How to convert values from .art file into ASCII art in C++ - c++

Question

Working on a project where I am supposed to load a file based on user input, convert the data in that file into coordinates in the window and then use ASCII characters to draw a picture.
Files are in .art and start with the width and height of the window needed and each subsequent line is the ROW, COLUMN, CHARACTER, and COUNT that needs to be drawn. So basically the position the particular character should be started at and then how many times it should be drawn.
What I am struggling with is how to import that data into something usable so as I can draw the requested image. My initial thought is to import the data as a 4-D array but then I draw a blank as to where I should go from there.
Example lines for a .art file:
50 x 25
2, 15, *, 9
2, 48, *, 9
3, 6, *, 15
UPDATE: Given up on trying to load the files since I just can't wrap my head around that so I've changed to just drawing the art by hand and calling a string but I'm even having issues with that. With my code below, if I select option 1 the output is 001FFA80 rather than outputting the ASCII art that is in the string.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
string shapeCupid[]=
{" ",
" .. ",
" $. ,o$$$o. ",
" $. $$$$$$$o. .. ",
" .$. $' $$$$$$ ,o'' ",
" .$' $ '$$$$$,o'.,' .oo ' ",
" .$' $. $$$$' ,, .o'. ",
" .$' '$o. 'O$ .. ooo''',oo ' ",
" .$' .o$' '$$'' ,,o' ",
" .%$,,,,,ooO' ' ,,o'' ",
" .$o. ,o' $o ..oo' ",
" ''O'''''''''',' $'$. .o' "};
string shapeFly = "Fly";
string shapeHeart = "Heart";
string shapeImpossible = "Impossible";
string shapeSeuss = "Seuss";
string shapeWorry = "Worry";
int UserInput;
cout << "What do you want to draw?\n";
cout << "1. Cupid\n2. Fly\n3. Heart\n4. Impossible\n5. Seuss\n6. Worry\nNumber: ";
cin >> UserInput;
if (UserInput == 1){
cout << shapeCupid;}
else if (UserInput == 2){
cout << shapeFly;}
else if (UserInput == 3){
cout << shapeHeart;}
else if (UserInput == 4){
cout << shapeImpossible;}
else if (UserInput == 5){
cout << shapeSeuss;}
else if (UserInput == 6){
cout << shapeWorry;}
else if (UserInput != 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6)
cout << "Please select proper value.\n";
system("pause");
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Here's a quick and dirty version that might help. I didn't add a ton of error checking, but it works for the 2 examples I used. If you do plan to embed the data as string literals you'll want to be sure to escape any special characters like backslash and double quotes. The Boop example has both.
For the embedded string literal data the first line must be padded to be as long as the longest line since it is used to write the width. An enhancement would be to iterate through all lines to get the max width and use that.
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <fstream>
using StringVec = std::vector<std::string>;
StringVec shapeCupid =
{
" ",
" .. ",
" $. ,o$$$o. ",
" $. $$$$$$$o. .. ",
" .$. $' $$$$$$ ,o'' ",
" .$' $ '$$$$$,o'.,' .oo ' ",
" .$' $. $$$$' ,, .o'. ",
" .$' '$o. 'O$ .. ooo''',oo ' ",
" .$' .o$' '$$'' ,,o' ",
" .%$,,,,,ooO' ' ,,o'' ",
" .$o. ,o' $o ..oo' ",
" ''O'''''''''',' $'$. .o' "
};
//Borrowed from http://www.chris.com/ascii/index.php?art=cartoons/betty%20boop
StringVec boop =
{
" _(,__ __), ",
" (_,d888888888b,d888888888b",
" d888888888888/888888888888b_)",
" (_8888888P'\"\"'`Y8Y`'\"\"'\"Y88888b",
" Y8888P.-' ` '-.Y8888b_)",
" ,_Y88P (_(_( )_)_) d88Y_,",
" Y88b, (o ) (o ) d8888P",
" `Y888 '-' '-' `88Y`",
" ,d/O\\ c /O\\b,",
" \\_/'.,______w______,.'\\_/",
" .-` `-.",
" / , d88b d88b_ \\",
" / / 88888bd88888`\\ \\",
" / / \\ Y88888888Y \\ \\",
" \\ \\ \\ 88888888 / /",
" `\\ `. \\d8888888b, /\\\\/",
" `.//.d8888888888b; |",
" |/d888888888888b/",
" d8888888888888888b",
" ,_d88p\"\"q88888p\"\"q888b,",
" `\"\"'`\\ \"`| /`'\"\"`",
" `. |===/",
" > | |",
" / | |",
" | | |",
" | Y /",
" \\ / /",
" jgs | /| /",
" / / / |",
" /=/ |=/"
};
void Write(const std::string& filename, StringVec& data)
{
if(data.empty())
{
return;
}
std::ofstream out(filename);
if(out)
{
out << data[0].size() << " x " << data.size() << "\n";
for(size_t row = 0; row < data.size(); ++row)
{
const std::string& line = data[row];
size_t col_start = 0;
size_t col_end = 0;
char col_char = line[0];
for(size_t col = 0; col < line.size(); ++col)
{
//If we hit a new character write the previous run to the file
if(col_char != line[col])
{
//but only if it wasn't a run of spaces.
if(col_char != ' ')
{
out << row << ", " << col_start << ", " << col_char << ", " << col_end - col_start + 1 << "\n";
}
col_char = line[col];
col_start = col;
col_end = col;
}
col_end = col;
}
//write the last run
if(col_char != ' ')
{
out << row << ", " << col_start << ", " << col_char << ", " << col_end - col_start + 1 << "\n";
}
}
}
}
StringVec Read(const std::string& filename)
{
StringVec data;
std::ifstream in(filename);
if(in)
{
char dummy;
size_t width;
size_t height;
if(in >> width >> dummy >> height)
{
data.resize(height, std::string(width, ' '));
}
if(!data.empty())
{
size_t row;
size_t col;
char ch;
size_t len;
while(in >> row >> dummy >> col >> dummy >> ch >> dummy >> len)
{
for(size_t i = col; i < col + len; ++i)
{
data[row][i] = ch;
}
}
}
}
return data;
}
void Print(const StringVec& data)
{
for(const std::string& s : data)
{
std::cout << s << "\n";
}
std::cout << "\n";
}
int main()
{
Write("cupid.art", shapeCupid);
Print(Read("cupid.art"));
Write("boop.art", boop);
Print(Read("boop.art"));
return 0;
}