word-search
Word search puzzle generator.
Installation
With NodeJS:
npm install -S @blex41/word-search
... and then:
const WordSearch = require("@blex41/word-search");
In a browser:
<script src="https://unpkg.com/@blex41/word-search@latest/dist/wordsearch.min.js"></script>
<script>
/* WordSearch is available here */
</script>
Usage
// If an option is missing, it will be given a default value
const options = {
cols: 6,
rows: 6,
disabledDirections: ["N", "W", "NW", "SW"],
dictionary: ["Hello", "crêpe", "Škoda", "word", "search"],
maxWords: 20,
backwardsProbability: 0.3,
upperCase: true,
diacritics: true
};
// Create a new puzzle
const ws = new WordSearch(options);
// Use its methods
console.log(ws.toString());
// S Š M Y W X
// E C K M O G
// A R Z O R A
// R Ê N F D I
// C P I Y Q A
// H E L L O I
Options
Here are the options you can pass when creating a new puzzle:
| name | type | default | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| cols | Integer | 10 | Number of columns |
| rows | Integer | 10 | Number of rows |
| disabledDirections | Array.String | [] | Directions to disable (any of "N", "S", "E", "W", "NE", "NW", "SE" or "SW") |
| dictionary | Array.String | [] | Words to insert in the grid (some of them may not be inserted if they're too long, cannot be placed, or if maxWords is exceeded) |
| maxWords | Integer | 20 | Maximum number of words to insert |
| backwardsProbability | Float | 0.3 | Probability to have each word written backwards (it's a probability, not a strict percentage) |
| upperCase | Boolean | true | Whether the letters in the grid should be uppercase |
| diacritics | Boolean | false | Whether the letters in the grid should keep their diacritics (accents) |
| forbiddenWords | Array.String | [] | Words which should not appear accidentally in the final grid, in any direction (e.g. profanity). Will try rebuilding it for maxRetries |
| maxRetries | Integer | 10 | Used only for the forbiddenWords option - how many attempts should be made to rebuild the grid when finding forbidden words in it |
Properties and methods
Once you have created your instance, you can access these Read-Only properties:
ws.grid
Returns the puzzle's grid
[
["S", "Š", "M", "Y", "W", "X"],
["E", "C", "K", "M", "O", "G"],
["A", "R", "Z", "O", "R", "A"],
["R", "Ê", "N", "F", "D", "I"],
["C", "P", "I", "Y", "Q", "A"],
["H", "E", "L", "L", "O", "I"]
]
ws.words
Returns the words that were successfully inserted in the grid:
[
{
word: "word",
clean: "WORD",
path: [
{ x: 4, y: 0 }, // W
{ x: 4, y: 1 }, // O
{ x: 4, y: 2 }, // R
{ x: 4, y: 3 } // D
]
},
{
word: "crêpe",
clean: "CRÊPE",
path: [
{ x: 1, y: 1 }, // C
{ x: 1, y: 2 }, // R
{ x: 1, y: 3 }, // Ê
{ x: 1, y: 4 }, // P
{ x: 1, y: 5 } // E
]
}
/* ... */
];
ws.forbiddenWordsIncluded
Returns an Array of forbidden words which were inserted into the grid because no other solution was found after maxRetries:
["CRAP"]
You can also use these methods:
ws.dump()
Returns an Object representing the state of the puzzle. This can be useful if you want to save a game and reuse it later using ws.load(backup).
ws.load(backup)
Loads a game from an Object of a previous dump.
const ws1 = new WordSearch(/* ... */);
const backup = ws1.dump();
const ws2 = new WordSearch().load(backup);
// ws2 is now a copy of ws1
ws.toString()
Returns a String representing the grid of the puzzle. This can be useful if you want to print it to the console.
S Š M Y W X
E C K M O G
A R Z O R A
R Ê N F D I
C P I Y Q A
H E L L O I
ws.read(start, end)
Reads the letters from start to end positions and returns the String it forms. This can be useful to check what letters a user highlighted.
ws.read({ x: 1, y: 0 }, { x: 5, y: 4 }); // "ŠKODA"