Playing Sudoku

The basic rules of Sudoku are easy to explain:

Fill the 9x9 grid with the digits 1 to 9 with respect to the following rule:

Each digit must occur exactly once in each

More detailed descriptions may be found e.g. at Wikipedia.

Short introduction on How to play with SUDOKUMAT 5.7

If you have problems or suggestions, let us know:

david.gunkel@gmx.de
m.wegerhoff@gmx.de

Feedback builds the base for further development!

The latest version of SUDOKUMAT is always available at:

http://www.davidgunkel.de

SUDOKUMAT generated puzzles are always unique. Up to level Hard the solution can be found by logic - you don't have to try!

The level Evil is defined by the aspect, that you have to make a decision at least once. For those puzzles SUDOKUMAT shows the minimum number of necessary decisions in the status bar. So beware!

Playing Standard...

  1. Create a new puzzle.
    Press the New-Buttons, use the menu File -> New or use the accelertor-key Ctrl. N.
    This also starts the timer...
  2. Select a cell
    where you want to set a value.
    You can do this by either moving the mouse (no click needed!) or use the arrow-keys. The actual position is indicated by the background selected color.
  3. Set a value.
    You can simply type a digit or use the mouse-right-click-popup-menu and select a digit or space from there.
  4. Set candidate.
    Candidates are set the same way as values, with additionally held Ctrl-key. If you want to enter more than one candidate at a time, you can toggle the mode from value to candidate (or back) by typing a "c", clicking the candidate-button or via menu Mode -> Enter Candidates. By entering its digit a candidate changes state: from unset to set, from set to excluded, or from excluded to unset.
  5. Check solution
    When you have filled the last empty cell, SUDOKUMAT will check your solution and tell you whether it is correct or not.

...Beyond...

Create PDF-Files

One of the nice capabilites of SUDOKUKMAT is PDF-generation using the iText-library, version 2.0.4.

You want to do some paperwork? No problem - just generate lots of puzzles into a PDF-file and print it.

 


 

The Toolbar

The Toolbar provides buttons for the most important functions to improve the usability of Sudokumat.

ButtonDescription
NewCreate a new puzzle with the currently selected level.
PDFCreate a PDF-file with many puzzles and - optional - solutions. The number of puzzles and their level are adjustable.
UndoUndo the last change-activity
RedoRedo the next change-activity
Copy PuzzleCopies the puzzle (the fat values only, i.e. the problem) in a human readable format to the system clipboard. Example:
 ....2......3..41..9.8....37.17.3.4.......9....2.6.78...7...8...5......2....1...8.
Paste PuzzleInsert the content of the clipboard into Sudokumat. A currently active puzzle is overridden if you confirm this action.
Give HintShow an appropriate cell for determining the next digit.
Solve StepSet one value by logic.
Enter ValuesActivates the input mode for values.
Enter CandidatesActivates the input mode for candidates.
Show CandidatesShow all possible candidates for each empty cell.
Clear CandidatesClear all candidates.
Clear markResets all marks.
Mark positionsMarks all permitted positions for the chosen digit.

 


 

The Menu

The File Menu

ItemDescription
NewCreate a new puzzle with the currently selected level.
ClearCreate an empty puzzle. This is a good starting point to rip puzzles.
Save as TextSave the current puzzle to a textfile.
Load from Text Load a puzzle from a textfile, that was previously created by the "Save as Text" action.
Save as PDFCreate a PDF-file from the current puzzle.
Create Sudoku BookCreate a PDF-file with many puzzles and - optional - solutions. The number of puzzles and their level are adjustable.
QuitQuit SUDOKUMAT.

 

The Edit Menu

ItemDescription
UndoUndo the last change-activity
RedoRedo the next change-activity
Give HintShow an appropriate cell for determining the next digit.
Solve StepSet one value by logic.
Solve PuzzleSolve the current puzzle.
Fix PuzzleMake all set values part the the problem. This is the way to rip puzzles!
Reset PuzzleReset to the original puzzle.

 

The Options Menu

This menu lets you set the input mode, some display options and the level of the Sudokus to be generated. A level is defined by the range of preset values, the number of simple possibilties on the way to the solution and the number of trial-digits (only in level Evil).

Itemdescription
Level
RandomGenerate a puzzle with 0 - 44 values set.
Ultra-EasyGenerate a puzzle with 34 - 44 values set.
EasyGenerate a puzzle with 27 - 34 values set.
MediumGenerate a puzzle with 24 - 27 values set.
HardGenerate a puzzle with 0 - 24 values set.
EvilGenerate a puzzle with 0 - 24 values set with at least one decision needed.
Enter CandidatesSwitch between input mode for values and candidates.
Validate PuzzleIf enabled, SUDOKUMAT will check every value that you set against the rules. Attention: The result of the check depends on the current state of the puzzle, not the solution!
Show TrackerIf set, highlights the current row, collumn and area.
Show CandidatesShow all possible values for each empty cell.
Clear CandidatesClear all candidates.
ColorsSet the color of the grid-background, selected grid-background and foreground via submenus and a Colorchooser-dialog.
Reset SizeResize SUDOKUMAT to its start size.
Select LanguageChoose the language to display menus, messages and help. Currently German and English are supported.
Save OptionsSaves the current settings in the file Sudokumat.cfg in that directory, where Sudokumat is located (installed).

 

The Help Menu

ItemDescription
HelpShow this help in an extra frame.
AboutShow the about message. Click somewhere into the panel to close.