How to find all possible 5 dots alignments in Join Five game - c

Question

I'm trying to implement the Join Five game. It is a game where, given a grid and a starting configuration of dots, you have to add dots in free crossings, so that each dot that you add forms a 5-dot line with those already in the grid. Two lines may only have 1 dot in common (they may cross or touch end to end)
My game grid is an int array that contains 0 or 1. 1 if there is a dot, 0 if there isn't.
I'm doing kinda well in the implementation, but I'd like to display all the possibles moves.
I made a very long and ugly function that is available here : https://pastebin.com/tw9RdNgi (it was way too long for my post i'm sorry)
here is a code snippet :
if(jeu->plat[i][j] == 0) // if we're on a empty spot
{
for(k = 0; k < lineSize; k++) // for each direction
{
//NORTH
if(jeu->plat[i-1-k][j] == 1) // if there is a dot north
{
n++; // we count it
}
else
{
break; //we change direction
}
} //
This code repeats itself 7 other times changing directions and if n or any other variable reaches 4 we count the x and y as a possible move.
And it's not even treating all the cases, if the available spot is between 2 and 2 dots it will not count it. same for 3 and 1 and 1 and 3.
But I don't think the way I started doing it is the best one. I'm pretty sure there is an easier and more optimized way but i can't figure it out.
So my question is: could somebody help me figure out how to find all the possible 5-dot alignments, or tell me if there is a better way of doing it?

Answer 1

Ok, the problem is more difficult than it appears, and a lot of code is required. Everything would have been simpler if you posted all of the necessary code to run it, that is a Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example. Anyway, I resorted to putting together a structure for the problem which allows to test it.
The piece which answers your question is the following one:
typedef struct board {
int side_;
char **dots_;
} board;
void board_set_possible_moves(board *b)
{
/* Directions
012
7 3
654 */
static int dr[8] = { -1,-1,-1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0 };
static int dc[8] = { -1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0,-1,-1 };
int side_ = b->side_;
char **dots_ = b->dots_;
for (int r = 0; r < side_; ++r) {
for (int c = 0; c < side_; ++c) {
// The place already has a dot
if (dots_[r][c] == 1)
continue;
// Count up to 4 dots in the 8 directions from current position
int ndots[8] = { 0 };
for (int d = 0; d < 8; ++d) {
for (int i = 1; i <= 4; ++i) {
int nr = r + dr[d] * i;
int nc = c + dc[d] * i;
if (nr < 0 || nc < 0 || nr >= side_ || nc >= side_ || dots_[nr][nc] != 1)
break;
++ndots[d];
}
}
// Decide if the position is a valid one
for (int d = 0; d < 4; ++d) {
if (ndots[d] + ndots[d + 4] >= 4)
dots_[r][c] = 2;
}
}
}
}
Note that I defined a square board with a pointer to pointers to chars, one per place. If there is a 0 in one of the places, then there is no dot and the place is not a valid move; if there is a 1, then there is a dot; if there is a 2, then the place has no dot, but it is a valid move. Valid here means that there are at least 4 dots aligned with the current one.
You can model the directions with a number from 0 to 7 (start from NW, move clockwise). Each direction has an associated movement expressed as dr and dc. Moving in every direction I count how many dots are there (up to 4, and stopping as soon as I find a non dot), and later I can sum opposite directions to obtain the total number of aligned points.
Of course these move are not necessarily valid, because we are missing the definition of lines already drawn and so we cannot check for them.
Here you can find a test for the function.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
board *board_init(board *b, int side) {
b->side_ = side;
b->dots_ = malloc(side * sizeof(char*));
b->dots_[0] = calloc(side*side, 1);
for (int r = 1; r < side; ++r) {
b->dots_[r] = b->dots_[r - 1] + side;
}
return b;
}
board *board_free(board *b) {
free(b->dots_[0]);
free(b->dots_);
return b;
}
void board_cross(board *b) {
board_init(b, 18);
for (int i = 0; i < 4; ++i) {
b->dots_[4][7 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[7][4 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[7][10 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[10][4 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[10][10 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[13][7 + i] = 1;
b->dots_[4 + i][7] = 1;
b->dots_[4 + i][10] = 1;
b->dots_[7 + i][4] = 1;
b->dots_[7 + i][13] = 1;
b->dots_[10 + i][7] = 1;
b->dots_[10 + i][10] = 1;
}
}
void board_print(const board *b, FILE *f)
{
int side_ = b->side_;
char **dots_ = b->dots_;
for (int r = 0; r < side_; ++r) {
for (int c = 0; c < side_; ++c) {
static char map[] = " oX";
fprintf(f, "%c%s", map[dots_[r][c]], c == side_ - 1 ? "" : " - ");
}
fprintf(f, "\n");
if (r < side_ - 1) {
for (int c = 0; c < side_; ++c) {
fprintf(f, "|%s", c == side_ - 1 ? "" : " ");
}
fprintf(f, "\n");
}
}
}
int main(void)
{
board b;
board_cross(&b);
board_set_possible_moves(&b);
board_print(&b, stdout);
board_free(&b);
return 0;
}