,loop through a hashtable

Questions & Answers
1

Hello

I need to put the entries of a hashtable into an array so I can pick one at random.

Here is the idea:
-instntiate an array that is as long as the hashtable has elements
-loop though all of the hashtable’s elements and put them each into one slot of the array
-pick a random number between 0 and the array’s length
-shoose the onject inside that slot

My hashtable stores player characters (Gameobject) as values and their unique player number (int) as keys.
Here is my code:

	var currentPrey: GameObject;
	var preyOptions: Hashtable = new Hashtable();
	
	function StartPursuit(){
		var i: int = 0;		
		//pick a random player (WORK IN PROGRESS)
		var playerIndices: int[] = new int[preyOptions.Count];
		for(var myPlayer in preyOptions.Keys){
			i = myPlayer;
			playerIndices _= preyOptions*;*_

* }*

* var newPreyIndex: int = Random.Range(0, preyOptions.Count);*

* currentPrey = preyOptions[newPreyIndex] as GameObject;*
* }*
The idea is to have a piranha chase a player in range. In multiplayer when the target escapes the piranha should pick one of the other players in range. So the piranha keeps track of all players in a hashtable.
Problem:
preyOptions.Keys is of type Object, but I need an int (all keys in this hashtable are int). Is there a way to tell the hashtable that all of its entries are int-Gameobject pairs? I wouldn’t mind if anyone can point me to a better alternative than hashtables (I use javaScript)

2

Maybe you’re not being explicit enough when you create the entries in your hash.

The following works fine for me, so it is possible to use ints as keys:

class FunkyClass
{
	var name  :  String;
	var game  :  String;

	function FunkyClass ( theName, theGame )
	{
		name  =  theName;
		game  =  theGame;
	}

	function toString ()
	{
		return "My name is " + name + " and my game is " + game;
	}
}

function doStuff ()
{
	var nameList  =  new Array("Stu", "Karl", "Lenny", "Clyde");
	var gameList  =  new Array("Disco", "Funk", "Boogie", "Jazz");

	var funkHash  =  new Hashtable();

	for ( var i : int = 0; i < 4; i ++ ) {
		var freshFunk : FunkyClass = new FunkyClass(nameList_, gameList*);*_

_ funkHash = freshFunk;
* }*_

* for ( var theKey : int in funkHash.Keys ) {*
* var theFunk : FunkyClass = funkHash[theKey];*
* print(theFunk.toString());*
* }*
}

3

I’m not sure I understand why do you need the hashtable?
Why not just have an array of GameObjects and random the index?
e.g:

private var prey : GameObject[];

function StartPursuit()
{
   var newPreyIndex: int = Random.Range(0, prey.Length);
   currentPrey = prey[newPreyIndex];
}