/*
   Computer Science & Programming 
   Jason M. Snouffer
   Wednesday, October 9, 2002

   Lab 6 Problem 11

	This program uses 2 sets of very complex nested for loops containing complex nested 
	conditional statements to output a hollow equilateral triangle, with its outline consists
	of a symbol chosen 	by the user, except for every third row where the fixed symbol '!'
	is outputted instead; 	the height of the triangle is determined through user input. 
	This program also uses a 	do while loop to validate that the user inputted value for
	the height is between 1 and 10.

   Test Suite:

	Input						Output: 

	5, #						    #
								   ##
								  ! !
								 #  #
								#   #
								 !  !
								  # #
								   ##
								    !

  	4, @						    @
								   @@
								  ! !
								 @  @
								 @  @
								  ! !
								   @@
								    @

    0							invalid input

	11							invalid input

	10								x
								   xx
								  ! !
								 x  x
								x   x
							   !    !
							  x     x
							 x      x
							!       !
						   x        x
							x       x
							 !      !
							  x     x
							   x    x
								!   !
								 x  x
								  x x
								   !!
								    x





	All of the sample inputs within this test suite were tested and performed as expected.
*/

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>

using namespace std;

int main ()
{
	int col, row, input_base, spaces, universal_row(1);
	
	char symbol;
	const char FIXED_SYMBOL('!');
	

	do
	{

		cout<<"Please enter the height of the equilateral triangle (between 1 and 10): ";
		cin>>input_base;

	} while(input_base < 1 || input_base > 10);
	
	
	
	cout<<"Please enter the symbol you would like to output: ";
	cin>>symbol;
	
	//top half
	for(row = 1; row <= input_base; row++)
	{
		
		for(spaces = input_base; spaces > row; spaces--)
		{
			cout<<" ";
		}	
		

		for(col = 1; col <= row; col++)
		{
			if (col == 1 || col == row)
			{
				if(universal_row%3 == 0)
				{
					cout<<FIXED_SYMBOL;
				}
				
				else
				{
					cout<<symbol;
				}
			}
			

			else
			{
				cout<<" ";
			}
		}
		

		cout<<endl;
		universal_row++;		//tracks what row has been outputted
	}
	
	
	//bottom half
	for(row = 1; row <= input_base; row++)
	{
		
		for(spaces = 0; spaces < row; spaces++)
		{
			cout<<" ";
		}	
		

		for(col = input_base; col > row; col--)
		{
			if (col == input_base || col == row + 1) 
			{
				if(universal_row%3 == 0)
				{
					cout<<FIXED_SYMBOL;
				}

				else
				{
					cout<<symbol;
				}
			}
			

			else
			{
				cout<<" ";
			}
			
		}
		

		cout<<endl;
		universal_row++;		//tracks what row has been outputted
		
	}
	
	
	
	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}