{"id":954,"date":"2006-02-14T22:03:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-15T02:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hoogervorst.ca\/arthur\/?page_id=954"},"modified":"2008-02-17T11:44:26","modified_gmt":"2008-02-17T15:44:26","slug":"wordfinders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.hoogervorst.ca\/arthur\/?page_id=954","title":{"rendered":"Wordfinders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n

The Wordfinders programs detail the development of a Scrabble wordfinder: I initially came out with a simple program and ended up with a DCOM version (a version that demonstrates the practical [or not so practical] use of COM+ for Windows 98 and higher). When starting out on these programs I had no basic knowledge of using algorithms like DAWG. It wasn’t until I discovered Graham Toal’s excellent Word Games site<\/a> when I became aware of the fact that my approach (while fast) was literally a ‘brute force approach’. Still, the ‘engine’ is faster than the Database based versions you find around on the Internet and doesn’t require you to install a legacy database wrapper. Also, after learning of DAWG, I thought it was highly appropriate to release the source code of the Tilesetter program as one approach to tackle words.\n<\/p>\n

Compatibility note: All applications run on Windows 98, 2000, XP and Vista. Without a doubt you should also be able to run this on your Wine-Enabled Linux flavour.\n<\/p>\n

Wordfinder<\/h2>\n

Wordfinder (version 1.6) is the simpliest<\/em> version. \"word_fin_der.jpg\"<\/a>. Wordfinder was conceived in 2000 and fitted the need for quick lookup of words. The finder comes with a TWL98 compatible library, but since this file is in plain ‘TXT’ format, you can literally use any file.<\/p>\n

In later versions of Wordfinder I added a ‘Wizard’ to refine the ‘found’ matches and basic sorting. I’m not sure if these extra features were actually helpful. I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody used them. Note that ‘blanks’ are represented by ‘#’ signs.\n<\/p>\n

TileSetter<\/h2>\n

TileSetter (version 2.2) is sometimes described as WordFinder with a ‘Scrabble board’: \"tilesetter_attached_words.jpg\"<\/a> the main difference between TileSetter and WordFinder is that (if used right) it can actually help you place words in the right spots for the maximum points, thanks<\/em> to the ‘Find attached words’ routines. To use these extra features, import a Scrabble board, put the program in ‘Tool Mode’ (TOOLS | Edit Mode) and right click anywere. Once again, blanks are represented as ‘#’s (or *).<\/p>\n

TileSetter’s sources are GPL-ed. You may wish to check the Gnu GPL site<\/a>, before downloading the sources.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

Tilesettled<\/h2>\n

Not satisfied with certain aspects of TileSetter, I decided to make a COM\/DCOM object out of the main ‘Find Words’ routines. Note: installation of DCOM applications (particularly concerning rights, permissions and security) is a particularly complex procedure and requires advanced knowledge of Windows. Feel free to experiment with the instructions in the documentation (both in DOC [includes example calls from within VBA] and RTF format). The essence of this application was mainly to make a working example of a DCOM server\/clients. It works, trust me.\n<\/p>\n

TileSettled’s sources are GPL-ed. You may wish to check the Gnu GPL site<\/a>, before downloading the sources.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

Downloads<\/h2>\n