ABC problem

Letter blocks

Search a tree of possibilities, stop when you find one

A simple problem requires recursively searching a tree of possible solutions.

Each Right is used to generate the next round of searches, and to evaluate them. Using Index At with nested indexes avoids two nested loops.

A global variable is used to end the search after a solution is found.

Core solution has three code lines: no loops, no counters.

Determine whether a string can be composed from a set of blocks.

You are given a collection of ABC blocks, maybe like the ones you had when you were a kid. There are twenty blocks, with two letters on each block. A complete alphabet is guaranteed amongst all sides of the blocks.

Write a function that takes a string (word) and determines whether the word can be spelled with the given collection of blocks. The rules are simple:

Once a letter on a block is used that block cannot be used again
The function should be case-insensitive

from Rosetta Code.¹

Test cases

Example collection of blocks:

(B O)
(X K)
(D Q)
(C P)
(N A)
(G T)
(R E)
(T G)
(Q D)
(F S)
(J W)
(H U)
(V I)
(A N)
(O B)
(E R)
(F S)
(L Y)
(P C)
(Z M)

Example results from those blocks:

>>> can_make_word("A")
True
>>> can_make_word("BARK")
True
>>> can_make_word("BOOK")
False
>>> can_make_word("TREAT")
True
>>> can_make_word("COMMON")
False
>>> can_make_word("SQUAD")
True
>>> can_make_word("CONFUSE")
True

General case

Backtracking

Each block you pick to supply a letter also removes its obverse from the available letters. For example, if you use VI for a V, you no longer have an I available. So you cannot make words such as live, vial, or evil from the example blocks. Similarly, Y and L are on the same block and are not repeated: quickly cannot be made.

For some letters there is a choice of blocks from which to pick. In the example blocks, you could pick a B from either BO or OB. It does not matter which: either way both B and O remain available. As it happens, the example blocks duplicate letters only in pairs. The BO/OB pairing is repeated for CP/PC, GT/TG, etc., and these are the only duplicated letters. The rules do not specify this, so the example blocks are a special case.

In the general case, different choices of block for a duplicated letter leave you with different sets of blocks from which to fill the rest of the string. Every time you have a choice of blocks, the possibilities proliferate. Some may succeed, some may not.

The author of the Fortran solution on Rosetta Code notes this issue and offers a second solution of 277 code lines to deal with the general case, which the author refers to as “backtracking”.

We shall solve only the general case. It cries out for a recursive search of the tree of possibilities.

Blocks, tiles, and pyramids

The problem refers to blocks bearing two letters each. They might better be thought of as tiles, with a letter on each side.

A block can bear six letters on its sides. For that matter, a pyramid can bear four, and a dodecahedron twelve.

While the problem specifies two letters, we shall stay open to the possibility of code that works for any number of letters on each block.

Core solution

The core of the solution is recursive.

If the string is empty, all its letters have been matched and the result is 1b.
If you cannot fill the first letter of the string s[0] from the available blocks, the result is 0b.
Otherwise, find all the blocks that match s[0]. For each block, remove it from the available blocks, and call the function to see if you can make 1_s. The result is whether any of these calls returns 1b.

A lambda can use .z.s to refer to itself

BLOCKS:string`BO`XK`DQ`CP`NA`GT`RE`TG`QD`FS`JW`HU`VI`AN`OB`ER`FS`LY`PC`ZM
WORDS:string`A`BARK`BOOK`TREAT`COMMON`SQUAD`CONFUSE

cmw:{[s;b]                                                  / [string; blocks]
  $[0=count s; 1b;                                          /   empty string
    not any found:any each b=s 0; 0b;                       /   cannot proceed
    any(1_s).z.s/:b(til count b)except/:where found] }

q)WORDS cmw\:BLOCKS
1101011b

The lines of cmw correspond to the steps 1–3 above.

Note the use of Each Right /: first to generate the lists of blocks to be tried

(til count b)except/:where found]

then to recurse with the rest of the string: (1_s).z.s/:.

Note also that the list of blocks b is applied to the lists of indexes. In full that would be

b@(til count b)except/:where found]

Index At @ is elided here, but elided or not, is atomic, so there is no need to iterate b through the lists of indexes. Iteration is free!

Case sensitivity

The problem requires the solution be insensitive to case in the words.

Words:string`A`bark`BOOK`Treat`COMMON`squad`CONFUSE
cmwi:{cmw[;y]upper x}   / case-insensitive

q)Words cmwi\:BLOCKS
1101011b

Letters per block

The search of available blocks is any each b=s 0. This is independent of the number of letters on the blocks.

q)show B6:upper string 10?`6
"MILGLI"
"IGFBAG"
"KAODHB"
"BAFCLB"
"KFHOGJ"
"JECPAE"
"KFMOHP"
"LKKLCO"
"KFIFPA"
"FGLGOF"

q)WORDS cmw\:B6
1010000b

Stopping the search

More blocks and duplicate letters mean more solutions for any given string, and a solution is easier to find. But that increases the work cmw must do, because cmw finds all the solutions. However, we need only one, and would prefer evaluation stop after the first solution has been found.

For that we shall set a global variable and recurse, not cmw, but an anonymous lambda.

cmws:{[x;y]                                                 / cmw – stop search
  .cmw.done::0b;                                            /   start search
  {[s;b]                                                    /   [string; blocks]
    $[.cmw.done; 1b;                                        /     stop search
      .cmw.done::0=count s; 1b;                             /     empty string
      not any found:any each b=s 0; 0b;                     /     cannot proceed
      any(1_s).z.s/:b(til count b)except/:where found] }[x;y] }

q)\ts:100 WORDS cmw\:BLOCKS
83 5456
q)\ts:100 WORDS cmws\:BLOCKS
25 5440

Review

The general case of the problem requires a tree search. That is easily expressed:

Each Right to generate lists of indexes to try
Apply list of blocks b direct to the nested lists of indexes
Each Right to recurse the function through the lists of blocks

The lambda used .z.s to refer to itself: it does not need a name to recurse.

The search through the tree of possibilities can be stopped by reading a global flag set when a solution is found.

Case-insensitivity is trivial.

The solution is not limited to two letters per block.

Perhaps best of all, the solution is highly legible. The three code lines of the core solution correspond closely to an English description of the solution steps.

Exercises

Can you test .cmw.done outside the Cond with or as e.g.
```
.cmw.done or {[s;b]
```
Answer

No – both arguments of or are evaluated. (You are thinking of another programming language.)

An earlier version of this article appeared on code.kx.com. ↩