Anyone knows an algorithm for finding “shapes” in 2d arrays?

Question

Let\'s take this map, where \'#\' illustrates a taken square and \'.\' illustrates a free square:

1 . # # # . .
2 . # . . # .
3 # . . . . #
4 . # # # . .
5 . . . . .          


        

Answer 1

I would start from each neighbor of the picked square, and try to 'escape' to the boundary of the grid. Meanwhile, mark the path followed by 'X'. If you can escape: undo every 'X'. If you cannot escape, replace every 'X' by '#'. I made an example in Java, as shown below.

int W, H;   
char[][] input;
final int[][] directions = {{-1, 0}, {1, 0}, {0, -1}, {0, 1}};

public void handle(int x, int y) {
    // try each neihgbor
    for (int[] d : directions) {
        if (canEscape(input, x, y)) {
            // if we can escape, the path found shouldn't be filled
            // so replace the Xes by '.';
            handleXes(input, false);                
        } else {
            // if we cannot escape, this is a closed shape, so
            // fill with '#'
            handleXes(input, true);
        }
        // note that this can be written more concisely as
        // handleXes(input, !canEscape(input, x, y));
    }
}    

public boolean canEscape(char[][] grid, int x, int y) {
    if (isEscape(grid, x, y))
        return true

    if (isValid(grid, x, y)) {
        // mark as visited
        grid[x][y] = 'X';
        // try each neighbor
        for (int[] d : directions) {
            if (canEscape(grid, x+d[0], y+d[1]))
                return true;
        }
    }

    return false;
}

public boolean isValid(char[][] grid, int x, int y) {
    return 0 <= x && x < W && 0 <= y && y < H && grid[x][y] == '.';
}

public boolean isEscape(char[][] grid, int x, int y) {
    return (0 == x || x == W-1 || 0 == y || y == H-1) && grid[x][y] == '.';
}   

public void handleXes(char[][] grid, boolean fill) {
    for (int x = 0; x < W; x++)
        for (int y = 0; y < H; y++)
            if (grid[x][y] == 'X')
                grid[x][y] = fill ? '#' : '.';
}