If else statement not checking all the else statements

Question

SO im making a program the will solve a maze recursively and im having problems with my if else statements. I had a similar problem in a different part of my code and i solved it by just taking out all the else's and just having a bunch of if statements. But now i need it the stop searching after it finds the correct way to go.

public static void solveMaze(int ROW, int COL){
   int isFinished = 0;
   //ROW COL
   //set up base case. find end if possible to get in 1 move then end

         if(drawArray[ROW][COL+1] == ' '){
            if(drawArray[ROW][COL+2] == 'E'){
               isFinished = 1;
               move(ROW,COL,ROW,COL+2);
            }
         }
         if(drawArray[ROW][COL-1] == ' '){
            if(drawArray[ROW][COL-2] == 'E'){
               isFinished = 1;
               move(ROW,COL,ROW,COL-2);
            }
         }
         if(drawArray[ROW+1][COL] == ' '){
            if(drawArray[ROW+2][COL] == 'E'){
               isFinished = 1;
               move(ROW,COL,ROW+2,COL);
            }
         }
         if(drawArray[ROW-1][COL] == ' '){
            if(drawArray[ROW-2][COL] == 'E'){
               isFinished = 1;
               move(ROW,COL,ROW-2,COL);
            }
         }      
         //find first open cell and choose it
         int foundOpen = 0;
         if(isFinished == 0){
            if(drawArray[ROW][COL+1] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW][COL+2] != '*'){
               drawArray[ROW][COL+2] = '*';
               prevCol = COL;
               prevRow = ROW;
               COL+= 2;
               foundOpen = 1;   
            }  
            else if(drawArray[ROW+1][COL] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW+2][COL] != '*'){          
               drawArray[ROW+2][COL] = '*';
               prevCol = COL;
               prevRow = ROW;
               ROW+= 2;
               foundOpen = 1;
            }
            else if(drawArray[ROW][COL-1] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW][COL-2] != '*'){
               drawArray[ROW][COL-2] = '*';
               prevCol = COL;
               prevRow = ROW;
               ROW-= 2;
               foundOpen = 1;
            }
            else if(drawArray[ROW-1][COL] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW-2][COL] != '*'){
               drawArray[ROW-2][COL] = '*';
               prevCol = COL;
               prevRow = ROW;
               ROW-= 2;
               foundOpen = 1;

            }
         }
         //i have two recursive voids so this is chosing between them

         if(foundOpen == 1){
            move(prevRow,prevCol,ROW,COL);
            solveMaze(ROW,COL);}
         else if (foundOpen == 0 && isFinished == 0)
            wrongChoice(ROW, COL);

   }

SO basically this part of the program checks to see first if the end is near and if it is basically finish. I use to have if else statements for the first part to but i wouldnt work and the only way i could fix it was by taking out the else's. So in one maze that i have to solve the first move should be COL-1 == ' ' and COL-2 != '*'. so that if statement should happen but it doesnt. I put in a bunch of println statements to check where it was going off and isFInished == 0 so it starts into that if statement but then something goes wrong and nothing solution is found so wrongChoice is called. Im prety new to java and recursion so i might be missing something obvios.

Answer 1

     boolean isFinished = true;
     if (drawArray[ROW][COL+1] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW][COL+2] == 'E') {
         move(ROW,COL,ROW,COL+2);
     } else if (drawArray[ROW][COL-1] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW][COL-2] == 'E') {
         move(ROW,COL,ROW,COL-2);
     } else if (drawArray[ROW+1][COL] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW+2][COL] == 'E') {
         move(ROW,COL,ROW+2,COL);
     } else if (drawArray[ROW-1][COL] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW-2][COL] == 'E') {
         move(ROW,COL,ROW-2,COL);
     } else {
         isFinished = false;
     }

     int foundOpen = 0;
     if (!isFinished) {

That should do.

---

If you do this kind of looking at naybors more often:

static final int[][] naybors = {
    { 0, 1 },
    { 0, -1 },
    { 1, 0 },
    { -1, 0 },
};

boolean isFinished = false;
for (int[] nb : naybors) {
    if (drawArray[ROW + nb[0]][COL + nb[1]] == ' '
            && drawArray[ROW + 2*nb[0]][COL + 2*nb[1]] == 'E') {
        move(ROW, COL, ROW + 2*nb[0], COL + 2*nb[1);
        isFinished = true;
        break;
    }
}

---

Also saw:

        else if(drawArray[ROW][COL-1] == ' ' && drawArray[ROW][COL-2] != '*'){
           drawArray[ROW][COL-2] = '*';
           prevCol = COL;
           prevRow = ROW;
           //Wrong: ROW-= 2;
           COL -= 2; // Good?
           foundOpen = 1;
        }

Answer 2

you could System.out.print and check where you want it to stop then use @mserioli suggestion which will work. good luck