CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#arrayswinformschar
haomakk
haomakk

Reputation: 3

Case statement only reaching default when trying to return a new value to a char[] array

I am programming a hangman game for a school assignment, and my plan was to create an empty array with a set length for each difficulty and randomly assign a word of that length to them.

I've been having trouble with this function for a while, and I've already made a lot of workarounds (like default: return defaultReturn;)

char[] defaultReturn = { 'E', 'R', 'R', 'O', 'R' };

char[] difficulty1 = new char[4];
char[] difficulty2 = new char[5];
char[] difficulty3 = new char[6];
char[] difficulty4 = new char[7];
char[] difficulty5 = new char[10];
char[] difficulty6 = new char[18];

public char[] RndWord(int difficulty)
        {
            Random rnd = new Random();
            int rndSelect = rnd.Next(5);
            
            switch(difficulty)
            {
                case 1:
                    switch(rndSelect)
                    {
                        case 0:
                            {
                                char[] difficulty1 = { 'C', 'A', 'S', 'A' };
                                return difficulty1;
                            }

                        case 1:
                            {
                                char[] difficulty1 = { 'S', 'A', 'G', 'A' };
                                return difficulty1;
                            }

                        case 2:
                            {
                                char[] difficulty1 = { 'T', 'E', 'S', 'E' };
                                return difficulty1;
                            }

                        case 3:
                            {
                                char[] difficulty1 = { 'V', 'I', 'D', 'A' };
                                return difficulty1;
                            }

                        case 4:
                            {
                                char[] difficulty1 = { 'G', 'U', 'M', 'E' };
                                return difficulty1;
                            }
                        default:
                            return defaultReturn;
                    }

                case 2:
                    switch (rndSelect)...

                case 3:
                    switch(rndSelect)... 

                case 4:
                    switch(rndSelect)...                    

                case 5:
                    switch(rndSelect)...
                    
                case 6:
                    switch (rndSelect)...

                default:
                    return defaultReturn;
            }

        }

I'm calling the function when you press a certain button, that updates the word you are currently trying to guess.

private void btnDif_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            switch(numDif.Value)
            {
                case 1:
                    RndWord(1);
                    lblWord.Text = String.Format("{0} {1} {2} {3}",
                                      difficulty1[0], difficulty1[1],
                                      difficulty1[2], difficulty1[3]);
                    break;
                
                // other cases...
            }

Now, the problem is that the method never reaches any case except for default (Edit: I've tested it, and it reaches both default cases). I don't know if the problem is with the random number generation, the second case statement, the array, or something else entirely.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 56

Answers (1)

McAden
McAden

Reputation: 13972

As this is homework I'm not going to solve the problem for you but I will tell you what you're doing wrong. I'm seeing 2 major issues.

The first issue here is one of scope.

As a member variable, you're creating difficulty1. Then farther down inside your switch statement, you're creating a new one. That's the crux of the issue. You are declaring and setting and entirely new variable with the same name.

char[] difficulty1 = { 'C', 'A', 'S', 'A' }; // the char[] at the beginning here denotes a declaration.
return difficulty1; // you're returning the local difficulty1, not the member variable

You then return it, but at the point you're calling that function you're throwing away the return value.

RndWord(1);

Calling it, but not setting the return into anything. Thus, you never actually have access to { 'C', 'A', 'S', 'A' }.

The second issue here is hitting the default value

However, this issue isn't obvious. You'll need to do what's called "debugging". Add a breakpoint to your code and use F10/F11 to "step" through your program line-by-line.

My guess would be that numDif.Value isn't what you think it is. However, you'll need to step through the program by debugging to figure out what it actually is.

I highly encourage you to learn "debugging". It's a highly valuable skill.

Upvotes: 0

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