Diamond in the rough

I have been wrestling with this code for one year, I no longer have an infinite loop, but I also do not have a diamond either, something is wrong but I dont know what.

half = number/2;
if(number % 2 == 0)
{
number=(half * 2 ) + 1;
}
line = 0;
charsToPrint = 1;
spacesToPrint= half;

while (!(line == half))
{
cout << spacesToPrint << character << '\n';
spacesToPrint--;
character+2;
line++;

}

while (line == half)
{
cout << line << character << '\n';
line++;
spacesToPrint++;

}
while (!(line >= number))
{
line++;
charsToPrint-2;
spacesToPrint++;
cout << spacesToPrint << character << '\n';
}

I have lost sleep. hair and one letter grade behind this program, this and the calendar one i wrote, everyday in that starts on monday and every month has 31 days.

Post the complete program and tell us what it is you want it to do.

trying to make this thing print out a diamond
i e @
@@@
@

#include <iostream>

int main()
{

int line, spacesToPrint, half, number;
char charsToPrint, character;

cout << "This program will print a diamond composed of a character, "
"that extends the " << '\n';
cout << " width of a specified number." << '\n';
cout << "Please enter a odd number greater than one (example 3,7,9...) "
<< '\n';
cin >> number;
cout << " And a character of your choice (example @, %, #...)." << '\n';
cin >> character;
cout << '\n' << '\n';
cin.ignore (10, '\n');

half = number/2;
if(number % 2 == 0)
{
number=(half * 2 ) + 1;
}
line = 0;
charsToPrint = 1;
spacesToPrint= half;

while (!(line == half))
{
cout << spacesToPrint << character << '\n';
spacesToPrint--;
character+2;
line++;

}

while (line == half)
{
cout << line << character << '\n';
line++;
spacesToPrint++;

}
while (!(line >= number))
{
line++;
charsToPrint-2;
spacesToPrint++;
cout << spacesToPrint << character << '\n';
}
cout << "Designed by Loranne Wish" << '\n';
cout << "Press enter to continue.";
cin.get();

return 0;
}

this should help

Code:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
void print(int rowsize);
int main()
{
	int rowsize;
	do{
		cout<<"Please type in a positive odd integer: ";
		cin>>rowsize;
	}while((rowsize%2==0)||(rowsize<=0));
	print(rowsize);
	return (0);
}
void print(int rowsize)
{
	int spaces=rowsize/2, currentsize=1, counter, count;
	for(counter=0;counter!=(rowsize+1)/2;counter++){
		for(count=spaces;count!=0;count--)
			cout<<" ";
		spaces--;
		for(count=currentsize;count!=0;count--)
			cout<<"*";
		currentsize+=2;
		cout<<endl;
	}
	currentsize=rowsize-2;
	spaces+=2;
	for(counter=rowsize/2;counter!=0;counter--){
		for(count=0;count!=spaces;count++)
			cout<<" ";
		spaces++;
		for(count=currentsize;count!=0;count--)
			cout<<"*";
		currentsize-=2;
		cout<<endl;
	}
}

Your right it does work, problem is:
1. the program specifically called for the user to enter a character of his/her choosing.
2. this has to be written in a while loop, not a do-while loop, I really appreciate the help ( as more of my hair falls out and I lose more sleep)

my code (if you can call it that) outputs this

3@
2@
1@
3@
2@
3@
4@

Designed by Loranne Wish
Please press enter to continue.

1. the program specifically called for the user to enter a character of his/her choosing.
2. this has to be written in a while loop, not a do-while loop, I really appreciate the help ( as more of my hair falls out and I lose more sleep)

look at my code even a monkey could make those changes.

look closely its really really easy to change....

well mooooo then, cause I can not convert it. Did I mention that I am a newbie?, guess not. anyway I can do the if/else and the break statements but this loop has me more than a little loopy. Basically what I need it the inputted character to increase per row for the top and decrease for the bottom, my logic is way off and has been for a year, I am retaking this class for the second time and it looks like I'll be back in it next year.

"Did I mention that I am a newbie?"

and

"has been for a year, I am retaking this class for the second time "

so not that much of a newbie - you must have had the loop lesson at least twice now

actually this program is in chapter 6, and we are still in chapter 3, trying to work this out ahead of time. so I guess I should be considered a novice ( i know enough to cause my system to crash, but not enough to control the logic behind a loop)

All right, lets try breaking your problem down into manegeable steps. This is the whole point of structured programming. Write a function that takes three paramiters; the number of spaces, number of characters, and the character and prints out the spaces, characters and a newline;

Code:

void print_line(int spaces, int chars, char ch) {
// two loops would work well here.
}

Once you have that working write two loops that repeatedly call print_line, one for the top half of the diamond, followed by one for the bottom.
some minor points
num+2; does not change num
num = num+2; adds 2 to num
num += 2; same thing.

You don't need to track how many lines you have printed, the top half of the diamond ends when there are no spaces or the number of characters == width and the dimond ends when you have no more characters to print out. The number of characters is always width - twice the number of spaces, so you don't really need to keep track of the number of characters for each line. This may only confuse you.

Finally, here is a function I wrote for no particular reason.

Code:

void countdown(int n) {
    int count = n;
    while(count > 0) {
        cout << count << endl;
        --count;
    }
}

This seems to stop when count is one, I wonder what would happen if I used (count <= 0)?