REBOL 3 Functions: in

Description

Return the word from within another context. This function is normally used with set and get.

set-console: func ['word value] [
    set in system/console word value
]
set-console prompt "==>"
set-console result "-->"

This is a useful function for accessing the words and values of an object. The in function will obtain a word from an object's context. For example, if you create an object:

example: make object! [ name: "fred" age: 24 ]

You can access the object's name and age fields with:

print example/name
print example/age
24

But you can also access them with:

print get in example 'name
print get in example 'age
24

The in function returns the name and age words as they are within the example object. If you type:

print in example 'name
name

The result will be the word name, but with a value as it exists in the example object. The get function then fetches their values. This is the best way to obtain a value from an object, regardless of its datatype (such as in the case of a function).

A set can also be used:

print set in example 'name "Bob"
Bob

Using in, here is a way to print the values of all the fields of an object:

foreach word words-of example [
    probe get in example word
]
24

Here is another example that sets all the values of an object to none:

foreach word words-of example [
    set in example word none
]

The in function can also be used to quickly check for the existence of a word within an object:

if in example 'name [print example/name]
none

if in example 'address [print example/address]

This is useful for objects that have optional variables.

Advanced binding uses

In R3, in can also be used for binding a block to an object to support this useful idiom:

do in example [age + 1]
25

Identically, a paren! can be used as the rebound block:

do in example second [(age + 1) (age + 20)]
44