Convert byte array to string

[Chuck_Pergiel]

Wrote a simple program for codingame.com. It works.
Tried to change the output to print a string instead of individual bytes. The compiler doesn’t like it.
Compiler error message:

./Answer.go:80: cannot convert outes[i] (type [4]byte) to type string

Program:

// Mini Sudoku solver -  solves a 4×4 sudoku grid that has only one solution.
package main

import "fmt"

func onebit(v uint8) int {  // if only one bit is set, return its position      
    n := 1                  // otherwise return 0
    for (v>0) {
        v >>= 1
        if (v & 1)==1 {
            if v==1 {   return n
            } else  {   return 0
            }
        }
        n++
    }
    return 0
}

func main() {
    var lines[4]    string
    var block[4][4] byte
    var outes[4][4] byte

    for i:=range lines {            // Read input, prep worksheets
        fmt.Scan(&lines[i])
        for j:=range block[0] {
            outes[i][j] = lines[i][j]
            block[i][j] = 0x1e
        }
    }
    
    flag := 1
    for flag>0 {
        flag = 0
        for i:=range block {            // eliminate possibilites
            for j:=range block[0] {
                if outes[i][j] != '0' {
                    mask := uint8(^(1 << (outes[i][j] - '0')))
                    for k:=range block[0] {
                        block[i][k] &= mask         // by row
                    }
                    for k:=range block {
                        block[k][j] &= mask         // by column
                    }
                    startx := j & 2;
                    starty := i & 2
                    for k:=starty; k<starty+2; k++ {        // by subblock
                        for m:=startx; m<startx+2; m++ {
                            block[k][m] &= mask
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        
        for i:=range block {            // scan for single possible value
            for j:=range block[0] {
                if outes[i][j] == '0' {
                    n := onebit(block[i][j])
                    if n>0 {
                        outes[i][j] = byte(n + '0')    // add to solution
                    } else {
                        flag = 1
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
    
/*
    for i:=range outes {
        for j:=range outes[0] {
            fmt.Printf("%c", outes[i][j])
        }
        fmt.Println()
    }
*/
    for i:=range outes {
        fmt.Printf("%s\n", string(outes[i]))
    }
}

[yandry (Yandry Pozo)]

It seems that you can only convert to string a slice of bytes or []byte, in other words [4]byte (array) is not the same type of []byte (slice), so a possible solution may be create your var outes as an array of slices, something like:

var outes [4][]byte

[calmh (Jakob Borg)]

@Chuck_Pergiel

./Answer.go:80: cannot convert outes[i] (type [4]byte) to type string

Slice the array, then convert it to string: Go Playground - The Go Programming Language

[Chuck_Pergiel]

Slice the array?!?! Yeah, okay, fine, Go likes slices. How do you perform this mystical operation? It’s easy, if you know the magic word. Line that failed:

fmt.Printf("%s\n", string(outes[i]))

Line that works:

fmt.Printf("%s\n", string(outes[i][:]))

Or, to simplify:

fmt.Println(string(outes[i][:]))