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I hope this doesn't seem like a simple question. I've been able to populate a 2D array by this method before. But i'm not sure how to use this grid or a similar grid to populate a 3D array. This may be a really simple question but I hope somebody can point me in the right direction. I want to use it to produce a 2d game level. 

int[][][] LevelGrid = new int[LevelGridHeight][LevelGridWidth][3]; 

int[][][] start_Grid = { {5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,},
                         {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0,},
                         {1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,},
                         {1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,},
                         {1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,},
                         {1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,},
                         {2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2,} }

Thankyou

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  • Why do you want the third parameter? Can't you just use the new int[LevelGridHeight][LevelGridWidth] Commented Apr 6, 2015 at 17:11
  • For specific information about each area of the level Commented Apr 6, 2015 at 17:19

3 Answers 3

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You can think of a one-dimensional array as an array of "things", things being whatever type the array is.

int[] array1 = {1, 2, 3};
int[] array2 = {4, 5, 6};
int[] array3 = {7, 8, 9};
int x = array1[0];

You can think of a two-dimensional array as an array of arrays. 

   int[][] array2d= {array1, array2, array3};
   int[] xArray = array2d[0];
   int x = xArray[0]; //array2d[0][0];

And you can think of a three-dimensional array as an array of arrays of arrays.

   int[][][] array3d = {array2d_1, array2d_2, array2d_3};
   int x = array3d[0][0][0];

So you can either build the sub-arrays first and then add them to the 3D array, or you can do it all in one block:

int[][][] array3D = { 
{ {0,1,2}, {0,1,2} }, { {0,1,2}, {0,1,2} }, 
{ {0,1,2}, {0,1,2} }, { {0,1,2}, {0,1,2} }
};

Edit: Here is an example of building the sub-arrays first, and then building the 3d-array from them:

void setup() {

  //one-dimensional arrays are arrays of things
  int[] array1 = {1, 2, 3};
  int[] array2 = {4, 5, 6 };
  int[] array3 = {7, 8, 9};

  int[] array4 = {10, 11, 12};
  int[] array5 = {13, 14, 15};
  int[] array6 = {16, 17, 18};

  //two-dimensional arrays are arrays of arrays
  int[][] row1 = {array1, array2, array3};
  int[][] row2 = {array4, array5, array6};

  //three-dimensional arrays are arrays of arrays of arrays
  int[][][] array3d = {row1, row2};
}

And I'm not setting the size because I'm using the array initialization shorthand, so I don't need to set the size ahead of time. Notice that you don't set the size when you initialize start_Grid either.

Also note that like somebody else said, using arrays like this can get pretty unwieldy. So unless you have a good reason for using arrays, you probably should use some kind of data structure. I imagine that whatever your "bottom-level" arrays represent could be represented by an Object of some kind, and then you would only need a 2D array, which is easier to think about. But it's really up to you- a 3D array is just a 2D array of arrays!

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3 Comments

Thanks Kevin, could you possibily give me an example of what creating the a subarray and adding it into the array? Also why are you not declaring the size of your array?
Thankyou kevin, I just want to use the 3d array to store a value or two that represent properties about each value in the 2d array. You think this will drastically slow my program down? I will essentially use it just like a 2d array but will occasionally edit the 2 or 3 property values
@Espore I really wouldn't be worried about speed. There won't be a huge difference between any of the approaches that have been mentioned. What you need to worry about is your own sanity- in other words, how easy it is to maintain your program. Big arrays like this are harder to maintain than Objects.
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int[][][] arr3d = new int[][][]{{{1 , 2} , {4 , 5} , {{1 , 3}}};

//or

int[][][] arr3d = new int[x][y][z];
int[2][1][4] = 5;

But you should really look for another way to represent data, if possible. The size of memory required to store a 3d-array gets pretty big in no time.

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3 Comments

How would you suggest I represent the data more efficiently? Thankyou for the answer! :)
well, thats not that easy to answer, since i don't know what data you store and how you use it. For example, load the areas dynamically instead of all at once
I can setup so that areas are loaded dynamically I think. It's just everything currently needs to be on screen and so I can't increase the efficiency like that currently
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With indexes:

        int[][][] start_Grid = {
            { { /*[0][0][0] */1, /*[0][0][1] */ 2, /*[0][0][2] */ 3, }, {/*[0][1][0] */ 1, /*[0][1][1] */ 2, /*[0][1][2] */ 3 } },
            { { /*[1][0][0] */1, /*[1][0][1] */56, /*[1][0][2] */ 55 }, { /*[1][1][0] */1, /*[1][1][1] */56, /*[1][1][2] */55 } }

    }
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2 Comments

Could you please give me a little more information as to how indexes are helpful?
I just put the indexes of the array values in comment to clarify their position in the array and to be more clear for you

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