The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[jskostka]

I'm new to this forum, so can someone please tell me ...

How do I prepare a grid with pencil marks?

Many thanks!

[Ruud]

There is an introduction in the instructions on top of this forum.

Prepare your pencilmarks in a fixed font editor such as Notepad for Windows. Copy the grid in this editor and paste it in your message text. Select the grid and click the Code button above the message editor. Now the grid should be wrapped in CODE tags.

That should work. If you have questions about the message editor, there is a forum FAQ that has many answers.

Ruud

[jskostka]

Thank you, Ruud. Yes, I had read the instructions, but was still a little confused. First I tried pasting in a grid that I had done in Excel, but of course that didn't work. Then, since I'm working with a Mac, I did a grid in TextEdit which I believe is a Mac counterpart of Notepad for Windows. But after I pasted it in my message and clicked on Code, it was still just a bunch of numbers.

Could it be that using a Mac is the problem -- or maybe it is just my computer-challenged mind?

[Ruud]

Maybe Javascript is not enabled in your browser. You can also insert the code tags manually, like this:

[code](puzzle goes here)[/code]

Ruud

[Cec]

Hi jskostka,

From memory, I experienced a similar problem to post puzzles when I first joined the Forum and the following method worked for me at the time though somewhat tedious. I now prefer to type puzzles directly into a puzzle solver which automatically includes the pencilmarks (also known as candidates).

Try this method...Open up Microsoft "Word" (should show "Blank Document 1") and type and save the following template grid - the vertical lines are obtained by using the Shift key plus the backward slash key which is directly below the Backspace key.

Code: Select all

 
 *-------------------*     
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . | . . .|. . .|
 |------|------|-----|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |------|------|-----|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 *-------------------*


You can then type your initial puzzle (known as "clues" or "givens") directly into this saved grid and then copy and paste it into the Forum "post reply" window. Make sure you encase your typed puzzle between the Code tags as mentioned by Ruud above which should then look like this after you select the "Preview" button to view your puzzle prior to submitting it to the Forum.

Code: Select all

 *-------------------*
 |. . 5 |8 . 3 |. 9 .|
 |. . . |. . 1 |. . 4|
 |9 . . | . . .|6 . .|
 |------|------|-----|
 |1 . . |. . 4 |. 3 9|
 |. . . |. . . |. . .|
 |6 2 . |1 . . |. . 8|
 |------|------|-----|
 |. . 4 |. . . |. . 6|
 |8 . . |7 . . |. . .|
 |. 1 . |9 . 2 |5 . .|
 *-------------------*

To see how my typing looked in sending this post simply press the "quote" button in the top right corner of my above post

Hope this helps..

Cec

[Pat]

since I'm working with a Mac,
I did a grid in TextEdit
which I believe is a Mac counterpart of Notepad for Windows.

But after I pasted it in my message
and clicked on Code,
it was still just a bunch of numbers.

Could it be that using a Mac is the problem --
or maybe it is just my computer-challenged mind?

you clicked on Code?
show us!
click on Submit --
then we may just see what the problem is

[pmsmith]

Code: Select all

*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
| 4        6        9         | 7        8        2         | 3        1        5         |
| 5        2        8         | 1        9        3         | 7        6        4         |
| 1        7        3         | 5        6        4         | 9        8        2         |
|-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------|
| 3        5        4         | 9        2        6         | 8        7        1         |
| 8        1        2         | 4        3        7         | 5        9        6         |
| 7        9        6         | 8        5        1         | 4        2        3         |
|-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------|
| 2        4        7         | 3        1        9         | 6        5        8         |
| 6        3        5         | 2        7        8         | 1        4        9         |
| 9        8        1         | 6        4        5         | 2        3        7         |
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

I cut and pasted into the editor.
Selected all
and clicked code button
I see my grid embedded between code tags but it still doesn't look right.
I will submit and see if it clears up the formatting problem


Yes, when I view the page it is ok. It would be nice though if it looked OK within the editing window.

[daj95376]

Yes, when I view the page it is ok. It would be nice though if it looked OK within the editing window.

That's why there's a Preview button for the composition window!

[Cec]

Yes, when I view the page it is ok. It would be nice though if it looked OK within the editing window.

That's why there's a Preview button for the composition window!

Hi pmsmith,
I sympathize with your dilemma here because I can't understand why your grid doesn't appear the same as that displayed on screen when the "Preview" button is selected. Cheer up, Santa Claus is not far away to resolve this problem.

IF you select the "quote" button of my above post to jskostka explaining how a grid can be posted you will see that the columns are jumbled up like a dog's breakfast yet the grid is neatly displayed when the "Preview" button is pressed prior to submitting that post. I notice in your post that when your "quote" button is pressed the columns and numbers are neatly displayed. Did you re-arrange these after you noted they were all jumbled up after selecting the "quote" button?? If you did then this could explain your problem - the numbers should NOT be re-arranged.

When I press your "quote" button and then press the "Preview" button plus some "tidying up" of the dotted top border line which you can view by pressing my "quote" button for this post then your grid looks like this which is OK....

Code: Select all

*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
| 4        6        9         | 7        8        2         | 3        1        5         |
| 5        2        8         | 1        9        3         | 7        6        4         |
| 1        7        3         | 5        6        4         | 9        8        2         |
|-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------|
| 3        5        4         | 9        2        6         | 8        7        1         |
| 8        1        2         | 4        3        7         | 5        9        6         |
| 7        9        6         | 8        5        1         | 4        2        3         |
|-----------------------------+-----------------------------+-----------------------------|
| 2        4        7         | 3        1        9         | 6        5        8         |
| 6        3        5         | 2        7        8         | 1        4        9         |
| 9        8        1         | 6        4        5         | 2        3        7         |
*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

I hope this helps.

Cec

Edited by Cec 8.15pm . Ignore my above rubbish. Intermittent power failure prevented me from deleting this post earlier after realizing I experience the same problem as pmsmith of submitting an unsatisfactory grid even though the "Preview" button shows a satisfactory grid. Looks like I need more than Santa to sus this out :

Cec