Hi All,

In this post, we will look at the code of a Word Search program project I completed in Java as part of a team, the purpose of the code is to create a word search puzzle that includes random words OR words entered by a user. For ease, I have included a Driver class which will showcase the ability of the program.



Group members for this project were:



Anthony Nyhan (ME)

Alan Stewart

Ethan MacNamara



Creating a word search puzzle with words provided by the user:



public WordSearchPuzzle(ArrayList<String> userSpecifiedWords)
{
int i;
int longest = 0;
for(i=0; i<userSpecifiedWords.size(); i++)
{
if(userSpecifiedWords.get(i).length() > longest)
{
longest = userSpecifiedWords.get(i).length();//sets "longest" as the length of the longest word
}
}

for(i = 0 ; i < userSpecifiedWords.size(); i++){

if( userSpecifiedWords.get(i).length() > longest){
longest = userSpecifiedWords.get(i).length() ;//sets "longest" as the length of the longest word
}
}

this.puzzle = new char[longest+2][longest+2];//gives the 2d array the dimensions needed to make words ambiguous
puzzleWords = userSpecifiedWords ; //adds the words to the list "puzzleWords" for use below

}



Creating a word search puzzle with  random words from a file, the file,shortest word length, longest word length and the amount of words used are all specified by the user:



public WordSearchPuzzle(String wordFile, int wordCount,
int shortest, int longest)
{
int temp ;
if(shortest > longest){// if length of shortest word is longer than the longest word, swap the values so selection will be possible
temp = longest ;//longest is moved to temporary variable
longest = shortest ;//longest is now = to what shortest was
shortest = temp ;//shortest is now = to what largest was
}

puzzleWords = loadWordsFromFile(wordFile, shortest, longest) ;
ArrayList<String> chosen = new ArrayList<String>();//Arraylist of strings
int i,j,largest=0,sum = 0;

for(i=0; i<wordCount; i++)//fills the arraylist with random words while going through a loop
{
int pos = (int)((Math.random()* puzzleWords.size()));
chosen.add(puzzleWords.get(pos));

}

for(i = 0 ; i < chosen.size(); i++){//finds the longest word by going through the array

if( chosen.get(i).length() > largest){
largest = chosen.get(i).length() ;
}
}

int count = 0 ;
for(int x = 0 ; x < chosen.size();x++)
{
count = count + chosen.get(x).length() ;//calculates the amount of characters there are in the array

}
count = (int)((Math.sqrt(count))*1.75) ;//gets the squareroot of characters and multiplies by 1.75
this.puzzle = new char[count][count];//sets the dimensions of the puzzle to this size.

puzzleWords = chosen;//gives "puzzleWords" the value of the arraylist "chosen"

}

Loading words from a specified file:



private ArrayList<String> loadWordsFromFile(String filename,
int shortest, int longest)
{
// BasicEnglish.txt - the 850 words of Basic English
// BNCwords.txt - "the 6,318 words with more than 800 occurrences in the whole 100M-word BNC"
try {
FileReader aFileReader = new FileReader(filename);//new file reader
BufferedReader aBufferReader = new BufferedReader(aFileReader);//new buffered reader
String lineFromFile;
int len ;
ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();//new arrayList
lineFromFile = aBufferReader.readLine() ;//reads the line in the file to the string
while (lineFromFile != null) {//while the string is not empty
len = lineFromFile.length() ;//len = length of word in string
if(len >= shortest && len <= longest) {//if the word suits the specified criteria
words.add(lineFromFile.toUpperCase());//add it to the arraylist
}
lineFromFile = aBufferReader.readLine() ;//reads a line from the file
}
aBufferReader.close();//close the reader
aFileReader.close();//close the reader
return words ;
}
catch(IOException x)//catch an exception that may occur
{
return null;

}
}



Getting the puzzle:



public char[][] getpuzzle(){
return this.puzzle ;
}



Returning the list of words used:



public ArrayList<String> getWordSearchList()
{
return this.puzzleWords;
}



Getting the puzzle as a grid:


public char[][] getPuzzleAsGrid()
{

int i,j;

char[] a = {('q'),('w'),('e'),('r'),('t'),('y'),('u'),('i'),('o'),('p'),('a'),('s'),('d'),('f'),('g'),('h'),('j'),('k'),('l'),('z'),('x'),('c'),('v'),('b'),('n'),('m')} ;

//what the above line  is, is a list of characters that can be used in the puzzle to make the words in there hidden.
for(i=0; i<puzzle.length; i++)//goes through the puzzle until variable "i" = the length of the puzzle
{
for(j=0; j<puzzle[0].length; j++)//goes through the puzzle until variable "j" = the length of the puzzle
{
int z = (int)((Math.random()* a.length));//creates a random number between 0 and the length of the list "a" - 1
puzzle[i][j] = a[z] ;//Inserts the character at position z in the list a into the puzzle at coordinates [i][j]
System.out.print(puzzle[i][j] + " ");//prints the action
}
System.out.println();
}
return puzzle;//Return puzzle as grid
}



Getting puzzle as a string:



public String getPuzzleAsString()
{

String a = "" ;
int c,r = 0 ;
for( c = 0; c < puzzle[0].length; c++)//while "c" is less that the column length
{

for( r = 0; r < puzzle.length; r++)//while "c" is less that the row length
{
a = a + (puzzle[r][c])+ " ";//string is equal to the values at coordinates [r][c]
}
if( r == puzzle.length){//if "r" = puzzle length
a = a + " \n " ;//new line
r = 0 ;//reset "r" to 0
}
}
return a ;//Return the puzzle as string
}



Displaying the word search puzzle:



public void showWordSearchPuzzle(){
generateWordsearchpuzzle() ;
int i,j;

for(i=0; i<puzzleWords.size(); i++)//Until i = size of words list
{
System.out.println(puzzleWords.get(i));//Print word at this position
}
System.out.println(getPuzzleAsString());//Prints the puzzle as string
}



Creating the puzzle:

​

private void generateWordsearchpuzzle()
{
int i = 0, rand, wordUsed = 0, row=0, col=0, k, empty = 0;
puzzle = this.puzzle ;
while(i < puzzleWords.size()){//while "i" is less than the size of the list of words
//pick random number for direction
//and random coordinate with row and col
rand = (int)(Math.random()*4) ;
row = (int)(Math.random()*(puzzle[0].length)) ;
col = (int)(Math.random()*(puzzle.length)) ;
//stores temp value of col/row so that it can be used to check for empty spaces in loop
int coltemp = col ;
int rowtemp = row ;
//direction of word in puzzle is chosen according to value of random
if(rand == 0)
{
// col/row+1 is done to take into count the actually pos of col/row in the grid
//if length of puzzle - col/row+1 is greater or equal to length of chosen word then
//there must be enough spaces for the word to fit
if(puzzle[0].length - (col+1) >=puzzleWords.get(i).length())
{

//next we check to see if there is enough EMPTY spaces to fit the word in
for(empty = 0 ; empty <puzzleWords.get(i).length(); empty++){
//if no letter is found we move on to check the next col
if((Character.isLetter(puzzle[row][coltemp]))==false){

coltemp++ ;

}else{
//if not we set empty to a value that will break the loop
//and that will not satisfy the next if statement
empty = puzzleWords.get(i).length()+1 ;

}
}
//here we check to see if there was indeed enough empty spaces
if(empty == puzzleWords.get(i).length())
{

k = 0 ;
//put in the characters of the chosen word one by one
while( k < puzzleWords.get(i).length() ){
puzzle[row][col] = puzzleWords.get(i).charAt(k) ;

col++ ;
k++ ;

}
//increment i to move onto the next chosen word
i++ ;
}

}
} //same method as above for checking empty spaces
else if(rand == 1){
if(puzzle.length - (col+1)>=puzzleWords.get(i).length() )
{
for(empty = 0 ; empty <puzzleWords.get(i).length(); empty++){
if((Character.isLetter(puzzle[row][coltemp]))==false){

coltemp++ ;

}else{
empty = puzzleWords.get(i).length()+1 ;

}
}
if(empty == puzzleWords.get(i).length())
{
//same as above except we are putting characters in the word from last till first
k = puzzleWords.get(i).length()-1 ;
while( k >= 0 ){

puzzle[row][col] = puzzleWords.get(i).charAt(k) ;

col++;
k-- ;
}
// move onto next word
i++ ;
}

}

}else if(rand == 2)
{//same as above except with changing rows
//so the chosen words will be put in in a north or south direction

if(puzzle[0].length - (row+1) >=puzzleWords.get(i).length() && (Character.isLetter(puzzle[row][col])==false))
{
for(empty = 0 ; empty <puzzleWords.get(i).length(); empty++){
if((Character.isLetter(puzzle[rowtemp][col]))==false){

rowtemp++ ;

}else{
empty = puzzleWords.get(i).length()+1 ;

}
}
if(empty == puzzleWords.get(i).length()){

k = puzzleWords.get(i).length()-1 ;
while( k >= 0 ){

puzzle[row][col] = puzzleWords.get(i).charAt(k) ;

row++;
k-- ;

}
i++ ;
}

}
}

else if(rand == 3)
{//same as above
if(puzzle[0].length - (row+1) >=puzzleWords.get(i).length() )
{
for(empty = 0 ; empty <puzzleWords.get(i).length(); empty++){
if((Character.isLetter(puzzle[rowtemp][col]))==false){

rowtemp++ ;

}else{
empty = puzzleWords.get(i).length()+1 ;

}
}
if(empty == puzzleWords.get(i).length()){
k = 0 ;
while(k < puzzleWords.get(i).length() ){

puzzle[row][col] = puzzleWords.get(i).charAt(k) ;

row++;
k++ ;

}
i++ ;
}

}
}
}

int a,j;
//characters of alphabet in order of how they appear on the keyboard
char[] alphabet = {('Q'),('W'),('E'),('R'),('T'),('Y'),('U'),('I'),('O'),('P'),('A'),('S'),('D'),('F'),('G'),('H'),('J'),('K'),('L'),('Z'),('X'),('C'),('V'),('B'),('N'),('M')} ;
for(i=0;i < puzzleWords.size(); i++){
//goes through the grid and if no character is in place it randomly adds one from the alphabet
for(a=0; a<puzzle.length; a++)
{
for(j=0; j<puzzle[0].length; j++)
{
if(Character.isLetter(puzzle[a][j])==false){
int z = (int)((Math.random()* alphabet.length));
puzzle[a][j] = alphabet[z] ;

}

}
}

}

}



Driver class:



Test case 1:



private static void test1()
{//this test case is one with random words from the file bncwords.txt, 100 words to be chosen, shortest length = 3, longest length = 3

WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle("bncwords.txt",100,3,3);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;//gets the list of chose words
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();//prints the puzzle
}



Test case 2:



private static void test2()
{//again words are from bncwords.txt, 8 words, shortest = 2, longest = 8
WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle("bncwords.txt",8,2,8);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();
}



Test case 3:



private static void test3()
{//words are from basicenglish.txt, 5 words, shortest = 1o, longest = 2 (this test if our statement in second block of code works)
WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle("basicenglish.txt",5,10,2);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();
}



Test case 4:



private static void test4()
{//Words are from basicenglish.txt, 15 words to choose, shortest is 5, longest is 8
WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle("basicenglish.txt",15,5,8);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();
}



Test case 5:



private static void test5()
{
System.out.println("**************************THE FOLLOWING ARE THE TEST FOR USER INPUT WORDS********************************+|n") ;
System.out.println();
ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
words.add("THAT");
words.add("INTERESTING");
words.add("AS");
words.add("INTERACTION");
words.add("SMOOTH");

WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle(words);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();

}



Test case 6:



private static void test6()
{

ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
words.add("CAT");
words.add("PSEUDOPSEUDOHYPOPARATHYROIDISM");//this is actually a word :)
words.add("DOG");
words.add("SMOOTH");

WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle(words);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();

}



Test case 7:



private static void test7()
{

ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
words.add("THAT");
words.add("IN");
words.add("AS");
words.add("ON");
words.add("ROUGH");

WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle(words);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();

}



Test case 8:



private static void test8()
{

ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
words.add("BECUASE");
words.add("I");
words.add("LOVE");
words.add("IMPERETIVE");
words.add("PROGRAMMING");

WordSearchPuzzle wordSearch = new WordSearchPuzzle(words);
wordSearch.getWordSearchList() ;
wordSearch.showWordSearchPuzzle() ;

System.out.println();

}



Main driver method:



public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println();
System.out.println("**************************THE FOLLOWING ARE THE TEST FOR RANDOMLY GENERATED WORDS FROM GIVEN FILES********************************+|n") ;
System.out.println();
Driver.test1();
Driver.test2();
Driver.test3();
Driver.test4();
Driver.test5();
Driver.test6();
Driver.test7();
Driver.test8();
}





So, there you have it, a fully functional word search puzzle game that can give you hours of enjoyment. As I mentioned above, this was completed as part of a team and was submitted as part of our module. If you have any questions about the above code, feel free to leave an email.



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