Shuffle NSString characters and arrange in blocks - iphone

Question

I am trying to develop a puzzle game where we display a shuffled word in blocks and user has to tap in proper order to form the word.I have an array of around 3k words and I have shuffled the array and formed a jumbled array.Now I want to pick a word eventually string,shuffle it and display the shuffled arrangement in boxes,say for instance the word is cricket,it should appear something of the below format on the screen:
Here is how I shuffled the array and formed a jumbled one
srandom(time(NULL));
for (NSInteger x=0;x<[greWordsArray count];x++)
{
NSInteger randomNumber = (random() % ([greWordsArray count] - x)) + x;
[greWordsArray exchangeObjectAtIndex:x withObjectAtIndex:randomNumber];
}
I also forgot to say I have a "new" button where if user clicks it,new word should appear and as usual it should be in shuffled mode,then display in blocks.
Can some one please guide me on how to accomplish this,I wonder what to use for displaying characters in blocks,whether it is buttons,text field or some other object.I also need some assistance regarding changing number of blocks depending on word length.Also how to display the selected character on label.I do acknowledge we can take label and arrange characters on it,but what is the recommended way,should I take a label for each character or a single label,then allow spacing depending on character selection.If so how should I do this.
People would have wondered what I have tried,but please help me as I am new to these kind of puzzle games,at least provide me with some understandable source to get started.

Answer 1

Suppose you have wordsArray which consists of 3k words
int randomWordIndex = arc4random%[wordsArray count];
NSString *jumbledWord = [wordsArray objectAtIndex:randomWordIndex];
NSMutableArray *characterArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
// character array having all characters of array
for (int i = 0; i< = [jumbledWord length]); i++)
{
int randomCharacterIndex = arc4random%[jumbledWord length];
[characterArray insertObject:
[NSString stringWithFormat: #"%#",
[jumbledWord characterAtIndex:i]]
atIndex:randomCharacterIndex] ;
}
Now you can show it using label or tableview or anything

Answer 2

I found a lot more precise and logical answer to my problem,
As alpha mentioned,we need to shuffle the array and form a sorted one,we need to assign a random word to jumbledWord based on index,say for instance:
int randomWordIndex = (int)arc4random%[greWordsArray count];
self.jumbledWord = [greWordsArray objectAtIndex:randomWordIndex];
Now we are ready with creating buttons based on word length.Here it is:
-(void)buttonsCreation:(int)noOfButtons
{
NSMutableArray *charactersArray = [NSMutableArray array];
self.wordButtons = [[NSMutableArray alloc]initWithCapacity:20];
BOOL record = NO;
int randomNumber;
for (int i=0; [charactersArray count] < jumbledWord.length; i++) //Loop for generate different random values
{
randomNumber = arc4random() % jumbledWord.length;//generating random number
if(i==0)
{
[charactersArray addObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:randomNumber]];
}
else
{
for (int j=0; j<= [charactersArray count]-1; j++)
{
if (randomNumber ==[[charactersArray objectAtIndex:j] intValue])
record = YES;
}
if (record == YES)
record = NO;
else
[charactersArray addObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:randomNumber]];
}
}
int arrayValue;
float x = 100.0;
float y = 100.0;
for(int i=0;i<[jumbledWord length];i++)
{
if(i>=0 && i<10)
{
arrayValue = [[charactersArray objectAtIndex:i] intValue];
x = x + 33;
UIButton *characterButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
characterButton.frame = CGRectMake(x,175.0, 35.0, 35.0);
[wordButtons addObject:characterButton];
NSString *characterValue = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%c",[jumbledWord characterAtIndex:arrayValue]];
[characterButton setTitle:characterValue forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[characterButton addTarget:self action:#selector(buttonClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[characterButton setTag:arrayValue];
[self.view addSubview:characterButton];
}
else if(i>=10 && i<15)
{
y = y + 33;
UIButton *characterButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
characterButton.frame = CGRectMake(y,200.0, 35.0, 35.0);
[wordButtons addObject:characterButton];
NSString *characterValue = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%c",[jumbledWord characterAtIndex:i]];
[characterButton setTitle:characterValue forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[characterButton addTarget:self action:#selector(buttonClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[characterButton setTag:i];
[self.view addSubview:characterButton];
}
}
}
Please note that the x and y values may vary based on one's requirement.I have briefly set co-ordinate locations of x and y based on word length,You may change if you want,thanks :)
Hope it helps some one,happy coding!!