SudokuExpert
Peter Krasznai's Sudoku Learning Software

Notes

On the game

Before beginning to play, the player should decide, which kind of game he will play: normal, expert or automatic. This game mode can be activated in menu "Help"; the corresponding options or utilities will be automatically activated or deactivated; they are active or inactive. In menu "options" or "utilities" they can be changed during the playing. Using the menu "Game" there are the possibilities: to begin a new game, to save the game, to open a saved game and to quit the game without saving it. Using the menu "Edit" there are the possibilities:

• to go back to the initial state of game or to a field with an accepted value;
• to modify the initial state or an accepted value;
• to erase something in the Message Box.

The menu "Help" allows to set a new license text and key or to change the user language. These changes have theirs effects after the next calling the SdkGame; in the menu "Help" can be found some important information: the license agreement, the game rules including the options and utilities structured by the game mode, some links in the submenu "About":

• to go to this web page;
• to a prepared e-mail for sending it to the software manufacturer
• to look up the news over product and license versions
• to the manual in pdf-format
• to the web-page of the software manufacturer.

There are in this submenu some data over the license: name of the customer and time of validity, for example. After calling the SdkGame, the program runs, but the fields are empty. The initial values are needed, they can be found in prospectus, newspapers, notebooks, and so on. These fields are disabled, if these values are put in the fields. The game goes on stepwise. In a game step, if a value has been put in the empty field, this field becomes non-editable; the value is accepted in the field.

On the designations

The messages come up in a message box or in the game history. The following conventions were introduced:

• Each row is labelled by 1, 2, ..., 9. Each column is labelled by 1, 2, ..., 9 too.
• Let i a label of a row and j a label of column, then the field determined by row i and column j will be marked by (i, j).
• A value v contained or being admissible in the field (i, j) will be marked by v (i, j) or (i, j) v. Sometimes this distinguishing is important (Therefore see the search utilities):
• If the value v can be put into the field (i, j), the marque v (i, j) will be used.
• If the field (i, j) allows to put the value v into it, the marque (i, j)v will be used.
• In the game history are the game steps listed in form of v (i, j) using the heading index of step, index of row, index of column and the chosen value, for example:
step   row col value
  3    ( 7,  5 )     7
• Using the option "values", the headings is extended by "admissibles" and "places", for example:
step   row col value     admissibles          places              
   3     ( 7,   5 )    7    4:357900000  !3*35*65*75*00*00

Below "admissibles", the number 4 signifies, that the field (7, 5) allows placing 4 values. There are 3, 5, 7 and 9. The zeros are placeholders, the colon is a separator.
Below places after the sign "!" stands 3. It signifies, that the chosen value 7 can be put in 3 fields: (3,5), (6,5) and (7,5). The (0,0) and (0,0) are placeholders. The places are separated by the sign „*". The exclamation mark "!" signifies that the number of possible places less than or equal with 5, otherwise stands there the question mark"?".