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TitleUse the RtlMoveMemory (CopyMemory) API function to copy memory from a 2-D array to a 1-D array
KeywordsRtlMoveMemory, copy memory, CopyMemory, array, memory
CategoriesTips and Tricks, Miscellany, Software Engineering
 
This program copies part of a large 2-D array into a smaller 2-D array. It then uses RtlMoveMemory to copy the data one column at a time into a 1-D destination array. This operation is fast enough that it's not worth the effort for a program as small as this one. The technique could be handy for manipulating large arrays, however.

Note that Visual Basic stores its arrays in column order so a call to RtlMoveMemory copies data from a column not a row as you might expect.

 
Private Sub cmdCopy_Click()
Dim rmin As Integer
Dim rmax As Integer
Dim cmin As Integer
Dim cmax As Integer
Dim r As Integer
Dim c As Integer
Dim in_array() As Byte
Dim out_array() As Byte
Dim idx As Integer
Dim bytes_per_col As Long
Dim wid As Single

    rmin = CInt(txtMinRow.Text)
    rmax = CInt(txtMaxRow.Text)
    cmin = CInt(txtMinCol.Text)
    cmax = CInt(txtMaxCol.Text)

    ' Highlight the selected data.
    For r = 0 To MAX_ROW
        For c = 0 To MAX_COL
            m_InBoxes(r, c).BackColor = vbWhite
            m_InBoxes(r, c).ForeColor = vbBlack
        Next c
    Next r
    For r = rmin To rmax
        For c = cmin To cmax
            m_InBoxes(r, c).BackColor = vbBlack
            m_InBoxes(r, c).ForeColor = vbWhite
        Next c
    Next r

    ' Copy the inputs into in_array.
    ReDim in_array(0 To MAX_ROW, 0 To MAX_COL)
    For r = 0 To MAX_ROW
        For c = 0 To MAX_COL
            in_array(r, c) = CByte(m_InBoxes(r, c))
        Next c
    Next r
    ReDim out_array(0 To (rmax - rmin + 1) * (cmax - cmin + _
        1) - 1)

    ' Copy the data into out_array using MemCopy.
    bytes_per_col = rmax - rmin + 1
    idx = 0
    For c = cmin To cmax
        CopyMemory out_array(idx), in_array(rmin, c), _
            bytes_per_col
        idx = idx + bytes_per_col
    Next c

    ' Display the results.
    For r = txtOut.UBound + 1 To idx - 1
        Load txtOut(r)
        Set txtOut(r).Container = Frame1
        txtOut(r).Move txtOut(r - 1).Left + txtOut(r - _
            1).Width + 60, txtOut(r - 1).Top
    Next r
    For r = idx To txtOut.UBound
        Unload txtOut(r)
    Next r
    For r = 0 To idx - 1
        txtOut(r).Text = Format$(out_array(r))
        txtOut(r).Visible = True
    Next r

    wid = txtOut(idx - 1).Left + txtOut(idx - 1).Width
    If wid < cmdCopy.Left + cmdCopy.Width Then wid = _
        cmdCopy.Left + cmdCopy.Width
    Frame1.Width = wid + 120
    Width = Frame1.Width + Width - ScaleWidth
End Sub
 
 
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