selgart
Apr 2, 2006, 02:49 PM
I would like to see a couple more pencil marks options. Currently, with auto-fill you have only all or nothing. The problem with All is that it makes the puzzle almost too easy. It fills in rather many squares with the only possible entry. Once I start putting those numbers in, other squares get reduced to -their- only possible answer, so I can fill those in. Once that's done, more are reduced to only one answer. This can go on until the puzzle is completed and I've hardly done any work at all. (Some may like this, of course <g>.)
I would vastly prefer being able to select a cell and then click an auto-fill button and have -only that cell- have pencil marks filled in. I see this as less of a hint or cheat, but rather as a labor-saving device (or maybe a headache saving device). With a feature like this I can concentrate on the logic of the puzzle, rather than trying to figure out which numbers are available and which are not several hundred times per puzzle. It's a computer, it knows what numbers are not filled in, so why should I do this myself all the time? Gruntwork is what computers are for, after all.
This could be done with only one button. I would like to select a square, then click the button to fill in the possible pencil marks. Click the button again and the pencil marks would be erased. Very simple. If I decide to enter a number choice in a square that's in the pencil mark's row or column, that pencil mark could disappear, leaving only that ones that are still possible. It's powerful, it's interactive and it's already in the program in a sense. I don't want the entire puzzle filled in with interactive pencil marks, only my selected cell. The pencil marks should stay on and interactive as long as I don't clear them from that cell.
The whole reason for the pencil marks then would be to make my life easier so I wouldn't have to keep calculating what numbers are available. I don't want the puzzle solved for me, I only want the computer to make my life a little easier.
If someone went to the auto-fill command, that would overwrite the single cells, but there should also be a way to clear the pencil marks from the whole puzzle, which would let you start again with either pencil marks in individual cells or the whole puzzle.
Thanks,
Seth
I would vastly prefer being able to select a cell and then click an auto-fill button and have -only that cell- have pencil marks filled in. I see this as less of a hint or cheat, but rather as a labor-saving device (or maybe a headache saving device). With a feature like this I can concentrate on the logic of the puzzle, rather than trying to figure out which numbers are available and which are not several hundred times per puzzle. It's a computer, it knows what numbers are not filled in, so why should I do this myself all the time? Gruntwork is what computers are for, after all.
This could be done with only one button. I would like to select a square, then click the button to fill in the possible pencil marks. Click the button again and the pencil marks would be erased. Very simple. If I decide to enter a number choice in a square that's in the pencil mark's row or column, that pencil mark could disappear, leaving only that ones that are still possible. It's powerful, it's interactive and it's already in the program in a sense. I don't want the entire puzzle filled in with interactive pencil marks, only my selected cell. The pencil marks should stay on and interactive as long as I don't clear them from that cell.
The whole reason for the pencil marks then would be to make my life easier so I wouldn't have to keep calculating what numbers are available. I don't want the puzzle solved for me, I only want the computer to make my life a little easier.
If someone went to the auto-fill command, that would overwrite the single cells, but there should also be a way to clear the pencil marks from the whole puzzle, which would let you start again with either pencil marks in individual cells or the whole puzzle.
Thanks,
Seth