MultiCam Boards Documentation > MultiCam Documentation > MultiCam User Guide > MultiCam Basics > Parameters > By-Name vs. By-Identifier Access

By-Name vs. By-Identifier Access

Two ways are provided to refer to parameters and enumerated parameter values:

See also Parameter Name and Parameter Identifiers.

Advantages and disadvantages of using by-ident access or by-name access

By-ident access

By-name access

Static method

All item identifiers are prepared offline by Euresys, and made known to the user application source code by means of a special header file.

Dynamic method

The reference to an item can be dynamically established at runtime. For example, a dialog box can invite the user to type an item name.

Syntax checking

The compiler can check the consistency of the identifier spelling.

No syntax checking

The compiler has no way to control the correctness of a quoted character string.

Faster

The MultiCam driver directly accesses the required item when the access function is executed. This can be valuable when a lot of items have to be consecutively updated under application control.

Slower

The MultiCam driver has to interpret the string when the parameter access function is executed. This involves a search in a list of names, and consumes time at runtime.