how to init a 2d matrix of chars from strings C#

Question

I would like to create a 2D matrix in C#.
I have the following example code in C++

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/search-a-word-in-a-2d-grid-of-characters/

I would like to init the matrix like they did in C++

int main()
{
    char grid[R][C] = {"GEEKSFORGEEKS",
                       "GEEKSQUIZGEEK",
                       "IDEQAPRACTICE"
                      };

    patternSearch(grid, "GEEKS");
 ....

Here is my code in C#

   List<string> rows = new List<string> {"GEEKSFORGEEKS", "GEEKSQUIZGEEK", "IDEQAPRACTICE"};

            char[,] grid = new char[rows.Count, rows[0].Length];

            for (int r = 0; r < rows.Count; r++)
            {
                char[] charArray = rows[r].ToCharArray();
                for (int c = 0; c < charArray.Length; c++)
                {
                    grid[r, c] = charArray[c];
                }
            }

Is there a way to init the matrix like in c++? converting string to char array, or this is done easily in c++ because we can cast and manage the memory differently?

InBetween · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-20T21:51:44.717

3

string is not a char[], there is no implicit or explicit conversion between the two. The way to get an array of characters from a string is calling the extension method Enumerable.ToArray() (string implements IEnumerable<char>) or the almost legacy String.ToCharArray()

With that in mind the syntax you are looking for is:

char[][] grid = { "GEEKSFORGEEKS".ToArray(),
                  "GEEKSQUIZGEEK".ToArray(),
                  "IDEQAPRACTICE".ToArray() };

Now, if you try to get a char[,] you will run into a brick wall; the c# syntax lets you do the following:

char[][] grid = { { `G`, `E`, `E`, ... },
                  { `G`, `E`, `E`, ... }
                  { `I`, `D`, `E`, ... } };

But, again, because a string literal isn't a char of characters, the compiler will simply balk at:

char[][] grid = { { "GEEKSFORGEEKS" },
                  { "GEEKSQUIZGEEK" }
                  { "IDEQAPRACTICE" } };

And it will simply give you a compile time error informing you that a string is not a char. The actual type of that initialization would be string[,] with size [3, 1].

edited Feb 20 '18 at 21:51

answered Feb 20 '18 at 21:29

InBetween

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I knew of ToArray and ToCharArray is the same, my issue was with the jugged array instead of 2D array, wonder if we can do char[,] instead of char[][]. cool thanks! – Gilad Feb 20 '18 at 21:37
+1 and exactly the answer I was going to post, but may be worth pointing out that this answer uses an [array of arrays rather than a 2d array](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12567329/multidimensional-array-vs) which might confuse. *EDIT*: heh, missed the OP's comment by seconds – McAden Feb 20 '18 at 21:37
@Gilad No, you can't use array initializer syntax to get a `char[,]` from an array of strings; the reason is the same, a `string` is not an array of characters. – InBetween Feb 20 '18 at 21:40
@InBetween Can you explain why? I guess it is because it is an array of arrays ? but I am not sure. – Gilad Feb 20 '18 at 21:42

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 20 '18 at 21:39

0

Yeah, as provided above you can use ToArray() function to achieve the desirable result

"STRING".ToArray()

answered Feb 20 '18 at 21:39

MAP Inc.

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how to init a 2d matrix of chars from strings C#

2 Answers2