Program to make a pyramid of characters based on input

// Program to make a pyramid of characters based on input from user
// Purpose is to examine use of <iomanip.h> and how setw is used
// Created by Gary Paduana
// email : [email protected]
// Written on 4.15.01
 
# include <iostream.h>
# include <iomanip.h>   // library that has the setw output manipulator
 
int main ()
{
 
 char letter;      // letter is the symbol or letter made into a giant triangle
 int width;        // width is how far to go into the center of screen
 int base;         // base is how many symbols are on bottom line
 int a;            // a is how many lines down the triangle is
 int b = 1;        // b is how many symbols are displayed on each line
 int counter = 0;  // counter is how many times the loop executed
 
 cout<<"This program will make a triangle of the symbol entered."<<endl;
 cout<<"It must be an odd number for the triangle to form properly."<<endl; 
 cout<<"If an even number is entered, it will be lowered to the previous odd."<<endl;
 
 
 while(cin)// This allows the program to loop until the user closes the window
 {
  
  cout<<"Enter a symbol or character."<<endl;
  cin>>letter;
 
  cout<<"Enter the number of characters the base should have."<<endl;
  
  cin>>base;
 // This is how far into the center it should space until it starts outputting the symbol
  width = (base / 2) + 5 - counter; // It must first be given a value before it enters the loop
  a = 1;// a is how many lines down the triangle is, and naturally it starts on the first line
  // It will loop and continue to output the symbol until it reaches 5 spaces from the left margin...
  while(width > 5)   // so that everything isn't jammed against the side
  {      
// This is how far into the center it should space until it starts outputting the symbol
   width = (base / 2) + 5 - counter;
     // setw is an output manipulator in the <iomanip.h> library.  this tell the compiler how many lines
cout<<setw(width);
// to move until it first sends a character to the screen.  It is currently set to move the value of 
 // "width" spaces to the right before it outputs.
// This while loop will continue to output the desired symbol to the current line until it is equal to 1   
   while(b > 0)  
   {
// outputs the letter or symbol entered
    cout<<letter;    
    b--; // b is decremented so only so many letters are outputted per line
   }
// an endl is used to jump to the next line to output the next part of the triangle
   cout<<endl;      
 // the number of symbols per line is found using this equation 
   b = (a * 2) - 1; 
  // the width is decremented so that everything is spaced properly
   width--;
// b is given 2 more symbols because it is on the next line, and every line has 2 more than the previous         
   b = b + 2;        
   a++;              // this is how many lines into the triangle it is
   counter++;        // the counter is used to ensure proper spacing done by the width variable
  }
// endl is used to add some space between each time the program is executed
  cout<<endl<<endl;  
  b = 1;             // b is returned to 1 because the program started over
  counter = 0;       // counter is returned to 0 because the program started over
 }
return 0;
}