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Preferred way to get multiple returns from a function [message #75036]

Fri, 11 February 2011 15:32

James[2]
Messages: 44
Registered: November 2009

Member

I am writing a function that fits an ellipse to a 2*N array of
points. There are three values to return: the center, semi-major
axis, and semi-minor axis. This is a simple program, but it brings up
a more general question: what is the preferred IDL way to return
multiple values from a function?

Currently, my program returns a structure containing the elements
{center, major, minor}. However, a lot of built-in IDL routines take
named variable inputs that are set to the appropriate value on output
- so instead of something like:

ellipse_struct = fit_ellipse(points)

I would have:

fit_ellipse, points, center, major, minor

I'm not sure which is better. C programming has taught me to
appreciate structures, but I'd like to code in the conventions of the
language. Which would you prefer, and why?

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Preferred way to get multiple returns from a function

By: James[2] on Fri, 11 February 2011 15:32

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