Re: infinite recursion

From:
 andreyvul <andrey.vul@gmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.help
Date:
Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:03:19 -0000
Message-ID:
<1192496599.394146.293510@v29g2000prd.googlegroups.com>
My original class that contains infinite recursion is as follows:
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.Vector;
/**
 * Sudoku solver. Launch method {@link #Solver()} to solve puzzles.
 * <br /><b>J2SE version must be 5.0 or greater, due to use of
generics
 * (specifically Vector&lt;E&gt; and Iterator&lt;E&gt;)</b>.
 * *** TESTING ***
 * @author Andrey Vul
 */
public class Solver2 implements Cloneable {
    // the board data
    short[] cells;
    //v2 0th bit
    byte[] zeroBit;
    //is the puzzle solved
    static boolean solution;
    /** Default constructor. Creates a blank [9 * 9] board. */
    public Solver2() {
        cells = new short[81];
        zeroBit = new byte[11];
        Arrays.fill(cells, (short)0);
        Arrays.fill(zeroBit, (byte)0);
    }
    /** Returns a copy of the current board. */
    protected Solver2 clone() {
        Solver2 dest = new Solver2();
        System.arraycopy(cells, 0, dest.cells, 0, 81);
        System.arraycopy(zeroBit, 0, dest.zeroBit, 0, 11);
        return dest;
    }

    //check bit
    boolean checkBit(int i, boolean val) {
        int _byte = (int)Math.floor((i + 1) / 8.0);
        return (zeroBit[_byte] & (1 << (i % 8))) != 0 ? val : !val;
    }

    /**
     * Returns the number of unavailable positions. Works opposite to
AllOptions(val)
     * @param val Value to check for
     * @return The number of unavailable positions
     */
    short countConstraints(short val) {
        //counter
        short cc = 0;
        //count the number of unavailable positions
        short i;
        for (i = 0; i < 9; i++)
            //1 == unavailable therefore bitwise& != 0 if there are constraints
            if (((1 << i) & val) != 0)
                ++cc;
        return cc;
    }
    /**
     * Find the position that has the least possible values
     * @return the index of the most constrained position
     */
    short mostConstrained() {
        //constraint counter
        short max = -1;
        //currently most constrained value
        short maxp = -1;
        //find most constrained position
        short i, v;
        for (i = 0; i < 81; i++) {
            //if zero is available (which is always the case)
            if (checkBit(i, false)) {
                v = countConstraints(cells[i]);
                //more constrained, update max and maxp
                if (v >= max) {
                    max = v;
                    maxp = i;
                }
            }
        }
        return maxp;
    }
    /**
     * Finds all the possible options for value val. Remember that
setValue creates
     * the exclusion mask.
     * @param val The current cell
     * @return The possible options as an int array
     */
    short[] allOptions(short val) {
        //because java doesn't have dynamic-size arrays
        Vector<Short> cc = new Vector<Short>(0);
        Iterator<Short> it;
        short[] rv;
        //check which numbers are available
        short i;
        for (i = 0; i < 9; ++i)
            //bitmask check (1 == unavailable, 0 == available)
            if (((1 << i) & val) == 0)
                //available, add number to cc
                cc.add(cc.size(), (short)(i + 1));
        //create return array
        rv = new short[cc.size()];
        it = cc.iterator();
        i = 0;
        while (it.hasNext())
            rv[i++] = it.next();
        return rv;
    }
    /**
     * Set the current value in position pos. This method adds exclusion
masks
     * for val to every position in the current row, column, and zone. It
then
     * unmasks val in position pos.
     * @param pos Position
     * @param val Value (for position)
     */
    void setValue(short pos, short val) {
        //column position
        short x = (short)(pos % 9);
        //row position
        short y = (short)(pos / 9);
        //zone positions
        short zx = (short)((x / 3) * 3);
        short zy = (short)((y / 3) * 3);
        //exclusion bit
        short add = (short)(1 << (val - 1));
        short k;
        //mask the current number (as a bit) in the current column, row, and
zone
        for (k = 0; k < 9; k++) {
            //mask the current number (bit) in the current column
            cells[x + k * 9] |= add;
            //mask the current number (bit) in the current row
            cells[k + y * 9] |= add;
            //mask the current number (bit) in the current zone
            cells[zx + (k % 3) + 9 * (zy + (k / 3))] |= add;
        }
        //the current number is implemented as a reverse bit
        //(0 == current number, 1 == not the number)
        cells[pos] = (short)(0x1ff & ~add);
    }

    /**
     * Sanity check. <b>If this returns false, it means that there is no
solution!</b>
     * @return Sanity status (<tt>true</tt> or <tt>false</tt>)
     */
    boolean isOK() {
        int i;
        for (i = 0; i < 81; ++i)
            if (((this.cells[i] & 0x1ff) == 0x1ff) && checkBit(i, false))
                return false;
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Check if the puzzle is solved yet. This is a sanity check because,
if
     * the puzzle is solved, then bit 0 is full <b>in each and every
     * position</b>.
     * @return Is the puzzle solved, <tt>true</tt> or <tt>false</tt>
     */
    boolean isSolved() {
        int i;
        for (i = 0; i < 81; ++i) {
            if (checkBit(i, false))
                return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Search for solutions.
     * @return <tt>null</tt> if there is 1 or fewer solutions and a
Solver
     * object if there are 2 solutions (or more will not be implemented
     * because that will be pointless).
     */
    Solver2 searchSolutions() {
        short p;
        int i;
        Solver2 ns;
        short[] l;
        while (isOK()) {
            if (isSolved()) {
                solution = true;
                return this;
            }
            //start solving from most constrained position
            p = mostConstrained();
            //no solution
            if (p < 0)
                return null;
                //get all the available options for cell p
            l = allOptions(cells[p]);
            //no solution
            if (l.length < 1)
                return null;
            //try each option in cell p by recursing ourselves
            //(i.e., (...(ns = this) ... = this))
            for (i = 0; i < l.length; ++i) {
                //recurse
                ns = clone();
                ns.setValue(p, l[i]);
                ns = ns.searchSolutions();
                //solution found, recurse back up
                if (ns != null)
                    return ns;
            }
            //finally try first option
            setValue(p, l[0]);
        }
        //failed sanity check
        return null;
    }

    /**
     * Convert the current Solver to an int array.
     * @return The current solver as an int array
     */
    protected short[] toArray() {
        short[] arr = new short[81];
        short i, j;
        for (i = 0; i < 81; i++)
            /* unmasked bit is our number, therefore we check which bit is
unmasked by
             * using a bitwise|, which would equal 1023 when we are at the
correct
             * value of j
             */
            for (j = 0; j < 9; j++)
                if (((cells[i] | (1 << j)) == 0x1ff) && checkBit(i, true)) {
                    arr[i] = (short)(j + 1);
                    break;
                }

        return arr;
    }
    /**
     * Convert an int array to a Solver
     * @param array Input int array
     * @return a Solver containing the values in <tt>array</tt>
     */
    static Solver2 toBoard(short[] array) {
        Solver2 a = new Solver2();
        short i;
        for (i = 0; i < 81; i++)
            /* MAKE SURE that the number is between 1 and 9, inclusive so that
the
             * solver does NOT mask 0 because that would break function isOK()
and
             * hence prevent the solver from reaching a solution.
             */
            if (array[i] >= 1 && array[i] <= 9)
                a.setValue(i, array[i]);
        return a;
    }

    /**
     * Solve the board, returning an int array for each solution.
     * @param board Input array for solver
     * @return The solution(s), as an array of int array(s)
     */
    public static short[] solve(short[] board){
        //reset
        solution = false;
        //solve
        Solver2 s = toBoard(board).searchSolutions();
        //return
        if (solution)
            return s.toArray();
        else
            return new short[81];
    }
}
The infinite recursion is somewhere in the method searchSolutions().
But where is it and why was the top of the exception stack at
allOptions()?

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