Trying to Make Different Lists of strings

[Triryche]

I know I have a fundamental problem, I do not fully understand List objects.

Based on a user input from a list box I want to creat a different list named icons.
I previously had issues with the switch function, seemed I was doing it at the class level, so I am trying to put it in the following method. The error I get is a local variable named "icons" is already defined in this scope.
I tried creating the list object outside the method, and I'm either not getting the syntax correct to assign within the switch or I am barking up the wrong tree.
Thanks in advanced for putting up with my remedial C# !!

 string board = "1";

 private void SelectBoard()
        {

            // Each of these letters is an interesting icon 
            // in the Webdings font, 
            // and each icon appears twice in this list
            switch (board)
            {
                case "1":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
               { 
        "!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k",
        "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z" 
               };
                    break;

                case "2":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
              {
                 //another list of 8*2 char
              };
                    break;

                case "3":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
               {
                  //another list of 8*2 char
               };
                    break;

                case "4":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
               {
                  //another list of 8*2 char
               };
                    break;

                case "5":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
               {
                  //another list of 8*2 char
               };
                    break;

                case "6":
                    List<string> icons = new List<string>()
               {
                    //another list of 8*2 char
               };
                    break;
            }
        }

[Mike Askew]

You almost had it and had the correct idea moving the list declaration outside of the switch function, the small details are what caught you out though!

string board = "1";

// Here we declare an empty list called icons
List<string> icons = new List<string>();

switch (board)
{
    // We then re-initialise the list depending upon case
    case "1":
        icons = new List<string>() { "!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k", "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z" };
            break;
    case "2":
        icons = new List<string>() { [Different String Set Here] };
            break;  
}

In the above code we declare the icon list once outside of the switch statement;

Within each case statement we simply re-instanciate the list with a new value set instead of fully re-defining it each time which was the original cause of the error.

[Triryche]

now I get the error Cannot use local variable 'icons' before it is declared

with the following code:

 private void SelectBoard()
        {
            string board = "1";
             List<string> icons = new List<string>();
            // Each of these letters is an interesting icon 
            // in the Webdings font, 
            // and each icon appears twice in this list
            switch (board)
            {
                case "1":
                    icons = new List<string>()                                       
               {"!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k",
        "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z" ;

               break;

               ...

[tinstaafl]

The basic code should work, especially after you put in the missing brace on line 13.

I would add one thing though, if you want to use icons somewhere else, you should either return it from the method or declare it at class level.

If re-instantiating gives you problems you could use the Clear and AddRange method instead:

        icons.Clear();
        icons.AddRange(new string[]
                {
                "!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k",
                "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z"
                });

[Triryche]

The bracket is(was) there, copy/paste mistake.

[Mike Askew]

Could you highlight which line the error occurs on, Tinstaafl is correct about the alternate way to change the value also though :)

I find it odd that you would get an object not initialised error in the code block you linked as it is specifically initialised on line 4 to be a new empty list.

[Triryche]

I get a red squiggly for icons starting at line 79 and for all 'icons' in the switch with the following code. The same is true when trying:

     icons.Clear();
    icons.AddRange(new string[]
    {
    "!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k",
    "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z"
    });

This is the code I have so far:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Media;

namespace MatchGame
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {

        SoundPlayer flip = new SoundPlayer(MatchGame.Properties.Resources.flip);
        SoundPlayer match = new SoundPlayer(MatchGame.Properties.Resources.chimes);
        SoundPlayer noMatch = new SoundPlayer(MatchGame.Properties.Resources.noMatch);
        SoundPlayer win = new SoundPlayer(MatchGame.Properties.Resources.tada);

        string board = "1";
        List<string> icons = new List<string>();

        // firstClicked points to the first Label control  
        // that the player clicks, but it will be null  
        // if the player hasn't clicked a label yet
        Label firstClicked = null;

        // secondClicked points to the second Label control  
        // that the player clicks
        Label secondClicked = null;

        // Use this Random object to choose random icons for the squares
        Random random = new Random();

        /// <summary> 
        /// Check every icon to see if it is matched, by  
        /// comparing its foreground color to its background color.  
        /// If all of the icons are matched, the player wins 
        /// </summary> 
        private void CheckForWinner()
        {
            // Go through all of the labels in the TableLayoutPanel,  
            // checking each one to see if its icon is matched 
            foreach (Control control in tableLayoutPanel1.Controls)
            {
                Label iconLabel = control as Label;

                if (iconLabel != null)
                {
                    if (iconLabel.ForeColor == iconLabel.BackColor)
                        return;
                }
            }
            // If the loop didn’t return, it didn't find 
            // any unmatched icons 
            // That means the user won. Show a message and close the form
            win.Play();
            MessageBox.Show("You matched all the icons!", "Congratulations");
            Close();
        }


        /// <summary> 
        /// Select a playing cards based on user input.
        /// </summary> 
        private void SelectBoard()
        {
            // Each of these letters is an interesting icon 
            // in the Webdings font, 
            // and each icon appears twice in this list

            board = comboBox1.ToString();

            switch (board)
            {
                case "1":
                    icons = new List<string>()                                       
               {  
        "!", "!", "N", "N", ",", ",", "k", "k",
        "b", "b", "v", "v", "w", "w", "z", "z" 
               };
                    break;

                case "2":
                    icons = new List<string>()
              { // another list};
                    break;

                case "3":
                    icons = new List<string>()
                { // another list};
                    break;

                case "4":
                    icons = new List<string>()
               { // another list};
                    break;

                case "5":
                     icons = new List<string>()
                { // another list};
                    break;

                case "6":
                   icons = new List<string>()
                { // another list};
                    break;
            }
        }


        /// <summary> 
        /// Assign each icon from the list of icons to a random square 
        /// </summary> 
        private void AssignIconsToSquares()
        {

            // The TableLayoutPanel has 16 labels, 
            // and the icon list has 16 icons, 
            // so an icon is pulled at random from the list 
            // and added to each label 
            foreach (Control control in tableLayoutPanel1.Controls)
            {
                Label iconLabel = control as Label;
                if (iconLabel != null)
                {
                    int randomNumber = random.Next(icons.Count);
                    iconLabel.Text = icons[randomNumber];
                    iconLabel.ForeColor = iconLabel.BackColor;
                    icons.RemoveAt(randomNumber);
                }
            }

        }
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
            AssignIconsToSquares();
        }

        /// <summary> 
        /// Every label's Click event is handled by this event handler 
        /// </summary> 
        /// <param name="sender">The label that was clicked</param>
        /// <param name="e"></param>
        private void label_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // The timer is only on after two non-matching  
            // icons have been shown to the player,  
            // so ignore any clicks if the timer is running 
            if (timer1.Enabled == true)
                return;

            Label clickedLabel = sender as Label;

            if (clickedLabel != null)
            {
                // If the clicked label is black, the player clicked 
                // an icon that's already been revealed -- 
                // ignore the click 
                if (clickedLabel.ForeColor == Color.Black)
                    return;

                if (firstClicked == null)
                {
                    flip.Play();
                    firstClicked = clickedLabel;
                    firstClicked.ForeColor = Color.Black;

                    return;
                }
                // If the player gets this far, the timer isn't 
                // running and firstClicked isn't null, 
                // so this must be the second icon the player clicked 
                // Set its color to black

                secondClicked = clickedLabel;
                secondClicked.ForeColor = Color.Black;
                this.Refresh();
                flip.PlaySync();
                //System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(750);

                CheckForWinner();

                // If the player clicked two matching icons, keep them  
                // black and reset firstClicked and secondClicked  
                // so the player can click another icon 
                if (firstClicked.Text == secondClicked.Text)
                {
                    //System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(750);

                    firstClicked = null;
                    secondClicked = null;
                    match.PlaySync();
                    return;
                }

                // If the player gets this far, the player  
                // clicked two different icons, so start the  
                // timer (which will wait three quarters of  
                // a second, and then hide the icons)    
                timer1.Start();
            }
        }
        /// <summary> 
        /// This timer is started when the player clicks  
        /// two icons that don't match, 
        /// so it counts three quarters of a second  
        /// and then turns itself off and hides both icons 
        /// </summary> 
        /// <param name="sender"></param>
        /// <param name="e"></param>
        private void timer1_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            // Stop the timer
            timer1.Stop();

            // Hide both icons
            noMatch.Play();
            firstClicked.ForeColor = firstClicked.BackColor;
            secondClicked.ForeColor = secondClicked.BackColor;

            // Reset firstClicked and secondClicked  
            // so the next time a label is 
            // clicked, the program knows it's the first click
            firstClicked = null;
            secondClicked = null;
        }

        private void comboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            SelectBoard();
        }
    }
}

[Triryche]

The erroe is longer now
Cannot use local variable 'icons' before it is declared. The declaration of the local variable hides the field 'MatchGame.Form1.icons'

[Mike Askew]

Can you upload your solution somewhere for me to download and look at? Can't see what would cause the error by eye.

[Triryche]

Well I saved everything and rebooted the computer, and that error went away.
I have a new unhandled exceptoin that I will try to puzzle out.

Thanks again for all your help!!

[tinstaafl]

When I copy and paste your code into a new form, I get no errors related to icons. Check to see if it's declared at the same level in a different file.

On a side note, { // another list}; confuses Visual Studio and things won't format properly. Use

                { // another list
                };

[Triryche]

On a side note, { // another list}; confuses Visual Studio and things won't format properly.

That's actually how I have it in my code.
That was copy/paste-itis

I did get the program to work correctly after rebooting the pc. And I cleaned and rebuilt several times prior. I had a computational intense program running while I was tinkkering, maybe it was a mem leak?
After the 'icons' issue I had a problem with a null coming from comboBox1 which was corrected by adding a default text.

Thanks again for all your help!!