Programming

package uk.ac.aber.dcs.cs21120.wordplay.data;

import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;

public class WordLadder {
        private String word;
        private ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
        private String fileName = "";
        private BufferedReader buf;
        private int number;
        private Hashtable<String,String> hashWords;
        //private char letter;
        
        
public WordLadder() {
        }

public void initialize() {
        Scanner scan1 = new Scanner(System.in);
        //Ask user for length of word input.
        System.out.println("How many characters does the word contain?\n" +
                                                "Enter a value between 2 and 7 inclusive.");
        String wordLength = scan1.nextLine();
        fileName = "dict" + wordLength + ".dat";
        readFromFile(fileName);
        }

public void readFromFile(String fileName) {

                 try {
                    //Construct the BufferedReader object
                    buf = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName));
                    String line = null;
                
                    while ((line = buf.readLine()) != null) {
                        //Process the data, here we just print it out
                        words.add(line);
                    }
                } catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
                    System.out.println("Sorry this file could not be found.");
                        ex.printStackTrace();
                        this.initialize();
                } catch (IOException ex) {
                    ex.printStackTrace();
                    this.initialize();
                } finally {
                    //Close the BufferedReader
                    try {
                        if (buf != null)
                            buf.close();
                    } catch (IOException ex) {
                        ex.printStackTrace();
                        this.initialize();
                    }
                    // THIS IS NEW - LOOK AT THIS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS DOING - THEN DELETE THIS COMMENT
                    // create the HashTable with the same capacity as the number of words in the ArrayList (Dictionary)
                    hashWords = new Hashtable<String,String>(words.size());
                    // loop through the ArrayList and place each word into the Hashtable
                    for (String w: words)
                    {
                        hashWords.put(w,w);
                    }
                }
}
        
public void generate() throws IOException {
        //get word from user
        int stepNumber=0;
        Scanner scanGen = new Scanner(System.in);
        //Ask user for word input.
           System.out.println("What word would you like to use?");
           String userWord=scanGen.nextLine();
           //READ THIS THEN DELETE THIS COMMENT - THIS NOW CHECKS THAT THE WORD IS IN THE HASHTABLE
        //Must check that the word is in the dictionary.
              if(!(validate(userWord))) {
                  System.out.println("Sorry, this word is not in my dictionary. Please try again.");
                  return;
              }
              //Ask user for step number input.
              System.out.println("How many Numbers do you want generated?");
            // DELETE THIS COMMENT AND THE NEXT LINE - PROGRAM IS EXPECTING 2 NUMBERS
              try {
                  stepNumber=scanGen.nextInt(); // get the user entry
                  scanGen.nextLine();           // advance the Scanner onto the next line
                  // Print this to screen for test purposes
                  System.out.println("The word is "+userWord+" and the number of steps required is "+stepNumber);
              }
              catch(NumberFormatException ex) {
                  System.out.println("I could not understand. Re-enter your value.");
                  stepNumber=scanGen.nextInt();
              }
              System.out.println("Thank you");
              // NOW YOU HAVE THE START WORD AND THE NUMBER OF STEPS,
              // CALL THE searchForNewWord() passing in the userWord and stepNumber
              // This method can do all the work looking for words to pass back a String
              String ladder = searchForNewWord(userWord, stepNumber);
              // Now as long as the String is not null, you can print it to screen
}
// THIS METHOD NOW CHECKS THE HASHTABLE INSTEAD OF THE ARRAYLIST
public boolean validate(String wordToCheck) {
        if(hashWords.contains(wordToCheck)) {
                return true;
        }
        else {
                return false;
        }
}

public String getWord() {
        return word;
}

public void setWord(String word) {
        this.word = word;
}

/**
* This method is used to search for a new word while removing the word that was currently used to search for this new word.
* @param word - This is the word that is entered by the user.
* @return
*/
    public String searchForNewWord(String word, int steps) {
    //string below is used for a test
        System.out.print("The words in the ladder include: ");
        // your userWord is passed in as a parameter
        String userWord = word;
        int numWordsToFind = steps;
            // You need to find all words the amount of steps
            // so a loop
            for (int i=0; i<numWordsToFind; i++){
            // THE ITERATOR BELONGS TO THE HASHTABLE
                Iterator wIt = hashWords.iterator();
        while(wIt.hasNext()) {
            Object startWord = wIt.next();
            System.out.print(toString() + " ");
        }
        for(i=wordLength.userWord) {
            charAt(i).startWord;
        }
            }
    }
}

/**
 * This runMenu() method runs the many options that are linked to the printMenu() method.
 * @throws IOException - This Input Output Exception is used in case any input that isn't shown in the menu commands is entered.
 */
public void runMenu()throws IOException{
    String response="";
    Scanner scanMenu =new Scanner(System.in);
    do {
        printMenu();
        response=scanMenu.next();
        if (response.equals("1")|| response.equals("Generate")|| response.equals("exit")) {
                generate();
        }
        else if (response.equals("2")|| response.equals("Discover")|| response.equals("discover")) {
            return;
                //discover();
        }
        else if (response.equals("3")|| response.equals("Re-Enter")|| response.equals("re-enter")|| response.equals("Reenter")|| response.equals("reenter")) {
            initialize();
            }                                  
        else if (response.equals("Q")|| response.equals("q")||
                response.equals("Quit")|| response.equals("quit")) {
                System.out.println("Thanks you for using Word Play, I hope you enjoyed your time!");
        }
        else {
            System.out.println("Sorry, didn't quite get that. Could you repeat yourself?");
        }
    } while (! ( (response.equals("Q"))|| (response.equals("q"))));    
}

/**
 * printMenu() method runs from the menu and shows all commands for the runMenu() method.
 * This shows what the main menu will looks like when it is run from the 'WordPlay' class.
 */
private void printMenu() {
    System.out.println("What would you like to do?");
    System.out.println("1 - Generate");
    System.out.println("2 - Discover");
    System.out.println("3 - Re-enter character length");
    System.out.println("Q - Quit the game");
}

}