Dump multidimensional array

Question

Using System, how can I dump the contents of a multidimensional array to the screen? I only require it for a 2-dimensional array that is being dynamically generated.

I'm creating my array using this method:

public static int[,] Alignment (int[] x, int[] y)
{

    // initiate matrix to be filled
    int[,] matrix = new int[x.Length,y.Length];

    // fill first row to zeros
    for (int i = 0; i < x.Length; i++)
    {
        matrix[i,0] = 0;
    }

    // fill first column to zeros
    for (int j = 0; j < y.Length; j++)
    {
        matrix[0,j] = 0;
    }

    DumpMultiDArray(matrix);
    return matrix;
}

and I'm trying to dump the array before returning it...

public static void DumpMultiDArray (int[,] MDArray)
{
    for (int i = 0; i < MDArray.GetLength(1); i++)
    // GetLength(1) can't seem to be found
}

easier to turn on the debugger and inspect it....otherwise it shouldn't be too hard to write a little function that loops over the variables and prints them in a nice grid. — mpen, Nov 02 '11 at 02:02
Clearly I'm new to C# and don't know how to turn on the debugger :/ I think my problem may lay more in the fact that I don't know how to retrieve the length of the columns or rows through a method as "GetLength(1)" and "GetLength(0)" can't seem to be found. I will update my question accordingly. — bafromca, Nov 02 '11 at 02:10
I've never really worked with multidimensional arrays in C# (just jagged ones), they're pretty specific to C#, but... I managed to write an example for you in about a minute..see below. — mpen, Nov 02 '11 at 02:34

mpen · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-02T02:45:53.740

using System;

namespace DumpMatrix
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {

            var matrix = new int[10, 15];
            var rand = new Random();

            for(int m=0; m<matrix.GetLength(0); ++m)
            {
                for(int n=0; n<matrix.GetLength(1); ++n)
                {
                    matrix[m, n] = rand.Next(100);
                }
            }

            for (int m = 0; m < matrix.GetLength(0); ++m)
            {
                for (int n = 0; n < matrix.GetLength(1); ++n)
                {
                    Console.Write("{0,3} ", matrix[m, n]);
                }
                Console.WriteLine();
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Outputs:

 59  94  90  99  74  42  86  11  91  36  77  47  33  64  82
  2  27   7  57  92  16  19  63  21   4  50  46  89  47  22
 40  22  16  87  30  53  50  79   6  66  59  27  54  73  29
 95  48   9  89   5  39  37  41  60   7  40  31  69  95  23
 95  96  63  68  96  55  31  46  34  28  52  47   1  90  32
 89  64  89  92   8   1  36   0  42  83   3  80  55  79  90
 22  80  84  82  71  62  63  85  77  73  64   2  75  60  52
 91  35  50  27  18  75  41  77  86  21  58  96  21  84  92
 74  75  66  44   6  71  63  19  19  70  25  78  12  18  44
 98  61  40  89  92  67  29  27  61  14  81   3  97  60  12

In Visual Studio, you can click in the gutter and then run your program in debug mode:

Thank you for your help. I appreciate the note about debugging in Visual Basic too. Thank you for taking the time to help a C# newb out! As an aside, could you have merged your two for loops together, or did you separate them for visual clarity? — bafromca, Nov 02 '11 at 05:01
@BrettAlton: For visual clarity. I assume you're filling the array in one place, and printing it somewhere else. We could have forgone the whole matrix if all we wanted to print was some random numbers :D — mpen, Nov 02 '11 at 05:31

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 02 '11 at 02:32

0

I think this is what you're looking for.

int[][] array = {{0, 1, 2, 3}, {4, 5, 6, 7}};

for(int i = 0; i < array.length; i++)
{
    for(int j = 0; j < array[i].length; j++)
    {
        Console.Write(String.Format("{0} ", array[i][j]));
    }
    Console.WriteLine("");
}</code>

answered Nov 02 '11 at 02:32

bdeetz

185
1
1
13

1

that's a jagged array, not a multi-dimensional array. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/597720/what-is-differences-between-multidimensional-array-and-array-of-arrays-in-c – mpen Nov 02 '11 at 02:39
@Mark Very interesting, thanks. I was trained in the world of Java where what I proposed was considered multi-dimensional. Now I know of a new way to use an array in C#. Thanks. – bdeetz Nov 02 '11 at 05:11
yeah...I would have called it a multi-dimensional array too :) but apparently it's something slightly different in C#. – mpen Nov 02 '11 at 05:30

Dump multidimensional array

2 Answers2