Check if a word exists in a grid or not

Given a 2D grid of characters and a word, the task is to check if that word exists in the grid or not. A word can be matched in 4 directions at any point.

The 4 directions are, Horizontally Left and Right, Vertically Up and Down.
Examples:

Input:  grid[][] = {"axmy",
                    "bgdf",
                    "xeet",
                    "raks"};
Output: Yes

a x m y
b g d f
x e e t
r a k s

Input: grid[][] = {"axmy",
                   "brdf",
                   "xeet",
                   "rass"};
Output : No

Source: Microsoft Interview



Approach: The idea used here is described in the steps below:

  • Check every cell, if the cell has first character, then recur one by one and try all 4 directions from that cell for a match.
  • Mark the position in the grid as visited and recur in the 4 possible directions.
  • After recurring, again mark the position as unvisited.
  • Once all the letters in the word is matched, return true.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

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// C++ program to check if the word
// exists in the grid or not
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
#define r 4
#define c 5
  
// Function to check if a word exists in a grid
// starting from the first match in the grid
// level: index till which pattern is matched
// x, y: current position in 2D array
bool findmatch(char mat[r], string pat, int x, int y,
               int nrow, int ncol, int level)
{
    int l = pat.length();
  
    // Pattern matched
    if (level == l)
        return true;
  
    // Out of Boundary
    if (x < 0 || y < 0 || x >= nrow || y >= ncol)
        return false;
  
    // If grid matches with a letter while
    // recursion
    if (mat[x][y] == pat[level]) {
  
        // Marking this cell as visited
        char temp = mat[x][y];
        mat[x][y] = '#';
  
        // finding subpattern in 4 directions
        bool res = findmatch(mat, pat, x - 1, y, nrow, ncol, level + 1) | 
                   findmatch(mat, pat, x + 1, y, nrow, ncol, level + 1) | 
                   findmatch(mat, pat, x, y - 1, nrow, ncol, level + 1) | 
                   findmatch(mat, pat, x, y + 1, nrow, ncol, level + 1);
  
        // marking this cell
        // as unvisited again
        mat[x][y] = temp;
        return res;
    }
    else // Not matching then false
        return false;
}
  
// Function to check if the word exists in the grid or not
bool checkMatch(char mat[r], string pat, int nrow, int ncol)
{
  
    int l = pat.length();
  
    // if total characters in matrix is
    // less then pattern lenghth
    if (l > nrow * ncol)
        return false;
  
    // Traverse in the grid
    for (int i = 0; i < nrow; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < ncol; j++) {
  
            // If first letter matches, then recur and check
            if (mat[i][j] == pat[0])
                if (findmatch(mat, pat, i, j, nrow, ncol, 0))
                    return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}
  
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    char grid[r] = { "axmy",
                        "bgdf",
                        "xeet",
                        "raks" };
  
    // Function to check if word exists or not
    if (checkMatch(grid, "geeks", r, c))
        cout << "Yes";
    else
        cout << "No";
  
 return 0;
  
}

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# Python3 program to check if the word  


# exists in the grid or not  


  


r = 4


c = 4


  


# Function to check if a word exists  


# in a grid starting from the first  


# match in the grid level: index till   


# which pattern is matched x, y: current  


# position in 2D array  


def findmatch(mat, pat, x, y,  


              nrow, ncol, level) : 


  


    l = len(pat)  


  


    # Pattern matched  


    if (level == l) : 


        return True


  


    # Out of Boundary  


    if (x < 0 or y < 0 or 


        x >= nrow or y >= ncol) : 


        return False


  


    # If grid matches with a letter  


    # while recursion  


    if (mat[x][y] == pat[level]) : 


  


        # Marking this cell as visited  


        temp = mat[x][y] 


        mat[x].replace(mat[x][y], "#") 


  


        # finding subpattern in 4 directions  


        res = (findmatch(mat, pat, x - 1, y, nrow, ncol, level + 1) |  


               findmatch(mat, pat, x + 1, y, nrow, ncol, level + 1) |  


               findmatch(mat, pat, x, y - 1, nrow, ncol, level + 1) | 


               findmatch(mat, pat, x, y + 1, nrow, ncol, level + 1))  


  


        # marking this cell as unvisited again  


        mat[x].replace(mat[x][y], temp) 


        return res 


      


    else : # Not matching then false  


        return False


  


# Function to check if the word 


# exists in the grid or not  


def checkMatch(mat, pat, nrow, ncol) : 


  


    l = len(pat) 


  


    # if total characters in matrix is  


    # less then pattern lenghth  


    if (l > nrow * ncol) : 


        return False


  


    # Traverse in the grid  


    for i in range(nrow) : 


        for j in range(ncol) : 


  


            # If first letter matches, then  


            # recur and check  


            if (mat[i][j] == pat[0]) : 


                if (findmatch(mat, pat, i, j,  


                              nrow, ncol, 0)) : 


                    return True


    return False


  


# Driver Code  


if __name__ == "__main__" : 


  


    grid = ["axmy", "bgdf",  


            "xeet", "raks"] 


  


    # Function to check if word  


    # exists or not  


    if (checkMatch(grid, "geeks", r, c)) : 


        print("Yes") 


    else : 


        print("No")  


  


# This code is contributed by Ryuga 



















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Output:


Yes






          
          
          
          

            

    

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