Initializing multidimensional arrays in c# (with other arrays)

In C#, it's possible to initialize a multidimensional array using constants like so:

Object[,] twodArray = new Object[,] { {"00", "01", "02"}, 
                                      {"10", "11", "12"},
                                      {"20", "21", "22"} };

I personally think initializing an array with hard coded constants is kind of useless for anything other than test exercises. Anyways, what I desperately need to do is initialize a new multidimensional array as above using existing arrays. (Which have the same item count, but contents are of course only defined at runtime).

A sample of what I would like to do is.

Object[] first  = new Object[] {"00", "01", "02"};
Object[] second = new Object[] {"10", "11", "12"};
Object[] third  = new Object[] {"20", "21", "22"};
Object[,] twodArray = new Object[,] { first, second, third };

Unfortunately, this doesn't compile as valid code. Funny enough, when I tried

Object[,] twodArray = new Object[,] { {fi开发者_开发问答rst}, {second}, {third} };

The code did compile and run, however the result was not as desired - a 3 by 3 array of Objects, what came out was a 3 by 1 array of arrays, each of which had 3 elements. When that happens, I can't access my array using:

Object val = twodArray[3,3];

I have to go:

Object val = twodArray[3,1][3];

Which obviously isn't the desired result.

So, is there any way to initialize this new 2D array from multiple existing arrays without resorting to iteration?

This would work if you switched to jagged arrays:

int[] arr1 = new[] { 1, 2, 3 };
int[] arr2 = new[] { 4, 5, 6 };
int[] arr3 = new[] { 7, 8, 9 };

int[][] jagged = new[] { arr1, arr2, arr3 };

int six = jagged[1][2];

Edit To clarify for people finding this thread in the future

The code sample above is also inadequate as it results in an array of arrays (object[object[]]) rather than a jagged array (object[][]) which are conceptually the same thing but distinct types.

You are trying to assign array references to an array. For more details please read - Jagged Arrays.

Try this,

Object[] first = new Object[] { "00", "01", "02" };
Object[] second = new Object[] { "10", "11", "12" };
Object[] third = new Object[] { "20", "21", "22" };
Object[][] result = { first, second, third };

foreach (object [] ar in result)
   {
       foreach (object ele in ar)
        {
            Console.Write(" " + ele);
          }
       Console.WriteLine();
   }

I'm struggling to fully understand what you're really trying to achieve. If I got it right, you have some "lists" of strings, which you need to store in another list.

First of all, I'd recommend you to use a more modern approach than arrays. C# offers you IEnumerable<> and IList<> interfaces and all the stuff that derives from them, so no need to stick with old fashioned arrays.

You could do something like this:

var list1 = new List<string> { "foo1", "foo2", "foo3" };
var list2 = new List<string> { "foo4", "foo5", "foo6" };
var list3 = new List<string> { "foo7", "foo8", "foo9" };
var listOfStrings = new List<List<string>> { list1, list2, list3 };

Then if you want to access "foo6" you write:

var temp = listOfStrings[1][2];

The following works just fine:

var a = new object[] { 0, 1, 1, 2 };
var b = new object[] { "0", "5", "0", "0" };
var c = new object[] { true, true, true, false };

object[][] m = new object[][] { a, b, c };


 var two = m[0][3];
 var bar = m[1][1];
 var f = m[2][3];