Home » Archimedes archive » Acorn User » AU 1994-06.adf » !StarInfo_StarInfo » Gatherer/!XSolve/!Help

Gatherer/!XSolve/!Help

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Tape/disk: Home » Archimedes archive » Acorn User » AU 1994-06.adf » !StarInfo_StarInfo
Filename: Gatherer/!XSolve/!Help
Read OK:
File size: 061E bytes
Load address: 0000
Exec address: 0000
File contents
!Xsolve
by Kell Gatherer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

This application (RiscOS 3 only) makes use of the Impression Spell module: !Xsolve will refuse to run unless the filer has already "seen" Impression.

!Xsolve assists in the solving of crossword clues. Let's say the clue is "schedule" and you know the first and third letters of the six-letter answer:

 *G*N**

Enter "?G?N??" into the !Xsolve search icon and press return. The program will scan the Impression Spell module and come up with 5 solutions:

 AGENCY
 AGENDA
 AGENTS
 AGONIC
 EGGNOG

Bingo! The answer must be "AGENDA".

The solutions are stored in a file called "Solutions" inside the !Xsolve directory: if there are a lot of possible solutions this file may be very large. In these circumstances it is better to transfer the application to a hard disc or another floppy.

Just about any non-alphabetic character may be used instead of a question
mark: you may prefer to enter a space or the backslash. The program will
even check for words which consist entirely of blanks, but the list will be
enormous and the search will take a very long time. The program will not
accept an input of less than three letters.

Due to the way that the Impression Spell module works, the search is much quicker for words where the first or second letters (or both) are known: if neither of the first two letters are known, the entire dictionary will be searched. The program is properly multi-tasking, so you can carry on with other work during a long search.

The application will also be of use when compiling a crossword.
00000000  21 58 73 6f 6c 76 65 0a  62 79 20 4b 65 6c 6c 20  |!Xsolve.by Kell |
00000010  47 61 74 68 65 72 65 72  0a 3d 2d 3d 2d 3d 2d 3d  |Gatherer.=-=-=-=|
00000020  2d 3d 2d 3d 2d 3d 2d 3d  2d 0a 0a 54 68 69 73 20  |-=-=-=-=-..This |
00000030  61 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74  69 6f 6e 20 28 52 69 73  |application (Ris|
00000040  63 4f 53 20 33 20 6f 6e  6c 79 29 20 6d 61 6b 65  |cOS 3 only) make|
00000050  73 20 75 73 65 20 6f 66  20 74 68 65 20 49 6d 70  |s use of the Imp|
00000060  72 65 73 73 69 6f 6e 20  53 70 65 6c 6c 20 6d 6f  |ression Spell mo|
00000070  64 75 6c 65 3a 20 21 58  73 6f 6c 76 65 20 77 69  |dule: !Xsolve wi|
00000080  6c 6c 20 72 65 66 75 73  65 20 74 6f 20 72 75 6e  |ll refuse to run|
00000090  20 75 6e 6c 65 73 73 20  74 68 65 20 66 69 6c 65  | unless the file|
000000a0  72 20 68 61 73 20 61 6c  72 65 61 64 79 20 22 73  |r has already "s|
000000b0  65 65 6e 22 20 49 6d 70  72 65 73 73 69 6f 6e 2e  |een" Impression.|
000000c0  0a 0a 21 58 73 6f 6c 76  65 20 61 73 73 69 73 74  |..!Xsolve assist|
000000d0  73 20 69 6e 20 74 68 65  20 73 6f 6c 76 69 6e 67  |s in the solving|
000000e0  20 6f 66 20 63 72 6f 73  73 77 6f 72 64 20 63 6c  | of crossword cl|
000000f0  75 65 73 2e 20 4c 65 74  27 73 20 73 61 79 20 74  |ues. Let's say t|
00000100  68 65 20 63 6c 75 65 20  69 73 20 22 73 63 68 65  |he clue is "sche|
00000110  64 75 6c 65 22 20 61 6e  64 20 79 6f 75 20 6b 6e  |dule" and you kn|
00000120  6f 77 20 74 68 65 20 66  69 72 73 74 20 61 6e 64  |ow the first and|
00000130  20 74 68 69 72 64 20 6c  65 74 74 65 72 73 20 6f  | third letters o|
00000140  66 20 74 68 65 20 73 69  78 2d 6c 65 74 74 65 72  |f the six-letter|
00000150  20 61 6e 73 77 65 72 3a  0a 0a 20 2a 47 2a 4e 2a  | answer:.. *G*N*|
00000160  2a 0a 0a 45 6e 74 65 72  20 22 3f 47 3f 4e 3f 3f  |*..Enter "?G?N??|
00000170  22 20 69 6e 74 6f 20 74  68 65 20 21 58 73 6f 6c  |" into the !Xsol|
00000180  76 65 20 73 65 61 72 63  68 20 69 63 6f 6e 20 61  |ve search icon a|
00000190  6e 64 20 70 72 65 73 73  20 72 65 74 75 72 6e 2e  |nd press return.|
000001a0  20 54 68 65 20 70 72 6f  67 72 61 6d 20 77 69 6c  | The program wil|
000001b0  6c 20 73 63 61 6e 20 74  68 65 20 49 6d 70 72 65  |l scan the Impre|
000001c0  73 73 69 6f 6e 20 53 70  65 6c 6c 20 6d 6f 64 75  |ssion Spell modu|
000001d0  6c 65 20 61 6e 64 20 63  6f 6d 65 20 75 70 20 77  |le and come up w|
000001e0  69 74 68 20 35 20 73 6f  6c 75 74 69 6f 6e 73 3a  |ith 5 solutions:|
000001f0  0a 0a 20 41 47 45 4e 43  59 0a 20 41 47 45 4e 44  |.. AGENCY. AGEND|
00000200  41 0a 20 41 47 45 4e 54  53 0a 20 41 47 4f 4e 49  |A. AGENTS. AGONI|
00000210  43 0a 20 45 47 47 4e 4f  47 0a 0a 42 69 6e 67 6f  |C. EGGNOG..Bingo|
00000220  21 20 54 68 65 20 61 6e  73 77 65 72 20 6d 75 73  |! The answer mus|
00000230  74 20 62 65 20 22 41 47  45 4e 44 41 22 2e 0a 0a  |t be "AGENDA"...|
00000240  54 68 65 20 73 6f 6c 75  74 69 6f 6e 73 20 61 72  |The solutions ar|
00000250  65 20 73 74 6f 72 65 64  20 69 6e 20 61 20 66 69  |e stored in a fi|
00000260  6c 65 20 63 61 6c 6c 65  64 20 22 53 6f 6c 75 74  |le called "Solut|
00000270  69 6f 6e 73 22 20 69 6e  73 69 64 65 20 74 68 65  |ions" inside the|
00000280  20 21 58 73 6f 6c 76 65  20 64 69 72 65 63 74 6f  | !Xsolve directo|
00000290  72 79 3a 20 69 66 20 74  68 65 72 65 20 61 72 65  |ry: if there are|
000002a0  20 61 20 6c 6f 74 20 6f  66 20 70 6f 73 73 69 62  | a lot of possib|
000002b0  6c 65 20 73 6f 6c 75 74  69 6f 6e 73 20 74 68 69  |le solutions thi|
000002c0  73 20 66 69 6c 65 20 6d  61 79 20 62 65 20 76 65  |s file may be ve|
000002d0  72 79 20 6c 61 72 67 65  2e 20 49 6e 20 74 68 65  |ry large. In the|
000002e0  73 65 20 63 69 72 63 75  6d 73 74 61 6e 63 65 73  |se circumstances|
000002f0  20 69 74 20 69 73 20 62  65 74 74 65 72 20 74 6f  | it is better to|
00000300  20 74 72 61 6e 73 66 65  72 20 74 68 65 20 61 70  | transfer the ap|
00000310  70 6c 69 63 61 74 69 6f  6e 20 74 6f 20 61 20 68  |plication to a h|
00000320  61 72 64 20 64 69 73 63  20 6f 72 20 61 6e 6f 74  |ard disc or anot|
00000330  68 65 72 20 66 6c 6f 70  70 79 2e 0a 0a 4a 75 73  |her floppy...Jus|
00000340  74 20 61 62 6f 75 74 20  61 6e 79 20 6e 6f 6e 2d  |t about any non-|
00000350  61 6c 70 68 61 62 65 74  69 63 20 63 68 61 72 61  |alphabetic chara|
00000360  63 74 65 72 20 6d 61 79  20 62 65 20 75 73 65 64  |cter may be used|
00000370  20 69 6e 73 74 65 61 64  20 6f 66 20 61 20 71 75  | instead of a qu|
00000380  65 73 74 69 6f 6e 0a 6d  61 72 6b 3a 20 79 6f 75  |estion.mark: you|
00000390  20 6d 61 79 20 70 72 65  66 65 72 20 74 6f 20 65  | may prefer to e|
000003a0  6e 74 65 72 20 61 20 73  70 61 63 65 20 6f 72 20  |nter a space or |
000003b0  74 68 65 20 62 61 63 6b  73 6c 61 73 68 2e 20 54  |the backslash. T|
000003c0  68 65 20 70 72 6f 67 72  61 6d 20 77 69 6c 6c 0a  |he program will.|
000003d0  65 76 65 6e 20 63 68 65  63 6b 20 66 6f 72 20 77  |even check for w|
000003e0  6f 72 64 73 20 77 68 69  63 68 20 63 6f 6e 73 69  |ords which consi|
000003f0  73 74 20 65 6e 74 69 72  65 6c 79 20 6f 66 20 62  |st entirely of b|
00000400  6c 61 6e 6b 73 2c 20 62  75 74 20 74 68 65 20 6c  |lanks, but the l|
00000410  69 73 74 20 77 69 6c 6c  20 62 65 0a 65 6e 6f 72  |ist will be.enor|
00000420  6d 6f 75 73 20 61 6e 64  20 74 68 65 20 73 65 61  |mous and the sea|
00000430  72 63 68 20 77 69 6c 6c  20 74 61 6b 65 20 61 20  |rch will take a |
00000440  76 65 72 79 20 6c 6f 6e  67 20 74 69 6d 65 2e 20  |very long time. |
00000450  54 68 65 20 70 72 6f 67  72 61 6d 20 77 69 6c 6c  |The program will|
00000460  20 6e 6f 74 0a 61 63 63  65 70 74 20 61 6e 20 69  | not.accept an i|
00000470  6e 70 75 74 20 6f 66 20  6c 65 73 73 20 74 68 61  |nput of less tha|
00000480  6e 20 74 68 72 65 65 20  6c 65 74 74 65 72 73 2e  |n three letters.|
00000490  0a 0a 44 75 65 20 74 6f  20 74 68 65 20 77 61 79  |..Due to the way|
000004a0  20 74 68 61 74 20 74 68  65 20 49 6d 70 72 65 73  | that the Impres|
000004b0  73 69 6f 6e 20 53 70 65  6c 6c 20 6d 6f 64 75 6c  |sion Spell modul|
000004c0  65 20 77 6f 72 6b 73 2c  20 74 68 65 20 73 65 61  |e works, the sea|
000004d0  72 63 68 20 69 73 20 6d  75 63 68 20 71 75 69 63  |rch is much quic|
000004e0  6b 65 72 20 66 6f 72 20  77 6f 72 64 73 20 77 68  |ker for words wh|
000004f0  65 72 65 20 74 68 65 20  66 69 72 73 74 20 6f 72  |ere the first or|
00000500  20 73 65 63 6f 6e 64 20  6c 65 74 74 65 72 73 20  | second letters |
00000510  28 6f 72 20 62 6f 74 68  29 20 61 72 65 20 6b 6e  |(or both) are kn|
00000520  6f 77 6e 3a 20 69 66 20  6e 65 69 74 68 65 72 20  |own: if neither |
00000530  6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 66  69 72 73 74 20 74 77 6f  |of the first two|
00000540  20 6c 65 74 74 65 72 73  20 61 72 65 20 6b 6e 6f  | letters are kno|
00000550  77 6e 2c 20 74 68 65 20  65 6e 74 69 72 65 20 64  |wn, the entire d|
00000560  69 63 74 69 6f 6e 61 72  79 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 62  |ictionary will b|
00000570  65 20 73 65 61 72 63 68  65 64 2e 20 54 68 65 20  |e searched. The |
00000580  70 72 6f 67 72 61 6d 20  69 73 20 70 72 6f 70 65  |program is prope|
00000590  72 6c 79 20 6d 75 6c 74  69 2d 74 61 73 6b 69 6e  |rly multi-taskin|
000005a0  67 2c 20 73 6f 20 79 6f  75 20 63 61 6e 20 63 61  |g, so you can ca|
000005b0  72 72 79 20 6f 6e 20 77  69 74 68 20 6f 74 68 65  |rry on with othe|
000005c0  72 20 77 6f 72 6b 20 64  75 72 69 6e 67 20 61 20  |r work during a |
000005d0  6c 6f 6e 67 20 73 65 61  72 63 68 2e 0a 0a 54 68  |long search...Th|
000005e0  65 20 61 70 70 6c 69 63  61 74 69 6f 6e 20 77 69  |e application wi|
000005f0  6c 6c 20 61 6c 73 6f 20  62 65 20 6f 66 20 75 73  |ll also be of us|
00000600  65 20 77 68 65 6e 20 63  6f 6d 70 69 6c 69 6e 67  |e when compiling|
00000610  20 61 20 63 72 6f 73 73  77 6f 72 64 2e 0a        | a crossword..|
0000061e