setting a variable to have same value as another variable?

[MarkW]

Hi All,

New user, just got a quick coding question. It it possible to tell Ren'Py to make a variable have the same value as another variable? (Both of which need to change at various points in the game.)
I'm writing a Politics Sim where I want at times the Active Minister(One whose dealing with the current issue) to be the same person as the Agriculture Minister. The dialogue calls are then based on this. The game I'm writing has lots of possibilities based on the ministers you pick so this is pretty essential for the game to work.

So far I've tried:

# The game starts here.
label start:
$ agr = 0
$ active = 0

then later, tried both of the following:

$ active = agr()
$ active = $ agr

getting back:
File "game\script.rpy", line 748: invalid syntax
active = $ agr

I know this probably seems simple, but I spent a few hours on the reference/manual and looking through posts here and couldn't find it. I'm also new to programming Anyone know the answer? Thanks.

Mark

[Anima]

It's:

Code: Select all

$ active = agr

[Ayutac]

@ Anima: wouldn't that just copy the value?

@ MarkW
Normal variables in python do not work that way. When you work with objects the "=" will copy the reference so all fields of the two objects variables will be synchronized (to be more exact, they are the same). Seems like the simpliest solution to me. Maybe you want to learn some python before coding further?

Also thanks for you introduction, it was very appealing.

[Anima]

No it simply sets the pointer to the same memory address as the other variable. It's not copied.
That's exactly the behaviour we want in this case.

[MarkW]

@Anima - Thanks, tried it and It's all working now.

@Ayutac - Cheers for the Python link - having had a look at what I need to do, probably will need some more coding skills.

Cheers for the quick response, guys

[Ayutac]

No it simply sets the pointer to the same memory address as the other variable. It's not copied.
That's exactly the behaviour we want in this case.

That behaviour does not amuse me. I'll have a look at this later on, it could be a very dangerous source for errors in my project.... So, thanks for the hint!


And oh nuts! Seems I gave you the link to a German python tutorial. My bad, guess you have to look for some in your language...