Help with multidimension arrays for tile based game

First off; yes I've done a search and am aware of multiple threads on this issue but I am still struggling.

Basically I want to declare a 2D array for each row on a board.

Then I want another array which stores each row (in other words a column array).

I then want to iterate through the column array to pull each row out, then iterate through that row to find the values contained within each tile within that row.

Here is my code so far:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3.  
4. public class pathFinding : MonoBehaviour {
5.  
6.     //Declare array to store each row
7.     ArrayList mapArray = new ArrayList[4];
8.  
9.     //Declare bool arrays for each row, true = passable, false = unpassable
10.     bool [,] rowOne = new bool[8, 1] { {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true} };
11.     bool [,] rowTwo = new bool[8, 1] { {true}, {true}, {true}, {false}, {false}, {true}, {true}, {true} };
12.     bool [,] rowThree = new bool[8, 1] { {true}, {true}, {true}, {false}, {false}, {true}, {true}, {true} };
13.     bool [,] rowFour = new bool[8, 1] { {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true}, {true} };
14.  
15.     //Put each row into the mapArray
16.     mapArray[0] = rowOne;
17.     mapArray[1] = rowOne;
18.     mapArray[2] = rowOne;
19.     mapArray[3] = rowOne;
20.  
21.  
22.     //Use this for initialization
23.     void Start () {
24.         //Iterate each row in map array
25.             //Iterate through each tile in row
26.                 //Return value stored in tile
27.     }
28. }
29.  

I get the errors:

"(16,9): error CS0178: Invalid rank specifier: expected `,' or `]'"
"(16,21): error CS1519: Unexpected symbol `=' in class, struct, or interface member declaration"
"(16,29): error CS1519: Unexpected symbol `;' in class, struct, or interface member declaration"

I am obviously totally misunderstanding how arrays work, I've only ever used 1D arrays before and my head is starting to melt, can anyone help me?

 

You are not using the arrays correctly. Why are you declaring 2d arrays if you only have one row? You should make mapArray an array with [4,8] in my opinion.

Also,

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. string[] weapons = new string[] { "Sword", "Knife", "Gun" };
3.  

This is the correct way of declaring a 1D array.

http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php?title=Which_Kind_Of_Array_Or_Collection_Should_I_Use?

 

I know how to use 1D arrays as I said, it's more like I need a 3D array I guess.

Like imagine a chessboard, it is 2D but it has a 3rd dimension in that each square can have some value assigned (like passable or not). This is what I'm trying to do

 

Solved:

Code (CSharp):

1. using UnityEngine;
2. using System.Collections;
3.  
4. public class pathFinding : MonoBehaviour {
5.  
6.     static bool[] rowOne = {true, true, true, true, true, true, true, true };
7.     static bool[] rowTwo = {true, true, true, false, false, true, true, true };
8.     static bool[] rowThree = {true, true, true, false, false, true, true, true };
9.     static bool[] rowFour = {true, true, true, true, true, true, true, true };
10.  
11.     ArrayList mapArray = new ArrayList ();
12.  
13.     //Use this for initialization
14.     void Start () {
15.         mapArray.Add (rowOne);
16.         mapArray.Add (rowTwo);
17.         mapArray.Add (rowThree);
18.         mapArray.Add (rowFour);
19.  
20.         object[] tempArray = mapArray.ToArray ();
21.         foreach (bool[] x in tempArray) {
22.             foreach (bool y in x) {
23.                 Debug.Log (y);
24.             }
25.         }
26.  
27.     }
28. }
29.  

 

youre trying to explicitly define the length of the 2nd layer you cant do that
for nested arrays you can only define the depth

 

Nice, cheers for the knowledge

 

i should probably add that if you declare them with content the depth and length are implicit so to speak i.e.: array of jagged multiD arrays:

Code (CSharp):

1. int[][,] arr = new int[3][,]
2.   {
3.       new int[,] { {1,3}, {5,7} },
4.       new int[,] { {0,2}, {4,6}, {8,10} },
5.       new int[,] { {11,22}, {99,88}, {0,9} }
6.   };
7.  

mix match and nest as you see fit

 

Where "jagged" means a dynamic array? Or does jagged refer to the array of arrays where each child array can be of different length?

 

Do you have any idea how I would pull the first array out of this 2D array?

Code (CSharp):

1. static object[,] rowOne = new object[2,4] { {1, 1, true, true}, {2, 1, true, false} };
2.  
3.  

 

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/2yd9wwz4.aspx
http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=[c#]+multidimensional+array
those should help you on your way

 

Why not just create your own class structure and just put it into a list or a dictionary with the key of a Coordinate of a tile. ** Dictionary will not be visible in Inspector List can.

You could have as much data about a tile as you want then and it would make more sense via reading.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2.  
3. public Dictionary<Vector2, TileData> myTileData = new Dictionary<Vector2, TileData>();
4. [System.Serializable]
5. public class TileData
6. {
7.   public bool isWalkable;
8.   public bool hasEnemy;
9.   public bol isTrap; //etc..
10. }
11.