Working with arrays and dictionaries
Array — is a data structure that stores a collection of values (called array elements), each identified by an index. It is defined using square brackets []. For example, the statement q = [] means that the variable q holds an empty array. If q = [2, 5, 7, 4, 9], then the array contains 5 elements — this is its length. The indices of the elements, which represent their positions in the array, start from 0. So, the index of the element "2" is 0, and the index of the element "4" in our array is 3.
Example: array=[1,2,3,4] or array1=["mother","father","son","daughter"]
An example of accessing an array element: array[1] (returns the value 2)
Dictionary — is a data structure that represents a specially organized set of elements which store data. All data is stored in the form of key-value pairs. Access to the data elements is performed using the key. A key always need to be unique within a single dictionary, while the data (values) can be duplicated if necessary.
Example: {"SLU":12345,"Name":"Men's t-shirt, white","Size":50,"Price":1000}
An example of accessing an array element: dictionary["Array"] (returns the value 12345)
Both arrays and dictionaries can have complex or nested structures — that is, they can contain one another. For example:
an array of dictionaries: products=[{"SKU":12345,"Name":"Men's t-shirt, white","Size":50,"Price":1000},{"SKU":12346,"Name":"Men's t-shirt, white","Size":52,"Price":1000}]
The expression s = {} means, that the variable s holds a dictionary that contains no elements.We can put a key-value pair in it, or even several: s = {"key1":"value1", "key2":"value2","key3":"value3"} Each key and value is enclosed in quotation marks, a colon is placed between the key and the value, and key-value pairs are separated by commas.
Arrays and dictionaries can be nested. Let’s look at an example:
rainbow = [red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, purple] - this is an array.
If we write
rainbow = {"every":"red","hunter":"orange","wants":" yellow","know":"green","where":"light blue","sits":"blue","pheasant":"purple"}
- we get a dictionary
If we look closely at the rainbow, we can see, for example, that the light blue color is more complex and consists of turquoise, light blue, and dark blue. Let’s write: light blue = [turquoise,light blue, dark blue]. Now let’s embed our array “blue” into the dictionary “rainbow”:
rainbow = {"first_color":"red","second_color":"orange","third_color":"yellow","forth_color":"green","sixth_color":"blue","last_color":"purple"}
So how do we specify the address of an element, for example “turquoise”?
And in arrays, addressing is done by index, so the address of the element "turquoise" is 0.
Sum up this: ["where"][0] - is the address of the element "turquoise".
How to work with addressing (JSON)
When receiving responses from third-party services via API, we most often get JSON, which represents a dictionary. Quite often, we need to store a specific value from this dictionary into a variable.
The best way to understand the principle of addressing in JSON is through an example:{"suggestions": [{"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}}]}
Here we have a dictionary containing a single key-value pair suggestions - the key for the array: [{"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}}]
The value of the suggestions key is an array with only one element — a dictionary: {"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}} suggestions|0 - is the key to the first (and only) element of the array.{"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}}
suggestions|0|value - is the key to the value "Belarusian ruble"
{"suggestions": [{"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}}]}
The longest key path in this JSON is: suggestions|0|data|strcode - is the key for AED
{"suggestions": [{"value": "Dirham", "unrestricted_value": "Dirham", "data": {"code": "784", "strcode": "AED", "name": "Dirham", "country": "UAE"}}]}
Keys are separated by a vertical bar. If the JSON contains an array, access to its elements is done by index, starting from 0, and is also written using a vertical bar. Array indexing starts at 0.
In addressing, numbers are treated the same as strings and vice versa. For example, '6' and 6 are considered equal.
In addition to API responses, arrays and dictionaries can also be used to conveniently store data.
For example, if you need to restrict access to a specific section of a bot to certain users, you can store their IDs in an array, place it in a global project variable, and use it in block conditions or arrow logic to check whether the user’s ID is included in the array.
Another example is when you need to store, the number of points for each player in a team game. You can use a dictionary for this, where the keys are user IDs and the values are their points.
Sometimes, it is necessary to modify an array or a dictionary. The functions described in this article are designed for exactly that purpose. Most of the methods described below work with both arrays and dictionaries.
Working with arrays
How to create an array
Creating array - declaring an array
array_name = []
How to clear an array
Clearing an array is essentially the same as declaring an empty array:
array_name = []
How to access an array element
How to replace a value in an array
Example
Example:
To replace the value of a specific array element, use the following syntax: array_name[index] = value
Answer:
How to check whether an element is in an array
Description
in_array(mass, value) - to check if an element exists in an array.
Parameters: ! mass - array ! value - value for searching
Returns True or False depending on whether the value is found or not.
How to find out array length
Description
arr_len(mass) - to find out array length
Parameter: ! mass - array
Result: Returns number - array length.
Be careful when passing parameters to the function! If called without parameters, it returns 0; if the parameter is neither an array nor a dictionary, it returns -1.
How to insert an element at the end of an array?
Description
append(mass, element, priznak) - to insert an element at the end of an array.
Parameters:
! mass - array ! element - element to insert priznak - flag indicating whether it’s an array or a dictionary
Returns the array with the value added at the end. To update the original array, use the assignment: mass = append(mass, element, priznak)
By default, data is inserted as strings. If you need to insert an array or dictionary, pass an additional parameter True. This indicates that you are inserting JSON.
Example
Example of usage:
Example of adding to and removing from an array:
p is removed from the project.pzdr arrayExample of creating an array with arrays inside:
The result of the function execution:
How to insert a value at a specific position in an array
Description
insert(mass, index, value, priznak) - to insert an element into a specific array position.
Parameters: ! mass - array ! index - insert position ! value - value indicator - Indicator of adding to an array or a dictionary.
Result: Returns an array with the value added at the specified position. In other words, to add the value to the same array, use the command in the following form: mass = insert(mass, index, value, indicator)
By default, data is inserted as strings. If you need to insert an array or dictionary, pass an additional parameter True. This indicates that you are inserting JSON..
Example
Example:
Result:
Let's look at a more complex example - adding a dictionary t to an array s:
In the function, we indicated that we want to add a dictionary to position 1. Let's look at the result:
How to delete element from array
del() | del | remove()
Description
By index
del(mass, key) - removes an element from the array by its index.
Parameters: ! mass - array name; ! key - the index of the value to be removed
Returns a new array with the element removed; the original array remains unchanged. To delete and update the same array, use the command like: mass = del(mass, key)
If your array contains numbers and you want to remove an element by value, use the remove() function.
del name['index'] - removing a value from an array by index
Parameters: ! name- array name; ! index- the index of the value to be removed
By value
remove(mass, value) - to delete a value from an array.
Parameters: ! mass - array name; ! value - the value to remove from the array
Result: Returns a modified array, leaving the original array unchanged. To remove an element and update the same array, use the command in the following form: mass = remove(mass, key)
How to get the position of an element in an array
Description
index(mass, value)
Parameters: ! mass - array name ! value - the value whose position needs to be determined.
If the element is not in the array, the function will return -1.
Examples
Example of determining the position of an element in an array:
Let's take a closer look to the result in detail:
As we can see, since the number 5 is not in the array, the function returned -1.
How to convert an array to human-readable text
Description
massive_to_text(massive, header, numbered,delimiter1,delimiter2)
Parameters:
! massive – the array to be displayed, header – a title that will appear at the beginning of the output numbered – if any value is passed, the array elements will be numbered delimiter1 – the character placed at the end of each element line (default is ‘;’), delimiter2 – сthe character used after the item number when numbering is enabled (default is ‘)’)
How to exclude one array from another
Description
except_arr(mas1, mas2)
Parameters:
! mas1 - the array from which elements will be excluded, ! mas2 - the array containing elements to be excluded
How to find the intersection of arrays
Description
cross_arr(mas1, mas2)
Parameters:
! mas1 - the array to search in ! mas2 - the array containing elements to look for
How to merge arrays
Description
There is no built-in function specifically for merging arrays, but it can be easily done:
To combine arrays, perform string concatenation, then replace '][' with a comma ','
How to sum up the elements of an array
Description
sum_array(array)
Parameters:
array - the array whose elements need to be summed
Attention! The function works with arrays of a specific format.
Accepted formats: - [1,2,3,4] or ‘[1,2,3,4]’. If the array contains numbers represented as strings, they need to be enclosed in double quotes—for example, [1,2,3,”-4”]. If the array contains alphabetic strings, the calculation will fail.
Example of incorrect usage: mas = [1,2,3,"a"] result = sum_array(mas)
This will result in an error: array has unsupported elements
How to shuffle the elements of an array
Description
shuffle_massive(massive
Parameters:
massive - the array whose elements need to be shuffled.
For sorting arrays and dictionaries
sort() | sort_by_value()
Description
Sorting in an array or a dictionary
sort(mass, b) - sorts an array by value, and a dictionary by key
Parameters:
! mass - array/dictionary b - sorting order (False – ascending (default), True – descending)
Sorting dictionary by its value
sort_by_value(dict, b) - sorts a dictionary by values.
Parameters: ! dict- dictionary b - sorting order (False – ascending (default), True – descending)
Example
Example of sorting an array in descending order and a dictionary in ascending order:
Sorting a dictionary by values:
Converting an array/dictionary to buttons
tools_make_button_str_checker() | tools_check_user_input()
Description
Converting an array/dictionary to buttons
tools_make_button_str_checker(values_list, key, in_line, button_type, checker_with_numbers)
Parameters:
! values_list - an array of strings or dictionaries whose data will be used to build a keyboard or a numbered list
key - the key by which selection will be made from an array of dictionaries
in_line - number of buttons per row (default: 1)
button_type - type of buttons (default: reply keyboard). Possible values: 0 - reply keyboard, 1 - iinline keyboard (buttons in text)
checker_with_numbers - whether to add button numbers to the "checker" array. Possible values: 0 - do not add numbers, 1 - add numbers (default: 1 – add numbers)
Function result — a dictionary of the form:
{"numbered_list":"1. T-shirts\n2. Shorts\n3. Socks\n4. Caps\n","buttons":[{"type":"inline","text":"T-shirts","line":0,"index_in_line":0},{"type":"inline","text":"Shorts","line":0,"index_in_line":1},{"type":"inline","text":"Socks","line":1,"index_in_line":0},{"type":"inline","text":"Caps","line":1,"index_in_line":1}],"checker":"T-shirts;1;Shorts;2;Socks;3;Caps;4;"}
The dictionary values can then be inserted into fields in the constructor:
Getting a dictionary value based on client selection
tools_check_user_input(values_list, user_input, key, return_key)
Parameters:
! values_list - an array of strings or dictionaries whose data will be used to build a keyboard or a numbered list Dictionary example: [{"text":"T-shirts","price":100},{"text":"Shorts","price":150},{"text":"Socks","price":20},{"text":"Caps","price":50}] ! user_input - the value entered by the user from one of the values in values_list Value example: Caps key - кthe key used for selection from the values_list array of dictionaries Key example: text return_key - the value returned for the specified key from values_list Return value example: price
Example
Let’s break down the function usage with a shopping cart example:
1.Define an array and convert it into a numbered list, buttons, and a list of possible values (for messengers without buttons) using tools_make_button_str_checker() function.
2.Use the obtained buttons and numbered_list values to enable product selection:
3.Use the list of possible values checker to validate the client’s input:
4.Finally, display the price of the selected product to the client. This is convenient to do using the tools_check_user_input() function
Data selection from an array
Description
array_slice(array, start_index, end_index)
Parameters:
! array - array ! start_index - start of the slice end_index - end of the slice (default: until the end)
Example
Let’s select a subarray starting from the 1st element:
res will be ["Shorts", "Socks", "Caps"]
Another example of selecting a subarray from the 0th to the 2nd element of the array:
res will be ["T-shirts", "Shorts"]
Unpacking array elements
Function
unpack_list(array, var_name) - this method iterates over an array and creates a separate variable for each element in the array with names like var1, var2, var3 and ect.
! array - required parameter, an array of elements
var_name - optional parameter, a string. If provided, it is used for naming the unpacked elements. Examples:
If var_name is provided, the variable names are formed using var_name
var_name must follow variable naming rules.
Example
Example 1:
array1 = ["one", "two", "three"]
ans1 = unpack_list(array1)
Result - created deal variables:
var1 = 'one'
var2 = 'two'
var3 = 'three'
Example 2:
array2 = ["one", "two", "three"]
var_name = 'custom'
ans2 = unpack_list(array2, var_name)
Result - created deal variables:
custom1 = 'one'
custom2 = 'two'
custom3 = 'three'
How to return a list without duplicate elements
Description
remove_duplicates(array) - returns a list without duplicate elements.
! array - required parameter. The original list of elements with duplicates.
Example
Example:
arr = [1, 2, 5, 1, 5, 3]
new_arr = remove_duplicates(arr)
Result - the list [1, 2, 5, 3] will be assigned to the variable new_arr.
How to create dictionary
How to clear a dictionary
How to get the dictionary value by key
Examples
Example of working with a dictionary:
In this specific case, we’re accessing the value by the key "a". To retrieve a value from a dictionary using a specific key, use the following format: name_dictionary["key"]
Answer:
How to get a list of keys from a dictionary
How to get a list of values from a dictionary
How to get the values from the dictionary list by the specified key
Description
get_values_by_key(data, key) - allows you to get values from the dictionary list by the specified key. Returns a list of values.
How to replace a value in a dictionary
Description
name['key'] = value - replacing the dictionary element value by the specified key. If a non-existent key is specified, a new dictionary element will be added.
Description
Example:
To replace the value of a specific array element, write an assignment like array_name[index] = value or dictionary_name[key] = value
Answer:
How to add a value to a dictionary
Description
dictionary_name['key'] = 'value' - adding a new value to the dictionary.
If the key did not exist before, a new key–value pair will be added; otherwise, the value for the specified key will be replaced.
How to check if a key exists in a dictionary
Description
exist_key(mass, key) - to check if a key exists in a dictionary.
Parameters:
mass - dictionary
key - the key to search for
Returns True or False depending on whether the key was found.
How to check the position of a key in a dictionary
Description
key_index(mass, key) - to check the position of a key in a dictionary.
Parameters: mass - dictionary key - Key to search for.
The position in a dictionary is counted from 0. Thus, the first element is 0, the second element is 1, and so on.
How to get the number of elements in a dictionary
Description
arr_len(mass) - to determine the length of a dictionary.
Parameter: mass - dictionary
Result: Returns a number – the length of the dictionary.
Будьте внимательны When passing a parameter to the function: if the function is called without parameters, it returns 0; if the parameter is not a list or a dictionary, it returns -1.
How to delete an element from a dictionary
Description
By index or key
del(mass, key) - to delete an element from a list by index or from a dictionary by key. It takes two parameters: the list/dictionary and the index/key to delete. Returns the modified dictionary or list without changing the original object.
If the values in a list or dictionary are numbers, use the remove() function to delete an element.
Code example to copy
Example with a dictionary
s={"1":123, "2":234, "q":{"w":"e"}}
q=del(s,'q')
Example with an array
s=["John", "Ann", "Sophie"]
q=del(s, 1)
How to convert a dictionary into a human-readable text
Description
humanize(dict, delimiter, from_i, to_i)
Parameters:
dict - dictionary name delimiter - delimiter between lines from_i - index of the element to start output from (0-based) to_i - index of the element to end output at (not inclusive)
For sorting dictionaries
sort() | sort_by_value()
Description
Dictionary sorting
sort(dict, b) - Sorts a list by value, and a dictionary by key
Parameters:
! dict- dictionary
b - sorting direction (False – ascending by default, True – descending)
Dictionary sorting by value
sort_by_value(dict, b) - Sorting a dictionary by values.
Parameters:
! dict- dictionary
b - sorting direction (False – ascending by default, True – descending)
Examples
Example: sorting a list in descending order and a dictionary in ascending order:
Sorting a dictionary by its values:
Code example to copy
Example: sorting a list in descending order and a dictionary in ascending order:
array1=[5,4,0,6,3,0]
array1=sort(array1, True)
dict={"Ann":5, "John":4, "Sophie":0, "Alex":6, "Kate":3, "Harry":0}
dict=sort(dict)
Sorting a dictionary by its values:
dict={"Ann":5, "John":4, "Sophie":0, "Alex":6, "Kate":3, "Harry":0}
dict=sort_by_value(dict)
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