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The Electronic Alveary A word match program for crossword solvers and setters by Ross Beresford Version 1.00 12th April 1992 Copyright (c) J Ross Beresford 1992 All Rights Reserved The Electronic Alveary is a FREEWARE package: it can be freely copied and distributed under the terms of the licensing agreement at the end of this document. The program author can be reached on the following systems: CIX Phone +44 81 399 5252 Account name rberesfo Internet address rberesfo@cix.compulink.co.uk (preferred) rberesfo%cix@uknet.ac.uk (if above fails) Golly! Phone +44 734 320812 Account name Ross Beresford Fidonet address 2:252/21 Internet address ross.beresford@f21.n252.z2.fidonet.org MANIFEST -------- This release of TEA should contain the following files: READ.ME Quick start document TEA100.DOC This manual TEA.EXE The TEA pattern matching program TEA.RSC The default (colour) configuration file COLOUR.RSC Colour screen configuration file MONO.RSC Monochrome screen configuration file WORDS.nn TEA database files A compression program that builds TEA database files from an ASCII word list is distributed separately as TEABDnnn.ZIP, where nnn is the version number. This includes 'C' source and an MS-DOS binary. CONTENTS -------- 1. Introduction 2. Interactive Mode 3. Command Line Mode 4. Patterns 5. Controls Appendix A. Messages Appendix B. Video Modes Appendix C. Resource File Appendix D. Release History Appendix E. Licensing Information 1. INTRODUCTION ------------ TEA can be run in either command line mode or interactive mode. The first two sections give information about how to use TEA in each of these modes. The remaining sections describe the underlying functionality of TEA which is the same for both modes. 2. INTERACTIVE MODE ---------------- In this mode, TEA runs continuously and its behaviour is controlled using a text mode user interface. TEA determines the colours used in the interactive mode display from a resource file. TEA is pre-configured for a colour screen. If you have a monochrome screen, make sure TEA uses the monochrome resource file before you start by typing: copy mono.rsc tea.rsc See "Appendix C. Resource File" for more information about the format of the resource file. To enter interactive mode, just type the name of the program: tea All the command line mode options may also be entered as options when starting interactive mode: they become the initial settings. By default, TEA assumes the dictionary database files are named WORDS.nn and are stored in the same directory as TEA.EXE. If you have moved the database files to a different directory, or renamed them, you must use the -d option to specify their path, for example: tea -d d:\dict\words Once TEA has started, you can begin to enter match patterns immediately. To exit TEA at this point, press Esc; pressing Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break at any time will also cause TEA to exit. See the PATTERNS section for a description of the types of pattern that can be specified. Help: Once interactive mode has started, you can get help at any time by pressing F1. Pressing a key when the help screen is displayed returns you to the program. Field editing: The field being edited is displayed in a different colour. Characters can be entered at the cursor in the usual way. The Ins key toggles between insert and overwrite mode (the default is insert mode); the Left and Right arrow keys move the cursor along a field; Home and End move the cursor to the beginning and end of a field; Del deletes the character at the cursor. The Return key accepts a changed field; the Esc key causes any changes to be abandoned. Matching: The program starts matching when Return is pressed after the pattern has been edited. Matching can be paused by pressing any key. Pressing the space bar resumes the match; any other key aborts the match. While matching is paused, the output buffer can be scrolled, printed or written to a file. Scrolling output: If the matched output for a pattern overflows the output window, it is stored in a buffer up to a limit of 200 lines. This buffer can be scrolled: a line at a time using the Up and Down arrow keys; a page at a time using PgUp and PgDn; to the top using Ctrl-PgUp and to the bottom using Ctrl-PgDn. Printing output: To print the contents of the output buffer, use ALT-W and then press Return. Filing output: To dump the contents of the output buffer to a file, press ALT-W, enter the name of the file to be created and then press return. Note that the output buffer size is limited to 200 lines. If you want to dump large amounts of output (for example, all the words of a particular length), it is better to use command line mode and DOS file redirection. Editing controls: The options affecting pattern matching are displayed just above the pattern in the TEA main screen. They can be changed by pressing ALT with the letter highlighted in the option name. Press: ALT-S to change the shortest word length ALT-L to change the longest word length ALT-P to toggle the playfair filter setting ALT-A to change the alternate word filter ALT-I to change the included word filter See the CONTROLS section for a description of how the controls affect pattern matching. TEA tries to adapt to the active video mode when it starts up: if the active video mode is one it supports (see "Appendix B: Video Modes" for a list), then it continues to use that mode. If the active video mode isn't supported, TEA switches to mode 3 (colour 80 column mode). 3. COMMAND LINE MODE ----------------- In this mode, TEA matches the single pattern specified on the command line, then exits. The output is displayed directly on the screen. This mode is used when -c is specified as an option. TEA's behaviour is controlled solely by the options and pattern specified on the command line. The command line syntax is as follows: tea [-h] [-d <database>] [-i <string>] [-a <string>] [-p] [-s <length>] [-l <length>] [-c] <pattern> -h prints usage information about TEA -d <database> instructs TEA to use the dictionary database files beginning with <database>. By default, TEA uses the dictionary database files beginning WORDS in the same directory as TEA.EXE. If you rename the dictionary database files, or store them in a different directory, you must specify this option so that TEA knows where to find them. For example, if the dictionary database files are called MYDICT.1, MYDICT.2 etc and are stored in D:\DICT, then specify: -d D:\DICT\MYDICT -i <string> instructs TEA to use <string> as the included word filter. See the CONTROLS section for information about how this affects pattern matching. -a <string> instructs TEA to use <string> as the alternate word filter. See the CONTROLS section for information about how this affects pattern matching. -p instructs TEA to set the playfair filter to ON (the default is OFF). See the CONTROLS section for information about how this affects pattern matching. -s <length> instructs TEA to set the shortest word length matched to <length>. See the CONTROLS section for information about how this affects pattern matching. -l <length> instructs TEA to set the longest word length matched to <length>. See the CONTROLS section for information about how this affects pattern matching. -c instructs TEA to use command line mode rather than interactive mode. <pattern> instructs TEA to print words matching <pattern>, which must be the last thing specified on the command line. See the PATTERNS section for a description of the types of pattern that can be used. The TEA output can be redirected to a file using standard MS-DOS output redirection. For example: tea -c .... > four.txt will write all the four letter words in the database into a file called FOUR.TXT, and: tea -c .a.e. > prn will output all the words matching the template -A-E- to the printer. 4. PATTERNS -------- This section shows how to enter patterns that match the words you need, using examples of increasing complexity. The sample output given is based on the Webster's 2nd Edition word list. Simple templates: The simplest form of pattern is just a template with letters at the positions that must be matched and match-all characters at other positions. In the examples given in this section, '.' is used as the match-all character. In fact, TEA accepts any printable character that isn't otherwise used in the pattern syntax as a match-all character. tea -c .... lists all the four letter words, and tea -c m.nt.a lists all the words matching the template M-NT-A: mantra mantua Mentha Montia Templates with choice lists: If the character at a position in a word is known to be one of a set of letters, then this situation can be represented using a choice list. A choice list is entered by giving the list of possible letters between square brackets '[' and ']'. The complete choice list matches just one letter in the word. tea -c [abcd]ean lists the four letter words starting with either A, B, C or D and ending EAN: bean dean tea -c we[air]..er lists the 7 letter words starting with either WEA, WEI or WER and ending --ER: weanyer wearier weather weigher Werther Templates with wildcards: Gaps in the template that can be of variable length are indicated by the '*' wildcard. The '*' wildcard matches zero or more letters in the word. The use of wildcards implies that different lengths of words may be found. tea -c bluest* lists words of any length starting with BLUEST: bluestem bluestone blue-starry bluestoner blue-stained blue-stemmed blue-striped bluestocking blue star grass bluestockingish bluestockingism tea -c *robin* lists words of any length including ROBIN anywhere: Robin robin robing eurobin robinet Robinia robinin sea robin antirobin bush robin cock robin robin chat Robin hood wake-robin wood robin algarrobin beach robin marsh robin robinoside robin snipe round robin scare-robin scrub robin swamp robin chrysarobin ground robin robin dipper robin runaway robin accentor robin redbreast robin sandpiper tea -c *.boule.* lists words of any length including BOULE anywhere except the start and end of the word: upboulevard probouleutic proboulevard symbouleutic Simple anagrams: The place where the anagram part of a pattern begins is marked using a semicolon ';'. After the ';' character, the elements of the pattern can be matched in any order. tea -c ;easting lists all the anagrams of EASTING: easting gainset Genista genista ingesta seating signate teasing Anagrams can also include match-all characters. Like the anagram letters, they can be matched at any position in the word. tea -c ;string. lists all the words including the letters in STRING plus one arbitrary letter: gastrin G string resting staring stinger stringy Anagrams with choice lists: Choice lists can also be used in anagram patterns, when one of the constituent letters in the anagram isn't known exactly. tea -c ;br[au]sh lists the anagrams of BRUSH and BRASH: brash brush shrab shrub Anagrams with wildcards: Wildcards can also be used in anagram patterns, when the word being sought is known to contain a particular set of letters, but its exact length isn't known. tea -c ;abcdefg* lists the words of any length including all the letters A-G: back-fanged bright-faced black-figured cartridge buff deflecting bar bleaching field boarding officer comb-fringed grass double-refracting proficiency badge Black-faced highland vertical lift bridge green-backed goldfinch Combined templates and anagrams: A template and anagram can be used together. A ';' marks the boundary between the template part of the pattern and the anagram part of the pattern. tea -c ..a....;easting lists the anagrams of EASTING that also match the template --A----: seating teasing The number of letter positions specified in the template and anagram do not have to agree. When the anagram has more letters than the template, only the number of letters required for the template need to be matched from the anagram part. tea -c ....;beard lists all the words that can be made up from 4 out of the 5 letters of BEARD: abed ared bade bard Bare bare bead bear brad brae bred daer dare dear drab read If the template includes a wildcard, then the range of word lengths from the smallest length implied by the template to the length implied by the anagram is treated as above. tea -c .........*;sportscaster lists all the words of 9 letters or more that can be made up of the letters in SPORTSCASTER: attercrop cross seat cross-star pastoress prostrate Sarcoptes spectator tapstress cross strap When the anagram has fewer letters than the template, the anagram is automatically padded with match-all characters to the length of the template. tea -c .......w;krs tea -c .......w;krs* tea -c .......w;krs..... are all equivalent and list the 8 letter words ending W and including the letters K, R and S anywhere along their length: rickshaw stark-new Sub-patterns: Sub-patterns can also be used as a match element within the template or anagram part of a pattern. Sub-patterns are surrounded with round brackets '(' and ')'. If a sub-pattern is specified as part of the template, the sub-pattern is matched at the exact position within the template. The usual reason for doing this is to include an anagram specification within a template. tea -c .(;reed). lists the 6 letter words that have an anagram of REED as the middle 4 letters: breedy greedy Hedera herder teredo verdea verdet If the sub-pattern is specified as part of the anagram, then the sub-pattern can AS A UNIT be matched anywhere in a word. This is useful when a word is known to contain a particular sequence of letters, but where the exact position isn't known: tea -c .a.........er;(and) lists the 13 letter words that match the template -A---------ER and include the letters AND together, at any position in the word: candlelighter candle snuffer garland flower landing waiter Pan-afrikander salt-and-pepper wall germander The above examples just scrape the surface of the sorts of patterns it is possible to specify. All the components of a pattern: letters match-all characters choice lists wild cards sub-patterns can be used as often as necessary in the template and/or anagram parts of a pattern. Sub-patterns can include other sub-patterns to the depth required. 5. CONTROLS -------- This section describes the controls that affect the matching process in addition to the pattern. In interactive mode, the control settings are displayed above the pattern. They keep their value until they are changed by pressing ALT-letter, where letter is the highlighted letter in the control name. In command line mode, the control settings are specified using options on the command line. Shortest word These controls determine the shortest and Longest word longest words that will be considered for matching. In interactive mode, use ALT-S and ALT-L to change the values. In command line mode, using -s <length> and -l <length> on the command line to set the values. Included word This control is a filter that is applied after normal pattern matching. If an included word string is specified, only words included in the string either forwards or backwards will be output. In interactive mode, use ALT-I to change the included word string. In command line mode, use -i <string> to set the included word string. This control is mostly used with a pattern of *, for example: tea -c -i gutter -s 3 * will list all the words of three or more letters that are contained in GUTTER, either forwards or reversed. Alternate word This control is a filter that is applied after normal pattern matching. If an alternate word string is specified, only words that include the letters in the string specified as alternate letters will be output. In interactive mode, use ALT-A to change the alternate word string. In command line mode, use -a <string> to set the alternate word string. This control is mostly used with a pattern of *, for example: tea -c -a isle * will list all the words that contain the letters I S L E as alternate letters. It is equivalent to specifying: tea -c -l 8 *i.s.l.e* Playfair This control is a filter that is applied after normal pattern matching. If the playfair filter is ON, only words that are usable as a playfair key word are output. (Playfair codes are employed fairly frequently in British thematic cryptic puzzles. Only words that have no repeating letters and don't include a 'j' are allowable playfair codewords.) In interactive mode, use ALT-P to toggle the state of the playfair filter between OFF and ON. In command line mode, specify -p to set the playfair filter to ON. The default is OFF. This control is mostly used with a pattern of *, for example: tea -c -p -s 12 * lists all the words of 12 letters and over that could be used as a Playfair codeword. Appendix A. MESSAGES -------- This section lists the error messages that TEA can produce and describes how to correct them: Couldn't find the data files TEA prints this error message if it can't find any dictionary database files to use. If you specified -d on the command line, you may have entered the wrong path for <database>. Remember to specify the file prefix, leaving off the numbered file suffixes, for example: -d D:\DICT\MYDICT If you didn't specify -d on the command line, then you may need to if the database files are in a different directory to TEA.EXE or called something different to WORDS.nn. ERROR: option -X requires an argument Add a parameter value following -d, -i, -a, -s or -l (for example a <length> or a <string>). ERROR: option -X unrecognised An option has been entered which TEA does not understand. Study the usage information to find out what went wrong. Edit the pattern, then press Return (Press F1 for more help) This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA is ready for you to edit the pattern. Type in characters to edit the pattern, then press Return to start matching. Error during printing This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA fails to print the output buffer completely. The problem is usually that the printer is not plugged into the computer, not switched on, not on-line or that it has run out of paper. Error occurred during file output This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA fails to write the output to a file completely. The problem is usually that the disk you are using is full. Filename (leave blank to print): This message is displayed in interactive mode when you press ALT-W. At this point you should press Return to print the output buffer, or enter a file name to dump the output buffer to a file. Output file could not be opened This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA failed to create the output file specified after ALT-W has been pressed. The problem is usually that a drive or directory specified does not exist, or that the file name contains invalid characters. Output to file completed successfully This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA has written the complete output buffer without encountering any problems. PAUSED: Press SPACE to resume This message is displayed in interactive mode when a key is pressed while TEA is matching a pattern. At this point you can scroll through or write the output that has already appeared. You can press the space bar to resume the matching process. Any other key aborts the matching process, and you resume editing the pattern. Pattern Syntax Error: choice list not terminated by ] This message is displayed when the pattern includes a choice list [ character that doesn't have a corresponding ] character. Choice list brackets must be specified in matching pairs. Pattern Syntax Error: choice list terminator without matching [ This message is displayed when the pattern includes a ] without a preceding [ to match it. Choice list brackets must be specified in matching pairs. Pattern Syntax Error: invalid characters in [] choice list This message is displayed when non-alphabetic characters are specified inside choice list brackets. It is only meaningful to include alphabetic characters inside a choice list. Pattern Syntax Error: more than one ; in pattern This message is displayed when a pattern or sub-pattern contains more than one ';' character. Since this character separates the left (template) and right (anagram) parts of a pattern, it is incorrect to have more than one in a pattern. Pattern Syntax Error: subpattern not terminated by ) This message is displayed when the pattern includes a sub-pattern ( character that doesn't have a corresponding ) character. Sub-pattern brackets must be specified in matching pairs. Pattern Syntax Error: subpattern terminator without matching ( This message is displayed when the pattern includes a ) without a preceding ( to match it. Sub-pattern brackets must be specified in matching pairs. Pattern Syntax Error: too many characters in template This message is displayed in command line mode when a template is 80 characters or more long. The program cannot match words of that length. Printing completed successfully This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA has printed the complete output buffer without encountering any problems. SEARCHING: Press any key to pause This message is displayed in interactive mode when TEA is in the middle of matching a pattern. Pressing any key at this point will pause the match, allowing you to browse the output or resume editing the pattern. Appendix B. VIDEO MODES ----------- TEA supports the following video modes in interactive mode: Mode 2 Black and white, 80 columns Mode 3 Colour, 80 columns Mode 7 Monochrome, 80 columns Mode 64 EGA 43 line, or VGA 50 line If you want to use a particular mode, set it up before starting the program. Appendix C. RESOURCE FILE ------------- TEA decides what colours to use for various parts of the display from the resource file named TEA.RSC in the directory containing TEA.EXE. The default resource file provided with the package is configured for colour screens. A resource file suitable for monochrome screens is provided in MONO.RSC. A copy of the default colour resource file is provided in COLOUR.RSC. To change to the monochrome resource file, type: copy mono.rsc tea.rsc To change the colours used on a colour display, edit the TEA.RSC file using the information about the format given below. The resource file includes a list of names that describe a part of the screen, together with a number defining the colour that will be displayed there. The following table shows the names of the resources and the range of values allowable for the resource: DefaultWindowForeground 0-7 DefaultWindowBackground 0-15 EditWindowForeground 0-15 EditWindowBackground 0-15 StatusWindowForeground 0-15 StatusWindowBackground 0-15 OutputWindowForeground 0-15 OutputWindowBackground 0-15 HelpWindowForeground 0-7 HelpWindowBackground 0-15 The significance of the numbers for the foreground colour resources is as follows: 0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan 4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Grey 8 Dark Grey 9 Light Blue 10 Light Green 11 Light Cyan 12 Light Red 13 Light Magenta 14 Yellow 15 White The significance of the numbers for the background colour resources is as follows: 0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan 4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Grey 8 Black ) 9 Blue ) 10 Green ) 11 Cyan ) with foreground blinking 12 Red ) 13 Magenta ) 14 Brown ) 15 Light Grey ) Appendix D. RELEASE HISTORY --------------- TEA100: Version 1.00 - 12th April 1992 This is the first full release of TEA for the MS-DOS platform. It will be distributed worldwide via SIMTEL and directly to UK bulletin boards. Appendix E. LICENSING INFORMATION --------------------- Copyright (c) J Ross Beresford 1992. All Rights Reserved. Commercial distribution and/or use is prohibited without prior written permission. Non-Commercial distribution and/or use is permitted under the following terms: You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the TEA executable code and documentation as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy a valid copyright notice "Copyright (c) J Ross Beresford 1992", and keep intact the notices on all files that refer to these Licensing Terms and to the absence of any warranty. You may charge a distribution fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, but no more than is necessary to recover your actual costs incurred in the transfer. NO WARRANTY. Because TEA is licensed free of charge, there is absolutely no warranty. Except when otherwise stated in writing, TEA is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of TEA, and the accuracy of its associated documentation, is with you.