path: root/README

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                                 OCTANS
             Octans is a program to solve Algot's Wordplay
                          (Wordsearch) puzzles

                                Andinus
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Table of Contents
─────────────────

Demo
Installation
Documentation
News


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 Website          <https://andinus.nand.sh/octans>
 Source           <https://git.tilde.institute/andinus/octans>
 GitHub (mirror)  <https://github.com/andinus/octans>
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Demo
════

  This was recorded with `asciinema'.

  [https://asciinema.org/a/385500.png]

  ⁃ Octans v0.1.0 - finds 10 solutions to a puzzle:
    <https://asciinema.org/a/385598>
  ⁃ Octans v0.1.0: <https://asciinema.org/a/385500>

  ⁃ Octans 2021-01-14: <https://asciinema.org/a/384464>
  ⁃ alt-link (download): <https://andinus.nand.sh/static/octans>


[https://asciinema.org/a/385500.png] <https://asciinema.org/a/385500>


Installation
════════════

  Octans is released to CPAN, you can get it from there or install it
  from source. In any case, `zef' is required to install the
  distribution.

  You can run Octans without `zef'. Just run `raku -Ilib bin/octans'
  from within the source directory.


Release
───────

  1. Run `zef install octans'.

  Octans should be installed, try running `octans --version' to confirm.


From Source
───────────

  You can either download the release archive generated by cgit/GitHub
  or clone the project if you have `git' installed.


Without `git'
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  1. Download the release:
     • <https://git.tilde.institute/andinus/octans>
     • <https://github.com/andinus/octans/releases>
  2. Extract the file.
  3. Run `zef install .' in source directory.


With `git'
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  All commits will be signed by my [PGP Key].

  ┌────
  │ # Clone the project.
  │ git clone https://git.tilde.institute/andinus/octans
  │ cd octans
  │
  │ # Install octans.
  │ zef install .
  └────


[PGP Key]
<https://andinus.nand.sh/static/D9AE4AEEE1F1B3598E81D9DFB67D55D482A799FD.asc>


Documentation
═════════════

Implementation
──────────────

  Initially it went over the list of words & checked if they exist in
  the grid. This was very slow.

  Currently it walks the grid & checks if the current string exist in
  the dictionary. This is faster for these reasons:

  • The dictionary is sorted, we perform binary range search on the
    dictionary to return the list of all words that start with specific
    string.
  • Starting positions are limited.

  If the dictionary wasn't sorted then this probably would've been
  slower than previous implementation.

  The `neighbors' subroutine (`lib/Octans/Neighbors.rakumod') was taken
  from my AoC (Advent of Code) 2020's day-11 solution.


Options
───────

dict
╌╌╌╌

  Octans's default dictionary file is `/usr/share/dict/words', use
  `--dict' flag to change the dictionary. The words in dictionary must
  be seperated by a newline (`\n') & sorted alphabetically.


length
╌╌╌╌╌╌

  Minimum word length to look for. Default is 7.


path
╌╌╌╌

  The path to be passed must be a *readable file* or an *url* in either
  format:

  • Link when you view it from your local instance:
    <https://tilde.zone/web/statuses/105531207939242077>

  • Link from Algot's profile:
    <https://mastodon.art/@Algot/105333136907848390>


verbose
╌╌╌╌╌╌╌

  This will increase verbosity.


News
════

v0.2.0 - 2021-03-04
───────────────────

  ⁃ Removed `sample' option

    `--sample' will not solve the sample puzzle.

  ⁃ Removed shorthand for verbose option

    `-v' won't work in `v0.2.0'.

  ⁃ Change representation of visited squares

    When `--verbose' was passed, it would print the solved puzzle with
    visited squares replaced with fancy characters. Now it marks them by
    adding:

    • `*' to visited + gray squares (start positions)
    • `/' to visited squares

  ⁃ Removed time taken

    Time taken won't be printed anymore.

          It was misleading because the time printed was not the
          time taken to find that specific word, it was the time
          taken to find all the words upto that word. It would
          reset for each starting position.


v0.1.4 - 2021-02-19
───────────────────

  ⁃ Fixed the puzzle parsing regex

    The older regex fails to parse this puzzle:
    <https://mastodon.art/@Algot/105690195742318751>.


v0.1.3 - 2021-01-24
───────────────────

  ⁃ Added an option to specify minimum word length.


v0.1.2 - 2021-01-20
───────────────────

  ⁃ Input puzzle can now be of any size & not restricted to 4x4 grid.


v0.1.1 - 2021-01-20
───────────────────

  ⁃ Read puzzle from a file.


v0.1.0 - 2021-01-19
───────────────────

  ⁃ Improved performance by using a better algorithm to find words in
    the grid.