Thread: Recursive Assistance with a Word Puzzle Game

Hey gang:

The goal of this assignment is too develop a recursive method with a helper method to loop through a word puzzle board of 20 x 20 with a given list of words and 'Search' the word. IF the word is found, THEN highlight the word red. This is done for all the words in the word list. The problem arises with the code I have written. When I compile it, the board appears. When I press the 'Search' button, all the letters 'A' highlight red and the console returns AB. Every time I press the 'Search' button, AB keeps appearing on the console and other words are never checked to see if they appear on the board.

I am trying to write a recursive method and helper method that searches the word one by one in every direction possible (up, down, left, right, up left, down left, up right, down right) but only the first letter of the word ABSTRACTION is done. any way to improve my recursive and helper method?

Just so you don't have to search the whole code, the recursive/helper function/method is found before line 142 in class WordSearchFrame

I have included two java files. i also included two txt files. my professor wants me to use the command line arguments, so i saved them in my C drive and named them

args[0] = "C:\\projects\\wordsearch.txt";
args[1] = "C:\\projects\\wordlist.txt";

You can save it and name the file whatever u want. i just choose projects for mine.

i appreciate any advice. (whether its about code cleanliness or anything else to improve the code)

public class WordSearchException extends RuntimeException {
 
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
	/**
	 * Default constructor
	 */
	public WordSearchException() {
 
	}
 
	/**
	 * Constructor with an error message
	 * 
	 * @param reason
	 *            The error message for the exception
	 */
	public WordSearchException(String reason) {
		super(reason);
	}
}

import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.GridLayout;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;
import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
import javax.swing.SwingConstants;
import javax.swing.border.EtchedBorder;
import javax.swing.border.TitledBorder;
 
public class WordSearchFrame extends JFrame {
 
	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 
	// The number of columns in the word list
	private static final int COLS_IN_WORDLIST = 1;
 
	// The width of the frame
	private static final int FRAME_WIDTH = 640;
 
	// The height of the frame
	private static final int FRAME_HEIGHT = 480;
 
	// The grid used in the word search
	private JLabel[][] wordSearch;
 
	// The labels used to display the words in the word list
	private JLabel[] wordListLabels;
 
	// The panel that the word list is inside
	private JPanel wordListPanel;
 
	// The panel that the word search is inside
	private JPanel wordsearchPanel;
 
	// The panel on the right hand side
	private JPanel rightSidePanel;
 
	// The panel on the left hand side
	private JPanel leftSidePanel;
 
	// The panel that the search button is inside
	private JPanel searchButtonPanel;
 
	// The search button
	private JButton searchButton;
 
	// The number of rows in the word search
	private int numRows;
 
	// The number of columns in the word search
	private int numCols;
 
	// The listener for the search button
	private ActionListener searchButtonListener;
 
	// The list of words to be found in the word search
	// If this line won't compile in Java 1.4.2, change it to
	// private ArrayList wordList;
	private ArrayList<String> wordList;
 
	private Set foundWords = new HashSet();
 
	// boolean isOnBoard = searchBegin(word, 0, 0);
 
	/**
	 * The listener for the search button
	 */
	class SearchListener implements ActionListener {
		/**
		 * This event handler causes the current word in the word list to be
		 * colored in red and finds the word in the word search
		 * 
		 * @param event
		 *            The event corresponding to the search button being clicked
		 */
		public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
 
			wordListLabels[0].setForeground(Color.RED);
		        System.out.println(wordListLabels[0].getText().charAt(0));
			System.out.println(wordSearch[0][0].getText());
 
			wordListLabels[0].setForeground(Color.RED);
			locateWord(wordListLabels[0]);
	}
		public void locateWord(JLabel currentWord)
		{
			for (int i = 0; i < numRows; i++)
				for (int j = 0; j < numCols; j++)
				{
					if (wordSearch[i][j].getText().charAt(0) == currentWord.getText().charAt(0))
					{
						//WordSearchFrame.this.locateWord(currentWord, i, j, new boolean[numRows][numCols]);
						wordSearch[i][j].setForeground(Color.RED);
					}
				}				
		}
 
	}		
		public void locateWord(JLabel currentWord, int currentRow, int currentCol) //, boolean[][] visited
		{
			boolean found = false;
 
			if (currentWord.getText().contains(wordSearch[currentRow][currentCol].getText())) {
				if (foundWords.add(currentWord)) {
					found = true;
				}
				else
				{
					//visited[currentRow][currentCol] = true;
 
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow+1, currentCol);
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow-1, currentCol); 
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow, currentCol+1); 
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow, currentCol-1);
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow+1, currentCol+1);
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow-1, currentCol+1); 
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow+1, currentCol-1);
					locateWord(currentWord, currentRow-1, currentCol-1);
 
				}
 
				if (found)
					wordSearch[currentRow][currentCol].setForeground(Color.RED);
 
 
				if (currentRow < 0 || currentRow >= numRows || currentCol < 0 || currentCol >= numCols)
					return;
			}
 
}
 
	/**
	 * Builds the panel on the left hand side, which consists of the word search
	 * 
	 * @throws WordSearchException
	 *             Throws a WordSearchException if the word search file isn't in
	 *             the proper format
	 * @throws IOException
	 *             Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 */
	private void buildLeftSidePanel() throws WordSearchException, IOException {
		// Create leftSidePanel
		leftSidePanel = new JPanel();
		leftSidePanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
		leftSidePanel.setBorder(new TitledBorder(new EtchedBorder(),
				"Word Search"));
 
		// Build wordsearch panel
		wordsearchPanel = new JPanel();
		wordsearchPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(numRows, numCols));
		leftSidePanel.add(wordsearchPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
 
		// Add leftSidePanel panel to main frame
		this.getContentPane().add(leftSidePanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
	}
 
	/**
	 * Determines the number of columns and rows in the word search file.
	 * 
	 * @param wordSearchFilename
	 *            The file name of the word search file
	 * @throws WordSearchException
	 *             Throws a WordSearchException if the word search file isn't in
	 *             the proper format
	 * @throws IOException
	 *             Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 */
	private void initGridFromFile(String wordSearchFilename)
			throws WordSearchException, IOException {
		this.numRows = 0;
		this.numCols = 0;
		BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(
				wordSearchFilename));
		String line = reader.readLine();
		while (line != null) {
			StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(line, " ");
			if (this.numCols == 0) {
				this.numCols = tokenizer.countTokens();
			} else {
				if (tokenizer.countTokens() != this.numCols) {
					throw new WordSearchException(
							"Invalid number of columns in word search");
				}
			}
			line = reader.readLine();
			this.numRows++;
		}
		reader.close();
		this.wordSearch = new JLabel[numRows][numCols];
	}
 
	/**
	 * Loads the contents of the word search into the JLabels of the word search
	 * grid in the GUI
	 * 
	 * @param wordSearchfilename
	 *            The name of the word search file
	 * @throws IOException
	 *             Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 */
	protected void loadGridFromFile(String wordSearchFilename)
			throws IOException {
		int row = 0;
		BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(
				wordSearchFilename));
		String line = reader.readLine();
		while (line != null) {
			StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(line, " ");
			int col = 0;
			while (tokenizer.hasMoreTokens()) {
				String tok = tokenizer.nextToken();
				wordSearch[row][col] = new JLabel(tok);
				wordSearch[row][col].setForeground(Color.BLACK);
				wordSearch[row][col]
						.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
				wordsearchPanel.add(wordSearch[row][col]);
				col++;
			}
			line = reader.readLine();
			row++;
		}
		reader.close();
	}
 
	/**
	 * Builds the right hand side panel which contains the list of words in the
	 * word search and the search button
	 */
	private void buildRightSidePanel() {
		// Build the panel on the right side
		rightSidePanel = new JPanel();
		rightSidePanel.setBorder(new TitledBorder(new EtchedBorder(),
				"Word List"));
		rightSidePanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
 
		// Build the word list
		wordListLabels = new JLabel[wordList.size()];
		wordListPanel = new JPanel();
		wordListPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(wordList.size(), 1));
		for (int i = 0; i < this.wordList.size(); i++) {
			// If the line below won't compile in Java 1.4.2, make it
			// String word = (String)this.wordList.get(i);
			String word = this.wordList.get(i);
			wordListLabels[i] = new JLabel(word);
			wordListLabels[i].setForeground(Color.BLUE);
			wordListLabels[i].setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
			wordListPanel.add(wordListLabels[i]);
		}
		rightSidePanel.add(wordListPanel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
 
		// Add search button
		searchButton = new JButton("Search");
		searchButtonListener = new SearchListener();
		searchButton.addActionListener(searchButtonListener);
		searchButtonPanel = new JPanel();
		searchButtonPanel.add(searchButton);
		rightSidePanel.add(searchButtonPanel, BorderLayout.SOUTH);
 
		// Add rightSidePanel to main panel
		this.getContentPane().add(rightSidePanel, BorderLayout.EAST);
	}
 
	/**
	 * Loads the list of words to find in the word search
	 * 
	 * @param wordListFilename
	 *            The file name of the file containing the list of words
	 * @throws WordSearchException
	 *             Throws a WordSearchException if the word search file isn't in
	 *             the proper format
	 * @throws IOException
	 *             Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 */
	private void loadWordList(String wordListFilename)
			throws WordSearchException, IOException {
		int row = 0;
 
		// If this line won't compile under Java 1.4.2 change it to
		// this.wordList = new ArrayList();
		wordList = new ArrayList<String>();
		BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(
				wordListFilename));
		String line = reader.readLine();
		while (line != null) {
			StringTokenizer tokenizer = new StringTokenizer(line, " ");
			if (tokenizer.countTokens() != COLS_IN_WORDLIST) {
				throw new WordSearchException(
						"Error: only one word per line allowed in the word list");
			}
			String tok = tokenizer.nextToken();
			// If this line won't compile, change it to
			// wordList.add((Object)tok)
			wordList.add(tok);
			line = reader.readLine();
			row++;
		}
		reader.close();
	}
 
	/**
	 * Constructor for the WordSearchFrame
	 * 
	 * @param wordSearchFilename
	 *            The name of the word search file
	 * @param wordListFilename
	 *            The name of the word list file
	 * @throws IOException
	 *             Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 * @throws WordSearchException
	 *             Throws a WordSearchException if the word search file isn't in
	 *             the proper format
	 */
	public WordSearchFrame(String wordSearchFilename, String wordListFilename)
			throws IOException, WordSearchException {
		this.setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);
		this.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
		this.initGridFromFile(wordSearchFilename);
		buildLeftSidePanel();
		this.loadGridFromFile(wordSearchFilename);
		loadWordList(wordListFilename);
		buildRightSidePanel();
	}
 
	/**
	 * Constructor which takes a wordSearch 2D String array and a wordList String array
	 * @param wordSearch The word search represented as a 2D String array
	 * @param wordList The list of words to search for
	 * @throws IOException Throws an IOException if loading the word search file has
	 *             problems
	 * @throws WordSearchException  Throws a WordSearchException if the word search file isn't in
	 *             the proper format
	 */
	public WordSearchFrame(String[][] wordSearch, String[] wordList)
			throws IOException, WordSearchException {
		this.setSize(FRAME_WIDTH, FRAME_HEIGHT);
		this.getContentPane().setLayout(new BorderLayout());
		this.numRows = wordSearch.length;
		this.numCols = wordSearch[0].length;
		this.wordSearch = new JLabel[this.numRows][this.numCols];
		buildLeftSidePanel();
		for( int row = 0; row < this.numRows; row++ ) {
			for( int col = 0; col < this.numCols; col++ ) {
				this.wordSearch[row][col] = new JLabel(wordSearch[row][col]);
				this.wordSearch[row][col].setForeground(Color.BLACK);
				this.wordSearch[row][col]
						.setHorizontalAlignment(SwingConstants.CENTER);
				this.wordsearchPanel.add(this.wordSearch[row][col]);
			}
		}
 
 
		// If this line won't compile under Java 1.4.2 change it to
		// this.wordList = new ArrayList();
		this.wordList = new ArrayList<String>();
		for( int i = 0; i < wordList.length; i++ ) {
			// If this line won't compile, change it to
			// this.wordList.add((Object)wordList[i])
			this.wordList.add(wordList[i]);
		}
		buildRightSidePanel();
	}
 
	/**
	 * @param args
	 *            The first argument is the word search file, the second
	 *            argument is the word list.
	 */
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		args[0] = "C:\\projects\\wordsearch.txt";
		args[1] = "C:\\projects\\wordlist.txt";
 
		try {
			if (args.length != 2) {
				System.out.println("Command line arguments: <word search file> <word list>");
			} else {
				WordSearchFrame frame = new WordSearchFrame(args[0], args[1]);
				frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
				frame.setVisible(true);
			}
		} catch (Exception e) {
			System.out.println(e.getMessage());
			e.printStackTrace();
		}
	}
}

this are the two txt files, not java files. this first one is called wordlist.txt

ABSTRACTION
DEBUGGER
ECLIPSE
ENCAPSULATION
EXCEPTION
INHERITANCE
INTERFACE
ITERATION
JAVA
METHOD
POLYMORPHISM
RECURSION
STATIC
SUPERCLASS

this second txt file is called wordsearch.txt

B H B U N Z A X O H I F P P O S S W O O 
C V Z A O Y S B W M G G P X N V U Q N V 
W D S M I N K I S L K T H I O C P P G N 
A P Q O T E X V Z T M P N S Y D E Y R I 
N N K M A Q C S V E R T Q E I N R G J Q 
X O F O L J J L T I E A M J K D C V C D 
M I I X U T W H I R A S C V M M L U L U 
D T L G S S O S F P I V W T N M A A Y P 
L P Y C P D O A S H S Y Y S I N S D T O 
H E A V A J C D P N B E W W Q O S R C P 
P C U U C E S R C I O Q E S O S N U S H 
S X U U N Y O A N I P I D E B U G G E R 
T E Q E E M I N H E R I T A N C E F S T 
A I E Z Y E V Q G W O C Z A H N U O C C 
T A L L C X W N W D Z J G Q R T E A R D 
I B O Y L Y W J S J T I J D R E R L S H 
C P Z F P E S C B Z C X S W I T T U R K 
N W V D B O D F A D G T B F S L Y I J Y 
T U V A N O I S R U C E R B J S T E H Z 
L B C Q J W H K G V O I A V P J H U A K