Help with counter?

Question

BobbieJean 0 Junior Poster in Training

16 Years Ago

Hi everyone,

I've been debugging my program all night and I just can't quite come up with how to make my counter work. I keep feeling like I'm putting it, or maybe just part of it, in the wrong place so I've been moving it all over the place but haven't found anything that works yet. I'll paste my code below and it will be the code that seems to not stop when it reaches the end of my counter. Other ways I've tried it make it stop after one or two, depending on what I did to the code at them time. Anyway, if anyone out there sees where I'm messing up, could you please let me know? I've been going round in circles on this one and I think it's supposed to be easy. (Leave it to me to complicate things.LOL) Ok, here's what I have at the moment:

Public Class mainForm

    Dim guessCounter As Integer
    Dim correctAccumulator As Integer
    Dim totalAccumulator As Integer
    Dim answer As Integer
    Dim guesses As Integer
    Dim guess As Integer
    Dim lastGuess As Integer


    Private Sub mainForm_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim randomNum As New Random
        answer = randomNum.Next(1, 11)

        MessageBox.Show("CAN YOU GUESS MY NUMBER?" & vbNewLine & vbNewLine & "I have a number between 1 and 10." & vbNewLine & "To try to guess my number, enter your guess in the box" & vbNewLine & "and then click 'Check Guess'." & vbNewLine & "I will then tell you if you guessed my number or not." & vbNewLine & "You have 5 chances." & vbNewLine & "After your first guess, if you guess wrong," & vbNewLine & "I will tell you if you if you are getting warmer or colder." & vbNewLine & "If you're getting warmer, the box will turn red." & vbNewLine & "If you're getting colder, the box will turn blue." & vbNewLine & "If you want to see this information again at any time during the game," & vbNewLine & "just click 'About'." & vbNewLine & "Good Luck!", "Instructions", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
        Exit Sub
    End Sub

    Private Sub checkButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles checkButton.Click
        
        lastGuess = guess
        

        If Not Integer.TryParse(guessBox.Text, guess) Then
            MessageBox.Show("You must enter a numeric value.", "Invalid Entry", _
            MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
            guessBox.Focus()
            Exit Sub
        End If







        If guessCounter > 5 Then
            MessageBox.Show("Sorry, you are out of guesses." & vbNewLine & "Click 'New Game' to try guessing a new number.", "GAME OVER", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
            guessBox.Clear()
            guessBox.BackColor = Color.White
            newGameButton.Focus()
            checkButton.Enabled = False
            guessBox.Enabled = False
            Exit Sub
        End If

        For guessCounter = 1 To 5

            If Not guess = answer Then

                If (answer - guess) < (answer - lastGuess) Then
                    MessageBox.Show("Sorry. Try again. You're getting warmer!", "Warmer Guess", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
                    guessBox.BackColor = Color.Red
                    lastGuess = guess
                    totalAccumulator = totalAccumulator + 1
                    guessBox.Clear()
                    guessBox.Focus()

                Else
                    MessageBox.Show("Sorry.  Try again.  You're getting colder!", "Colder Guess", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
                    guessBox.BackColor = Color.DodgerBlue
                    lastGuess = guess
                    totalAccumulator = totalAccumulator + 1
                    guessBox.Clear()
                    guessBox.Focus()
                End If
                Exit Sub
            ElseIf guess = answer Then
                MessageBox.Show("Congratulations!  You guessed my number!" & vbNewLine & "Click 'New Game' to play again" & vbNewLine & "or click 'Exit' to quit.", "WINNER!!!", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation)
                Dim randomNum As New Random
                answer = randomNum.Next(1, 11)
                checkButton.Enabled = False
                guessBox.Enabled = False
                guessCounter = 1
                guessBox.BackColor = Color.White
                guessBox.Clear()
                totalAccumulator = totalAccumulator + 1
                correctAccumulator = correctAccumulator + 1
                lastGuess = 0
            End If
            Exit Sub
        Next guessCounter

    End Sub

    Private Sub newGameButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles newGameButton.Click
        MessageBox.Show("I have a new number." & vbNewLine & "Can you guess it?" & vbNewLine & "Enter your guess and click 'Check Guess' to try." & vbNewLine & "GOOD LUCK!", "New Game", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
        Dim randomNum As New Random
        answer = randomNum.Next(1, 11)
        guessBox.BackColor = Color.White
        guessBox.Clear()
        guessBox.Focus()
        guessBox.Enabled = True
        checkButton.Enabled = True
        guessCounter = 1
        guess = 0
        lastGuess = 0
        Exit Sub
    End Sub

    Private Sub infoButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles infoButton.Click
        MessageBox.Show("CAN YOU GUESS MY NUMBER?" & vbNewLine & vbNewLine & "I have a number between 1 and 10." & vbNewLine & "To try to guess my number, enter your guess in the box" & vbNewLine & "and then click 'Check Guess'." & vbNewLine & "I will then tell you if you guessed my number or not." & vbNewLine & "You have 5 chances." & vbNewLine & "After your first guess, if you guess wrong," & vbNewLine & "I will tell you if you if you are getting warmer or colder." & vbNewLine & "If you're getting warmer, the box will turn red." & vbNewLine & "If you're getting colder, the box will turn blue." & vbNewLine & "If you want to see this information again at any time during the game," & vbNewLine & "just click 'About'." & vbNewLine & "Good Luck!", "Instructions", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
        Exit Sub
    End Sub

    Private Sub exitButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles exitButton.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    Private Sub guessBox_TextChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles guessBox.TextChanged

    End Sub
End Class

.net:vb.net

2 Contributors
1 Reply
315 Views
1 Day Discussion Span
Latest Post 16 Years Ago Latest Post by GeekByChoiCe

Dani AI

Generated 9 Months Ago

The behaviour you saw comes from two related problems in the original code: the For...Next inside the Check button and the way “warmer/colder” is calculated. The For loop resets the counter each time the button is clicked (and the Exit Sub inside the loop prevents it ever from counting across clicks), so the form never tracks attempts the way you expect. Also comparing (answer - guess) directly can give wrong results when guesses fall on different sides of the answer — use absolute distances instead. is on the right track by removing the loop and incrementing a counter, but watch the Random.Next upper bound (use Next(1,11) to include 10) and treat the very first guess differently (no warmer/colder feedback until you have a previous guess).

Suggested approach (simple, reliable)

Remove the For...Next from the click handler. Treat each click as one attempt.
Keep a class-level attempts counter (start at 0 in New Game) and a previous-guess sentinel (e.g. -1).
On a valid numeric guess: increment attempts, check for win, otherwise if previous-guess exists compare Math.Abs(answer - guess) to Math.Abs(answer - previousGuess) to decide warmer/colder, then set previousGuess = guess.
After handling the guess, if attempts >= MAX_ATTEMPTS disable input and show game-over.

Example core logic (keeps the idea minimal and different from posted code):

' class-level
Dim attemptsMade As Integer = 0
Const MAX_ATTEMPTS As Integer = 5
Dim previousGuess As Integer = -1

' in Check button click
Dim g As Integer
If Not Integer.TryParse(guessBox.Text, g) Then
  MessageBox.Show("Enter a number")
  Return
End If

attemptsMade += 1
If g = answer Then
  ' win: update correctAccumulator, disable controls
  Return
End If

If previousGuess >= 0 Then
  If Math.Abs(answer - g) < Math.Abs(answer - previousGuess) Then
    guessBox.BackColor = Color.Red   ' warmer
  Else
    guessBox.BackColor = Color.DodgerBlue  ' colder or same
  End If
End If

previousGuess = g
If attemptsMade >= MAX_ATTEMPTS Then
  MessageBox.Show("Out of guesses")
  ' disable controls
End If

Troubleshooting notes: initialize counters in New Game (attemptsMade = 0, previousGuess = -1), increment only after a successful parse, and avoid creating new Random repeatedly if you care about unpredictable sequences (declare one Random at class level). This will make the counter predictable and the warmer/colder feedback accurate.

Reply to this topic

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.

GeekByChoiCe 152 Practically a Master Poster Featured Poster · Answer 1 · 2010-08-30T12:37:15+00:00

Public Class Form1
	Dim guessCounter As Integer
	Dim correctAccumulator As Integer
	Dim totalAccumulator As Integer
	Dim answer As Integer
	Dim guesses As Integer
	Dim guess As Integer
	Dim lastGuess As Integer


	Private Sub mainForm_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
		Randomize()
		Dim randomNum As New Random
		answer = randomNum.Next(1, 10)

		MessageBox.Show(String.Format("CAN YOU GUESS MY NUMBER?{0}{0}I have a number between 1 and 10.{0}To try to guess my number, enter your guess in the box{0}and then click 'Check Guess'.{0}I will then tell you if you guessed my number or not.{0}You have 5 chances.{0}After your first guess, if you guess wrong,{0}I will tell you if you if you are getting warmer or colder.{0}If you're getting warmer, the box will turn red.{0}If you're getting colder, the box will turn blue.{0}If you want to see this information again at any time during the game,{0}just click 'About'.{0}Good Luck!", vbNewLine), "Instructions", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
	End Sub

	Private Sub checkButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles checkButton.Click

		If Not Integer.TryParse(guessBox.Text, guess) Then
			MessageBox.Show("You must enter a numeric value.", "Invalid Entry", _
			MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
			guessBox.Focus()
			Exit Sub
		End If

		If guessCounter >= 5 Then
			MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Sorry, you are out of guesses.{0}Click 'New Game' to try guessing a new number.", vbNewLine), "GAME OVER", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
			SetControls(True)
			Return
		End If

		If guess <> answer Then

			If (answer - guess) < (answer - lastGuess) Then
				MessageBox.Show("Sorry. Try again. You're getting warmer!", "Warmer Guess", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
				guessBox.BackColor = Color.Red
			Else
				MessageBox.Show("Sorry.  Try again.  You're getting colder!", "Colder Guess", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Stop)
				guessBox.BackColor = Color.DodgerBlue
			End If

			lastGuess = guess
			totalAccumulator += 1
			SetControls(False)
			guessCounter += 1	 'increase the guess counter
			Return

		ElseIf guess = answer Then
			MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Congratulations!  You guessed my number!{0}Click 'New Game' to play again{0}or click 'Exit' to quit.", vbNewLine), "WINNER!!!", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation)
			Dim randomNum As New Random
			answer = randomNum.Next(1, 11)
			guessCounter = 1
			totalAccumulator += 1
			correctAccumulator += 1
			lastGuess = 0
			SetControls(True)
		End If

	End Sub

	Private Sub newGameButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles newGameButton.Click
		MessageBox.Show(String.Format("I have a new number.{0}Can you guess it?{0}Enter your guess and click 'Check Guess' to try.{0}GOOD LUCK!", vbNewLine), "New Game", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)
		Dim randomNum As New Random
		answer = randomNum.Next(1, 10)
		guessBox.BackColor = Color.White
		SetControls(False)
		guessCounter = 1
		guess = 0
		lastGuess = 0
	End Sub

	Private Sub SetControls(ByVal guessed As Boolean)
		guessBox.Clear()
		If guessed Then
			guessBox.BackColor = Color.White
			newGameButton.Focus()
			checkButton.Enabled = False
			guessBox.Enabled = False
			Return
		End If
		guessBox.Enabled = True
		checkButton.Enabled = True
		guessBox.Focus()
	End Sub
End Class