Name Rules for Variable and Device - Blocks Tutorials - VEXcode IQ

In VEXcode IQ, you are required to give a name to a new variable when you create one. You also have the option to change a device’s name in the Robot Configuration. 

The following article will cover:

• Valid Name Rules
• Possible Name Errors

Valid Name Rules

Variable names must be unique, but there are other specifications that the name must follow. 

Variable names are used in the following places:

1. Device (created using Robot Configuration)
2. Numeric (created using “Make variable”)
3. Boolean (created using “Make a boolean”)
4. List (created using “Make a List”)
5. 2D List (created using “Make a 2D List”)

Here is an overview of the criteria when choosing a valid name:

• The name cannot use special characters.

• The name has to begin with a letter. It cannot start with a number. 

• The name cannot use spaces.

• The name cannot be a reserved word in VEXcode. A reserved word is a word or name that VEXcode is already using. Examples: vex, Brain, time, for, while, break, else, not.

• The name has to be unique (only used once), but you can have different cases (one uppercase and one lowercase).

Possible Name Errors

When you create a variable name, if you see a “Name Taken” error, it means there is a duplicate name in any of the groups above. 

You may encounter a case when opening a project made in an earlier version of VEXcode IQ that has a duplicate variable name. This will cause an error when compiling and you will see the following type of error message:

The error message above shows the following problems:

• The name “myvariable” was found as a numeric variable and a boolean variable. 
• The name “awesomeVar” was found as a numeric variable and a boolean variable. 

To resolve the error, one of the duplicates will need to be removed or changed so they are unique.