The MaskFactory command-line app


Introduction

MaskFactory cycles through all possible masks for a grid of a given size. Masks will be ignored if they are simply rotated or reflected forms of earlier masks in the sequence.

Syntax

MaskFactory [-c cellsInRow] [-r|-a boxes across] [-v] -i|filledCells

The option [-c cellsInRow] stipualtes the number of cells to appear in a single row or column of the grid. The default value is 9.

MaskFactory will cycle through all possible masks - however, the user has some control over where in the cycle the app will start. By default, the app will start at the beginning. When the -r option is specified, the app will start the cycle at a random position. When the -a boxes across, the cycle will start at a position such that the filled cells are uniformly distributed across the grid of the given size.

The option [-v] enables verbose output.

The option [-i] stipulates that the initial mask will be read from standard input. The mask should be entered in the format that MaskFactory displays if the -v option has been specified.

filledCells stipulates the number of filled cells to appear on the masks.


Examples

MaskFactory -c 4 -v 4 displays all masks for a 2x2 Su Doku grid with 4 initially-filled cells.

MaskFactory 10 counts the number of distinct masks for the classis Su Doku grid with 10 initially-filled cells.