Having trouble with changing code from recursive infinite loop to another infinite loop.

To switch it you would want to make a main while true do loop. Inside it would do anything that you can repeat to achieve your goal. An example would be making it do a row of trees then turn to the start of the next one. Another way would be to use you checks and just have it do one tree then check for what to do next. Also for your functions like your down function that either does something or calls itself you can use a repeat until loop. Example code for the down function:

repeat
	  turtle.down()
until turtle.detectDown()
forward()

If your not familiar with repeat loops they run like a while true do until a condition is met (met being anything not nil or false). So if you convert your functions that recall them selves. Then place them in a loop in the order they would get called so that they do a repeating pattern you should be good. If you need more help let me know

Thanks for helping me, I understand what you are trying to say however I have literally no idea of how to implement it. How would I create a main while true do loop and how could I get all of this to repeat inside it? Sorry, for being a pain.

Ok i can think of three ways to try and help you. One is with concrete examples, one is metaphor to math, and the last is with a theoretical idea. Im going to put all three ways as separate posts please like whichever one helps you. If none of them help then try adding me as a contact on skype with the contact msg being need help. My skype name is sariaz90.

con_man_is_here, on 06 May 2013 - 09:38 AM said:

Thanks for helping me, I understand what you are trying to say however I have literally no idea of how to implement it. How would I create a main while true do loop and how could I get all of this to repeat inside it? Sorry, for being a pain.

repeat
  whatever()
until turtle.detect()

Is the same as

while not turtle.detect() do
  whatever()
end

On second thought all three methods kind of tie together so I'm going to put them all togeather in the next post it might be a bit though before I get that all typed/thought out.

So here is method one concrete examples:

For your functions most of them will be repeat loops or integrated into a main loop. Here would be a example of your digup function turned into a repeat loop.

NOTE: Any repeat loop could be made into a while loop and any while loop into a repeat loop. Only difference is they are opposites so a infinite while true do loop's equivalent repeat loop would be repeat until false. Looking at them you can see that the main body of the loop would be the same the only difference is that you the ending conditions are opposites. For this reason if any of your repeat or while loops have nots in them you could switch them to the other kind should you choose. For my examples though I will use only repeat loops for simplicity. Now for that digup function in repeat form

repeat
  turtle.digUp()
  turtle.up()
until not turtle.detectUp()
down()

As you can see the main body of the function stayed the same all I did was change how it looped. So in this case instead of recalling the main body if it detected something above it then stoping when it didn't detect something. I repeated the main body of the function until it stopped detecting something above it. You will notice at the end I called the down function this is because in your function you kept recalling until it stopped detecting something above it then it called down. So in mine after my loop finished and stopped detecting stuff above it I also called the down function. Now what about your oneforward function? That does not repeat itself so what do you do then?

Well this is where the main loop comes in your main loop. The main loop is a loop that when run once will do what you want then return you to the beginning to do it again. Im getting off topic for the one forward function that function would just go at the end of the main loop. This is because if you think of the main loop as your start function then you would have what is in the start function run then have what is in the oneforward function run then because you would be at the end of the loop it would run again(AKA running your start function again) if that makes sense.

So now onto the way of thinking your way though this. The basic idea is that if a function calls itself then you can turn it into a loop then if another function is called after put that after the loop. And for any functions that don't call themselves just have them run their stuff then run the next bit of code. This is where the math metaphor comes in. Remember solving those pesky equations where you had multiple variables? The same principle can be applied here.

If you don't remember those equations heres a refresher if you do remember skip this. Take the equation x+5 = y+3 simple except that you can't just isolate a variable to get its answer because you don't know what the other variable is. So what you have to do is this: minus 3 from both sides giving you x+2 = y now to finish the equation you substitute what y equals for y so the old x+5 = y+3 becomes x+5 = 3+what y equals giving you x+5 = (x+2)+3. That substitution is the principle you can use here.

So now that you understand the principle or remember it lets use it to help morph your equation into one made of loops instead of functions. Now remember you can still use functions but best not to use them unless your going to be calling it from multiple places in your script. So thinking of a function call as a variable and the functions body as the equation you substitute for it all you need to do is look at the top to turn those functions into code that doesn't need to call itself.

So to summarize turn your functions into loops by taking any code that is getting repeated and putting it as the body of your loop then figuring out when you stop recalling the function and make that the ending condition of the loop. Then once you have your functions turned into loops put those loops in where ever you call the function. Also you can make your start function be the main loop and put the oneforward function at its end so that when the oneforward function ends it will start the loop back at the beginning.

another thing you may want to do that fits your coding style better is just return your function calls.
EXAMPLE

local myVar=0
local function a()
  myVar=myVar+1
  print(myVar)
  sleep(0.1)
  return a()
end

will work perfectly, you do not get the ArrayIndexOutOfBounds error if you are returning the function you are recursively calling so

function start()
		    x = 0
		    y = 0
		    z = 0
		    if turtle.detect() == true
		    then return tree()
		    else return oneforward()
		    end
end
function oneforward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    return start()
end
function tree()
		    turtle.dig()
		    turtle.forward()
		    return digup()
end
function digup()
		    turtle.digUp()
		    turtle.up()
		    if turtle.detectUp() == true
		    then return digup()
		    else return down()
		    end
end
function down()
		    turtle.down()
		    if turtle.detectDown() == true
		    then return forward()
		    else return down()
		    end
end
function forward()
		    x = x + 1
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    if x == 22
		    then return turncounter()
		    else return tree()
		    end
end
function turncounter()
		    z = z + 1
		    if z == 5
		    then print("Done")
		    else return turncheck()
		    end
end
function turncheck()
		    if y == 0
		    then return turnright()
		    else return turnleft()
		    end
end
function turnright()
		    turtle.turnRight()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.turnRight()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    y = 1
		    return tree()
end
function turnleft()
		    turtle.turnLeft()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.turnLeft()
		    turtle.forward()
		    turtle.forward()
		    y = 0
		    return tree()
end
start()