How would I change the variables in multiple methods with the user input?

Question

Here is my code for a tic tac toe game I have to do for an assignment, it is currently set at the normal 3 x 3, but the teacher what the user to be albe to change these to between 3-5 before they start playing, here is my codeing
import java.util.*;
public class TicTacToe
Constructs an empty board.
private String[][] board;
private static int ROWS = 3;
private static int COLUMNS = 3;
public TicTacToe()
int size = in.nextInt();
board = new String[ROWS][COLUMNS];
// Fill with spaces
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < size; j++)
board[i][j] = " ";
Sets a field in the board. The field must be unoccupied.
@param i the row index
@param j the column index
@param player the player ("x" or "o")
public void set(int i, int j, String player)
if (board[i][j].equals(" "))
board[i][j] = player;
Creates a string representation of the board, such as
|x o|
| x |
| o|
@return the string representation
public String toString()
String r = "";
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++)
r = r + "|";
for (int j = 0; j < COLUMNS; j++)
r = r + board[i][j];
r = r + "|\n";
return r;
I am having a problem figuring out how to change the variables ROWS , COLUMNS to the given user input, it seems easy but i can't really figure out how to do it
thanks ahead of time

Answer 1

import java.util.*;
public class TicTacToe
Constructs an empty board.
private String[][] board;
private static int ROWS = 3;
private static int COLUMNS = 3;
public TicTacToe()
int size = in.nextInt();
board = new String[ROWS][COLUMNS];
// Fill with spaces
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < size; j++)
board[j] = " ";
Sets a field in the board. The field must be unoccupied.
@param i the row index
@param j the column index
@param player the player ("x" or "o")
public void set(int i, int j, String player)
if (board[j].equals(" "))
board[j] = player;
Creates a string representation of the board, such as
|x o|
| x |
| o|
@return the string representation
public String toString()
String r = "";
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++)
r = r + "|";
for (int j = 0; j < COLUMNS; j++)
r = r + board[j];
r = r + "|\n";
return r;
}sorry for not posting code correctyl new to this forums
Thanks for the help but let me rephrase my question, the rows and columns are the same like 3x3, 4x4 ,or 5x5,
-when the program runs it will ask the user for what they want to set the tic tac toe at between 3 - 5.
My question is how do I get the code
Scanner a = new Scanner ( System.in );
System.out.print("Enter the size of the tic tac toe box to be between 3-5 : ");
int sizeTicTacToe = a.next();to change the variables of ROWS COLUMNS
I just want to know of a way to make the users input of sizeTicTacToe to change the variables ROWS & COLUMNS in my toString() and TicTacToe() methods