Installation and Configuration
Programming Methodology
Video Tutorials

Imitating the Unix SysV Banner Utility in C#

This program imitates the basic Unix SysV "banner" utility. The program will take a string input from the user and display it in large ASCII characters, similar to the "banner" command in Unix systems. This exercise focuses on understanding how to handle text formatting in a terminal window by using basic C# logic to convert each character into a large ASCII-style representation.



Group

C# Arrays, Structures and Strings

Objective

1. The program will prompt the user to enter a text string.
2. Once the user provides the input, the program will convert the text into a large, stylized representation using ASCII characters.
3. The large text will be displayed on the screen with each character being represented by a sequence of characters (like "###", "###", etc.).
4. You will need to build a dictionary or method that converts each character into the corresponding big ASCII representation.
5. Ensure that the program handles both uppercase and lowercase characters, and spaces between words.

Write a C# program to imitate the basic Unix SysV "banner" utility, able to display big texts.

Example C# Exercise

 Copy C# Code 
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;

class BannerUtility
{
    // Dictionary to store ASCII representation for each character
    static Dictionary bannerChars = new Dictionary
    {
        { 'A', new string[] { "  A  ", " A A ", "AAAAA", "A   A", "A   A" } },
        { 'B', new string[] { "BBBB ", "B   B", "BBBB ", "B   B", "BBBB " } },
        { 'C', new string[] { " CCC ", "C    ", "C    ", "C    ", " CCC " } },
        { 'D', new string[] { "DDDD ", "D   D", "D   D", "D   D", "DDDD " } },
        { 'E', new string[] { "EEEEE", "E    ", "EEE  ", "E    ", "EEEEE" } },
        { 'F', new string[] { "FFFFF", "F    ", "FFF  ", "F    ", "F    " } },
        { 'G', new string[] { " GGG ", "G    ", "G  GG", "G   G", " GGG " } },
        { 'H', new string[] { "H   H", "H   H", "HHHHH", "H   H", "H   H" } },
        { 'I', new string[] { "IIIII", "  I  ", "  I  ", "  I  ", "IIIII" } },
        { 'J', new string[] { "JJJJJ", "    J", "    J", "J   J", "JJJJ " } },
        { 'K', new string[] { "K   K", "K  K ", "KK   ", "K  K ", "K   K" } },
        { 'L', new string[] { "L    ", "L    ", "L    ", "L    ", "LLLLL" } },
        { 'M', new string[] { "M   M", "MM MM", "M M M", "M   M", "M   M" } },
        { 'N', new string[] { "N   N", "NN  N", "N N N", "N  NN", "N   N" } },
        { 'O', new string[] { " OOO ", "O   O", "O   O", "O   O", " OOO " } },
        { 'P', new string[] { "PPPP ", "P   P", "PPPP ", "P    ", "P    " } },
        { 'Q', new string[] { " QQQ ", "Q   Q", "Q   Q", "Q  Q ", " QQ Q " } },
        { 'R', new string[] { "RRRR ", "R   R", "RRRR ", "R   R", "R   R" } },
        { 'S', new string[] { " SSS ", "S    ", " SSS ", "    S", " SSS " } },
        { 'T', new string[] { "TTTTT", "  T  ", "  T  ", "  T  ", "  T  " } },
        { 'U', new string[] { "U   U", "U   U", "U   U", "U   U", " UUU " } },
        { 'V', new string[] { "V   V", "V   V", "V   V", " V V ", "  V  " } },
        { 'W', new string[] { "W   W", "W   W", "W W W", "WW WW", "W   W" } },
        { 'X', new string[] { "X   X", " X X ", "  X  ", " X X ", "X   X" } },
        { 'Y', new string[] { "Y   Y", " Y Y ", "  Y  ", "  Y  ", "  Y  " } },
        { 'Z', new string[] { "ZZZZZ", "   Z ", "  Z  ", " Z    ", "ZZZZZ" } },
        { ' ', new string[] { "     ", "     ", "     ", "     ", "     " } }
    };

    static void Main()
    {
        Console.Write("Enter the text to display in large: ");
        string input = Console.ReadLine().ToUpper();

        // Iterate over each line of the banner
        for (int row = 0; row < 5; row++)
        {
            foreach (char c in input)
            {
                if (bannerChars.ContainsKey(c))
                {
                    Console.Write(bannerChars[c][row] + "  ");
                }
            }
            Console.WriteLine();
        }
    }
}

 Output

Enter the text to display in large: hello
H   H  EEEEE  L      L      OOO  
H   H  E      L      L     O   O 
HHHHH  EEEE   L      L     O   O 
H   H  E      L      L     O   O 
H   H  EEEEE  LLLLL  LLLLL  OOO

Share this C# Exercise

More C# Practice Exercises of C# Arrays, Structures and Strings

Explore our set of C# Practice Exercises! Specifically designed for beginners, these exercises will help you develop a solid understanding of the basics of C#. From variables and data types to control structures and simple functions, each exercise is crafted to challenge you incrementally as you build confidence in coding in C#.