xpanex - Panex X widget

/usr/games/xpanex [-geometry [{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display [{host}]:[{vs}]] [-[no]mono] [-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg} {color}] [-{background|bg} {color}] [-{border|bd} {color}] [-tile {color}] [-pyramid{0|1} {color}] [-tiles {int}] [-{mode {int}|hanoi|panex}] [-delay msecs] [-[no]sound] [-moveSound {filename}] [-{font|fn} {fontname}] [-userName {string}] [-scoreFile {filename}] [-scores] [-version]

The original Panex puzzle is from the Japanese Magic Company from the 1980's. Mathematicians at Bell Laboratories estimated the number of moves to swap 2 columns of order 10 to be 27,564 <= N <= 31,537. It came in two varieties: one with a magenta and a yellow pyramid of order 10 on silver tiles; in the gold version, pieces of each color look alike (i.e. no pyramid is drawn on them), this is a little harder.

The original Tower of Hanoi puzzle is the invention of Edouard Lucas and temple of Benares of the god Brahma is also his invention.

Press "mouse-left" button to move a tile in the top tile of a column. Release "mouse-left" button on another column to move the tile to that column. It will not move if blocked.

Click "mouse-right" button, or press "C", "c", "R", or "r" keys, to clear/reset the puzzle.

Press "M" or "m" keys to toggle between hanoi (one pyramid column) and panex (two pyramid columns) modes (they each have different rules). In Hanoi, one can not place larger trapezoid on a smaller trapezoid. Here the goal is to move the pile from the left peg to the rightmost peg. In Panex, a tile can not go lower that its initial starting point. Here the goal is to exchange the 2 piles.

Press "I" or "i" keys to increase the number of tiles.

Press "D" or "d" keys to decrease the number of tiles.

Press "S" or "s" keys to auto-solve. Unfortunately, its only implemented from the starting position.

Press "U" or "u" keys to undo a move.

Press "G" or "g" keys to get a saved puzzle.

Press "W" or "w" keys to save a puzzle.

Press ">" or "." keys to speed up the movement of tiles.

Press "<" or "," keys to slow down the movement of tiles.

Press "@" key to toggle the sound.

Press "Esc" key to hide program.

Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.

Unlike other puzzles in the collection there is no way to move pieces without drag and drop.

The title is in the following format (non-motif version): x{hanoi | panex}: <Number of rows> @ (<Number of moves>/{<Record number of moves> <user name>|"NEVER noaccess"}) - <Comment> If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays "NEVER noaccess".

-geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y

This option sets the initial position of the panex window (resource name "geometry").

-display host:dpy

This option specifies the X server to contact.

-[no]mono

This option allows you to display on a color screen as if monochrome (resource name "mono").

-[no]{reverse|rv}

This option allows you to see the panex window in reverse video (resource name "reverse").

-{foreground|fg} color

This option specifies the foreground of the panex window (resource name "foreground").

-{background|bg} color

This option specifies the background of the panex window (resource name "background").

-{border|bd} color

This option specifies the border color of the tiles in the panex window (resource name "borderColor").

-tile color

This option specifies the tile color of the tiles in the panex window (resource name "tileColor").

-pyramid0 color

This option specifies the foreground of the first pyramid (resource name "pyramidColor0").

-pyramid1 color

This option specifies the foreground of the second pyramid, if it exists (resource name "pyramidColor1").

-tiles int

This option specifies the number of tiles in a column (resource name "tiles").

-mode int

This option specifies the hanoi (0) or panex (1) mode (resource name "mode").

-hanoi

This option specifies the hanoi mode (resource name "mode").

-panex

This option specifies the panex mode (resource name "mode").

-delay msecs

This option specifies the number of milliseconds it takes to move a tile or a group of tiles one space (resource name "delay").

-[no]sound

This option specifies if a sliding tile should make a sound or not (resource name "sound").

-moveSound filename

This option specifies the file for the move sound (resource name "moveSound").

-{font|fn} ontname

This option specifies the font that will be used (resource name "font").

-userName string

This option specifies the user name for any records made or else it will get your login name (resource name "userName").

-scoreFile filename

Specify an alternative score file (resource name "scoreFile").

-scores

This option lists all the recorded scores and then exits.

-version

This option tells you what version of xpanex you have.

You must clear the puzzle before a record is set, otherwise an assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after a get or an auto-solve.

The format is not standard. The reason for this is that this is simple and I do not know what the standard is. mode: 0-1 <0 hanoi, 1 panex>

tiles: 1-10 <number of tiles in a column>

moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves> startingPosition: <array pairs of column and position of each tile> This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1. move #: <from_column> <to_column> from_column is the top tile of the column

to_column is where that tile is moved to.

Mark Manasse & Danny Sleator of AT&T Bell Laboratories and Victor K. Wei of Bell Communications Research, Some Results on the Panex Puzzle, Murray Hill, NJ, 1985 20 pp. (unpublished). Vladimir Dubrovsky, Nesting Puzzles Part 1: Moving oriental Quantum January/February 1996 pp 55-57, 50-51. L. E. Horden, Sliding Piece Puzzles (Recreations in Mathematics Series), Oxford University Press 1986, pp 144, 145. Jerry Slocum & Jack Botermans, Puzzles Old & New (How to Make and Solve Them), University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1987, p 135.

X(1), xrubik(6), xskewb(6), xdino(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xmball(6), xmlink(6), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xabacus(6)

® Copyright 1996-2005, David Albert Bagley

Main algorithm taken from AT&T paper above. Thanks to Nick Baxter <nickb@baxterweb.com> for debugging level n > 4 and vTrick. Though most code by Rene Jansen <rene.j.jansen@bigfoot.com> is now removed much inspiration was gained by his efforts implementing an algorithm from Quantum January/February 1996 by Vladimir Dubrovsky.

Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author: David Albert Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org> The latest version is currently at: ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/tux/bagleyd/xpuzzles

ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy