Trecius,

   Well, if there is any way that you can determine the format beforehand,
perhaps by using a structure, that would be the best option.  If you truly
want to use a rectangular array, then what you have is best.  If you have an
ArrayList within an ArrayList, then that will be a jagged array, and you
could have different dimensions for each row (or column, depending on how
you are looking at it).  You would also access it like so:

// Assuming arr is an array list of array lists.
ArrayList arr2 = arr[0];
object val = arr2[0];

   It would just be a pain, as you would have to pull out the array list
every time.  You might be better off with a List<List<object>>, which would
allow you to access it directly like so:

// Assuming arr is List<List<object>>
object val = arr[0][0];

Just a FYI:

You can declare the object array and assign the elements to the array at the
same time....IE:

object[,] arr = new object[,] {
   { 6, 2.5, "Hello, World" },
   { "Jones", 36.3, "Hello, again" }
};

HTH :)

Mythran