C++ console TicTacToe: Checking Win Conditions - c++

Question

The game board is stored as a 2D char array. The Player moves his cursor around the board using the numpad, and chooses with the enter key- current position of the cursor is stored in two ints.
After each move, the board is evaluated for a win using the below method.
void checkwin()
{
//look along lines from current position
int x = cursorPosX;
int y = cursorPosY;
int c = playerTurn ? 1 : 2; //which mark to look for
for (int xAxis = 0; xAxis <= 2; xAxis++) //look along x axis
{
x = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), x + 1);
if (CheckPos(x, y) != c) //if we don't find the same mark, must not be a horizontal line, otherwise, break out.
{
x = cursorPosX; //reset x
for (int yAxis = 0; yAxis <= 2; yAxis++) //look along y axis
{
y = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), y + 1);
if (CheckPos(x, y) != c)
{
y = cursorPosY;
//look for diagonal
for (int i = 0; i <= 2; i++ )
{
x = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), x + 1);
y = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), y + 1);
if (CheckPos(x, y) != c)
{
//failed everything, return
winConditions = -1;
return;
}
}
break;
}
}
break;
}
}
//if we make it out of the loops, we have a winner.
winConditions = playerTurn ? 0 : 1;
}
I get wrong results- returning a draw or win when not appropriate. I'm almost certain x and y get wrong values at some point and start checking the wrong spots.
Visual Studio stops updating a watch on x and y after going into the yAxis loop- I'm not sure why, but it prevents me from keeping track of those values. Am I breaking a rule about scoping somewhere? This is the only place I use x and y as variable names.
Relevant wrap method below. My aim was to always be able to check the other 2 spaces by adding, no matter where I was on the board
int WrapValue(int min, int max, int value)
{
auto range = max - min;
while (value >= max)
{
value -= range;
}
while (value < min)
{
value += range;
}
return value;
}
I'd appreciate a trained eye to tell me what I did wrong here. Thanks so much for your time.

Answer 1

Nesting for loops was a terrible idea. I solved the problem by refactoring the code into multiple separate loops that each do 1 thing, rather than fall through each other into deeper levels of hell.
for (int xAxis = 0; xAxis <= 2; xAxis++) //look along x axis
{
x = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), x + 1);
if (CheckPos(x, y) != c) //if we don't find the same mark, must not be a horizontal line, otherwise, break out.
{
x = cursorPosX; //reset x
break;
}
else if (xAxis == 2)
{
winConditions = playerTurn ? 0 : 1;
return;
}
}
for (int yAxis = 0; yAxis <= 2; yAxis++) //look along y axis
{
y = WrapValue(0, sizeof(squares[0]), y + 1);
if (CheckPos(x, y) != c)
{
y = cursorPosY;
break;
}
else if (yAxis == 2)
{
winConditions = playerTurn ? 0 : 1;
return;
}
}
...ect
This violates DRY, but it does work the way it's supposed to, I'm sure I can simplify it later.
While I'm not entirely sure why the previous way didn't work, I do realize that it was just bad design to start with.