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Text File
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1997-09-29
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6KB
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142 lines
Welcome to WordsWorth/XWord v2.0!
What is WordsWorth?
===================
WordsWorth is essentially a Scrabble game, although it has
been made much more flexible than Scrabble, in that the user can
modify the score rules, the board layout, the number of tiles, and
so on. You can save and load games in progress, undo and redo any
number of moves, consult the dictionary with a powerful pattern-lookup
facility, force the program to play a different move, and so on.
What is XWord?
==============
XWord is a crossword solving assistant. You can enter the layout of
a crossword grid (the layout editor includes flip/rotate actions
and different symmetry settings to speed up this process), and mark
the start of new words of multiple word clues. Then, as you solve
clues, you enter letters into the grid. While this is happening,
XWord computes a set of constraints on the board, based on the
dictionary. For example, XWord may determine that a certain cross
word can only be one of a certain subset of words, each of which
has either an O or an A in the second position. This fact constrains
the set of words which can go down through that second position, which
in turn constrains other words, and so on.
The result of computing these constraints is the set of letters
that may be entered in each empty square of the crossword. As you
move around the grid, XWord displays the allowed letters for the
current square as well as the possible down and across words
that can pass through the square. Once about a third of the crossword
is complete in a particular area of the grid, XWord makes it
easy to find the remaining words, and also fills in any squares that
are constrained to a single character automatically. In some cases
XWord has correctly completed crosswords that were less than half
solved.
XWord includes some sophisticated features, including allowing
you to specify that a clue is an anagram, or that it is similar
in meaning to some other word. For the latter, XWord uses `concept
keys', which is similar to using a thesaurus to help you solve
the crossword.
Installing the demo versions of WordsWorth and XWord
====================================================
To install, you need one of the following self-extracting archives:
WW32.EXE - Windows '95 version
WW16.EXE - Windows 3.1 version
or, alternatively, one of the following zipped archives:
WW32.ZIP - Windows '95 version
WW16.ZIP - Windows 3.1 version
The files contained in the archives are:
WINWWxx.EXE - WordsWorth crossword game (a la Scrabble)
WINXWxx.EXE - XWord crossword solver's assistant
WINWW.INI - Initialisation file for WordsWorth
WINXW.INI - Initialisation file for XWord
WINWW.HLP - Windows Help file for WordsWorth
WINXW.HLP - Windows Help file for XWord
WWDEMO.DIC - dictionary file used by both WordsWorth and XWord
THES.DAT - concept key data file used by both WordsWorth and XWord
README.TXT - this file
ORDER.FRM - Order form for the full registered version
DLL\CTL3D.DLL - (Win 3.1 only) Additional library needed by programs
DLL\CTL3D32.DLL - (Win 95 only) Additional library needed by programs
(where the "xx" is 16 or 32, depending on the version).
To install, create a directory for the programs and extract the
archive in that directory (by copying the WWxx.EXE file to
that directory, changing to that directory, and then running it,
or, in the case of the ZIP file, extracting the contents using
ZIP, PKZIP, WinZip, or a similar program).
Then copy the WINWW.INI and WINXW.INI files to your \WINDOWS
directory. Edit these .INI files to set the path to the dictionary
correctly (you can do this with a text editor, or from the
Options/Game Defaults menu in WordsWorth, or the Options/Configure
Options menu in XWord).
NOW, CAREFULLY DO THE FOLLOWING:
In the DLL subdirectory you will find a file named CTL3Dxx.DLL.
This is a shared library file requred by the game. For the game to
work, you must have a copy of this file in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory. Many Windows PCs do have a copy of this file already,
but some don't, which is why a copy has been included. Check if
you already have the file in \WINDOWS\SYSTEM, and if not, copy
the provided DLL to that directory.
If the game is run and the file is not found in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
directory ONLY, you will see a dialog box reporting the problem,
and the game will seemingly exit. In fact, Windows fails to clean
up properly, and you will need to do a CTRL-ALT-DEL to get the
list of tasks up, and kill the WordsWorth or XWord task from there.
I apologise for the complications, but WordsWorth was written using
a cross-platform graphics library which needs the CTL3D library to
provide a 3-D look to scrollbars, etc.
For further help consult the on-line help associated with each
program.
Legal Stuff
===========
These are fully playable versions of WordsWorth and XWord. They
are not crippleware, but nor are they freeware. You may try the
programs for 60 days, after which, if you continue to use them,
you should register. Upon registering, you will receive two new
dictionary files and a dictionary maintenance program. This demo
version has a single dictionary named WWDEMO.DIC, containing
28521 words of between 2 and 6 characters in length. The
dictionaries that you get when you register are:
WWMED.DIC 68828 words of up to 13 characters in length
WWBIG.DIC 132800 words of up to 15 characters in length
The dictionary maintenance program can be used to convert between
the .DIC file format and ordinary text files containing word lists.
The word lists must be sorted alphabetically (as words not in
lexicographic order will be ignored). As generating a .DIC file
from a word list can take several hours, the maintenance program
can be interrupted and resumed during dictionary builds.
To find out the latest information about how to register your copy,
please send E-mail to gram@cdsec.com, with the subject "WordsWorth
registration".
DISCLAIMER: This software is distributed with absolutely no warantee.
While all attempts have been made by the author to ensure that
these programs are robust, you use this software at entirely
your own risk.
"Scrabble" is a registered trade mark of JW Spear and Sons PLC of England.