Resizing a 3D array

Question

I am attempting to resize a 3D array in C#.

The VB6 code reads:

ReDim Combos(ProductNum, 4, 3)

Since I cannot use Array.Resize for a 3D array, is there another way for me to do this function in C#?

I have already declared the array as a 3D array:

int[ , , ] Combos;

But I am having trouble resizing it. Any ideas?

Answer 1

There is no way to directly redimension a multidimensional array in .NET. I would recommend allocating a new array, and then copying the values into it using Array.Copy.

That being said, depending on what you're doing, you may want to consider using a different collection type, as well. There are more options in .NET than VB6 in terms of collections, so many cases which used multidimensional arrays are better suited towards other collection types, especially if they are going to be resized.

Answer 2

Even for the one-dimensional array, in C#, the array resizing works by copying elements into new re-sized array.

If you need to re-size array often, collections would be much better solution.

If you still want to resize array, here is the code:

T[,,] ResizeArray<T>(T[,,] original, int xSize, int ySize, int zSize)
{
    var newArray = new T[xSize, ySize, zSize];
    var xMin = Math.Min(xSize, original.GetLength(0));
    var yMin = Math.Min(ySize, original.GetLength(1));
    var zMin = Math.Min(zSize, original.GetLength(2));
    for (var x = 0; x < xMin; x++)
        for (var y = 0; y < yMin; y++)
            for (var z = 0; z < zMin; z++)
                newArray[x, y, z] = original[x, y, z];
    return newArray;
}