FOR and WHILE loops

Loops can reduce the size of a script dramatically, when an action must be performed repeatedly.

In this script are several sectors, here 1 to X. Of course, X must be replaced with the highest sector ID number. Each sector has the Floor_Waggle special.

This is easily a copy and paste setup, but the sector IDs must then be changed manually. The script could be written like this:

#include "zcommon.acs"
SCRIPT 1 OPEN
{
     Floor_Waggle (1, 200, 50, 0, 0);
     delay (7);
     Floor_Waggle (2, 200, 50, 0, 0);
     delay (7);
     Floor_Waggle (3, 200, 50, 0, 0);
     delay (7);

                      |
                      |
                      |

    Floor_Waggle (X, 200, 50, 0, 0);
    delay (7);
}

An easier way would be, if a script were to update the sector IDs in a loop. Either a FOR loop or a WHILE loop could be used.

FOR loop

The for loop can be written in two ways, the difference is how the variable is declared.

#include "zcommon.acs"
SCRIPT 1 OPEN
{
    for ( int sid = 1; sid < X; sid++ )  // sid is the sector ID
    {
        Floor_Waggle (sid, 200, 50, 0, 0);
        delay (7); 
    }
}

or this

#include "zcommon.acs"
script 1 OPEN
{
    int sid = 0;

    for ( sid = 1; sid < X; sid++ )  // sid is the sector ID
    {
        Floor_Waggle (sid, 100, 20, 0, 0 );
        delay (7);
    }
}

The first part of the for statement (here sid = 1) is executed once before the loop starts running. The third part of the for statement (here sid++) is executed each time during the loop just before it starts over or ends. The second part of the for statement (here sid < x) is the condition that must be true to continue looping.

In this example, the for loop sets sid to 1 (sid = 1) before anything inside the loop executes. After the delay, it increments sid by one (sid++). As long as sid is less than X (sid < X), it will repeat everything inside the braces.

WHILE loop

#include "zcommon.acs"
script 1 OPEN
{
    int sid = 1;  // sid is the sector ID

    while ( sid < X )
    {
        Floor_Waggle (sid, 100, 20, 0, 0);
        delay (7);  
        sid++;
    }
}

In a case like this, the decision to use either the for or the while loop comes down to a programmer's preference, because in the for loop all loop control statements are in one place.

UNTIL loop

#include "zcommon.acs"
script 1 OPEN
{
    int sid = 1;  // sid is the sector ID

    until ( sid >= X )
    {
        Floor_Waggle (sid, 100, 20, 0, 0);
        delay (7);  
        sid++;
    }
}

An until loop is the opposite of a while loop. An until loop will continue looping until a condition becomes true, whereas a while loop will continue looping until a condition becomes false.