C Programming Word Search not scanning through a second time

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/20317502

Question

I am working on a wordsearch project that will scan a 18 by 18 matrix of letters and find words hidden in any orientation.

I succeeded in reading the matrix from a file and printing it onto the console. and the wordsearch will scan the first row of letters correctly.

But if you ask it to find a word located 5 or 6 rows down, it won't do it.

Also, if say you are looking for the word "roosevelt" and it starts on X=5,Y=4. If the word search finds the letter "r" on the first row, it will stop searching and say it only found the first letter for "roosevelt".

I am not sure how to get the program to keep searching the whole matrix until the matrix finishes or the whole word is found.

Here is my code:

(I also have a dropbox link that has the source code ready and the word matrix file): https://www.dropbox.com/s/g5z3frtezjoj2vr/WordSearch.zip

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <ctype.h> //Used for the'toupper' function



int main(void){

 int N=0,M=0,a,X,Y,i,length;
    char array[18][18], string[50];

 FILE *wsch;
 wsch = fopen("wrdsearch.txt","r");


/* Above defines the 18X18 array in which to fit the wordsearch
   as well as a search string of length 50 (more than enough to search for words within      the wordsearch) */
printf("WORDSEARCH SOLVER - PRESS CTRL-C TO QUIT\n\n");

  if(!wsch) 
  {
    printf("Error! File did not open.\n");
    return 1;
  }

    for (Y=0; Y<18 ;Y++)
    {
        for(X=0;X<18;X++)
        {
            fscanf(wsch,"%c\n",&array[Y][X]); //Inputting each character into array
            array[Y][X]=toupper(array[Y][X]);
        }
    }
     printf("   ");
   for (X=0;X<18;X++)
    {
        if(X<=9){
        printf("%d ", X);

        }
        else{
        printf("%d", X);

        }
    }

   printf("\n______________________________________\n");
   fclose(wsch);
    for (Y=0;Y<18;Y++)
    {
        if(Y<=9){
        printf("%d |", Y);
        }
        else{
        printf("%d|", Y);
        }
        for (X=0;X<18;X++)
        { 
            printf("%c ",array[Y][X]); //Printing output to screen
        }
        printf("\n");
    }
    printf("\nPlease enter the word to be searched:\n");
    fgets(string,50,stdin); //Using the fgets function to read in the string from keyboard - prevents buffer overflow
    for(i=0;string[i]!='\0';i++)
    {
        string[i]=toupper(string[i]); //Converts string all into uppercase to prevent errors
    }
    length=strlen(string);
    for (Y=0;Y<18;Y++)
    {
        for(X=0;X<18;X++)
        {

            if(array[Y][X]==(string[0]))
            {
        printf("\nLetter 1 of %sis found at %d,%d\n",string,X,Y);
    //Success in finding first letter of string - Now trY in other directions
    if (array[--Y][X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in Y+ direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[--Y][X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in Y+ direction");
        break;
    }
    else if (array[Y][++X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in Y+X+ direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[--Y][++X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);


        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in Y+X+ direction");
        break;
    }
    else if (array[++Y][X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in X+ direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[Y][++X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in X+ direction");
        break;
    }
    else if (array[++Y][X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in X+Y- direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[++Y][++X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in X+Y- direction");
        break;
    }
    else if (array[Y][--X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in Y- direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[++Y][X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in Y- direction");
    //    break;
    }
    else if (array[Y][--X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in X-Y- direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[++Y][--X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in X-Y- direction");
   //     break;
    }
    else if (array[--Y][X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in X- direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[Y][--X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in X- direction");
   //     break;
    }
    else if (array[--Y][X]==string[1])
    {
        //Success in finding in X-Y+ direction
        printf("Letter 2 of %sis found at %d,%d",string,X,Y);
        for (a=2;a<length;a++)
        {
            if (array[--Y][--X]==string[a])
                printf("\nLetter %d of %sis found at %d,%d",a+1,string,X,Y);
        }
        printf("\n\nWord found in X-Y+ direction");
   //     break;
    }
  }
    else
    {



    }

        }
       printf("\n%d|%d\n", X,Y);
       break;
    }

//End of file opening correctly process

printf("\n");
system("pause");
return 0;
}

Data file:

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

Solution

One problem is an inappropriately placed break;, at:

        }
       printf("\n%d|%d\n", X,Y);
       break;
    }

//End of file opening correctly process

That terminates the outer loop after one iteration. However, removing that is not a panacea.

Another problem is the empty else { } clause. That gets executed quite a lot if you put printf("Ooops\n"); inside it.

You do not seem to be taking enough care to ensure that your array subscripts remain positive. You also seem to be editing X and Y in the scan code, without setting them back again, so that you foul your outer search loops. You have two unused variables, M and N, that maybe you were thinking of using instead. But you must stop trampling X and Y somehow.

Another problem is that you don't check that you got input from the user (if (fgets(string, sizeof(string), stdin) == 0) return 0; to detect EOF and exit). Another problem is that you didn't remove the newline from the end of the input string.

I modified the code to handle those and to echo the word being searched for. I typed hoover and the output included:

Please enter the word to be searched:
Searching for: [HOOVER]
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!

18|0
Oops!

Letter 1 of HOOVERis found at 1,1
Letter 2 of HOOVERis found at 2,0

Word found in Y+X+ direction
6|-4
Oops!
Oops!
Oops!

It then got very boring, continually repeating itself (this after I removed the break; mentioned at the top.

You should really write some functions instead of putting all the code in a monolithic main() like that. You could have a search_from_here() which is given the string, the array, and an X, Y coordinate to start at; it might return 0 when it does not find the word and 1 when it does.

You won't be able to use this code, but it seems to work. It does use basic C99 features like declaring variables when needed and in for loops.

#include <ctype.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

static int prompt_for(char *buffer, size_t buflen);
static int search_direction(char array[18][18], char *string, int length, int X, int Y, int dx, int dy);
static int search_from(char array[18][18], char *string, int length, int X, int Y);

int main(void)
{
    int X, Y, length;
    char array[18][18], string[50];

    printf("WORDSEARCH SOLVER - PRESS CTRL-C TO QUIT\n\n");

    FILE *wsch = fopen("wrdsearch.txt", "r");

    if (!wsch)
    {
        printf("Error! File did not open.\n");
        return 1;
    }
    for (Y = 0; Y < 18; Y++)
    {
        for (X = 0; X < 18; X++)
        {
            fscanf(wsch, " %c", &array[Y][X]);
            array[Y][X] = toupper(array[Y][X]);
        }
    }
    fclose(wsch);

    printf("   ");
    for (X = 0; X < 18; X++)
        printf("%-2d", X);
    printf("\n______________________________________\n");
    for (Y = 0; Y < 18; Y++)
    {
        printf("%-2d|", Y);
        for (X = 0; X < 18; X++)
            printf("%c ", array[Y][X]);
        printf("\n");
    }

    while ((length = prompt_for(string, sizeof(string))) != EOF)
    {
        printf("Searching for: [%s]\n", string);

        int count = 0;
        for (Y = 0; Y < 18; Y++)
        {
            for (X = 0; X < 18; X++)
            {
                if (array[Y][X] == (string[0]) && search_from(array, string, length, X, Y))
                    count++;
            }
        }

        printf("Found %s %d times\n", string, count);
    }

    printf("\n");
    return 0;
}

static int prompt_for(char *buffer, size_t buflen)
{
    printf("\nPlease enter the word to be searched: ");
    if (fgets(buffer, buflen, stdin) == 0)
        return EOF;
    size_t length = strlen(buffer);
    if (buffer[length-1] == '\n')
        buffer[--length] = '\0';
    if (length == 0)
        return EOF;
    for (size_t i = 0; i < length; i++)
        buffer[i] = toupper(buffer[i]);
    return length;
}

static int search_from(char array[18][18], char *string, int length, int X, int Y)
{
    struct yx { int dy; int dx; } directions[] =
    {
        { +1, 0 }, { -1, 0 }, { +1, +1 }, { -1, +1 },
        { 0, +1 }, { 0, -1 }, { -1, -1 }, { +1, -1 },
    };
    enum { num_directions = sizeof(directions) / sizeof(directions[0]) };
    int count = 0;

    for (int i = 0; i < num_directions; i++)
    {
        if (search_direction(array, string, length, X, Y, directions[i].dx, directions[i].dy))
            count++;
    }
    return count;
}

static int search_direction(char array[18][18], char *string, int length, int X, int Y, int dx, int dy)
{
    for (int i = 1; i < length; i++)
    {
        int x = X + i * dx;
        int y = Y + i * dy;
        if (x < 0 || x >= 18 || y < 0 || y >= 18)
            return 0;
        if (array[y][x] != string[i])
            return 0;
    }

    printf("Found word %s starting at (%d,%d) to (%d,%d)\n",
           string, Y, X, Y + (length - 1) * dy, X + (length - 1) * dx);
    /* Validating search! */
    char *pad = "";
    for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
    {
        int x = X + i * dx;
        int y = Y + i * dy;
        printf("%s%c (%d,%d)", pad, array[y][x], y, x);
        pad = ", ";
    }
    putchar('\n');

    return 1;
}

Given a (complete) list of US presidential surnames thus:

adams
arthur
buchanan
bush
carter
cleveland
clinton
coolidge
eisenhower
fillmore
ford
garfield
grant
harding
harrison
hayes
hoover
jackson
jefferson
johnson
kennedy
lincoln
madison
mckinley
monroe
nixon
obama
pierce
polk
reagan
roosevelt
taft
taylor
truman
tyler
vanburen
washington
wilson

When run as ws < presidents, so the names are not seen on the screen until echoed, it finds every one of the names at least once, thus:

WORDSEARCH SOLVER - PRESS CTRL-C TO QUIT

   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011121314151617
______________________________________
0 |M N O S L I W E R E L Y T L E A G N 
1 |A H O O V E R T A Y L O R V E N N A 
2 |D F D R O O S E V E L T O N O M I M 
3 |I N T P M H I E G D I L O O C O D U 
4 |S O N L I J Q A D A M S S R N N R R 
5 |O X L O G E F F M O I R E E G R A T 
6 |N I B T S O R A O R M O V A W O H N 
7 |F N H U R R B C R N L R E G B E W E 
8 |R O S D C O E A E I O N L A U A J R 
9 |K W U N L H H F N I O S T N S W A U 
10|E R B A J B A C F S S M N H H R D B 
11|N E W L O T O N K E C E I H T H A N 
12|N T H E H L A C A K J N N H O I M A 
13|E R G V N C A F I N G H U H A J S V 
14|D A R E S J C N T T A R N B O Y A E 
15|Y C A L O D L N O S I R R A H W E O 
16|N E N C N E T N N O T N I L C O E S 
17|D A T Y Y P O L K G A R F I E L D R 

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [ADAMS]
Found word ADAMS starting at (4,7) to (4,11)
A (4,7), D (4,8), A (4,9), M (4,10), S (4,11)
Found word ADAMS starting at (9,16) to (13,16)
A (9,16), D (10,16), A (11,16), M (12,16), S (13,16)
Found ADAMS 2 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [ARTHUR]
Found word ARTHUR starting at (9,16) to (14,11)
A (9,16), R (10,15), T (11,14), H (12,13), U (13,12), R (14,11)
Found ARTHUR 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [BUCHANAN]
Found word BUCHANAN starting at (6,2) to (13,9)
B (6,2), U (7,3), C (8,4), H (9,5), A (10,6), N (11,7), A (12,8), N (13,9)
Found BUCHANAN 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [BUSH]
Found word BUSH starting at (7,14) to (10,14)
B (7,14), U (8,14), S (9,14), H (10,14)
Found word BUSH starting at (10,2) to (7,2)
B (10,2), U (9,2), S (8,2), H (7,2)
Found BUSH 2 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [CARTER]
Found word CARTER starting at (15,1) to (10,1)
C (15,1), A (14,1), R (13,1), T (12,1), E (11,1), R (10,1)
Found CARTER 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [CLEVELAND]
Found word CLEVELAND starting at (16,3) to (8,3)
C (16,3), L (15,3), E (14,3), V (13,3), E (12,3), L (11,3), A (10,3), N (9,3), D (8,3)
Found CLEVELAND 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [CLINTON]
Found word CLINTON starting at (16,14) to (16,8)
C (16,14), L (16,13), I (16,12), N (16,11), T (16,10), O (16,9), N (16,8)
Found CLINTON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [COOLIDGE]
Found word COOLIDGE starting at (3,14) to (3,7)
C (3,14), O (3,13), O (3,12), L (3,11), I (3,10), D (3,9), G (3,8), E (3,7)
Found COOLIDGE 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [EISENHOWER]
Found word EISENHOWER starting at (8,8) to (17,17)
E (8,8), I (9,9), S (10,10), E (11,11), N (12,12), H (13,13), O (14,14), W (15,15), E (16,16), R (17,17)
Found EISENHOWER 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [FILLMORE]
Found word FILLMORE starting at (7,0) to (0,7)
F (7,0), I (6,1), L (5,2), L (4,3), M (3,4), O (2,5), R (1,6), E (0,7)
Found FILLMORE 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [FORD]
Found word FORD starting at (5,6) to (8,3)
F (5,6), O (6,5), R (7,4), D (8,3)
Found FORD 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [GARFIELD]
Found word GARFIELD starting at (17,9) to (17,16)
G (17,9), A (17,10), R (17,11), F (17,12), I (17,13), E (17,14), L (17,15), D (17,16)
Found GARFIELD 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [GRANT]
Found word GRANT starting at (13,2) to (17,2)
G (13,2), R (14,2), A (15,2), N (16,2), T (17,2)
Found GRANT 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [HARDING]
Found word HARDING starting at (6,16) to (0,16)
H (6,16), A (5,16), R (4,16), D (3,16), I (2,16), N (1,16), G (0,16)
Found HARDING 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [HARRISON]
Found word HARRISON starting at (9,6) to (2,13)
H (9,6), A (8,7), R (7,8), R (6,9), I (5,10), S (4,11), O (3,12), N (2,13)
Found word HARRISON starting at (15,14) to (15,7)
H (15,14), A (15,13), R (15,12), R (15,11), I (15,10), S (15,9), O (15,8), N (15,7)
Found HARRISON 2 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [HAYES]
Found word HAYES starting at (12,13) to (16,17)
H (12,13), A (13,14), Y (14,15), E (15,16), S (16,17)
Found HAYES 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [HOOVER]
Found word HOOVER starting at (1,1) to (1,6)
H (1,1), O (1,2), O (1,3), V (1,4), E (1,5), R (1,6)
Found HOOVER 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [JACKSON]
Found word JACKSON starting at (14,5) to (8,11)
J (14,5), A (13,6), C (12,7), K (11,8), S (10,9), O (9,10), N (8,11)
Found JACKSON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [JEFFERSON]
Found word JEFFERSON starting at (12,10) to (4,2)
J (12,10), E (11,9), F (10,8), F (9,7), E (8,6), R (7,5), S (6,4), O (5,3), N (4,2)
Found JEFFERSON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [JOHNSON]
Found word JOHNSON starting at (10,4) to (16,4)
J (10,4), O (11,4), H (12,4), N (13,4), S (14,4), O (15,4), N (16,4)
Found word JOHNSON starting at (13,15) to (7,9)
J (13,15), O (12,14), H (11,13), N (10,12), S (9,11), O (8,10), N (7,9)
Found JOHNSON 2 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [KENNEDY]
Found word KENNEDY starting at (9,0) to (15,0)
K (9,0), E (10,0), N (11,0), N (12,0), E (13,0), D (14,0), Y (15,0)
Found KENNEDY 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [LINCOLN]
Found word LINCOLN starting at (7,10) to (13,4)
L (7,10), I (8,9), N (9,8), C (10,7), O (11,6), L (12,5), N (13,4)
Found LINCOLN 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [MADISON]
Found word MADISON starting at (0,0) to (6,0)
M (0,0), A (1,0), D (2,0), I (3,0), S (4,0), O (5,0), N (6,0)
Found MADISON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [MCKINLEY]
Found word MCKINLEY starting at (10,11) to (17,4)
M (10,11), C (11,10), K (12,9), I (13,8), N (14,7), L (15,6), E (16,5), Y (17,4)
Found MCKINLEY 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [MONROE]
Found word MONROE starting at (2,15) to (7,15)
M (2,15), O (3,15), N (4,15), R (5,15), O (6,15), E (7,15)
Found MONROE 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [NIXON]
Found word NIXON starting at (7,1) to (3,1)
N (7,1), I (6,1), X (5,1), O (4,1), N (3,1)
Found NIXON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [OBAMA]
Found word OBAMA starting at (8,5) to (4,9)
O (8,5), B (7,6), A (6,7), M (5,8), A (4,9)
Found OBAMA 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [PIERCE]
Found word PIERCE starting at (3,3) to (8,8)
P (3,3), I (4,4), E (5,5), R (6,6), C (7,7), E (8,8)
Found PIERCE 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [POLK]
Found word POLK starting at (17,5) to (17,8)
P (17,5), O (17,6), L (17,7), K (17,8)
Found POLK 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [REAGAN]
Found word REAGAN starting at (4,13) to (9,13)
R (4,13), E (5,13), A (6,13), G (7,13), A (8,13), N (9,13)
Found REAGAN 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [ROOSEVELT]
Found word ROOSEVELT starting at (1,12) to (9,12)
R (1,12), O (2,12), O (3,12), S (4,12), E (5,12), V (6,12), E (7,12), L (8,12), T (9,12)
Found word ROOSEVELT starting at (2,3) to (2,11)
R (2,3), O (2,4), O (2,5), S (2,6), E (2,7), V (2,8), E (2,9), L (2,10), T (2,11)
Found ROOSEVELT 2 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [TAFT]
Found word TAFT starting at (11,5) to (14,8)
T (11,5), A (12,6), F (13,7), T (14,8)
Found TAFT 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [TAYLOR]
Found word TAYLOR starting at (1,7) to (1,12)
T (1,7), A (1,8), Y (1,9), L (1,10), O (1,11), R (1,12)
Found TAYLOR 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [TRUMAN]
Found word TRUMAN starting at (5,17) to (0,17)
T (5,17), R (4,17), U (3,17), M (2,17), A (1,17), N (0,17)
Found TRUMAN 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [TYLER]
Found word TYLER starting at (0,12) to (0,8)
T (0,12), Y (0,11), L (0,10), E (0,9), R (0,8)
Found TYLER 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [VANBUREN]
Found word VANBUREN starting at (13,17) to (6,17)
V (13,17), A (12,17), N (11,17), B (10,17), U (9,17), R (8,17), E (7,17), N (6,17)
Found VANBUREN 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [WASHINGTON]
Found word WASHINGTON starting at (7,16) to (16,7)
W (7,16), A (8,15), S (9,14), H (10,13), I (11,12), N (12,11), G (13,10), T (14,9), O (15,8), N (16,7)
Found WASHINGTON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched: Searching for: [WILSON]
Found word WILSON starting at (0,6) to (0,1)
W (0,6), I (0,5), L (0,4), S (0,3), O (0,2), N (0,1)
Found WILSON 1 times

Please enter the word to be searched:
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