Crisscross Words Crisscross Puzzle Generator

Transcription

1 User s Guide Crisscross Words Crisscross Puzzle Generator For Windows Pedagogical approach: Roger Gauthier and Roselyne Cardinal Sofware design and programming: Jean-François Gauthier, Roger Gauthier and Sébastien Dinel Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique Collège Ahuntsic Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne

2 Crisscross Words was produced by Collège d Ahuntsic and Collège Bois-de-Boulogne with the technical assistance of the Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique (CCDMD) and the financial assistance of the Ministère de l Éducation du Québec. Pedagogical approach Sofware design and programming Project supervisors Software revision Guide writing Revision Roger Gauthier and Roselyne Cardinal Roger Gauthier, Jean-François Gauthier and Sébastien Dinel Jean Lortie, Collège d Ahuntsic Pierre Séguin and Claude Séguin, Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne Cyr-Marc Debien, CCDMD Sylvain Gagnon, CCDMD Communication Cinq sur cinq inc. and Sourissimo Informatique Claudia de Fulviis All programmes and files on the enclosed CD-ROM have been tested and checked to the best of our ability. The Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique, Communication Cinq sur cinq inc. and Sourissimo Informatique therefore consider themselves free of all liability for any losses or damages that may result from the use or misuse of this software. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written authorization from the Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique. This authorization is granted only to educational institutions in Quebec that have obtained a copy of this material from the Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique or one of its authorized representatives. These institutions may not provide copies of this material to third parties in their organization. This notice and the title pages of this document must be included with all copies of this material. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Macintosh and MacOS are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. Crisscross Words User Guide, all rights reserved Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique (CCDMD), 1997 Legal deposit: National Library of Québec, 1997 ISBN

3 i3i i Table of Contents 1 General introduction... 4 What is Crisscross Words? Installation and getting started Requirements Installing the application Main commands File Menu Edit Menu Puzzle Menu Dictionary Menu View Menu Window Menu Help Menu (?) Pedagogical Help Dictionaries How to Build a New Dictionary Dictionary Merge How to Use Exclusion Factors Crisscross Puzzles Creating a Puzzle Solving a Puzzle Express Puzzle-solving Mode... 14

4 4 1 General introduction What is Crisscross Words? Crisscross Words creates crisscross puzzles varying in size from 11 x 11 squares to 35 x 35 squares. These puzzles can be solved on-line or on a printed copy. Marks are earned and calculated by Crisscross Words as the user fills in words. The number of marks earned is relative to actual time elapsed and to the level of difficulty of the words. Crisscross Words creates the puzzles using existing dictionaries or dictionaries created by the user within the application. It is possible to merge dictionaries. Existing dictionaries to be merged must be converted to the Crisscross Words format. 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

5 5 2 Installation and getting started 2.1 Requirements Computer: Windows compatible computer with 486 processor (or higher). Memory: minimum of 8 MB. Recommended peripherals: CD-ROM drive, hard disk and printer. Operating system: Windows 95 or later. 2.2 Installing the application Insert the application CD-ROM in the disk drive and copy the Crisscross Words and the Help files icons to the hard disk. Also copy any dictionary you may want to use. For network use, copy the application to one of the server s directories. 2 INSTALLATION AND GETTING STARTED

6 6 3 Main commands 3.1 File Menu New Dictionary: displays the New Dictionary window. A dialog box asks you whether you want the dictionary to be built to include Clues and Exclusion Factors. See paragraph on the use of Exclusion Factors. Make your choices and click OK. New Puzzle: creates a new crisscross puzzle according to the parameters appearing in the Application Preferences dialog box (see Application Preferences). Puzzle creation is not enabled until a dictionary is opened. The application displays a dialog box showing the time taken to create the puzzle. This time may vary from less than a second to several minutes, according to the parameters set in the Application Preferences dialog box. It is possible to stop the creation of a puzzle by clicking the Cancel button. Open : displays the Windows standard Open File dialog box. You can open any dictionary or puzzle previously saved in the Crisscross Words format. Dictionary Merge : merges another dictionary with the active dictionary. In the case of duplicate words, a dialog box allows you to choose whether or not to include the duplicate. Close: closes the active window; dialog boxes can be closed by clicking the OK button. Save and Save As : saves the data of the active puzzle or dictionary. Import : imports a Macintosh formatted file or a dictionary text file with tabulations. Export : exports to a Macintosh formatted file or to a dictionary text file with tabulations. Identification : displays the Identification dialog box. Your identification is part of the active window. An identification cannot be saved to a dictionary. Page Setup : displays the standard printer s Page Setup dialog box and enables you to modify some of its settings. Crisscross Words uses the US Letter vertical page setup to print out puzzles and dictionaries. Print : prints the active puzzle or dictionary. Quit: closes the application. 3 MAIN COMMANDS

7 7 3.2 Edit Menu Undo: cancels the most recent operation within a text field. It cannot be used to cancel other operations. For sensitive operations that cannot be undone, the application displays a warning message. Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All are active only in text fields and can be used in the standard Windows way. Clear: can be used in text fields in the usual Windows way. It can also be used to eliminate a selected dictionary word. Preferences : displays Crisscross Words' Preferences dialog box that allows you to set the following parameters at will. Clues-Inclusive: enables or disables Clues entry fields for future dictionaries. With Exclusion Factors: enables or disables Exclusion Factors entry fields for future dictionaries. See paragraph on the use of Exclusion Factors. Exclusion Factors field titles: enables the modification of the three Exclusion Factors field titles for future dictionaries. Allow Startover: allows or disallows startover for future puzzles. Allow Pause: allows or disallows work on future puzzles to be interrupted. "Black" boxes: sets the display color of the boxes in the puzzle. Selection: modifies the display color of the selection in the puzzle. Maximum Number of Words: maximum number of words allowed for a puzzle. This field can be left empty. The maximum number of words must be equal to or greater than the minimum number of words. Minimum Number of Words: minimum number of words allowed for a puzzle. Entering an unreasonable figure is easy and will either slow down puzzle creation or make it impossible. When in doubt, use the Default button. With Clues: enables or disables the use of clues for future puzzles. Match Case: if this button is clicked, the letters of both the word to be found and the proposed answer must be entered using the same letter case and punctuation, for all future puzzles. Using Exclusion Factors: enables or disables the use of the Exclusion Factors included in a dictionary, for all future puzzles. Dimensions: sets the size of future puzzles. Size may vary from 11 x 11 squares to 35 x 35 squares. Time Allowance: time allotted to the solving of future puzzles. The application automatically brings work to an end when the time allowance is spent. Default Button: sets preferences according to the application s default values. Two choices are available: regular default values; default values set according to the size of the puzzle. 3 MAIN COMMANDS

8 8 3.3 Puzzle Menu Launch: starts on-line work on the puzzle. No work can be done before the launch. Stop: brings work on the puzzle to an end; displays all words as well as the final score. Pause: brings work on the puzzle to a temporary halt and hides the puzzle and List of Definitions. Pause can be disallowed using puzzle settings. Start Over Puzzle: allows work on a crisscross puzzle to be restarted from the beginning. Startover can be disallowed through the Puzzle Settings dialog box. Statitics : displays the main features of the active puzzle. Score : displays a detailed version of the score obtained for solving the puzzle. The score can be displayed at any time after the puzzle has been launched. Puzzle Settings : This command calls up the Puzzle Settings dialog box. It allows you to set the following parameters: Allow Startover: allows or disallows work on the puzzle to be restarted from the beginning. Allow Pause: allows or disallows work on the puzzle to be interrupted. Match Case: if it is clicked, the application checks that the letters of the original word and of the answer are identical with respect to case and punctuation. With Clues: allows or disallows the use of clues for the puzzle. Solution Printout: allows or disallows printout of the puzzle solution. Time Allowance: time allotted for solving the puzzle, in minutes. The application automatically brings the work to an end when the time allowance is spent. Puzzle options can be locked with a password. Password : allows puzzle options to be locked with a password. The application recognizes letter case in the password. The number of characters in the password may not exceed 25. New Password : allows modification of the puzzle s password. It is greyed out if no password is currently in use. If no password is in use, the puzzle settings are unlocked and can be modified at will. 3 MAIN COMMANDS

9 9 3.4 Dictionary Menu Search : looks up a word in the active dictionary. You must enter the whole word, matching the spelling with respect to diacritical marks and letter case. The application displays the found word as selected text in the List of Words. New Word: inserts an empty field at the top of the List of Words. You must enter at least the word and the definition. Word Count : displays the number of words included in the dictionary. Dictionary Options : calls up the Dictionary Options dialog box which is comprised of the following parameters: Dictionary Modification (possible or impossible): allows or disallows modification of the dictionary. With Clues: enables or disables Clues entry fields. You may enter one clue, two clues or no clues, as you wish. The Anagram is always the last clue displayed. Using Exclusion Factors: enables or disables the use of Exclusion Factors. Entering Exclusion Factors is not a requirement of the application. Exclusion Factors field titles: allows modification of the Exclusion Factors field titles. The number of characters in a title may not exceed 11. Password : allows puzzle options to be locked with a password. The application recognizes letter case in the password. The number of characters in the password may not exceed 25. New Password : allows modification of the puzzle s password. It is greyed out if no password is currently in use. If no password is in use, the puzzle settings are unlocked and can be modified at will. 3.5 View Menu 3.6 Window Menu Status Bar: shows or hides the status bar. Cascade: displays document windows overlapping each other. Arrange Icons: arranges the icons for minimized windows at the bottom of the main window. The end of this menu displays the names of all open application-related windows. To activate a window, select its name from the Window menu. 3.7 Help Menu (?) Help Topics: displays the Help Topics window. Context Help: shows the help topic on the next selected item. About Crisscross Words : displays the names of Crisscross Words authors, programmers and project sponsors. 3 MAIN COMMANDS

10 10 4 Pedagogical Help 4.1 Dictionaries Dictionary window How to Build a New Dictionary To build a new dictionary, proceed as follows: Create a new dictionary using the command New Dictionary from the File menu. Click the required selections (use of Clues and Exclusion Factors) in the dialog box and click the OK button. The new dictionary window is displayed. Choose the command New Word from the Dictionary menu to add a new word. This command sets a new empty field at the end of the List of Words and automatically selects the word entry field. You must now do the following: Enter the exact word, checking the spelling for letter case and diacritical marks. Enter a definition. 4 PEDAGOGICAL HELP

11 11 Enter a clue or clues in the Clues entry fields. Enter an Exclusion Factor or Factors in the Exclusion Factor entry fields. Refer to paragraph on the use of Exclusion Factors for further information. Repeat the procedure for each new word included in the dictionary. There is no limit to the number of words you may include in a dictionary. However, a dictionary of more than 5,000 words is slower to open Dictionary Merge To merge two dictionaries, proceed as follows: Open the first dictionary using the Open command from the File menu. Merge the second dictionary with the first using the Dictionary Merge command from the File menu. A Dictionary Merge operation may add an already existing word. In this case, the application displays the Duplicate Word dialog box, wich offers the following choices: No Duplicate: the application automatically eliminates all duplicates; Add All: the application automatically adds all words, even duplicates; Skip: the application does not add this duplicate and issues another warning the next time a duplicate is found; Add: the application adds this duplicate and issues another warning the next time a duplicate is found. Choose one of these options and allow the merge to continue. In identifying two words as duplicates the application considers only the spelling, not the definition. Duplicate Word dialog box 4 PEDAGOGICAL HELP

12 How to Use Exclusion Factors Exclusion Factors are involved only in the creation of a puzzle, not in its solution. For example, let us consider two words with similar meanings or roots, such as: nurse, and nursing. You may want to use both words in your dictionary but you might not want them to appear in the same puzzle. All you have to do is give them both the same Exclusion Factor in the same Exclusion field. For instance, enter nurs in the first Exclusion field of each word. The application will never place two words with the same Exclusion Factor in the same field (first, second or third) in the same puzzle. Further to the above example, note that the application may very well include in the puzzle the word nursery unless you again gave it the same Exclusion Factor in the same field (first, second or third). The Exclusion Factor does not have to relate to the actual spelling of the words. It can be just any group of letters as long as it is exactly the same for all mutually exclusive words. Of course, it is much simpler, for purely mnemotechnic reasons, to choose letters relating to the words to be excluded from the same puzzle. 4 PEDAGOGICAL HELP

13 Crisscross Puzzles Puzzle window Creating a Puzzle To create a new crisscross puzzle, proceed as follows: Open the dictionary to be used to create the puzzle. It is impossible to create a puzzle if no dictionary is open. Call up the Application Preferences dialog box using the command Preferences from the Edit menu. Use this dialog box to set: the maximum number of words (optional); the minimum number of words; whether or not to use clues; whether or not to match cases; whether or not to use Exclusion Factors (see also paragraph 4.1.3); the size of the puzzle; the time allowance for the puzzle. To create a standard puzzle, simply click the Default button. Start puzzle creation using the command New Puzzle from the File menu. If it takes too long, you can stop the operation using the Cancel button. Reset the preferences parameters to reduce creation time. Clicking the Default button will always result in puzzles being created more quickly, except in the case of dictionaries that are too small. The minimum number of words should then be decreased. 4 PEDAGOGICAL HELP

14 14 Lock the puzzle with a password if you wish. Save the puzzle using the command Save or Save As from the File menu Solving a Puzzle To solve a puzzle, proceed as follows. Open an existing puzzle using the command Open from the File menu, or create a new puzzle using the command New Puzzle from the File menu. Launch puzzle-solving using the command Launch from the Puzzle menu. Select a word to be found by clicking on its place in the puzzle or select a definition by clicking on an item in the List of Definitions. Enter the word that corresponds to the definition in the Answer Entry field, precisely matching letter case and diacritical marks as well as punctuation and hyphens, if any. Validate your answer using Return or clicking the puzzle OK button. If your answer is correct, the converted word will appear in the puzzle. Follow the same procedure for all the words. You can bring work on the puzzle to an end using the Stop command from the Puzzle menu. Once your time allowance is spent, the application automatically stops; all the words display automatically, along with your score Express Puzzle-solving Mode You can solve the puzzle by using the mouse to select definitions and the Answer entry field. However, there is a much quicker method. Click the selected definition in the List of Definitions. Go from one definition to another using the and arrow keys. Each time you encounter a definition whose answer is known to you, start keying in your answer immediately. The Answer Entry field will automatically be selected and the word you keyed in will appear in the field. Press Return to validate your answer. If your answer is correct, the converted word will automatically be displayed in the Puzzle display area and the list of definitions will become active again, allowing you to immediately select a new definition using the arrows. In this way your hands never leave the keyboard. 4 PEDAGOGICAL HELP