I could use some creative minds on this one please.  I have hit a brick wall.....maybe too close to it and need to take a break?  ???

I need to be able to call a subroutine that is dynamic in nature.

I have over 100 pre-defined subroutines.  This number will probably increase over time.  I need to take user input from keyboard and use the input to run a subroutine with the name they have entered.   Input may possibly come from a random word generator vs. keyboard input.

Examples:
If the entry is  "abc" I want the action to be subroutine abc()
If the entry is "hello world" I want the action to be subroutine hello world()
If the entry is  "bad boy" I want the action to be subroutine bad boy()
Error trapping will exist if entry is a non-existent function.

If that was the whole spec, that would not be a problem.

But here is the twist:  For reasons that are not important, but part of the design spec, the entry person cannot be provided with a list of valid entries.  So this eliminates a popup list or UserSelect method.

It is no problem to take the entry value and convert it into a declared variable,  but that variable cannot be called as a subroutine.  I am pretty sure this is the same issue that I asked about on 2/22.  So, I probably need to find a work-around.  Here are the details:

I could make a hundred+ IF statements like:
If entry = "hello world" then hello world() else
If entry = "bad boy" then bad boy() else
If entry = "abc" then abc() else
........
........
ErrorTrapping()
End if

OR I could use @Select with a similar listing.

But besides the time for the programming effort, these solutions are hardcoded.  When new subroutines are created, then this code would also need to be modified.  I am looking to create/maintain subroutines separate from the database so changes can be done without having to modify the program code.

One off the wall thought I have now is to possibly take the entry value, use @shell to open another copy of Seseme and pass the entry as a value to autoexecute some type of macro calling the subroutine somehow.   Don't even want to think of the complexity that will involve, so I won't spend any time on that option yet.

I am sure your suggestions will be interesting.  I just hope that Mark/Erika don't come back and say "You can't do that at all!"  If they do, then maybe Tom can use this as a "Monthly Puzzler" in Inside Sesame?

I think what I need is a new function like:
@SubRoutine(x) where "x" is a variable containing the name of a subroutine. 
@Function(x) would provide the same dynamic tools for functions also.
Too late to get into 1.0.2? 

Bob,

What you are describing would be dynamically generated randomized computed function pointers. These sound cool, but in the long run, these can be very very bad. They make debugging and maintaining your code a nightmare. Let alone somebody else's code! Talk to anybody who has ever had to deal with a pile of someone else's spaghetti Fortran and ask them how they feel about computed GoTo's. 

In actuality, using a well-structured If..Then..Else statement is less work and more maintainable than the other solutions you describe. Adding a new subroutine simply involves adding a line to the conditional. Not really all that much work. It also allows you to call the same subroutine under more than one condition.

Subroutine BranchMe(vKey as String)
    If(vKey = "sub1") Then Sub1()
    Else If(vKey = "sub2") Then Sub2()
    Else If(vKey = "sub3") Then Sub3()   
End Subroutine

Besides, if we add this to SBasic, and Andreas finds out about it, he may actually levitate across the ocean to "discuss" it with us.  He's normally an extremely non-violent person, but a developer of his caliber can only take so much...