CR
    RETURN
      
  aname DATA "Peter",0
  bname DATA "Paul",0
  cname DATA "Mary",0
  dname DATA "Rumpelstiltskin",0