C#•14mo ago

❔ C# Arrays/Switch case help

Hi guys, I was just wondering if anybody here would be willing to potentially message me or hop in a voice call if they know a solution to my issue. The issue is as follows: Basically, I currently have a menu system that asks the user for an input, I then have a 2D array consisting of information that will be displayed depending on the user's input, However, I am currently using a switch case like case "1" do this, case "2" do that, and this approach is for 8 different scenarios and thus is around 160lines long of just repeated console.writeline jargon. Since the user input is equal to one of the elements of the array, I was wondering if there was a shorter way of writing this so that my code would detect the user input, match that to its corresponding element in the array, and then print every element of said array. If anybody could think of a solution and help me I would seriously appreciate it.

164 Replies

mtreit•14mo ago

I think if you provide a small minimal code sample that illustrates what you are currently doing it will be easier for people to suggest a better way, if one exists.

sebtOP•14mo ago

and then it just goes on like that for every planet name when it is inputted,

mtreit•14mo ago

Use $code to share code samples, those screenshots are pain

MODiX•14mo ago

To post C# code type the following: ```cs // code here ``` Get an example by typing $codegif in chat For longer snippets, use: https://paste.mod.gg/

sebtOP•14mo ago

$code

MODiX•14mo ago

To post C# code type the following: ```cs // code here ``` Get an example by typing $codegif in chat For longer snippets, use: https://paste.mod.gg/

sebtOP•14mo ago

ok shall i send my whole code there isnt much more really or do u want the same snippets from the ss

mtreit•14mo ago

When you have repeated code like that that only changes slightly, you should turn it into a function (method) so you can re-use it. Sure, send the entire code I'm not sure a 2D array is a very good choice of data structure.

sebtOP•14mo ago

cs

cs

message.txt

sebtOP•14mo ago

oh how come what do u suggest

mtreit•14mo ago

Use $paste

MODiX•14mo ago

If your code is too long, you can post to https://paste.mod.gg/ and copy the link into chat for others to see your shared code!

sebtOP•14mo ago

https://paste.mod.gg/sragjyveqzdp/0

BlazeBin - sragjyveqzdp

A tool for sharing your source code with the world!

mtreit•14mo ago

Hard coding array indexes like that is a very fragile way to approach things.

sebtOP•14mo ago

hmm how else do u reckon i should store that info then? but i cant read or write to a file btw so storing it in a file isnt an option

Pobiega•14mo ago

You seem to know how to create classes. Have you considered making a class that holds planetary data, then instantiating that class once per planet?

sebtOP•14mo ago

so like make an entirely seperate class just for the planetary data and then depending on user input, displaying the corresponding section of that class that will show the right data?

mtreit•14mo ago

You can use a dictionary to lookup the planet based on the user input

record Planet(string Name, double Mass, int Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

record Planet(string Name, double Mass, int Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

        Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>
        {
            { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0) },
            { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)}
            // etc.
        };

        Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>
        {
            { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0) },
            { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)}
            // etc.
        };

sebtOP•14mo ago

i see

mtreit•14mo ago

(You could also just use strings if it suits your purpose rather than actual types, but in a real world application where you are representing something like the mass of a planet you should probably use numeric types so you can do comparisons and calculations.)

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah i want them to be the 'correct' data type

Pobiega•14mo ago

Well, see if you can implement mtreits suggestion then if you get stuck, tell us where and how

sebtOP•14mo ago

i have never used dictionaries before so this will be good practice then

Pobiega•14mo ago

yep! its a lookup table, one key for one value

mtreit•14mo ago

Also in a real world application you would probably have a Moon type and then instead of NumberOfMoons the planet would have a List of Moon objects with things like the mass of the moon, etc., although that's perhaps going too far down the rabbit hole for this particular program / assignment.

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah but the problem with that was some planets have like 40 moons so its a lot of data so i chose to do number

Pobiega•14mo ago

40? rookie numbers 😄

sebtOP•14mo ago

and then if user queries data i would display some of the more promeneint moons i suppoes haha

Pobiega•14mo ago

Jupiter has a varying number of moons, iirc between 90 and 104 or something

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah something like that ok guys thanks for the advice, i will try change the program now and use a dictionary to see how this makes things

mtreit•14mo ago

Also, functions are your friend!

sebtOP•14mo ago

just to check, is PlanetInfo() an example of a function or is that a method

mtreit•14mo ago

For instance, in your original example:

Console.WriteLine(planetArray[0, arrayNumber]);

Console.WriteLine(planetArray[0, arrayNumber]);

This is opaque (not immediately clear what it's doing) and repeated many times, so a better approach would have been to write a small helper function:

void PrintHeader()
{
    Console.WriteLine("Planet Name:", "Planetary Mass:", "Distance from sun:", "No. Moons");
}

void PrintHeader()
{
    Console.WriteLine("Planet Name:", "Planetary Mass:", "Distance from sun:", "No. Moons");
}

Functions and methods are the same thing in C#

sebtOP•14mo ago

ah ok

mtreit•14mo ago

Function is just the more general programming term.

sebtOP•14mo ago

gotcha

mtreit•14mo ago

Method is basically a function associated with an object and/or type.

sebtOP•14mo ago

so here are u saying i should make a helper function that will output the header above each piece of data, rather than using the Console.WriteLine(planetArray[0, arrayNumber]); idea

mtreit•14mo ago

Yes, then when you see this in the code:

PrintHeader();

PrintHeader();

...it's more clear what that line of code is doing. In this case you're only saving a single line of code but in fact your could use the same technique for other places where you are doing the same thing repeatedly.

sebtOP•14mo ago

nice thank you i will implement that

mtreit•14mo ago

@sebt for the sake of argument let's say you wanted to keep your original 2D array implementation. Consider how much easier something like this would be to read than your original code...

public static string DisplayPlanetInfo(string input)
{
    switch (input)
    {
        case "mercury":
            PrintPlanetInfo(1);
            break;
        case "venus":
            PrintPlanetInfo(2);
            break;
        case "earth":
            PrintPlanetInfo(3);
            break;
        case "mars":
            PrintPlanetInfo(4);
            break;
        case "jupiter":
            PrintPlanetInfo(5);
            break;
        case "saturn":
            PrintPlanetInfo(6);
            break;
        case "uranus":
            PrintPlanetInfo(7);
            break;
        case "neptune":
            PrintPlanetInfo(8);
            break;
        default:
            Console.WriteLine($"Sorry, I don't recognize the planet '{input}'.");
            break;
    }

    return input;
}

public static string DisplayPlanetInfo(string input)
{
    switch (input)
    {
        case "mercury":
            PrintPlanetInfo(1);
            break;
        case "venus":
            PrintPlanetInfo(2);
            break;
        case "earth":
            PrintPlanetInfo(3);
            break;
        case "mars":
            PrintPlanetInfo(4);
            break;
        case "jupiter":
            PrintPlanetInfo(5);
            break;
        case "saturn":
            PrintPlanetInfo(6);
            break;
        case "uranus":
            PrintPlanetInfo(7);
            break;
        case "neptune":
            PrintPlanetInfo(8);
            break;
        default:
            Console.WriteLine($"Sorry, I don't recognize the planet '{input}'.");
            break;
    }

    return input;
}

That's where encapsulating code into methods starts to help...

sebtOP•14mo ago

what is the deal with the $ sign in the default consolewriteline i see it a lot but dont know what it actually does

Angius•14mo ago

$interpolation

MODiX•14mo ago

String interpolation is the preferred way of building strings in C#. It is easier to read than concatenation. For example:

var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;
Console.WriteLine("foo is equal to: " + foo + " and bar is equal to: " + bar);

var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;
Console.WriteLine("foo is equal to: " + foo + " and bar is equal to: " + bar);

can be written as:

var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;
Console.WriteLine($"foo is equal to: {foo} and bar is equal to: {bar}");

var foo = 1;
var bar = 2;
Console.WriteLine($"foo is equal to: {foo} and bar is equal to: {bar}");

sebtOP•14mo ago

thank you haha so when the $ sign is htere it lets the code know that some interpolation is gonna go down

mtreit•14mo ago

Technically you can put the $ and not include anything to actually interpolate, in which case it's sort of pointless but it's technically allowed.

sebtOP•14mo ago

but you cant interpolate without the $ right>

mtreit•14mo ago

Correct

sebtOP•14mo ago

nice

mtreit•14mo ago

The $ tells the compiler to do the string interpolation, just in case it's not clear.

sebtOP•14mo ago

yhyh ive just tried implementing a helper function along with a switch case whilst still using the 2d array idea i think im just gonna go with dictionaries lool

mtreit•14mo ago

I use dictionaries constantly. I've never used a 2D array at work.

sebtOP•14mo ago

oh damn

mtreit•14mo ago

I guess they are helpful if you are representing things like a matrix or a grid for a game or something but the kind of work I do doesn't involve that kind of thing. I think the first time I used a 2D array was last year during AdventOfCode.

nohopestage•14mo ago

Why not create a Planet class?

sebtOP•14mo ago

well i had actually only used 1d arrays so i wanted to try with 2d arrays for this application what do u mean create a planet class to hold all information?

mtreit•14mo ago

That's what I showed earlier... https://discord.com/channels/143867839282020352/1167601239308120175/1167605303102148689

MODiX•14mo ago

mtreit

record Planet(string Name, double Mass, int Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

record Planet(string Name, double Mass, int Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

Quoted by

<@406536255426396160> from #C# Arrays/Switch case help (click here)

React with ❌ to remove this embed.

sebtOP•14mo ago

what is record ive never seen it before

mtreit•14mo ago

(records are just classes but with some stuff auto-implemented for you.)

sebtOP•14mo ago

oh haha

mtreit•14mo ago

If you have types that just hold data, records are nice and succinct.

nohopestage•14mo ago

True, I often forget they exist as I'm used to classes

sebtOP•14mo ago

ok i will use record then for this

mtreit•14mo ago

You can see here what the record syntactic sugar actually gets expanded to by the compiler: https://sharplab.io/#v2:D4AQTAjAsAULBOBTAxge3gEwAQAUA2AhgHaIAuAFCBAAxYByBAtogDRYaoCuARnolgFkCAZ2FsAlkVJYAIuOGliyVlknS6nRt0TwA8gDMBqVEWEBKANxA===

SharpLab

C#/VB/F# compiler playground.

sebtOP•14mo ago

i have no idea what im looking ath haha ahh so with record i have the things like no. moons, planet name, mass etc all defined already with the correct data types so when it comes to implementing in the dictionary it already knows what data type each thing is and what it actually represents and thats also why its better to use dictionaries than arrays dictionaries are cool bro

Angius•14mo ago

Well, you can have an array of planets as well

mtreit•14mo ago

Dictionaries give you a nice way to fetch a given record by some key.

sebtOP•14mo ago

so much nicer

Angius•14mo ago

Planet[]

sebtOP•14mo ago

but dictionaries make retreiving data nicer than arrays it seems

Angius•14mo ago

In some cases, yes

sebtOP•14mo ago

in this case i mean

Angius•14mo ago

Dictionaries can have (mostly) anything be the key So, yes You can get allPlanets["jupiter"] for example While with an array you would have to somehow remember, or print it to the user, that Jupiter is stored at index 7 or so Unless... you were to use LINQ allPlanets.Where(planet => planet.Name == "jupiter").Single() for example

sebtOP•14mo ago

what is LInq

mtreit•14mo ago

sebtOP•14mo ago

I See it mentioned a lot did i just commit a sin by asking that

nohopestage•14mo ago

Could also just have a Single with a predicate I believe

mtreit•14mo ago

No, @ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ commited a sin by writing that code.

sebtOP•14mo ago

oh ok

Angius•14mo ago

Right, true. My EF habits are showing lol, I like the condition to always be first

mtreit•14mo ago

(linear search to look things up in a list or array is very slow compared to using a dictionary, which has constant time lookup) LINQ has it's uses but using it to look things up in a list is generally not one of it's better use cases.

sebtOP•14mo ago

ok im gonna pretend it doesnt exist then for now

mtreit•14mo ago

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah but the difference is minimal no? nano seconds!

mtreit•14mo ago

If you call 4,000 times slower minimal

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah thats true but if u had them both side by side i dont think i could honestly tell if its in nanoseconds

mtreit•14mo ago

500 million nanoseconds is half a second

sebtOP•14mo ago

yo im just making this dictionary now and for some of the planets the distance is billion rather than million km away and im getting an error saying cannot convert from long to int shall i change distance from int to long then

mtreit•14mo ago

int is limited to 2^32 or a little over 4 billion. If you need numbers larger than that, you want a 64-bit integer instead of a 32-bit integer. (long is the C# name for a 64-bit integer.)

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah

Angius•14mo ago

Could always try using an uint

sebtOP•14mo ago

ive never had to use such big numbers before thats why i was unfamilar with it but yeah im gonna use long rather than int because i need to

Angius•14mo ago

But, yeah, long will probably be safer

mtreit•14mo ago

That's still limited to 4 billion (int is actually limited to 2 billion since it's signed.)

sebtOP•14mo ago

really my value is > 4 bil and im not getting an error

Angius•14mo ago

long it is

MODiX•14mo ago

Angius

REPL Result: Success

new {
    @int = int.MaxValue,
    @uint = uint.MaxValue,
    @long = long.MaxValue,
    @ulong = ulong.MaxValue,
}

new {
    @int = int.MaxValue,
    @uint = uint.MaxValue,
    @long = long.MaxValue,
    @ulong = ulong.MaxValue,
}

Result: <>f__AnonymousType0#1<int, uint, long, ulong>

{
  "int": 2147483647,
  "uint": 4294967295,
  "long": 9223372036854775807,
  "ulong": 18446744073709551615
}

{
  "int": 2147483647,
  "uint": 4294967295,
  "long": 9223372036854775807,
  "ulong": 18446744073709551615
}

Compile: 499.957ms | Execution: 119.831ms | React with ❌ to remove this embed.

sebtOP•14mo ago

wow ah i see wow ulong is huge

mtreit•14mo ago

18 quintillion...

sebtOP•14mo ago

hmm i made a dictionary and put it within a record

 record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons)
 {
      Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>
      {
         { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0)},
         { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)},
         { "earth", new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)},
         { "mars", new Planet("Mars", 6.4171 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 235_610_000, 2)},
         { "jupiter", new Planet("Jupiter", 1.8982 * Math.Pow(10, 27), 743_830_000, 95)},
         { "saturn", new Planet("Saturn", 5.6834 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 1_458_000_000, 146)},
         { "uranus", new Planet("Uranus", 8.6810 * Math.Pow(10, 25), 2_934_600_000, 27)},
         { "neptune", new Planet("Neptune", 1.0241 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 4_472_700_000, 14)},
      };        
 }

 record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons)
 {
      Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>
      {
         { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0)},
         { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)},
         { "earth", new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)},
         { "mars", new Planet("Mars", 6.4171 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 235_610_000, 2)},
         { "jupiter", new Planet("Jupiter", 1.8982 * Math.Pow(10, 27), 743_830_000, 95)},
         { "saturn", new Planet("Saturn", 5.6834 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 1_458_000_000, 146)},
         { "uranus", new Planet("Uranus", 8.6810 * Math.Pow(10, 25), 2_934_600_000, 27)},
         { "neptune", new Planet("Neptune", 1.0241 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 4_472_700_000, 14)},
      };        
 }

but i dont know how to access elements of it based upon userinput

mtreit•14mo ago

Don't put the dictionary inside the record

sebtOP•14mo ago

is that because i will have trouble accessing it

Angius•14mo ago

That And because there's no reason to do that

mtreit•14mo ago

Well, no, but...you're creating a copy of that dictionary inside every planet.

Angius•14mo ago

And because you create a cyclical dependency

mtreit•14mo ago

That's just wasting memory

sebtOP•14mo ago

ah ok whats the point of the record then is that where i should put a method for accesing the elements within the dictionary?

Angius•14mo ago

No The point is to group up all the properties of the planet It's the basis of any object-oriented programming language Objects

sebtOP•14mo ago

hmm ok so where do u think is best to store the dictionary

mtreit•14mo ago

In programming you have data and code that operates on data. Records (classes) are how you define data in a structured way. You can just make the dictionary a static field of your class like you did with the array you were using previously.

sebtOP•14mo ago

ah ok

mtreit•14mo ago

Or put it in it's own class... Lots of ways to organize things.

sebtOP•14mo ago

i think i prefer to put it in its own class yeah thats ive done i put the dictionary in its own class so now how do i access elements from the dictionary in a way that uses less lines of code than before when i incorporated the array? and display to the user

Angius•14mo ago

theDictionary[key]

sebtOP•14mo ago

i cant access it

Angius•14mo ago

Why?

sebtOP•14mo ago

so lets say i just try output it with a console write lien when i type the name of the dictionary which is planetInfo it says not defined in current context

Angius•14mo ago

Well... is it defined in the current context? $scopes

MODiX•14mo ago

scope A {
  thing a;
  scope B {
    thing b;
  }
}

scope A {
  thing a;
  scope B {
    thing b;
  }
}

thing a is available in scope A and scope B thing b is available only in scope B

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah i think so i cant see why it is having problems accessing it

mtreit•14mo ago

@sebt show your latest code

sebtOP•14mo ago

ok but ofc it is very wip

mtreit•14mo ago

You probably didn't make it public or something.

sebtOP•14mo ago

https://paste.mod.gg/dumealmqqfkb/0

BlazeBin - dumealmqqfkb

A tool for sharing your source code with the world!

mtreit•14mo ago

  public class PlanetData
    {
        Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>

  public class PlanetData
    {
        Dictionary<string, Planet> planetInfo = new Dictionary<string, Planet>

Yeah the planetInfo field is not public. Also, you should make it a property not a field.

sebtOP•14mo ago

how do i do that also i tried making public but vs said its 'inconsistent accessibility' and gave an error

mtreit•14mo ago

    public record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

    internal static class PlanetData
    {
        public static Dictionary<string, Planet> PlanetInfo => new Dictionary<string, Planet>
         {
            { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0)},
            { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)},
            { "earth", new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)},
            { "mars", new Planet("Mars", 6.4171 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 235_610_000, 2)},
            { "jupiter", new Planet("Jupiter", 1.8982 * Math.Pow(10, 27), 743_830_000, 95)},
            { "saturn", new Planet("Saturn", 5.6834 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 1_458_000_000, 146)},
            { "uranus", new Planet("Uranus", 8.6810 * Math.Pow(10, 25), 2_934_600_000, 27)},
            { "neptune", new Planet("Neptune", 1.0241 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 4_472_700_000, 14)},
         };
    }

    public record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons);

    internal static class PlanetData
    {
        public static Dictionary<string, Planet> PlanetInfo => new Dictionary<string, Planet>
         {
            { "mercury", new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0)},
            { "venus", new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0)},
            { "earth", new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)},
            { "mars", new Planet("Mars", 6.4171 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 235_610_000, 2)},
            { "jupiter", new Planet("Jupiter", 1.8982 * Math.Pow(10, 27), 743_830_000, 95)},
            { "saturn", new Planet("Saturn", 5.6834 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 1_458_000_000, 146)},
            { "uranus", new Planet("Uranus", 8.6810 * Math.Pow(10, 25), 2_934_600_000, 27)},
            { "neptune", new Planet("Neptune", 1.0241 * Math.Pow(10, 26), 4_472_700_000, 14)},
         };
    }

Something like that Inconsistent accessibility is because your Planet record is private. Make it public or internal Basically you can't return a private class from a public member

sebtOP•14mo ago

ahh i gotcha and it references planet ofc so it had to also be public

mtreit•14mo ago

Yeah

Angius•14mo ago

Also, protip, dictionary has an alternative syntax you might find cleaner:

new Dictionary<string, Planet> 
{
    ["mercury"] = new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0),
    ["venus"] = new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0),
    ["earth"] = new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)
    // ...
};

new Dictionary<string, Planet> 
{
    ["mercury"] = new Planet("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0),
    ["venus"] = new Planet("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0),
    ["earth"] = new Planet("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)
    // ...
};

And/or you can use a target-type new to not have to repeat new Planet everywhere

new Dictionary<string, Planet> 
{
    ["mercury"] = new("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0),
    ["venus"] = new("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0),
    ["earth"] = new("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)
    // ...
};

new Dictionary<string, Planet> 
{
    ["mercury"] = new("Mercury", 3.3011 * Math.Pow(10, 23), 67_310_000, 0),
    ["venus"] = new("Venus", 4.8675 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 107_770_000, 0),
    ["earth"] = new("Earth", 5.972 * Math.Pow(10, 24), 148_720_000, 1)
    // ...
};

sebtOP•14mo ago

hmm ok i see and when i print a line from dictionary is there a way to get rid of the curly braces and make it a bit neater to the user i suppose

mtreit•14mo ago

I would probably rename the dictionary to just Planets, so you do PlanetData.Planets, a bit less redundant. So, that's what using record does, it implements ToString for you. If you want a different string representation, you can override ToString yourself.

Angius•14mo ago

Or manually interpolate the properties of the record

sebtOP•14mo ago

so how do i put the record into action right now im just doing console.writeline(PlanetData.PlanetInfo["mercury"]);

Angius•14mo ago

$"Planet {planet.Name} has radius of {planet.Radius} and {planet.Moons} moons."

$"Planet {planet.Name} has radius of {planet.Radius} and {planet.Moons} moons."

With a var planet = PlanetData.PlanetInfo["mercury"] beforehand

mtreit•14mo ago

    public record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons)
    {
        public override string ToString()
        {
            // Change this to whatever you like...
            return $"Name: {Name}, Mass: {Mass}, Distance: {Distance}, Number of moons: {NumberOfMoons}";
        }
    }

    public record Planet(string Name, double Mass, long Distance, int NumberOfMoons)
    {
        public override string ToString()
        {
            // Change this to whatever you like...
            return $"Name: {Name}, Mass: {Mass}, Distance: {Distance}, Number of moons: {NumberOfMoons}";
        }
    }

Example of overriding ToString

Angius•14mo ago

Or like that, yeah

sebtOP•14mo ago

ahh nice man im learning so much thanks u guys so once i have overriden it does that mean whenever i output something from that dictionary with a name mass distance and no.moons the code knows to output it exactly as i have told it do

MODiX•14mo ago

Angius

REPL Result: Success

record Foo() {
    public override string ToString() => "Oogabooga!";
}

var f = new Foo();
Console.WriteLine(f);

record Foo() {
    public override string ToString() => "Oogabooga!";
}

var f = new Foo();
Console.WriteLine(f);

Console Output

Oogabooga!

Oogabooga!

Compile: 697.149ms | Execution: 72.227ms | React with ❌ to remove this embed.

sebtOP•14mo ago

whats the deal with the variable f

Angius•14mo ago

It's just a variable

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah but why put it into a variable then output that

Angius•14mo ago

I mean, sure, I can just not

MODiX•14mo ago

Angius

REPL Result: Success

record Foo() {
    public override string ToString() => "Oogabooga!";
}

Console.WriteLine(new Foo());

record Foo() {
    public override string ToString() => "Oogabooga!";
}

Console.WriteLine(new Foo());

Console Output

Oogabooga!

Oogabooga!

Compile: 677.522ms | Execution: 110.834ms | React with ❌ to remove this embed.

Angius•14mo ago

That also works

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah i dont see the point of making a new variable when u can just output it directly and its the desired outcome but i suppose it can be easier to read

mtreit•14mo ago

It often helps with debugging

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah this is weird tho to me because i dont even mention the record but when i do Console.WriteLine(PlanetData.PlanetInfo["mercury"]); it is in the layout that is specified in the record automatically

Angius•14mo ago

The one specified in ToString() override? Well, yeah PlanetInfo is a dictionary of <string, Planet> When you get an item out of it, that item will be of type Planet

sebtOP•14mo ago

ahh i see

Angius•14mo ago

Planet has a ToString() override And it will be used to... convert it to a string

sebtOP•14mo ago

so if i put the method outside of the planet record then it wouldnt automatically convert it right?

Angius•14mo ago

Correct

sebtOP•14mo ago

ok cool

Angius•14mo ago

See that override?

sebtOP•14mo ago

Angius•14mo ago

The base object class has a ToString() method already And record overrides that And you override... that

mtreit•14mo ago

Console.WriteLine calls ToString() on what you pass to it, to get what to print.

Angius•14mo ago

So if you were to override the ToString method of another class, it would only work for that class

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah so its about the placement and what is actually being affected by the override

Angius•14mo ago

It's about classes having methods And records having methods And structs having methods... It's how OOP works

sebtOP•14mo ago

yeah well thanks guys its almost 3am for me so im gonna stop coding now but i appreciate the help i have learnt a lot

Accord•13mo ago

Was this issue resolved? If so, run /close - otherwise I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.

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