CArrayObj

CArrayObj class is a class of dynamic array of pointers to instances of CObject and its derived classes.

Description

Class CArrayObj provides the ability to work with a dynamic array of pointers to instances of CObject and its derived classes. This allows working both with multidimensional dynamic arrays of primitive data types and with data structures that have more complex organization of data.

The class allows adding/inserting/deleting array elements, performing an array sorting, and searching in a sorted array. In addition, methods of working with files have been implemented.

There are certain subtleties of the class CArrayObj.

Declaration

class CArrayObj : public CArray

Title

#include <Arrays\ArrayObj.mqh>

Inheritance hierarchy

CObject

CArray

CArrayObj

Direct descendants

: CIndicators, CSeries

Class Methods by Groups

Attributes
FreeMode	Gets the flag of memory management
FreeMode	Sets the flag of memory management
Memory control
Reserve	Allocates memory to increase the size of the array
Resize	Sets a new (smaller) size of the array
Shutdown	Clears the array with full deallocation of its memory (but not its elements).
Creating a new element
virtual CreateElement	Creates a new array element in the specified position
Add methods
Add	Adds an element to the end of the array
AddArray	Adds an element to the end of the array
Insert	Inserts an element to the specified position in the array
InsertArray	Inserts to an array elements from another array from the specified position
AssignArray	Copies the elements of one array to another
Update methods
Update	Changes the element at the specified position array
Shift	Moves an item from a given position in the array to the specified offset
Delete methods
Detach	Gets the element from the specified position and removes it from the array
Delete	Removes the element from the specified array position
DeleteRange	Deletes a group of elements from the specified array position
Clear	Removes all elements of the array without the release of the array memory
Access methods
At	Gets the element from the specified array position
Compare methods
CompareArray	Compares the array with another one
Sorted array operations
InsertSort	Inserts an element in a sorted array
Search	Searches for an element equal to the sample in the sorted array
SearchGreat	Searches for an element with a value exceeding the value of the sample in the sorted array
SearchLess	Searches for an element with a value less than the value of the sample in the sorted array
SearchGreatOrEqual	Searches for an element with a value greater than or equal to the value of the sample in the sorted array
SearchLessOrEqual	Searches for an element with a value less than or equal to the value of the sample in the sorted array
SearchFirst	Searches for the first element equal to the sample in the sorted array
SearchLast	Searches for the last element equal to the sample in the sorted array
Input/output
Save	Saves data array in the file
Load	Loads data array from the file
Type	Gets the type identifier of the array

Methods inherited from class CArray

: Step, Step, Total, Available, Max, IsSorted, SortMode, Clear, Sort

Arrays of the CObject class have practical application (including all classes of the Standard Library).

For example, consider the options for two-dimensional array:

#include <Arrays\ArrayDouble.mqh>
#include <Arrays\ArrayObj.mqh>
//---
void OnStart()
  {
   int i,j;
   int first_size=10;
   int second_size=100;
//--- create array
   CArrayObj    *array=new CArrayObj;
   CArrayDouble *sub_array;
//---
   if(array==NULL)
     {
      printf("Object create error");
      return;
     }
//--- create subarrays
   for(i=0;i<first_size;i++)
     {
      sub_array=new CArrayDouble;
      if(sub_array==NULL)
        {
         delete array;
         printf("Object create error");
         return;
        }
      //--- fill array
      for(j=0;j<second_size;j++)
        {
         sub_array.Add(i*j);
        }
      array.Add(sub_array);
     }
//--- create array OK
   for(i=0;i<first_size;i++)
     {
      sub_array=array.At(i);
      for(j=0;j<second_size;j++)
        {
         double element=sub_array.At(j);
         //--- use array element
        }
     }
   delete array;
  }

Subtleties

The class has a mechanism to control dynamic memory, so be careful when working with elements of the array.

Mechanism of memory management can be switched on/off using the method FreeMode (bool). By default, the mechanism is enabled.

Accordingly, there are two options for dealing with the CArrayObj class:

Mechanism of memory management is enabled. (default)

In this case, CArrayObj takes responsibility for releasing the memory used for the elements after their removal from the array. A custom program should not release the array elements.

Example:

int i;
//--- create an array
   CArrayObj *array=new CArrayObj;
//--- fill array elements
   for(i=0;i<10;i++) array.Add(new CObject);
//--- do something
   for(i=0;i<array.Total();i++)
     {
      CObject *object=array.At(i);
      //--- actions performed with the element
      . . .
     }
//--- remove the array with the elements
   delete array;

Mechanism of memory management is disabled.

In this case, CArrayObj is not responsible for deallocating of the elements’ memory after their removal from the array. Besides, the user program must deallocate the array elements.

Example:

int i;
//--- create an array
   CArrayObj *array=new CArrayObj;
//--- disable the mechanism of memory management
   array.FreeMode(false);
//--- fill array with elements
   for(i=0;i<10;i++) array.Add(new CObject);
//--- do something
   for(i=0;i<array.Total();i++)
     {
      CObject *object=array.At(i);
      //--- actions performed with the element
      . . .
     }
//--- remove array elements
   while(array.Total()) delete array.Detach();
//--- remove empty array
   delete array;

Last updated on 2026-07-24