The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[MCC]

em, I'll see if I can figure this out and get back to you.

[Pat]

Thanks MCC, I have already tried using this format - albeit a little clumsily - but the candidate brackets do not stay in line and separated as tso's do. They all bunch up again even when you use the code.

in the example,
tso inserts sufficient blank spaces
to force the lists into alignment

if this must be done manually,
i do applaud his effort

- Pat

[emm]

Are you sure? I tried doing this manually and they all shot back together again when I posted.

[MCC]

An experiment in column aligment.

The first four columns are done in this grid.

Code: Select all

{789}{2789}  {4}  {2369} {367}{3679}{268}{5}{1}
{6}  {278}   {278}{4}    {5}{1}{9}{28}{3}
{1}  {3}     {5}  {269}  {69}{8}{26}{4}{7}
{789}{56789} {1}  {35689}{2}{3679}{3567}{679}{4}
{4}  {256789}{3}  {5689} {1}{679}{2567}{2679}{59}
{79} {25679} {267}{3569} {4}{3679}{23567}{1}{8}
{2}  {1}     {9}  {7}    {8}{5}{4}{3}{6}
{5}  {678}   {678}{369}  {369}{4}{1}{789}{2}
{3}  {4}     {678}{1}    {69}{2}{578}{789}{59}

First click code and put in 81 {}'s.
Insert candidates and numbers.
Look at column 1,the longest cell is three numbers long.
Working down the column 1, click after the } on each row and,
add spaces to equal the longest number.

e.g., column 1
{789} does not need any spaces.
{6} needs two spaces.
{1] needs two spaces.
{789} no spaces.
{4} two spaces.
{79} one space.
{2} two spaces.
{5} two spaces.
{3} two spaces.

Preview the text and you see that the second column is in line.
This will make it easier to see the cells in the 2nd column.

In column 2 the largest cell is six numbers long therefore,
you'll need to add spaces to equal this after each cell in column 2.
And so on across the grid.

Preview each time you do a column.

Result, hopefully, a neat and tidy candidate grid.

[Pat]

.

in the present case we are given those bracketed lists,
where [ code ] will not get the columns aligned
and Replace All is useless too.

hence my grouchy comment,
and a question:
do you all have some nifty software that can eat up the bracketed lists?
or how did you all handle it?

- Pat

.

in the present case we are given those bracketed lists

do you have some nifty software that can eat up the bracketed lists?

- Pat

[emm]

Code: Select all

{111}     {1111}    {11}   {11111}   {1}     {1111}   {11111}   {11111}   {11111}   
{1}       {11}      {1}    {11}      {111}   {11}     {11}      {11}      {1}     
{11111}   {111}     {1}    {1}       {111}   {1}      {1}       {111}     {1}
   
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{} 
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}
 
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}     
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}   
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Perfect! Thanks MCC and Pat for your help with this. I feel a bit borderline neurotic to have spent so much time on it but at least it's there in the unlikely event that I'll ever want to use it in the future!

[MCC]

Glad to be of some help

Pat if you could get rid of the brackets how would you know which cells held which candidates

[Pat]

Pat if you could get rid of the brackets how would you know which cells held which candidates

i would very much like to get rid of the bracketed lists,
using a dot as a placeholder for an empty cell.

please look at the original posting

Code: Select all

7[59]4,[259][29]8,631
[1589][1589]2,6[19]3,4[59]7
[159]36,[4579][1479][75],8[59]2
329,851,764
[51]7[51],[94][946][96],283
648,[72]3[72],915
4[15689][135],[259][2689][2569],[35]7[89]
[589][5689]7,3[689]4,12[89]
2[89][35],1[789]79],[35]46

and tell me, with all those extra lists, how can you see the puzzle??

- Pat

[MCC]

Pat, I agree with you about the way Charles posted the puzzle, and if he had stayed with us we could have asked him to post the puzzle again in a more agreeable manner, without the candidates.

I did not attempt the puzzle but followed on from simes, working on the last three lines.

I'm not sure if you can remove/replace the [...] enbloc, you would probably have to do it by hand.

[emm]

OK - it would be nice if Charles was a bit less silent in view of all the advice he's been given, but that apart, it's actually not that hard to transpose this puzzle either on to paper or into a solver, if you really wanted to.

[charles]

Hi to all you wonderful people. Thanks for your helpful replies. No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the planet but after I posted (my first ever posting) I anxiously looked up the site many times for 3 days but to no avail then took off on holidays for 2 weeks.
I can now quite clearly see the answer and of course I agree with the comments about my presentation. I will study your ongoing comments and try to come to grips with "code".
Thanks again.
Charles.

[r.e.s.]

[...] I will study your ongoing comments and try to come to grips with "code". [...]
Charles.

Charles,

Rather than repeatedly cycle through preview to get the formating right with "code", it's often far easier to do the following ("message" below refers to the part of your message you want to use with "code") ...
(1) Write your message as it's intended to look in a text editor or word processor set to a fixed-width font (e.g. Courier New) -- this will cause it to appear just as it will when "coded";
(2) Copy and paste the message from the editor or word processor to the message-reply window;
(3) Select (highlight) the message just pasted into the reply window, and click "Code".

Voilà -- preview should now show your message exactly as intended.

----------------------------------------
Nine sets of nine are awaiting exposure,
naked & hiding, deranged in composure.

[Pat]

it's actually not that hard to transpose this puzzle either on to paper or into a solver, if you really wanted to.

yes! em, we can finally agree on something: i really do not wish to re-type! i hate re-typing even more than i hate ketchup - and you know how i hate ketchup.

the tiniest typographical error would ruin the puzzle - has that ever happened to you?

- Pat

[emm]

Hi Pat - Potentially I think ketchup could ruin the puzzle worse than a typo, if it came down to it, but that's another moot point! Have we been at such loggerheads? Truthfully, I have a proclivity to fight with anyone and can get caught out arguing both sides if the mood takes me, so don't take anything I say too seriously.

We were discussing coding the grid - I have a fairly patient obsessive nature and don't fret too much over transposing - sometimes twice over - by hand on to paper and then retyping into a solver but it is great when someone presents in a pasteable form. And yes, I have made the tiniest of typographical errors occasionally - some even publicly in this forum!

r.e.s. is discussing coding quotes for Charles' benefit and I agree with his/her technique. I cut and paste into Word a lot, especially when I'm wondering if the Censorship Board is checking out my posts as I preview them! They don't really do that though ... do they? If you are having trouble using the code, Charles, take note of Paul's suggestion in another thread to make sure that the BBcode (BigBrothercode!) box isn't ticked which was stumping a fair few people and someone or other mentioned the importance of one last preview before you finally submit. (A valuable little rule of thumb which most women have already figured out for themselves!)

----------------------------------------
drawing the line between logic & guessing,
eschewing brute force, we're seducing, caressing,
teasing the clues until we're possessing
a unique solution; the final undressing!

with apologies to res

[charles]

Thanks r.e.s. I will certainly try your suggestion in future postings, taking care that em's suggestion of making sure the BBC isn't checked!

Well done both of you,

Charles