ERROR : System.FormatException: Input string was not in the correct format

Question

If i try this :

int count = int.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out count) ? count : default(int);

instead of this : int count = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());

problem is solved but then it gives an Array out of range error. What should i do ?

using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;


class Player
{
    static void Main(String[] args)
    {
        string[] inputs;

        // game loop
        while (true)
        {
            int count = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine()); // The number of current enemy ships within range
            Console.Error.WriteLine("Count:" + count);

            Enemy[] enemys = new Enemy[count];

            for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
            {
                inputs = Console.ReadLine().Split(' ');
                enemys[i] = new Enemy(inputs[0], int.Parse(inputs[1]));
            }

            Array.Sort(enemys, delegate(Enemy en1, Enemy en2) {
                    return en1.Dist.CompareTo(en2.Dist);
                  });

            Console.WriteLine(enemys[0].Name);
        }
    }
}


public class Enemy{
    public string Name;
    public int Dist;

    public Enemy(string name, int dist){
        this.Name = name;
        this.Dist = dist;
    }   
}

Answer 1

This can call an "Array out of range" exception, if your input string does not contains a white space:

inputs = Console.ReadLine().Split(' ');
enemys[i] = new Enemy(inputs[0], int.Parse(inputs[1]));

You should also check, wether count is greater equal 0 , becuase if it smaller than 0 , you try to create an array with a wrong size,

Answer 2

TryParse will return False if it fails to parse the input as well as setting the value of count to 0, this means you then create an array of 0 length, but try to access the first element of this array which doesn't exist

enemys[0].Name; // This won't exist because enemy's list is empty

To start with you should make the user enter a correct value.

int count;
while(!int.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out count)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Not a valid value! Try Again");
}