hi,

Alain Martel <kua### [at] videotronca> wrote:
> Le 2020-06-09 à 06:07, jr a écrit :
> > I have a macro which expands to an array, eg
> >
> > #macro mkArr(...)
> > .....
> > array [2] {...}
> > #end
> >
> > which gets assigned, repeatedly, to the same '#declare'd variable.  is this ok
> > wrt memory management, or is it better to '#undef' the elements, and or the
> > array, before replacing it wholesale?  is there a difference?  do 'mixed' arrays
> > behave same as "normal" arrays?
> >
> Whenever you assign a new value to any variable, the new value simply
> replace the old one in the same memory space.
> The only issue that may arise for memory management, is when you assign
> a string that don't always have the same length.
>
> So, you don't need to #undef.

no strings in this project.  still not quite clear what happens when "...simply
replace the old one in the same memory space".  does POV-Ray do "garbage
collection" at this point, or is the previous value orphaned?

(I ask because the example is a simplification.  the array returned is dynamic
and may contain hundreds of results/elements.  my main "problem" is that the
documentation does not give me any clues.)


> I don't know for mixed arrays.
>
> You may need to #undef if you want to assign a new value of a different
> type like float to vector or string.

currently I simply "#declare Arr = array {};", ie overwrite (?) the previous
content, hence want/need to know what happens to the old values.


regards, jr.

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