Thread: DESPERATELY NEED HELP!!!! PRINT A Box using arrays...

can anyone teach me how to display the other half of the box's border? where should i put the printf? or is there any other method that you can show me using arrays?

Code:

 #include <stdio.h>
#define ROW 15
#define COLUMN 15


void disp_box (char b[ROW][COLUMN])
{    
     int r,c;

      for(r=0; r<ROW-1;r++)
    
        printf("*%c",b[r][0]);
        
    
        for(c=0; c<COLUMN;c++)
        {
            printf("*%c",b[0][c]);
            printf("\n");
              
        }
}
int main(void)
{
    char box[ROW][COLUMN];
    char name[20] ="AAA" ;
    int x,y;

    printf("*************Tetris Game***********\n");
    printf("Please Enter Player Name: ");
    scanf("%s", &name);
    printf("Player Name:%s\n", name);



    for(x=0; x<15; x++)
    {
        for(y=0; y<15; y++)
        {
            box[x][y] = '_';
        }
    }

    disp_box(box);

    return 0;
}

I have no idea how that box is supposed to look like.
But from how you initialize the 2dim array it could be

Code:

void disp_box (char b[ROW][COLUMN])
{    
   int r,c;

   for(r=0; r<ROW;r++) {
        for(c=0; c<COLUMN;c++)
        {
            printf("*%c",b[r][c]);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
}

Kurt

what is you're wanting to print exactly? A border separate from the contents of the array?

Code:

void disp_box(char b[ROW][COLUMN])
{
    int r, c;

    // add border around contents of 2d array

    for(r = -1; r <= ROW; ++r)
    {
        for(c = -1; c  <= COLUMN; ++c)
        {
            if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)
                putchar('*');
            else
                putchar(b[r][c]);
        }

        putchar('\n');
    }
}

Printing a box is not difficult Printing a box from an array is not difficult.

It IS difficult to help you, when you don't show what you want in an example, AND you don't explain exactly what you want (for a border, etc.).

Making another thread on the subject won't help us understand what you want. Be specific about what you want, and post a picture of it - using Advanced editor >> manage attachments >> browse >> upload >> then the paper clip icon to place it where you want.

Code:

for(i=0;i<15;i++) {
   printf("|               |\n");
}

Put that in your print box function and you're off to a boxy start, are you not?

hey ronin... thanks u got me what i wanted... could u explain to me about the if part? how why the if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)

Code:

for(c = -1; c  <= COLUMN; ++c)
        {
            if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)
                putchar('*');
            else
                putchar(b[r][c]);
        }

In post #2, Zuk showed you how to print each element of the array in a way that correctly displays the rows and columns.

I'm a bit perplexed why you're printing an extra (*) character along with the character in the array. It seems this would throw off the spacing of the grid. You should only be printing the array (i.e. the game board).

Perhaps an example, using code similar to yours (with Zuk's advice) will help you visualize it.

The game board can be said to consist of "tiles". Each tile is an element in the two-dimensional array. When you print the array, you print each tile so it forms a grid - the game board.

This code is not as elegant as it could be, but hopefully the initialization of the "gameBoard" array illustrates how each "tile" is laid out.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

#define MAX_Y 10
#define MAX_X 10

void printGameBoard(char board[MAX_Y][MAX_X]);

int main(void)
{
    char gameBoard[MAX_Y][MAX_X] = {
        {'+','-','-','-','-','-','-','-','-','+'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'|',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ',' ','|'},
        {'+','-','-','-','-','-','-','-','-','+'}
    };

    /* print blank game board */
    printGameBoard(gameBoard);

    /* update the board with a piece */
    gameBoard[2][2] = '*';
    gameBoard[3][2] = '*';
    gameBoard[4][2] = '*';
    gameBoard[4][3] = '*';

    /* print updated game board */
    printGameBoard(gameBoard);

    return 0;
}

void printGameBoard(char board[MAX_Y][MAX_X])
{
    int row,col;

    for(row=0; row<MAX_Y; row++)
    {
        for(col=0; col<MAX_X; col++)
        {
            printf("%c",board[row][col]);
        }
        printf("\n");
    }

    printf("\n\n");
}

Yeck, didn't realize this was a duplicate post.

Originally Posted by Alexius Lim

hey ronin... thanks u got me what i wanted... could u explain to me about the if part? how why the if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)

Code:

for(c = -1; c  <= COLUMN; ++c)
        {
            if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)
                putchar('*');
            else
                putchar(b[r][c]);
        }

Glad you were able to get what you needed. I approached it along the lines of

Code:

for(r = -1; r <= ROW; ++r)
{
    for(c = -1; c <= COLUMN; ++c)
    {
        if(r == -1 || r == ROW || c == -1 || c == COLUMN)
            putchar('*');
        else
            putchar(arr[r][c]);
    }

    putchar('\n');
}

array[15][15] is 15 characters wide by 15 characters high, so the border needed to be 17 characters wide by 17 characters high.

Code:

start   valid index     end
 -1  <->  [0-14]   <->  ROW
(1)   +    (15)     +   (1) = 17 characters

when r == -1 or r == ROW the if branch is taken for 17 iterations of c (-1 through COLUMN), which prints outs the top or bottom border. Once r is between 0 and ROW-1, the if path is taken only when c == -1 or c == COLUMN, printing a single '*' on either the left or right edge for 15 iterations of r (0 through ROW-1). Otherwise, r is between 0 and ROW-1 and c is between 0 and COLUMN-1, which becomes valid index positions for the array.

Code:

     -1  [0-14] COLUMN
 -1   **************
[ 0]  *   array    *
[14]  *            *
ROW   **************

Personally, I find it easier to embed the border in the array; it really doesn't matter though, it's just another way to reach an end.