text: The program given below takes a list of words and attempts to fit them into a grid with given dimensions to make a word search puzzle.
  For example, using the file
  planets.txt:
  python make_wordsearch.py planets.txt 7 7
  produces the (cramped) grid puzzle:
  Various mask effects are implemented; using the list
  states.txt:
  python make_wordsearch.py states.txt 11 11 circle
  outputs:
  Large puzzles, such as this one containing all the element names, are possible (click for a larger, printable image):
  The code:
  # make_wordsearch.py import os import sys import random from copy import deepcopy # Maximum number of rows and columns. NMAX = 32 alphabet = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ' def circle_mask(grid): """A circular mask to shape the grid.""" r2 = min(ncols, nrows)**2 // 4 cx, cy = ncols//2, nrows // 2 for irow in range(nrows): for icol in range(ncols): if (irow - cy)**2 + (icol - cx)**2 > r2: grid[irow][icol] = '*' def squares_mask(grid): """A mask of overlapping squares to shape the grid.""" a = int(0.38 * min(ncols, nrows)) cy = nrows // 2 cx = ncols // 2 for irow in range(nrows): for icol in range(ncols): if a <= icol < ncols-a: if irow < cy-a or irow > cy+a: grid[irow][icol] = '*' if a <= irow < nrows-a: if icol < cx-a or icol > cx+a: grid[irow][icol] = '*' def no_mask(grid): """The default, no mask.""" pass # A dictionary of masking functions, keyed by their name. apply_mask = { None: no_mask, 'circle': circle_mask, 'squares': squares_mask, } def make_grid(mask=None): """Make the grid and apply a mask (locations a letter cannot be placed).""" grid = [[' ']*ncols for _ in range(nrows)] apply_mask[mask](grid) return grid def _make_wordsearch(nrows, ncols, wordlist, allow_backwards_words=True, mask=None): """Attempt to make a word search with the given parameters.""" grid = make_grid(mask) def fill_grid_randomly(grid): """Fill up the empty, unmasked positions with random letters.""" for irow in range(nrows): for icol in range(ncols): if grid[irow][icol] == ' ': grid[irow][icol] = random.choice(alphabet) def remove_mask(grid): """Remove the mask, for text output, by replacing with whitespace.""" for irow in range(nrows): for icol in range(ncols): if grid[irow][icol] == '*': grid[irow][icol] = ' ' def test_candidate(irow, icol, dx, dy, word): """Test the candidate location (icol, irow) for word in orientation dx, dy).""" for j in range(len(word)): if grid[irow][icol] not in (' ', word[j]): return False irow += dy icol += dx return True def place_word(word): """Place word randomly in the grid and return True, if possible.""" # Left, down, and the diagonals. dxdy_choices = [(0,1), (1,0), (1,1), (1,-1)] random.shuffle(dxdy_choices) for (dx, dy) in dxdy_choices: if allow_backwards_words and random.choice([True, False]): # If backwards words are allowed, simply reverse word. word = word[::-1] # Work out the minimum and maximum column and row indexes, given # the word length. n = len(word) colmin = 0 colmax = ncols - n if dx else ncols - 1 rowmin = 0 if dy >= 0 else n - 1 rowmax = nrows - n if dy >= 0 else nrows - 1 if colmax - colmin < 0 or rowmax - rowmin < 0: # No possible place for the word in this orientation. continue # Build a list of candidate locations for the word. candidates = [] for irow in range(rowmin, rowmax+1): for icol in range(colmin, colmax+1): if test_candidate(irow, icol, dx, dy, word): candidates.append((irow, icol)) # If we don't have any candidates, try the next orientation. if not candidates: continue # Pick a random candidate location and place the word in this # orientation. loc = irow, icol = random.choice(candidates) for j in range(n): grid[irow][icol] = word[j] irow += dy icol += dx # We're done: no need to try any more orientations. break else: # If we're here, it's because we tried all orientations but # couldn't find anywhere to place the word. Oh dear. return False print(word, loc, (dx, dy)) return True # Iterate over the word list and try to place each word (without spaces). for word in wordlist: word = word.replace(' ', '') if not place_word(word): # We failed to place word, so bail. return None, None # grid is a list of lists, so we need to deepcopy here for an independent # copy to keep as the solution (without random letters in unfilled spots). solution = deepcopy(grid) fill_grid_randomly(grid) remove_mask(grid) remove_mask(solution) return grid, solution def make_wordsearch(*args, **kwargs): """Make a word search, attempting to fit words into the specified grid.""" # We try NATTEMPTS times (with random orientations) before giving up. NATTEMPTS = 10 for i in range(NATTEMPTS): grid, solution = _make_wordsearch(*args, **kwargs) if grid: print('Fitted the words in {} attempt(s)'.format(i+1)) return grid, solution print('I failed to place all the words after {} attempts.' .format(NATTEMPTS)) return None, None def show_grid_text(grid): """Output a text version of the filled grid wordsearch.""" for irow in range(nrows): print(' '.join(grid[irow])) def show_wordlist_text(wordlist): """Output a text version of the list of the words to find.""" for word in wordlist: print(word) def show_wordsearch_text(grid, wordlist): """Output the wordsearch grid and list of words to find.""" show_grid_text(grid) print() show_wordlist_text(wordlist) def svg_preamble(fo, width, height): """Output the SVG preamble, with styles, to open file object fo.""" print("""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <svg xmlns="" xmlns: <defs> <style type="text/css"><![CDATA[ line, path {{ stroke: black; stroke-width: 4; stroke-linecap: square; }} path {{ fill: none; }} text {{ font: bold 24px Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; }} ]]> </style> </defs> """.format(width, height), file=fo) def grid_as_svg(grid, width, height): """Return the wordsearch grid as a sequence of SVG <text> elements.""" # A bit of padding at the top. YPAD = 20 # There is some (not much) wiggle room to squeeze in wider grids by # reducing the letter spacing. letter_width = min(32, width / ncols) grid_width = letter_width * ncols # The grid is centred; this is the padding either side of it. XPAD = (width - grid_width) / 2 letter_height = letter_width grid_height = letter_height * nrows s = [] # Output the grid, one letter at a time, keeping track of the y-coord. y = YPAD + letter_height / 2 for irow in range(nrows): x = XPAD + letter_width / 2 for icol in range(ncols): letter = grid[irow][icol] if letter != ' ': s.append('<text x="{}" y="{}" text-{}</text>' .format(x, y, letter)) x += letter_width y += letter_height # We return the last y-coord used, to decide where to put the word list. return y, '\n'.join(s) def wordlist_svg(wordlist, width, height, y0): """Return a list of the words to find as a sequence of <text> elements.""" # Use two columns of words to save (some) space. n = len(wordlist) col1, col2 = wordlist[:n//2], wordlist[n//2:] def word_at(x, y, word): """The SVG element for word centred at (x, y).""" return ( '<text x="{}" y="{}" text-' '{}</text>'.format(x, y, word) ) s = [] x = width * 0.25 # Build the list of <text> elements for each column of words. y0 += 25 for i, word in enumerate(col1): s.append(word_at(x, y0 + 25*i, word)) x = width * 0.75 for i, word in enumerate(col2): s.append(word_at(x, y0 + 25*i, word)) return '\n'.join(s) def write_wordsearch_svg(filename, grid, wordlist): """Save the wordsearch grid as an SVG file to filename.""" width, height = 1000, 1414 with open(filename, 'w') as fo: svg_preamble(fo, width, height) y0, svg_grid = grid_as_svg(grid, width, height) print(svg_grid, file=fo) # If there's room print the word list. if y0 + 25 * len(wordlist) // 2 < height: print(wordlist_svg(wordlist, width, height, y0), file=fo) print('</svg>', file=fo) def get_wordlist(wordlist_filename): """Read in the word list from wordlist_filename.""" wordlist = [] with open(wordlist_filename) as fi: for line in fi: # The word is upper-cased and comments and blank lines are ignored. line = line.strip().upper() if not line or line.startswith('#'): continue wordlist.append(line) return wordlist # Read the wordlist filename and grid dimensions (nrows, ncols) from the # command line. wordlist_filename = sys.argv[1] nrows, ncols = int(sys.argv[2]), int(sys.argv[3]) mask = None if len(sys.argv) > 4: mask = sys.argv[4] if nrows > NMAX or ncols > NMAX: sys.exit('Maximum number of rows and columns is {}'.format(NMAX)) wordlist = sorted(get_wordlist(wordlist_filename), key=lambda w: len(w), reverse=True) # Obviously, no word can be longer than the maximum dimension. max_word_len = max(nrows, ncols) if max(len(word) for word in wordlist) > max_word_len: raise ValueError('Word list contains a word with too many letters.' 'The maximum is {}'.format(max(nrows, ncols))) # This flag determines whether words can be fitted backwards into the grid # (which makes the puzzle a bit harder). allow_backwards_words = False # If using a mask, specify it by a key to the apply_mask dictionary. grid, solution = make_wordsearch(nrows, ncols, wordlist, allow_backwards_words, mask) # If we fitted the words to the grid, show it in text format and save SVG files # of the grid and its solution. if grid: show_wordsearch_text(grid, wordlist) filename = os.path.splitext(wordlist_filename)[0] + '.svg' write_wordsearch_svg(filename, grid, wordlist) filename = os.path.splitext(wordlist_filename)[0] + '-solution.svg' write_wordsearch_svg(filename, solution, [])
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  Person - please answer 4 months, 1 week ago
  in line 283, it say that the index is out of range.Link | Reply
  christian 4 months, 1 week ago
  You need to pass the text file containing the words you want to fit, along with the dimensions of the grid required, on the command line: e.g.Link | Reply
  $ python make_wordsearch.py planets.txt 10 10
  Noobie 4 months ago
  Im new and i want to test program but it says index out of range in lin 283. Im not really sure, i've read the comments and answers but in still not sure how to do it. Can u pls show me or put more clearer instructions?Link | Reply
  christian 4 months ago
  Can you explain how you are running the program? The instructions above assume you are on the command line. If you are using an IDE like MS Visual Studio there is presumably some other way of passing command line arguments. Can you give some more information about your environment?Link | Reply
  Puzzler 1 month, 3 weeks ago
  Hi Christian this is an really well documented and explained post. I had a few questions and sent them through the contact form. I'm not sure if you received them.Link | Reply
  Your blog is a great resource. I will be coming back to it multiple times!
  Min C 1 month, 1 week ago
  Hi! Thank you very much. The code worked well and I was able to create several word search puzzles.Link | Reply
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