How do I periodically append to an array using the Arduino IDE? - arduino

Question

I am trying to append float values that the user inputs through the serial monitor. I need these values stored in an array in a sequential fashion, i.e. each time I get a value, I must append it to the array.

Answer 1

Arduino doesn't come out of the box with dynamic data structures (except for String).
You can download open source implementations of generic containers from the web. Here's one: https://github.com/dhbikoff/Generic-C-Library/blob/master/vector.h
Also, here's a simple linked-list/vector I implemented myself as a toy project.
Be careful with dynamic memory. Memory fragmentation can cause your sketch to crash randomly (has happened to me several times).
template <typename T>
struct SimpleVector {
struct SimpleVectorNode {
T* m_value = NULL;
SimpleVectorNode* m_next = NULL;
SimpleVectorNode() {
}
SimpleVectorNode(T val) {
m_value = new T(val);
m_next = NULL;
}
};
int m_size = 0;
SimpleVectorNode* m_head = new SimpleVectorNode;
void AddValue(T val) {
++m_size;
SimpleVectorNode* end = m_head;
while (end->m_next != NULL) {
end = end->m_next;
}
end->m_next = new SimpleVectorNode(val);
}
SimpleVectorNode* Seek(int index) {
SimpleVectorNode* res = m_head;
while (index >= 0) {
--index;
res = res->m_next;
}
return res;
}
T& Get(int index) {
return *(Seek(index)->m_value);
}
void Delete(int index) {
SimpleVectorNode* preDel = Seek(index - 1);
SimpleVectorNode* toDel = preDel->m_next;
preDel->m_next = toDel->m_next;
delete toDel->m_value;
delete toDel;
--m_size;
}
int GetSize() {
return m_size;
}
int IndexOf(T val) {
SimpleVectorNode* pNode = m_head->m_next;
for (int i = 0; i < m_size; ++i) {
if (pNode->m_value == val) {
return i;
}
pNode = pNode->m_next;
}
return -1;
}
bool Contains(T val) {
return IndexOf(val) >= 0;
}
~SimpleVector() {
while (m_size > 0) {
Delete(0);
}
delete m_head;
}
};