Two Dimensional Array C#

Question

I will get the input from the user like this - "99211,99212,99213_1,99214,99215_3" and I store it in a string as

string cpt = "99211,99212,99213_1,99214,99215_3";
cptarray = cpt.Split(',');

I got the output as

cptarray[0] = "99211"
cptarray[1] = "99212"
cptarray[2] = "99213_1"
cptarray[3] = "99214"
cptarray[4] = "99215_3"

But I would like the output to be:

cptarray[0][0] = "99211",""
cptarray[1][0] = "99212",""
cptarray[2][0] = "99213","1"
cptarray[3][0] = "99214",""
cptarray[4][0] = "99215","3"

If I need to get the output like above then can I use the 2D array, is it the correct approach?

• Mate: Maybe you could use a Dictionary<long, int> or Dictionary<string, string>
• John Alexiou: What you show is not a 2D array, but a jagged array (an array of arrays).

Answer 1

According to the syntax provided:

 cptarray[0][0]
 ...
 cptarray[4][0]

you want a jagged array, not 2D one; you can construct this array with a help of Linq:

 var cptarray = cpt
 .Split(',')
 .Select(number => number.Split('_'))
 .Select(items => items.Length == 1 ? new string[] {items[0], ""} : items)
 .ToArray();

Test

string test = string.Join(Environment.NewLine, cptarray
 .Select((line, index) => string.Format("cptarray[{0}] = {1}", 
 index,
 string.Join(", ", line.Select(item => "\"" + item + "\"")))));
Console.Write(test);

Output

 cptarray[0] = "99211", ""
 cptarray[1] = "99212", ""
 cptarray[2] = "99213", "1"
 cptarray[3] = "99214", ""
 cptarray[4] = "99215", "3"

• Arun: this line shows syntax error - string test = string.Join(Environment.NewLine, cptarray .Select((line, index) => $"cptarray[{index}] = {string.Join(", ", line.Select(item => "\"" + item + "\""))}"))
• Dmitrii Bychenko: @Aruna: do you use C# 6.0? $"..." is a string interpolation which appears in C# 6.0
• Dmitrii Bychenko: @Aruna: I've changed string interpolation for string formatting in the test (see my edit)