Thread: help modifying a program...

I have this program that works by asking the user to determine what size box they would like displayed. It asks 7 times.
What I need to do is modify it so it just prints the output without asking the user. (that's what happens when you don't read the assignment thoroughly!)
The output should say:
A box of 3 is shown below:
* * *
* * * (without the * in the middle)
* * *

It;s supposed to display boxes sized 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, then error messages for 0 and -1.

I got the code working but now I don't know how to change it to just display everything without asking the user to specify the size.

Code:

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;

int centspace();
int counter();

//Functions used ...
void instructions ();	//User instructions
int box ();

//-------------------------------------------------------

int main ()
{
                instructions ();
	box ();
	box ();
	box ();
	box ();
	box ();
	box ();
	box ();

	cout << endl;

	return 0;
}

//--------------------------------------------------

int box ()
{
	int size;
	cout << "enter a number: ";
	cin >> size;
	if ((size <= 0) || (size >= 40))
	{	
	cout << "It is not possible to print a box of size "
                       << size << endl;
	}
	else
	{
	for (int counter = 1; counter <= size; counter++)
	     cout << "* ";
	cout << endl;
	if (size > 2)
	{
	     for (int counter = 1; counter <= (size-2); counter++)
	{
	    cout << "*";
	for (int space = 1; space <= (size-2); space++)
	    cout << "  ";
	cout << " *" << endl;
	}
	}
	if (size > 1)
	{
	for (int counter = 1; counter <= size; counter++)
	{
                    cout << "* ";
	}
	cout << endl;
	}
	}
	return 0;
}

sorry if this is hard to read...everything moved when I pasted it.

Any point in the right direction would help me tremendously. Thanks!

Ahh, looks like the perfect time for a function parameter. For example:

Code:

#include <iostream>

void Display(int);

int main()
{
    int myNum = 0;
    Display(myNum);
    Display(myNum+1);
    Display(2);
    Display(-1);
    myNum = 3;
    Display(myNum);
    return 0;
}

void Display(int num)
{
    if (num <= 0 || num >= 6)
    {
        std::cout << "Error, " << num << " is invalid input." << std::endl;
    }
    else
    {
        std::cout << "Number is " << num << std::endl;
    }
}