Question

quick question here. I’m wondering how to create a 2D vector from user input. For a project, I am storing my “board” as a 2D vector, and the user will enter the height and width of it, as well as perhaps the starting configuration.

If my board is stored as:

vector<vector<int> > myBoard( width, vector<int> (height) ); 
//Not sure how to get width and height from input...

I will need to initialize it to the given parameters and (if the user supplies the information), fill in the board with pieces. The user will input all this information on 1 line, via 1 cin. So like this…

Please type the board config: 3 3

or

Please type the board config: 3 3 . . . . . . X . O

or

Please type the board config: 3 3 ABFDFL($%$

With the last one being an example of bad input. The first example would create a 2D vector, 3 by 3. The second would create a 2D vector, 3 by 3, and fill in the board with the position given. In this case, “.” is a 0, “X” is a 1, and “O” will be a -1. That’s the part I’m having the most trouble with. I could store it to a string, but it seems that going through and parsing it would be a pain in the butt…

Answer 1

I would try to infer the dimensions from the user input.

An example session:

A board consists of characters ., X or O.
An example board:
.XO
...
X..

Enter the board, end with two Returns:
.....
..XO.
.XXX.
OOOOO
.....

Then you would scan the first row to find the width, check each row for valid characters and the same width, and count the rows to find the height.