Opposite of random(); ?

oysteinhaugseth

Hi, I have an array which I want to pull single letters from and continuously return to display them on each frame. The random function does this, except that I want them to displayed chronological. Heres a sample of my code:

let streamLetters = ['S', 'O', 'U', 'L']; this.value = random(streamLetters);

Is there any other built in function in P5 I could use? If not, how can this be done in plain JS?

KevinWorkman

Can't you just use a variable that keeps track of which index you're looking at, and increment that index whenever you want to go to the next letter?

oysteinhaugseth

I assume you're talking about a for loop, or am I wrong? I need to start the sequence from the first letter after it has gone through all the letters in the array.

KevinWorkman

I'm not really talking about a for loop, but I suppose the idea is similar. Instead of a for loop though, you could change the index every 10 seconds.

oysteinhaugseth

Thank you for the help so far. I have a function with an if statement that runs the code on a set interval (based on framecount and another parameter). So I just need to return the letters in the sequence they are set, and then start from the beginning. Here's the function with return in the block code:

this.sequencedLetters = function() { if (frameCount % this.switchInterval == 0) { let letters = ['S', 'O', 'U', 'L']; this.value = random(letters); }

KevinWorkman

Okay cool. So next I would create a variable outside of any functions, call it index. Use that as an index into your array, and then increment it whenever you want to change the letter.

oysteinhaugseth

Thank you again. I'll try that tomorrow, time for sleep now.