SudoCue Release 3.0.0 (Beta)

Post by **Ruud** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:26 am

You may have noticed that I did not spend a lot of time on the forum lately. My apologies. I have been tied up between a very demanding daytime job and writing a new release for SudoCue.

These changes were implemented:

Fetch all daily puzzles from 5 popular websites.

Build your own sudoku collections.
- Save in sdm format.
- Paste append
- Paste replace
- Append from other file
- Delete puzzle from file

New variant implemented: Clover Sudoku (Asterisk + Windoku)

Improvements in the UI:
- New menu styles
- New Windows visual style support
- More graphics
- Compact mode
- Minimize to system tray

Version 1.1 of the Framework no longer supported. You need version 2.0

DLX and Status dialogs removed.

Performance of generator can be configured by the user.

Restore Defaults button added to Generator settings.

More ways to load puzzles into the program:
- Drag & drop puzzle files or strings onto the program.
- Paste strings with multiple puzzles into the program

Canonicalize a puzzle or an entire puzzle collection.

"Would you like to tell Ruud about this problem?" when an unexpected error pops up.

several minor improvements and fixes which I forgot to record.

DISCLAIMER: This is a beta version. By installing and using this program you agree to become a voluntary SOFTWARE TESTER.

Download it from the vault: http://www.sudokuvault.com/SudoCueV300.msi

Gimme some feedback if I messed up...

Now I need some rest...

Ruud

enxio27 · Post by **enxio27** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 2:44 am

OH, WOW!!!! This all sounds VERY cool! I'm eager to try it! It'll have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest, though--I was up WAAAY too late last night dealing with DS20 and his girlfriend issues.

Ruud, hope you're now getting some well-deserved rest!

enxio27 · Post by **enxio27** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:44 pm

Either I'm doing something wrong, or Sudocue has lost the ability to save a game progress file (.sdx), although it can still read from them. (FWIW, I was trying to adjust and save the pencil marks in the overlapping boxes of the five grids of a Samurai for later printing.) If I open an existing .sdx file, the "Save" option is greyed out, and "Save As" gives me only the option to save the original puzzle (clues only--no candidates), as an .sdk file. I can save the candidates to an .sdx file using the "Copy Marks" option, but it's a lot more hassle (opening a Notepad file, pasting the marks, then navigating to the correct path and saving the file).

Also, you might want to update the year in the copyright notice under "About".

rep'nA · Post by **rep'nA** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:05 pm

If I download using
File>Open WWW>(Any of the sites),
and then try to Open another puzzle (using File>Open), I obtain the following error:

Post by **Ruud** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:44 pm

Thank you both for the feedback.

Both problems have been fixed. I did not have the invalid file name problem because I use a dash as date separator. I changed the program so it replaces slashes in the date.

I also changed the "about" dialog.

The new installer is at the same address.

Ruud

nj3h · Post by **nj3h** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:21 am

Hi Ruud,

It is nice to see a new version of my favorite program available. Thanks for adding the clover variant.

If you have time, can you modify the printed versions of the asterisk, center dot, and clover puzzles to show the special cells like the other variants? This would be really helpful for those of us who take the puzzles with us without our computer.

Ruud, as you know I use Win 98 SE. I notice the new version loads more slowly than the earlier version. I wonder if this is a framework 2 issue. Until tonight, I had been using an earlier version of framework.

Regards,
George

nj3h · Post by **nj3h** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:34 pm

Ruud,

Second Comment:

One thing I noticed is that when a smaller size for the SudoCue grid is chosen, some of the right hand menu items are not displayed (like Extra and Help). Now, since I set the size to the smallest setting, I cannot get the Extra menu item back to change the size back.

Regards,
George

Post by **Ruud** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:47 pm

Your printing suggestion is already on my list, but it didn't make it into this release.

I think it is the combination of Framework 2.0 and Win98 that causes the performance problems. Later versions of the framework are optimized for recent versions of Windows. For example, for Vista you need Framework 3.0, which seems to run poorly on Windows XP. Time for an upgrade, George

About the menu problem:

I considered removing the smallest sized because of that problem, but there is a workaround:

Press Ctrl+B to switch to compact mode.
Right-click the mouse anywhere outside the grid to open the menu.

Ruud.

nj3h · Post by **nj3h** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:54 pm

Hi Ruud,

Thanks for the remarks and the workaround. I was really hoping the printer item would have made the list. Maybe the next release, then.

Take care,
George

zoltag · Post by **zoltag** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:53 pm

Hi Ruud,

The symmetry of the puzzle is no longer displayed.
Solving Rounds is missing as well.

I would like them back, if you could?

Thanks!

zoltag · Post by **zoltag** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:29 pm

This grid,

Code: Select all

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

generated using ver 3, cannot be copied and then pasted into SQ, version 3 nor 2.2.

It isn't a new bug, but it isn't corrected, either.

zoltag · Post by **zoltag** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:29 pm

I just got several "Out of Memory" errors while generating. I haven't seen that one before.

I did set backtracking to 6000.

SQ continued to run as I cleared the errors so it didn't crash, anyways.

Post by **Ruud** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:31 pm

Thanks for the input.

- Printing Asterisk & CenterDot now highlight the special cells. George ->

- Print preview added (wanted to test the new print without wasting trees

)

- Symmetry and solving rounds back in view. They were "hidden" behind the new menu.

- Pasting error fixed. The sample has the same number of blanks and dots. This only happens with a 30-clue sudoku. Accidentally, SudoCue picked the blank as the "empty cell" character. It now prefers dots as it should. (add a single extra blank anywhere and you can also paste it in V2.2.

- PS (Perfect Sudoku) file formats (.txt) for regular and diagonal sudokus can now be opened.
- MPQ-Sudoku collection files (.sds) can now also be opened.

I could not replicate the "out-of-memory" error. Please beware that SudoCue requires a significant amount of memory for its template and tabling data.

New version in the vault

Ruud

PS: hey, my 500th post!

nj3h · Post by **nj3h** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 12:15 am

Thanks Ruud for the printing puzzle fix. It also is fixed for the clover variant as well. Print Preview works great as well.

Appreciate the quick response.

Regards,
George

zoltag · Post by **zoltag** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:12 am

Ruud wrote:Thanks for the input.

- Symmetry and solving rounds back in view. They were "hidden" behind the new menu.

TY!!

- Pasting error fixed. The sample has the same number of blanks and dots. This only happens with a 30-clue sudoku. Accidentally, SudoCue picked the blank as the "empty cell" character. It now prefers dots as it should. (add a single extra blank anywhere and you can also paste it in V2.2.

Not working, but it is changed.

Look at what happens!?

http://i11.tinypic.com/6615uv7.jpg