How should I setup this if and else statement?

Question

Without changing any of the other code- What can I put into my if else statement to make array 0, 2, 4 show up as all capital letters? I can't figure out how to assign this within the if and else statement.

test = []

puts "Please type 5 different words when you're ready-"

5.times do
  test << gets.chomp
end

test.sort.each do |user|

  if #what could I put in this statement for all capital letters on [0,2,4]?
    user.upcase
  else #.downcase isn't needed, if its simpler to remove it that is fine
    user.downcase
  end
end

Is there a reason that you can't modify any of the other code? Because the obvious option is `with_index`. — Yu Hao, Aug 30 '15 at 03:40
there is a method to do it without the with_index, i cant figure it out though. It's the way I have to build it, and the method wasn't made clear to me — whatabout11, Aug 30 '15 at 03:43
@whatabout11 there's no other way (short of keeping your own running variable updated within the loop). there's a few answers that clarify and expand on using `each_with_index` at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/533837/automatic-counter-in-ruby-for-each — thomasfuchs, Aug 30 '15 at 03:47
I think your right @thomasfuchs , been staring at this for awhile — whatabout11, Aug 30 '15 at 03:51

score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-30T03:50:42.537

I think what you need to do is change the each loop to each_with_index. The each_with_index loop should get what you need.

test.sort.each_with_index do |user, index|
  if ([0,2,4]include? index)
    user.upcase
  else
    user.downcase
  end
end

If the array is going to expand, you could use the #even? method on the index as the check in the if statement like so.

test.sort.each_with_index do |user, index|
  if (index.even?)
    user.upcase
  else
    user.downcase
  end
end

If you can't change the type of loop then you could use the #index method on the array, to tell you where the user is in the test array like so

test.sort.each do |user|
  if ([0,2,4].include? (test.sort.index(user)))
    user.upcase
  else
    user.downcase
  end
end

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 30 '15 at 04:44

Why without changing any of the other code? Just do this, no one will care:

puts "Please type 5 different words when you're ready-"
5.times.map { |i| i.even? ? gets.chomp.downcase : gets.chomp.upcase }

The times loop autoindexes for this reason, and the ternary operator (?:) is built for this case.

How should I setup this if and else statement?

2 Answers2