Question about Variables

[aussj5link]

So, I was looking through the variables I have and I realized I have a ton and I'm still very early in the map building. I'm wondering if too many variables will eventually cause the map to become unstable or just not working at all? Also, is there anything else I should avoid using loads of?

 

[GIMLI_2]

variables cost space, but not much, i also encountered a bug on my map that i couldnt use the map optimizer. after i deleted some unused variables, it worked. remember, use temp variables if you can.

 

[Lender]

try to use as less Temporary variables as u can, you can reuse them in many triggers. Though I think you shouldn't worry about "too many" variables.

 

[edo494]

it may cause the map to not load properly, or it may even cause the map to crash on loading. This cap is however somewhere around 600k variables, which I doubt anyone will ever reach on sensible project.

 

[Nichilus]

try to use as many Temporary variables as u can, you can reuse them in many triggers. Though I think you shouldn't worry about "too many" variables.

fixed.

 

[JustNrik]

fixed.

How "MANY" temp variables?

 

[Nichilus]

As many as possible. There's no exact number.

I get the feeling you don't even know what temporal variables are...
Most of the time, people create unique variables for each of their spells which they don't use anywhere else. For example a "HolyNovaCaster" variable would probably be used only for a "Holy Nova" spell, a "SliceAndDiceTarget" would be used exclusively for "Slice and Dice" spell, etc.
But actually most of these variables can be replaced with one "pack" of variables that are used for general purpose. Those are temporal variables.

Look at the code below. Let's say you have Holy Nova spell:

• Holy Nova
• Events
  • Unit - A unit starts the effect of an ability
• Conditions
  • Ability being cast equals to Holy Nova
• Actions
  • Set HolyNovaCaster = (Triggering Unit)
  • Set HolyNovaPoint = (Positions of HolyNovaCaster)
  • Set HolyNovaGroup = Units within 400.00 range of HolyNovaPoint...
  • Unit Group - Pick every unit in HolyNovaGroup and do (Actions):
    • Unit - Set life of (Picked unit) to (Life of (Picked unit) + 50.00)
  • Set life of HolyNovaCaster to (Life of HolyNovaCaster + 100.00)
  • Custom script: call DestroyGroup(udg_HolyNovaGroup)
  • Custom script: call RemoveLocation(udg_HolyNovaPoint)
  • Set HolyNovaCaster = No unit

see all these HolyNova___ variables? Well, in this case you could replace them all for temporal variables. So what you would get is this:

• Holy Nova
• Events
  • Unit - A unit starts the effect of an ability
• Conditions
  • Ability being cast equals to Holy Nova
• Actions
  • Set u1 = (Triggering Unit)
  • Set loc1 = (Positions of u1)
  • Set group = Units within 400.00 range of loc1...
  • Unit Group - Pick every unit in group and do (Actions):
    • Unit - Set life of (Picked unit) to (Life of (Picked unit) + 50.00)
  • Set life of u1 to (Life of u1 + 100.00)
  • Custom script: call DestroyGroup(udg_group)
  • Custom script: call RemoveLocation(udg_loc1)
  • Set u1 = No unit

See? The trigger is exactly the same, the difference is that I used different variables.
However I would be using these exact same variables for every other spells that I could.

There is one rule to using temporal variables:
Temporal variables never hold the information saved into them for any period of time. They simply have stuff saved into them in a trigger, then immediately they are used and also immediately destroyed. As you can see in the trigger above, there is no kind of wait between any of those actions.
The reason for that is simple: During any kind of delay (be it as small as 0.01 second) it is still possible for other trigger to fire and re-write the information that has been saved into the temporal variable.

Let's say our Holy Nova spell shall pick all allies nearby the caster when the Holy Nova spell has been cast and then periodically heal those picked units.

• Holy Nova Cast
• Events
  • Unit - A unit starts the effect of an ability
• Conditions
  • Ability being cast equals to Holy Nova
• Actions
  • Set u1 = (Triggering Unit)
  • Set loc1 = (Positions of u1)
  • Set HolyNovaGroup = Units within 400.00 range of loc1...
  • Set life of u1 to (Life of u1 + 100.00)
  • Custom script: call RemoveLocation(udg_loc1)
  • Set u1 = No unit

• Holy Nova HoT
• Events
  • Time - Every 1.00 second of game time
• Conditions
• Actions
  • Unit Group - Pick every unit in HolyNovaGroup and do (Actions):
    • Unit - Set life of (Picked unit) to (Life of (Picked unit) + 50.00)

As you can see, I use a unique HolyNovaGroup, because it saves the information for some period of time, hence I couldn't use temporal variable. However you can also see that anywhere else I used temporal variables!
That's why I wrote there is no exact number.
---
So with temporal variables, you will pretty much get rid of useless variables.

 

[aussj5link]

Whoa. 600k, well that's good I suppose then lol. I didn't know what a temporary variable is. Well, anyhow, thanks for the responses. Anything else I should work about not over doing? I know imports easily hit the data cap. Should I be worried about doodads, abilities, units, triggers, or anything like that?

 

[Dr Super Good]

When using GUI variables you can hit the initialization thread operation limit causing not all triggers to be created. This is especially easy if you set the size of arrays to very large values.

Arrays in WC3 are dynamic arrays so do not have a size declaration. Instead GUI uses that size to initialize the array in a loop to the default value defined. Doing this consumes operations so with enough you can hit the operation limit of the initialization thread which will stop everything being initialized.

 

[aussj5link]

The biggest Array I'm going to be having will be around 20, is that too many? Also, what's the limit where triggers begin getting stopped?

 

[edo494]

all arrays are of size 8192(last index 8191, but never use that index) but if you just say "Default size: 0" or 1, you are fine. The default size is only important in GUI with things like Unit Groups etc

 

[Nichilus]

While it is true that size is important for unit groups, timers, etc., all can be created via custom script still... that's imo better choice as you have more control over the amount (since it's dynamic) than the static amount set via variable size.

 

[hdm]

My map has probably 550k Variables.

 

[deathismyfriend]

My map has probably 550k Variables.

If you have anywhere close to that you are coding incorrectly.

The biggest Array I'm going to be having will be around 20, is that too many? Also, what's the limit where triggers begin getting stopped?

Take a look at my tutorial Things you should know when using triggers / gui. The section on the variable editor will explain more on what variable to initialize and why.

 

[aussj5link]

I don't know anything about custom scripts, I barely know a little about GUI lol. I just finished a bunch more work on my map. Gonna upload what I have to my development thread if anyone want's to check it out.