ZigZag Design Help

[BLANKE]

My program is suppose to look like this:

Please enter the maximum field width: 9
Enter the microseconds to pause between asterisks: 50000
*
.*
..*
...*
....*
.....*
......* (THE PERIODS ARE EMPTY SPACE)
.......*
........*
.......*
......*
.....*
....*
...*
..*
.*
*
.*
..*
...*
....*
.....*
......*
.......*
........*
.......*
......* (THE PERIODS ARE EMPTY SPACE)
.....*
....*
...*
..*
.*
*
.*
..*
...*
....*
.....*
......*
.......*
........*
.......*
......*
.....*
....* (THE PERIODS ARE EMPTY SPACE)
...*
..*
.*
*
^C

however I cannot get the tooth design correctly. I know that to get it to come back I need to subtract the users field width by 1 but then I cant get it to go back.... any help and explanation would be appreciated.

  #include <iostream>
//allows you to call the standard library to suspend your program for
//       microseconds (using usleep()).
#include <unistd.h>
// allows you to set widths
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;


//=================================MAIN========================================
//=============================================================================
//=============================================================================

int main()
{   //need counter = 2 because setw(0) = setw(1) = setw(2). they look the same.
    int      counter = 1;
   
    int      fieldWidth;

//outputSuspender is in microseconds so it take 1 million to make 1 second.
int      outputSuspender;

cout << "Please enter the maximum field width: ";
cin >> fieldWidth;

cout << "Enter the microseconds to pause between asterisks: ";
cin >> outputSuspender;

    //Make infinity loop to always output the asterisk design
    while( 1 )// loop forever. User will terminate app.
    {
        while (counter <= fieldWidth)
        {
            cout << setw(counter) << "*" << endl;
            ++counter;
            usleep(outputSuspender);
        
        }
        
        while (counter > fieldWidth)
        {
          
            
            cout << setw(fieldWidth - 1) << "*" << endl;
            --fieldWidth;
            usleep(outputSuspender);
        
        }


        }// End Of Main Function
        
    return 0;
}

[Zhuge]

Why not just keep using counter as you have been in the previous loop? Keep decrementing counter until it hits zero, rather than messing with fieldWidth.

[squished18]

With the way you are trying to do it, you will need a directional indicator variable. For example,

bool dir_increasing = true;

Then, inside the first while loop, use an if statement to check which direction you are going in before adjusting your fieldWidth for the next iteration.