Replacing specific values in a string array

Question

my goal for this program is to create a grid where a user navigates through it. I have so far created the grid but I am stuck on how to have it so that at any location of the array string[3,6] i can replace one of the "-" with the player symbol "P" and that every time the player moves the console will print the location of the player.

EG. i want player to start at string[2,5], the the "-" would be replaced with a "P", and that after the player moves the "-" at [2,5] returns.

But my primary focus is to find out how to replace any point of the array with the player.

Hopefully it is clear

string[,] table = new string[3,6] { {"-","-","-","-","-","-"},
 {"-","-","-","-","-","-"},
 {"-","-","-","-","-","-"}}; 
int rows = grid.GetLength(0);
 int col = grid.GetLength(0);
 for (int x = 0; x < rows; x++) 
 {
 for (int y = 0; y < col; y++) 
 {
 Console.Write ("{0} ", grid [x, y]);
 }
 Console.Write (Environment.NewLine + Environment.NewLine);
 }

i have tried using .Replace but have had no success so far

Answer 1

I'd do something like this:

private static int playerX, playerY;
public static void MovePlayer(int x, int y)
{
 table[playerX, playerY] = "-"; //Remove old position
 table[x, y] = "P"; //Update new position
 playerX = x; //Save current position
 playerY = y;
 UpdateGrid();
}

All you have to do is set the element to "P" to change it, nothing fancy.

To update your grid you have two options, to either re-draw everything, or to set the cursor position and change the character.

Example:

SetCursorPosition(playerX, playerY);
Console.Write("-");
SetCursorPosition(x, y);
Console.Write("P");

Or, use the code you have now to call it again to re-write everything.

• Parti: HNGG thank you very much for your answer, it looks pretty simple but i was straining my brain with this problem but it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction when it worked haha. hi5 lol

Answer 2

A different approach would be to draw your player at the correct position by using Console.SetCursorPosition() - see my blog post for an example.

Answer 3

As an alternative you could drop the grid altogether:

Point playerLocation = new Point(10, 10);
Size boundary = new Size(20, 20);
void Draw()
{
 for (int y = 0; y < boundary.Height; y++)
 for (int x = 0; x <= boundary.Width; x++)
 Console.Write(GetSymbolAtPosition(x, y));
}
string GetSymbolAtPosition(int x, int y)
{
 if (x >= boundary.Width)
 return Environment.NewLine;
 if (y == playerLocation.Y && x == playerLocation.X)
 return "P";
 return "-";
}

This way you won't have to update the grid in order to update the screen. When you change the player's position it will update the screen on next draw.