Random string generator C#

Question

I have made a simple number generator, and I have a question: is it possible for the generator to eject "red", "blue", "green", " yellow" and "white" instead of the numbers 1-5?

namespace zufallsgenerator
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        Random r = new Random();

        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {

        }

        private void btnWhlie_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            int summe = 0, z; 

            lblAnzeige.Text = " ";

           while (summe <= 0)
           {
                z = r.Next(1, 6);
                summe = summe + z;
           }
           lblAnzeige.Text += summe + "\n";               
        }
    }
}

It would be easy enough for you to convert it. When you say you want the generator to eject the color names... how exactly do you want to use the color names? right now you are summing the numbers and that wouldn't make sense with colors. — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 14:34
I have to write a program, were you can click on 5 buttons in 5 colors, and on thedsisplay you see "red" written in blue for example and so you have to press the red button... — Franz
– Franz, Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 14:47

sloth · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:36:29Z

11

You could create a simple array and access it with a randomly generated index, e.g.:

var r = new Random();
string[] colors = {"red", "blue", "green", "yellow", "white"};
var random_color = colors[r.Next(colors.Length)];

answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:36

sloth

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2 Comments

Franz Over a year ago

Can you post the whole code? because it doesn't work for me :( but i think i have make the mistake and your code is right ;)

Thomas Ayoub Over a year ago

@Franz you need to seed your random :)

T30 · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:48:31Z

3

You could use an enum.

Define something like

enum Color
{
   Red,
   Green,
   Blue
}

Then you can cast your int to this:

Color color = (Color)r.Next(1, 6)

And, if you wish

Text = color.ToString();

edited Oct 22, 2013 at 14:48

T30

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answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:37

PMF

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3 Comments

sloth Over a year ago

This will fail if the generated number is > 2.

jwg Over a year ago

Don't use an enum for this. It means that you can never use a string which is not a valid C# identifier. If you do use an enum, you should use the [Description] attribute to get around this.

PMF Over a year ago

You're right on this. I originally thought that he was really interested to get a random color, not to get the text of the random colors.

Krzysiek Bronek · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:36:06Z

2

If you get output like 1-5 you could create string[] containing 5 elements

string[] colors = new string[] { "red", "blue", "green", " yellow", "white" }

And instead of retrieving r.Next( 1, 6 ) you could retrieve colors[ r.Next( 0, 5 ) ] (because string array is 0-indexed, changed the min and max value).

answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:36

Krzysiek Bronek

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1 Comment

Franz Over a year ago

there i get an error: "Error 1 An implicit conversion from type 'string' to 'int' is not possible." what did i make wrong? maybe you can post the whole code? I'm new in c# :(

JaCraig · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:48:25Z

1

Taking Xi Huan's answer, you can make it a bit prettier using an extension method:

public static T Next<T>(this System.Random Random, params T[] List)
{
    if(List.Length==0)
        return default(T);
    return List[Random.Next(0, List.Length)];
}

Then calling it is just:

var r=new System.Random();
var randon_color = r.Next("red", "blue", "green", "yellow", "white");

answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:48

JaCraig

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Comments

Ryan Schlueter · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:35:59Z

0

What I would do is create a list of strings. Then put the random number as i. So like List<string> list1 = new List<string>{"red", "blue", "green"}; then use your random number like this to call a random element of it. list1[randomNumber];

answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:35

Ryan Schlueter

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Comments

MC ND · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-22 14:36:01Z

0

Define an array with the posible desired output values and instead of concatenating summe to text, add YourArrayOfNamedValues[summe]

answered Oct 22, 2013 at 14:36

MC ND

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