How to get the name of a dictionary value

[FriendlyEvo]

Hello:

Dictonary:

local myDic = { -- my dic lol
["dic1"] = "dic", 
["dic2"] = "dic"
}

Retrieve value

myDic["dic1"]

Retrieve name

???? -- how to do this?!?!?!?!

[BearTheGruff (Buck)]

table.find(myDictionary, "Dictionary1")
-- First parameter is the table
-- Second parameter is the value
-- Will output the key aka the "name"

[PhoenixRessusection (PhoenixCausesOof)]

Isn’t that for arrays though? table.find even specifies an index, i.e., it assumes numerical keys.

[FriendlyEvo]

Can confirm, table.find is INVALIDATED for dictonary instances.

local myBigDic = {
["dic1"] = "hello"
}


 print(table.find(myBigDic, "dic1")) -- nil

[BearTheGruff (Buck)]

In that case, one can consider this

local findValue = "ADictionaryValue"
local foundKey
for k, v in pairs(myDictionary)
    if v == findValue then
        foundKey = k -- Depends on if you want it to return
    end
end

[FriendlyEvo]

What if i did something like “reversed” the values like this:

local reverseDic = {}

local BigBigDic = {
    ["dic1"] = "dic value"
}

for itemName, itemValue in pairs(BigBigDic) do
    reverseDic[itemValue] = itemName  -- Fixed variable names v and i
end

print(reverseDic["dic value"])  -- Corrected indexing, using the actual value

[BearTheGruff (Buck)]

The problem here is that table.find() is suited to find the value and not access the value through key which is what you’re trying to do. Although even if you did it correct, it will still not work due to gap between dictionary and array as pointed out by @PhoenixRessusection

[PhoenixRessusection (PhoenixCausesOof)]

There’s nothing stopping you from doing that.

local function swapKeysAndValues<K, V>(dictionary: { [K]: V }): { [V]: K }
    local swapped = {}

    for key, value in pairs(dictionary) do
        swapped[value] = key
    end

    return swapped
end

[FriendlyEvo]

This is my resolution
It must be the solution
a clear constitution
My Seeking answers
ends with my own contribution