By looping over all the values in the upper bounds of the array for each rank, we can copy elements to a 1D array. In VB.NET this can be done with nested For To loops and GetUpperBound.
Example. In the Main subroutine, we create a 2D array with 2 rows and 3 columns. Our goal is to convert this to a flattened array of 6 elements.
Step 1 In Flatten() we need to determine the total element count. If the Length is 0, we just return an empty array.
Step 4 We now have a 1D array containing all the elements of the original 2D array, just without the second dimension.
Module Module1
Function Flatten(input As Integer(,)) as Integer()
' Step 1: if zero elements, return an empty array.
If input.Length = 0
Return {}
End If
' Step 2: get total element count, and allocate the 1D array.
Dim resultInteger(input.Length - 1) As Integer
' Step 3: use nested For-loops with GetUpperBound to copy all elements.
Dim write = 0
For i = 0 To input.GetUpperBound(0)
For z = 0 To input.GetUpperBound(1)
resultInteger(write) = input(i, z)
write += 1
Next
Next
' Step 4: return the 1D array.
Return resultInteger
End Function
Sub Main()
Dim elements = { { 10, 20, 30 }, { 40, 50, 60 } }
' Call Flatten.
Dim result = Flatten(elements)
For Each value in result
Console.WriteLine("ELEMENT: {0}", value)
Next
End Sub
End ModuleELEMENT: 10
ELEMENT: 20
ELEMENT: 30
ELEMENT: 40
ELEMENT: 50
ELEMENT: 60
Sometimes the dimensions of a 2D array are not useful—the values themselves may be the important part. We could still average the elements, for example.
In this case, flattening the array is worthwhile. Other Functions in the VB.NET program may be better able to deal with the flattened one-dimensional array.
Dot Net Perls is a collection of tested code examples. Pages are continually updated to stay current, with code correctness a top priority.
Sam Allen is passionate about computer languages. In the past, his work has been recommended by Apple and Microsoft and he has studied computers at a selective university in the United States.
