Whats the difference between new Array, [] and new Object?

[mistermind]

Hey there folks
I'm trying to convert my game to AS3 for a while now and haven't had any problems with SFS so far (basically because everything is so much clear on AS3). Well til now

When I got to the buddy variables I kept having this error during runtime:

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TypeError: Error #1034: Type Coercion failed: cannot convert Object@363dfb01 to Array
at ederon_tw_fla::MainTimeline/onJoinRoom()
   at flash.events::
.........

After using this which is very similar to what described on the online docs for AS3 (Which was also pretty similar to what I had on AS2):

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var bVars:Object = new Object()
bVars["chatRoom"] = "1"
bVars["inGame"] = "0"
smartFox.setBuddyVariables(bVars)

Then after some search I found this on the advancedBuddyList example:

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var vars:Array = []
vars[tf_varKey.text] = tf_varValue.text
sfs.setBuddyVariables( vars )

which converted to my needs looked like this:

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var sendBObj:Array = [];
sendBObj["chatRoom"] = "1";
sendBObj["inGame"] = "0";
sfs.setBuddyVariables(sendBObj);

Both advancedBuddyList and my game now works without triggering a SFS runtime error.
After that I kinda felt a bit lost on all my learning progress lol. What exactly is the difference between them, and following the same line of thought, whats the difference between
var myArr:Array = new Array()
and
var myArr:Array = []

And why does SFS only understands the second one?

[Lapo]

There is an ambiguity between associative arrays and objects in Actionscript.
Arrays can take String keys as well as Number keys.
Objects also work like that, with string keys.

Until AS2 you could swap them around in AS3 this is not possible anymore because of strict type checking.

Initializing an array with new Array() or [] is the same thing.
The 2nd is a useful literal expression that allow to create a new array and put values in it one single line.
Example:

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var arr:Array = [1,2,3]

[Carl Lydon]

Maybe you ned to fix the documentation?

When I use the exact code for setBuddyVariables here:

http://www.smartfoxserver.com/docs/docP ... index.html

which is:

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var bVars:Object = new Object()
bVars["status"] = "away"
bVars["track"] = "One Of These Days"
bVars["$rank"] = "guru"

smartFox.setBuddyVariables(bVars)

I get the same "Type Coercion failed" error noted above.

When I change the first line to an array, it works. The docs tell us to use an object when the method wants and Array? Seems like docs are wrong?

[Lapo]

Yes, what you say is correct.
We'll update the docs. Thank you