Question

I need a multidimensional data structure with a row and a column.

• Must be able to insert elements any location in the data structure. Example: {A , B} I want to insert C in between A and B. {A, C, B}.
• Dynamic: I do not know the size of the data structure.
• Another example: I know the [row][col] of where I want to insert the element. EX. insert("A", 1, 5), where A is the element to be inserted, 1 is the row, 5 is the column.

EDIT
I want to be able to insert like this.

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Program p = new Program();
        List<List<string()>> list = new List<List<string>()>();
        list.Insert("RAWR", 1, 2); // RAWR is the element to insert, 1 is the row, 2 is the col.
        list.Insert("Hello", 3, 5);
        for (int i = 0; i < list.Count; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(list[i]);
        }
        Console.ReadKey();
    }

And of course this does not work, because the list does not support this functionality. I understand this code is bad, but I just want to get across what I am trying to accomplish.

So in a sense I will have a user who will choose which ROW and COL to insert the element to.

Answer 1

I think a list of lists should work fine:

IList<IList<T>> multiDim = new List<IList<T>>();

You can insert new rows like this:

multiDim.Insert(atRow, new List<T>());

or insert a new element in a specific row:

multiDim[row].Insert(atColumn, myElement);

Note that you need to have enough elements in your list in order to call an Insert; otherwise, you will get an out-of-range exception. The easiest way to address this is to write a small utility method that adds empty items until the insertion is possible:

private static Expand<T>(IList<T> list, int index) {
    while (list.Count < index) {
        list.Add(default(T));
    }
}

Rewrite your program as follows:

Expand(list, 1);
list.Insert(1, "HELLO");
Expand(list, 5);
list.Insert(5, "RAWR");