1.42.2 Instance variables

dict-browser: list_browser*

When not @nil, this is the list_browser object that visualises this dictionary. The slot list_browser<-dict contains the reverse pointer.

When the dict is modified, it will send messages to the list_browser object:

[|](108, [105,115,116,95,98,114,111,119,115,101,114,32,45,62,95,100,101,108,101,116,101,95,105,116,101,109,58,32,100,105,99,116,95,105,116,101,109])

The indicated item has been deleted from the dict

[|](108, [105,115,116,95,98,114,111,119,115,101,114,32,45,62,95,105,110,115,101,114,116,95,105,116,101,109,58,32,100,105,99,116,95,105,116,101,109])

The indicated item has been inserted in the dict

[|](108, [105,115,116,95,98,114,111,119,115,101,114,32,45,62,95,99,108,101,97,114])

The dict has been cleared.

See also

- list_browser-dict
- class list_browser

dict <- members: chain

Chain with all the members. Class dict stores its members twice: once in dict<-members to maintain ordering information (see dict->sort and dict->append) and once in the hash_table object dict<-table to get fast access from a key to a dict_item object.

See also

dict-table

dict <- sort_by: [code]*

The method dict<->sort_by defines the behaviour of dict->insert as well as the default behaviour of dict->sort. If its value is @nil, no sorting is done. dict->insert and will behave as dict->append. Using @default, the arguments are sorted alphabetically on their printed representation. dict->insert will insert a new item according to this order. If the dict<-sort_by contains a code object, this will be used for comparing the pairs of dict_item objects. See also chain->sort. It dict<-sort_by is assigned another value than @nil, dict->sort will be activated to establish the desired order.

Using dict->sort_by is a good technique to insert new items at the right place in the list. It is not a good technique to build up a sorted list as this will result in quadratic behaviour for long lists, while dict->sort uses the QuickSort algorithm.

dict-table: hash_table*

The mapping from dict_item<-key to the corresponding dict_item object is maintained by this hash_table object.