switch do

-wrong parameter ("Arma") defined!-1.00

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Description

Description:

Checks if the given parameter matches any case. If so, the code block of that case will be executed. After that the switch ends so no further cases will be checked.

If a case has no code block, the code of the next case will automatically be executed. This makes it possible to formulate a logical "or" for cases which otherwise would contain the exact same code. (See example 4 below)
The default block will be executed only if no case matches, no matter at which position inside the switch it is. It is not a case, and will never be entered by fallthrough.

switch returns whatever the return value of the executed case block is. If the condition is not matched by any case and there is no default, it returns true.

Groups:

Program Flow

Syntax

Syntax:

switch do block

Parameters:

switch: Switch Type

block: Code

Return Value:

Anything or true

Examples

Example 1:

switch (_a) do { case 1 : { /*...code...*/ }; case 2 : { /*...code...*/ }; default { /*...code...*/ }; };
switch (_condition) do { case 1: { hint "1" }; case 2: { hint "2" }; default { hint "default" }; };
switch (_condition) do { case "string1"; case "string2": { hint "string1 or string2" }; case "string3"; case "string4": { hint "string3 or string4" }; default { hint "default" }; };

Example 2:

_color = switch (side player) do { case west: { "ColorGreen" }; case east: { "ColorRed" }; };

Example 3:

_fn_moveForward = { /*...code...*/ }; _fn_moveBackward = { /*...code...*/ }; _fn_invalidKey = { /*...code...*/ }; switch true do { case (_dikCode in actionKeys "MoveForward"): _fn_moveForward; case (_dikCode in actionKeys "MoveBackward"): _fn_moveBackward; default _fn_invalidKey; };

Example 4:

switch _var do { case "0"; default { hint str ["default", _var] }; case "3": { hint str ["3", _var] }; case "1"; case "4"; case "2": { hint str ["2", _var] }; };

_var = "0"; //-> ["3", "0"]
_var = "1"; //-> ["2", "1"]
_var = "2"; //-> ["2", "2"]
_var = "3"; //-> ["3", "3"]
_var = "4"; //-> ["2", "4"]
_var = "5"; //-> ["default", "5"]

Additional Information

See also:

Control Structuresa:bcasedefault

Notes

Report bugs on the Feedback Tracker and/or discuss them on the Arma Discord or on the Forums.
Only post proven facts here! Add Note

Notes

Posted on 07 Aug, 2008

ColonelSandersLite

Be careful of the parenthesis around the variable you're switching on. If you accidentally use braces instead (ex: switch {_myVar} do{...), it won't error, but will always return default.

Posted on 11 Aug, 2008

Dr_Eyeball

Using switch with strings is case-sensitive, (unlike string comparisons).

Posted on 12 Aug, 2008

General Barron

To be safe about the case sensitivity issue, use the toLower or toUpper command to force all strings to a certain case.

Posted on 06 Oct, 2009

Iva

It's possible to use Boolean value as a switch and Code as case. One thing to take special care in such case is that code must be in parentheses. Example: switch (true) do { case (_boolVar): {someCode}; case (unit1 distance unit2 > 5): {someCode}; };

Posted on November 6, 2014 - 16:33 (UTC)

Eggbeast

BEWARE:
Sometimes, and I'm unsure why, numbers are treated differently (A2OA 1.63) with quote-wraps that worked
in earlier code now not working unless quote-wraps are removed, with otherwise identical code.
_number1 = (floor random 10) switch (_number1) do { case "0": { _vehicle setobjecttexture[0,"\mymodpath\textures\num1.paa"]; }; //etc };

this one below works, and the one above stopped working with 1.63
switch (_number1) do { case 0: { _vehicle setobjecttexture[0,"\mymodpath\textures\num1.paa"]; }; //etc };

Posted on December 13, 2014 - 22:41 (UTC)

Commy2

As of Arma 3 v1.36, switch returns true (BOOL) if the condition doesn't match any case and no default block is defined.

switch (0) do {case (1): {"one"};}
-> true

Posted on December 14, 2014 - 04:18 (UTC)

DreadedEntity

Function names can be used in place of code, as shown in Example 3.

Posted on Nobember 1, 2020 - 10:05 (UTC)

Freddo

You are able to call code within the switch statements, such as: _myFunc = { systemChat "0"; case 1: {systemChat "1"}; systemChat "2"; }; _myParameter = 1; switch (_myParameter) do { _myParameter call _myFunc; case 1: {systemChat "4"}; systemChat "3"; default {systemChat "-1";}; }; // 0 // 3 // 1 However the order in which it is executed is difficult to make sense of, see the code comment. This is used by BIS_fnc_missionConversations and BIS_fnc_missionTasks