returning value in a loop, function

Programming Questions

dockhands

returning value in a loop, function

in Programming Questions • 1 month ago

Hi,

I have a hard time getting my head around functions and returning values ... and scope.

I am trying to return a value ("lyric"), inside a loop, using if statements.

For some reason I can only get the "lyric" String when it's inside the If statement,,, and thus can not return it at the end of the get_lyrics function...

When I try to call "lyric" outside the IF statement, it is Null....

Any help?

Here is the code I'm having problems with. Full code is at the bottom.

GET URL
//========================================================
String get_lyrics () {
// search base
String baseURL = "http://www.lyricfind.com/services/lyrics-search/try-our-search/?q=";
String url_request = baseURL + movie_keywords[0] + movie_keywords[1]+ movie_keywords[2];
println("request FIRST =" +url_request);
try {
// println("request SECOND =" +url_request);
String lines[] = loadStrings(url_request);
println("There are " + lines.length + " lines in text search, in case you were interested");
print("Printing lines 253..." +lines[253]);
// String lyric = lines[252];
for (int i = 253; i < 298; i =i+3){
// replace etc.
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", "");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", " ");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", " ");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("<h2>", "");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", "...");
lines[i]= lines[i].toUpperCase();
// convertn keyword images to word find search
String word2find1 = movie_keywords[0];
String word2find2 = movie_keywords[1];
String word2find3 = movie_keywords[2];
// convert to upper case to bypass case-sensitice search
word2find1 = word2find1.toUpperCase();
word2find2 = word2find2.toUpperCase();
word2find3 = word2find3.toUpperCase();
if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " triple winner " );
println("triple winner= " +lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find2) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 2 3 " );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 1 3 " );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 1 2" );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) || lines[i].contains(word2find2) ){
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else {
//println("single match lyrics = " +lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[253];
println("single match lyrics = " +lyrics);
println ("these are the returned lyrics INSIDE= "+lyrics);
}
println ("these are the returned lyrics END OF LOOP= "+lyrics); // fails
}// end for loop
//String lyrics = lines[252];
//
}
catch (Exception e){
println("Sorry, comedy53 came back with no good matches. Please retry.");
}
println ("these are the returned lyrics= "+lyrics);
return lyrics;
} // end get Lyrics fuynction

//========================================================
// INTRO
//========================================================
/*
Comedy53 is a Image+Text generator that matches images from popular film to lyrics, in hopes to create
a humourous comic output.
Comedy53 scrapes images from http://film-grab.com/, and uses keywords from those images to search the online
lyric database http://www.lyricfind.com/services/lyrics-search/ to retrieve lyrics based on those keywords
Keywords from the Movie can also be used to complete search.
The images are then rearranged to match the stanza layout of the lyrics, to create a 3 frame comic.
All images are provided from from http://film-grab.com/ == thank you ME
All lyircs are provided from http://www.lyricfind.com/services/lyrics-search/ == thank you Roy
created by dan hawkins
School of Interactive Art + Technology, SFU
drhawkin@sfu.ca
April 2nd 2013
*/
//========================================================
// GLOBAL VARIABLES
//========================================================
//import libraries
import prohtml.*;
import java.util.*;
PImage webImg1, webImg2, webImg3;
HtmlImageFinder htmlImageFinder;
String [] nothing = {""};
ArrayList words1, words2, words3; // holds word search matches
PFont font;
PImage [] movie_images;
String [] movie_keywords;
int [] random_3_numbers;
String url_request;
String lyrics;
int imgW = 512; // widthy of the image stills
int imgH = 238; // height of the image stills
// Ai, Bi, Ci, are used for re-ordering images to match stanza position
// Ai = 1st order, Bi = 2nd order, Ci = 3rd order
int Ai = 0;
int Bi = 238;
int Ci = 238*2;
void setup () {
background(20);
font = loadFont("MyriadPro-Bold-24.vlw");
size(imgW,imgH*3);
intro();
}
void draw () {
//println("drawdraw");
}//end Draw
// intro message
void intro () {
textFont(font); // myriad font
textSize(40);
fill(250);
textAlign(CENTER);
text("Welcome to comedy53. Press ENTER to begin", 10, (imgH*2)- 150, width-10, imgH*3);
textFont(font, 24); //font
} // end intro
//**************************************************
// USER INPUT : KeyBoard
//**************************************************
void keyPressed () {
if (keyCode == ENTER) {
random_3_numbers = getRandom_Numbers();
movie_images = getMovieImages();
movie_keywords = getMovieKeywords();
//get_URL();
get_lyrics();
processLyrics();
play();
}
} // end key pressed
//**************************************************
// Get 3 random numbers
//**************************************************
int [] getRandom_Numbers () {
int rand15 = int(random(1,20));
int rand30 = int(random(20,40));
int rand45 = int(random(40,59));
int [] random_3_numbers= {rand15, rand30, rand45} ;
return random_3_numbers;
}
//**************************************************
// GET MOVIE IMAGES
//**************************************************
PImage [] getMovieImages () {
println("===========Confirmed. comedy53 is engaged...");
//1) Select Movie
int randomNumber = int(random(25));
String [] movies = new String [26];
//these movie URLs are loaded manually, rather than scraped from film-grab
// because some films contain NO label/keywords attached to the image
movies [0] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/11/23/american-beauty/";
movies [1] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/06/23/blade-runner/";
movies [2] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/06/2001-a-space-odyssey/";
movies [3] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/07/a-clockwork-orange/";
movies [4] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/10/04/brazil/";
movies [5] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/19/the-darjeeling-limited/";
movies [6] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/10/02/the-dark-knight/";
movies [7] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/09/25/easy-rider/";
movies [8] = "http://film-grab.com/2011/01/01/eternal-sunshine-of-the-spotless-mind/";
movies [9] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/11/14/fight-club/";
movies [10] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/27/the-godfather/";
movies [11] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/09/01/halloween/";
movies [12] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/09/21/lost-in-translation/";
movies [13] = "http://film-grab.com/2011/01/12/moon/";
movies [14] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/08/22/the-new-world/";
movies [15] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/09/05/o-brother-where-art-thou/";
movies [16] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/06/25/the-prestige/";
movies [17] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/09/the-shining/";
movies [18] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/08/16/there-will-be-blood/";
movies [19] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/09/07/this-is-england/";
movies [20] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/08/10/where-the-wild-things-are/";
movies [21] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/08/24/the-wrestler/";
movies [22] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/29/taxi-driver/";
movies [23] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/10/14/rushmore/";
movies [24] = "http://film-grab.com/2010/07/21/days-of-heaven/";
movies [25] = "http://film-grab.com/2011/01/26/butch-cassidy-and-the-sundance-kid/";
println("comedy53 is now looking for a movie...");
println ("Movie selected: movie ID= " + randomNumber);
// random numbers to get random images
//2) Select Movie KeyWord
String keyWmovie = movies[randomNumber];
String [] keyWm1 = split(keyWmovie, ".com");
String [] keyWm2 = split(keyWm1[1], "/");
String [] keyWm3 = split(keyWm2[4], "/");
String[] movieTemp = concat(keyWm3, nothing);
String movieKeyword= join (movieTemp, "+");
//insert your url here
htmlImageFinder = new HtmlImageFinder(movies[randomNumber]);
PImage[] images = new PImage[htmlImageFinder.getNumbOfImages()];
//println("Movie contains this many images=" +htmlImageFinder.getNumbOfImages());
println ("%&& computing&**/ systemcheck: Does Chris Penney Suck? @&%&* error");
println ("ID_e404. System confirmed: Yes, Chris Penney does suck. $!running_cont");
try{
for(int i = 0;i<50;i++){
images[i] = loadImage(htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(i));
images[i].resize(imgW,imgH);
// println(htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(i));
}//end LOOP
} // end try
catch (NullPointerException e) {
}
// make images better resolution, remove ?w=150& from URL
String betterPic1 = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[0]);
String[] picture1 = split(betterPic1,"?w=150&");
String betterPic2 = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[1]);
String[] picture2 = split(betterPic2,"?w=150&");
String betterPic3 = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[2]);
String[] picture3 = split(betterPic3,"?w=150&");
println("This is picture 1..." + picture1[0]);
println("This is picture 2..." + picture2[0]);
println("This is picture 3..." + picture3[0]);
String url1 = picture1[0];
String url2 = picture2[0];
String url3 = picture3[0];
// Load image from a web server
webImg1 = loadImage(url1, "gif");
webImg1.resize(imgW,imgH);
webImg2 = loadImage(url2, "gif");
webImg2.resize(imgW,imgH);
webImg3 = loadImage(url3, "gif");
webImg3.resize(imgW,imgH);
PImage []movie_images = {webImg1, webImg2,webImg3};
return movie_images;
}
//**************************************************
// GET MOVIE KEY WORDS
//**************************************************
// clean up image, extract keyword -- .png, etc
String [] getMovieKeywords () {
String kW1a = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[0]);
String[] kW1b = split(kW1a,".png");
String[] kW1c = split (kW1b[0], "-");
String [] kW1temp= split (kW1c[1], "1");
String[] kW1final = concat(kW1temp, nothing);
String kW2a = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[1]);
String[] kW2b = split(kW2a,".png");
String[] kW2c = split (kW2b[0], "-");
String[] kW2temp= split (kW2c[1], "1");
String[] kW2final = concat(kW2temp, nothing);
String kW3a = htmlImageFinder.getImageLink(random_3_numbers[2]);
String[] kW3b = split(kW3a,".png");
String[] kW3c = split (kW3b[0], "-");
String[] kW3temp= split (kW3c[1], "1");
String[] kW3final = concat(kW3temp, nothing);
//========================================================
// GET KEYWORDS AND SEARCH
//========================================================
// add + to end of Keyword to put into URL search
String keyword1temp= join( kW1final, "+");
String keyword1 = keyword1temp;
String keyword2temp= join( kW2final, "+");
String keyword2 = keyword2temp;
String keyword3temp= join( kW3final, "+");
String keyword3 = keyword3temp;
//========================================================
// MAKE KEKWORD IMAGE detectable, remove +
String kw1image = keyword1;
if( kw1image.charAt( kw1image.length()-1) == '+' ){
kw1image = kw1image.substring( 0, kw1image.length()-1 );
}
String kw2image = keyword2;
if( kw2image.charAt( kw2image.length()-1) == '+' ){
kw2image = kw2image.substring( 0, kw2image.length()-1 );
}
String kw3image = keyword3;
if( kw3image.charAt( kw3image.length()-1) == '+' ){
kw3image = kw3image.substring( 0, kw3image.length()-1 );
}
println("Image 1="+kw1image+", Image 2="+kw2image+", Image 3="+kw3image);
String [] movie_keywords = {keyword1, keyword2, keyword3};
return movie_keywords;
}
//========================================================
// GET URL
//========================================================
String get_lyrics () {
// search base
String baseURL = "http://www.lyricfind.com/services/lyrics-search/try-our-search/?q=";
String url_request = baseURL + movie_keywords[0] + movie_keywords[1]+ movie_keywords[2];
println("request FIRST =" +url_request);
try {
// println("request SECOND =" +url_request);
String lines[] = loadStrings(url_request);
println("There are " + lines.length + " lines in text search, in case you were interested");
print("Printing lines 253..." +lines[253]);
// String lyric = lines[252];
for (int i = 253; i < 298; i =i+3){
// replace etc.
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", "");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", " ");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", " ");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("<h2>", "");
lines[i] = lines[i].replace("", "...");
lines[i]= lines[i].toUpperCase();
// convertn keyword images to word find search
String word2find1 = movie_keywords[0];
String word2find2 = movie_keywords[1];
String word2find3 = movie_keywords[2];
// convert to upper case to bypass case-sensitice search
word2find1 = word2find1.toUpperCase();
word2find2 = word2find2.toUpperCase();
word2find3 = word2find3.toUpperCase();
if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " triple winner " );
println("triple winner= " +lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find2) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 2 3 " );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find3) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 1 3 " );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) ){
println(i + " double WINNER 1 2" );
//println(lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else if(lines[i].contains(word2find1) || lines[i].contains(word2find2) ){
String lyrics = lines[i];
}
else {
//println("single match lyrics = " +lines[i]);
String lyrics = lines[253];
println("single match lyrics = " +lyrics);
println ("these are the returned lyrics INSIDE= "+lyrics);
// processLyrics (String lyrics);
// exit();
}
println ("these are the returned lyrics END OF LOOP= "+lyrics); // fails
}// end for loop
//String lyrics = lines[252];
//
}
catch (Exception e){
println("Sorry, comedy53 came back with no good matches. Please retry.");
}
println ("these are the returned lyrics= "+lyrics);
return lyrics;
} // end get Lyrics fuynction
//========================================================
// COMBINE and Make Comics
//========================================================
void processLyrics () {
println("this is it man! = " +get_lyrics());
}
void play () {
println("Movie contains this many images=" +htmlImageFinder.getNumbOfImages());
image(movie_images[0], 0, Ai);
image(movie_images[1], 0, Bi);
image(movie_images[2], 0, Ci);
println("lyrics are..."+lyrics);
}

Replies(3)

GoToLoop

Re: returning value in a loop, function

1 month ago

I have a hard time getting my head around functions and returning values ... and scope.

When we declare some variable, it exists inside the scope it was born.
In general, a scope is defined by a region enclosed by curly braces { ... }, which is called a code block.
Things like if, for, while, methods, classes, etc., define a scoped block even if no {} is used.

So, if you declare a variable inside any of those things, that variable exists only while that scoped-block exists.
For example, in your own code:

      if (lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) {
        println(i + " triple winner " ); 
        println("triple winner= " +lines[i]);
        String lyrics = lines[i];
      }

A variable called lyrics is declared inside that if scoped-block. And initialized w/ lines[i].
So once that scope is finished, that variable ceases to exist, along w/ its stored value!

How to fix that? Declare lyrics outside the if scoped-block!

dockhands

Re: returning value in a loop, function

1 month ago

hmm I think I understand what you are saying. And yes, I struggle with scope!

But I don't see how I can declare Lyrics outside the scoped-block, and have it's value change. I want the value of lyrics to change depending on the IF statements.

For instance,

    if (lines[i].contains(word2find1) && lines[i].contains(word2find2) {
        println(i + " triple winner " ); 
        println("triple winner= " +lines[i]);
        String lyrics = lines[i];
      }

I want to have lyrics  become whatever lines[i] if the previous statement is met.

I think I'm missing something very simple. Thanks for your help and your patience.

dockhands

Re: returning value in a loop, function

1 month ago

Yup. I'm an idiot. I was declaring it each time with String lyrics... (right?)

I just need to remove the "String"

I will leave this post as a mark of shame and humiliation!

Thanks!

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