Searching a char in 2d array any direction

Question

the method will take a string argument and convert them into char and try to find them in a 2d array.
It is more like a word puzzle(wordSearcher).Here's what i've done so far...
public void find(String word)
for(int a = 0; a < word.length(); a++) {
char oneChar = word.charAt(a);
String oneStringchar = String.valueOf(oneChar);
// Searching through in South Direction
for(int i = 0; i < g.length; i++) {
for(int j = 0 ; j < g.length ; j++) {
if (oneChar == g[j]) {
canvas.draw(oneStringchar, (i * WORD_SIZE) + POS_X, (j * WORD_SIZE) + POS_Y);
}

Answer 1

Here's something I did a while back, type in any text in the top text area (ensure it's a grid eg 8 x 8),
then the words to find (one per line) in the lower text area. If found, the co-ords of the word are displayed.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.util.*;
class WordFinder extends JFrame implements ActionListener
  private static JButton goBtn = new JButton("Search");
  private static JTextArea taLetters = new JTextArea(10,25);
  private static JTextArea taWords = new JTextArea(10,25);
  private static int base = 0;
  private static String letters = "";
  private static String words[];
  private static boolean match = false;
  private static String taWordsNewText = "";
  public static void main(String args[])
    WordFinder wf = new WordFinder();
  public WordFinder()
    super("Word Finder");
    setSize(300,80);
    setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    setVisible(true);
    Container frame = getContentPane();
    frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
    JScrollPane spLetters = new JScrollPane (taLetters);
    JScrollPane spWords = new JScrollPane (taWords);
    goBtn.addActionListener(this);
    JPanel mid = new JPanel(new FlowLayout());
    JLabel infoLbl = new JLabel("'letters' above, 'words to find' below");
    mid.add(infoLbl);
    mid.add(goBtn);
    frame.add(spLetters,BorderLayout.NORTH);
    frame.add(mid,BorderLayout.CENTER);
    frame.add(spWords,BorderLayout.SOUTH);
    pack();
    setContentPane(frame);
  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent ae)
    letters = "";
    taWordsNewText = "";
    if(lettersAndWordsOK()) findTheWords();
  private static boolean lettersAndWordsOK()
    StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer(taLetters.getText(),"\n");
    int count = st.countTokens();
    if(count == 0)
      JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,
        "no letter details entered");
      return false;
    String line = "";
    while(st.hasMoreTokens())
      line = st.nextToken();
      if(line.length() != count)
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,
        "check letters - not a perfect grid \n e.g. 8 x 8");
        return false;
      else
        letters = letters + line;
    st = new StringTokenizer(taWords.getText(),"\n");
    words = new String[st.countTokens()];
    if(words.length > 0)
      for(int i = 0; i < words.length; i++)
        words[i] = st.nextToken();
    else
      JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null,
        "no listing for words to find");
        return false;
    base = count;
    return true;
  private static void findTheWords()
    for(int i = 0; i < words.length; i++)
      int ii;
      for(ii = 0; ii < letters.length(); ii++)
        match = false;
        if(letters.substring(ii,ii+1).equals(words.substring(0,1)))
checkNextLetter(ii,0,1,words[i]);
if(match)break;
if(ii == letters.length()) taWordsNewText += words[i]+" (not found)\n";
taWords.setText(taWordsNewText);
private static void checkNextLetter(int currentPos, int direction,
int textPos,String wordToFind)
if(direction == 0)
int directions[] = {-(base+1),-base,-(base-1),-1,1,base-1,base,base+1};
for(int x = 0; x < directions.length;x++)
checkNextLetter(currentPos,directions[x],textPos,wordToFind);
if(match) break;
else
int nextPos = currentPos + direction;
if(letters.substring(currentPos,currentPos+1).equals(
wordToFind.substring(textPos-1,textPos)))
if(textPos == wordToFind.length())
match = true;
String startCoords = "("+(currentPos - (direction*
(wordToFind.length()-1)))/base+","+(currentPos - (direction*
(wordToFind.length()-1)))%base +")";
String endCoords = "("+(currentPos/base)+","+(currentPos%base)+")";
taWordsNewText += wordToFind+" "+startCoords+" - "+endCoords+"\n";
return;
else if(nextPos >= 0 && nextPos < Math.pow(base,2) &&
Math.abs(currentPos%base - nextPos%base) <= 1)
checkNextLetter(nextPos,direction,textPos+1,wordToFind);