Thread: Counting shapes

I have couple of text files with some drawn shapes made of . and +
for example:

........................................
.........+++.........................
.........+++.......+++++......
.........+++........+++++.....
.........+++.......+++++......
....................++++...........
....+++++.........+++.........
...+++.+++.......................
...+++.+++...........++.......
...+++.+++...........++.......
....+++++........................
.......................................

I am reading this text file info an 2D array.
Looking at the example I see 4 shapes made of +

But how how can I count them inside my program?
Can you guys give me an idea how to construct a counter of how many shapes (made of +) are present.

Look for a +. Add one to shape_count, and turn every + connected to that + into a . Repeat until finished.