More than 256 literals referenced.

What is the source of the error produced by the following code?
----------
initialize
        table := OrderedCollection new.

        "there  are 100 entries like what is below"

        table add: ({
                #value->2.
                #cost->-3.
                #step->2.
                #defense->3.
                #combatMove->7.
                #fullMove->14.
                #carry->10.
                #lift->20.
                #death->20.
                #unconscious->11.
                #woundThreshold->4.
                #recovery->0.5.
                #mysticArmor->0.
        } as: Dictionary).
----------
More than 256 literals referenced.
You must split or otherwise simplify this method.
The 257th literal is: 4360
----------

I'm trying to create a data table for a program and I'm wondering if
I'm limited to 256 literals per class or method.  I tried initilizing
the table in multiple methods (setting 50 per method) but get the same
error.

I'll probably just put the data in a database and do the lookup when
needed or load the table from a file.  But I wanted to know the source
of the problem.

Thanks,
Robert
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On Jul 23, 2007, at 22:47 , Robert Stehwien wrote:

The limit is 256 literals per method. However, a literal array is  
still just one literal. So you can put all your data into one literal  
if you want:

        #((
                value 2
                cost -3
                step 2
                defense 3
                combatMove 7
                fullMove 14
                carry 10
                lift 20
                death 20
                unconscious 11
                woundThreshold 4
                recovery 05
                mysticArmor 0
        ) (
                value 2
                cost -3
                step 2
                defense 3
                combatMove 7
                fullMove 14
                carry 10
                lift 20
                death 20
                unconscious 11
                woundThreshold 4
                recovery 05
                mysticArmor 0
        ) )

Then just iterate over it (#do: for the outer array, #pairsDo: is  
handy for the inner) to construct your objects. Btw, you surely would  
like to make a class and not just use dictionaries ;)

- Bert -


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Robert Stehwien a écrit :
The limitation is per-method.
Beware, message selectors count for 1 literal (except some special
selectors)
Also Class names or class variables consume 1 slot...

There, you have (#OrderedCollection -> OrderedCollection), #new, #add,
#->, #as: (#Dictionary -> Dictionary)...

There are other limitations, like number of argument per message, number
of temporary variables per method, number of instance variables per
class, length of blocks in an optimized ifTrue: [] ifFalse [] or []
whileTrue: [] or  to:do:[] construct...

This is based on the assumption that a Smalltalk method SHOULD be small.

You can for example write as a workaround
        table := Dictionary new.
        #(
                #(#value 2)
                #(#cost 3)
                #(#etc 0.1)
        ) do: [:pair | table at: pair first put: pair last].

Nicolas

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Hi, you can simply add this information to a comma or tab delimited file.  Then you can simply read this end to populate the instance variable.  Otherwise, you can add it to a database like you said and do the lookup when it is necessary.  If your goal is to lookup value given its key, why don't you simply use a Dictionary?  Just a thought.
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Damned, Bert you are really fast today!

Nicolas

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On Jul 23, 2007, at 23:36 , nicolas cellier wrote:

> Damned, Bert you are really fast today!

Thats the joy of a project where you actually have to wait for  
compiles to finish ... :-/

- Bert -


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256 literals per method seems find to me, initializing such a large
dictionary was unusual for me and something of an experiment (mainly
to avoid reading from a file at all).  I had the data in YAML that I
just wrote a small script to generate smalltalk code from.

I didn't make a class mainly because I don't need the data for
anything more than lookups dictionaries give me.  I'll give your
suggestion above a try but might just convert the YAML to XML or CSV
and read the table in from the file.  Maybe as an array of RecordEntry
instead of using a dictionary.

I will have a need for a database (or some persistence layer) later in
the project, so might just bite the bullet now.

Thanks,
Robert
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