# \[\]= with moredimensional Arrays **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [October 22, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194 "2006-10-22T18:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naPOLeon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194/1 "2006-10-22T18:05:50Z")
Hi all, I want to code the “game of life” in ruby. I use a moredimensional array as the field and another one to provide an easy way to input the pattern of the start-population. (See the code below) So my question is, whether there is a possibility to use ar[a…b][x…y] = [[m, …], [n, …], …]. That means, how can I merge two 2-dimensional arrays? size = ARGV.first.to\_i field = Array.new(size, Array.new(size, 0)) thing = [[1, 1, 0, 1], [1, 0, 1, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0], [1, 1, 0, 0]] pos\_x, pos\_y = size/2, size/2 field[pos\_x…(pos\_x + thing.length)][pos\_y…(pos\_y + thing.length)] = thing Thanks, naPOLeon ---
**Author:** ![naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naPOLeon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194/2 "2006-10-22T18:15:51Z")
naPOLeon wrote: > Hi all, > > I want to code the “game of life” in ruby. I use a moredimensional > array Define “Moredimensional”. Do you mean multidimensional? > as the field and another one to provide an easy way to input the > pattern of the start-population. (See the code below) > So my question is, whether there is a possibility to use ar[a…b][x…y] > = [[m, …], [n, …], …]. That means, how can I merge two > 2-dimensional arrays? Define “merge.” Leave nothing to the imagination. > field[pos\_x…(pos\_x + thing.length)][pos\_y…(pos\_y + thing.length)] = > thing Well, you have succeeded in stating what you don’t understand. Now, please, just say what you want to accomplish. There is no question that you can do it using Ruby. ---
**Author:** ![naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naPOLeon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194/3 "2006-10-22T18:36:07Z")
I’m sorry for my horrible English, I’m German. Anyway, of course I meant multidimensional and I want to get e.g. 0000 10 0100 0000 and 01 to become 0010 0000 11 0110 The first Array is definded by Array.new(3, Array.new(4, 0)), the others the same way. I hope you understand the problem now. Thanks, naPOLeon ---
**Author:** ![naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naPOLeon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 10:31am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194/4 "2006-10-23T10:31:55Z")
Thanks a lot, Paul! That’s exactly what I was up to. I started with Ruby two month ago, so still learning… cu, naPOLeon ---
**Author:** ![naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@naPOLeon](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/naPOLeon)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/with-moredimensional-arrays/73194/5 "2006-10-22T21:22:57Z")
naPOLeon wrote: > I’m sorry for my horrible English, I’m German. Your English is much better than my German, so no problem. All we have to do is figure out how to communicate the fine points of Ruby code, but without any code. > Anyway, of course I meant multidimensional and I want to get e.g. > > 0000 10 0100 > 0000 and 01 to become 0010 > 0000 11 0110 > > The first Array is definded by Array.new(3, Array.new(4, 0)), the > others the same way. > I hope you understand the problem now. From the appearance of your example, it appears that you want to replace the contents of two middle columns in a 4x3 array with the contents of a 2x3 array. Yes? #!/usr/bin/ruby -w array1 = [ [0,0,0,0], [0,0,0,0], [0,0,0,0] ] array2 = [ [1,0], [0,1], [1,1] ] array1.each\_index do |i| array1[i][1 … 2] = array2[i] end p array1 output: [[0, 1, 0, 0], [0, 0, 1, 0], [0, 1, 1, 0]] If this isn’t what you had in mind, we’ll have to try again.