function struct_create, var_names, var_types, name=name, err=err
nvar=n_elements(var_names)
if n_elements(var_types) eq 0 then begin
var_types=intarr(nvar)+4
endif else begin
if size(var_types, /type) eq 7 then begin
var_types=typecode(var_types)
endif else begin
var_types=var_types
endelse
n_types=n_elements(var_types)
if n_types eq 1 then begin
var_types=replicate(var_types, nvar)
endif else if n_types ne nvar then begin
print, "Number of type codes must match number of variables"
err=1
;create a structure holding only floats:
if n_types lt nvar then begin
var_types=replicate(4, nvar)
endif else begin
var_types=var_types[0:nvar-1]
endelse
endif
endelse
;create the structure to hold the data:
field=make_array(1, type=var_types[0])
anon=create_struct(var_names[0], field[0])
for i=1, nvar-1 do begin
field=make_array(1, type=var_types[i])
anon=create_struct(anon, var_names[i], field[0])
endfor
err=0
if n_elements(name) eq 1 then begin
result=create_struct(name=name, anon)
return, result
endif else begin
return, anon
endelse
end