New Puzzle Generator!

[Mike Audleman]

Can you make it a downloadable executable for those who don't always have access (or reliable access) to the web!

Remotely possible I guess. Thing is, I can update the data files with new shapes on the server or add new functions/modes (like the recent randomness) and you instantly have the newest version. With an executable, I would have to re-compile it each time and you would have to download it again to get any new features.

Its kinda the reason I wrote this to start with, easy and online. There are EXEs that generate puzzles (most require purchase). I really didn't like them. There is also a corel plugin I think that does puzzles. I also didn't like the idea of downloading executables from unknown sources, you know, viruses and adware and the like. Making it a simple web page eliminated ALL that. No downloads. No viruses. No adware. No need to write it for Apple AND Windows AND Linux.... you get the idea. Being a web page solved a lot of problems many people don't think about where software comes into play.

I tried to make it as light weight as possible so bandwidth limited individuals could easily use it but it still puts out good and usable SVGs we can use to cut with.

So I am not going to dash your hopes and say no I won't ever make it an executable. At least not completely no. But, I have to say that its not very likely anytime soon. And probably never for the apple platform(s), I don't have the development software to code for apple. Windows yea, apple no.

For the near future, expect it to remain as a web page.

[Gerd Spatz]

I also didn't like the idea of downloading executables from unknown sources, you know, viruses and adware and the like. Making it a simple web page eliminated ALL that. No downloads. No viruses. No adware. No need to write it for Apple AND Windows AND Linux.... you get the idea. Being a web page solved a lot of problems many people don't think about where software comes into play.

I agree 100%!
Thats my motivation to realize the boxdesigner (including a small puzzlegenerator ;-) ) as a webservice and not as a executable...

[Mike Audleman]

Sorry sir, I didn't know you had already done one online? Got a url to it? Shame it never came up in google searches when iw as looking for puzzle generators.

[Gerd Spatz]

Sorry sir, I didn't know you had already done one online? Got a url to it? Shame it never came up in google searches when iw as looking for puzzle generators.

No problem Mike!
URL: Last time i posted a URL to my own site i got a friendly message from the admin... so i respect the rules of SMC
Google search: "frag den spatz box designer" Your puzzlegenerator has a little bit more features, but mine is just a small subfeature of the boxdesigner. And mine is cheap but not completely free.

I think i should do more SEO work ;-)

Gerd

[Bert Kemp]

Could someone explain what the skew setting does and how it effects the puzzle thanks

[Mayo Pardo]

Bert, in looking at the preview of the generated puzzle, when skew is applied it looks like it puts an angle on the tabs of the pieces? I haven't cut a test yet to verify this.

[Mike Audleman]

Could someone explain what the skew setting does and how it effects the puzzle thanks

Bert, in looking at the preview of the generated puzzle, when skew is applied it looks like it puts an angle on the tabs of the pieces? I haven't cut a test yet to verify this.

That is correct. If you set it to use skew and select preview, you can refresh that popup preview page and you will see the tabs angle change with each reload since it will choose random skews each time. FYI, if you are previewing, and you end up with one you like, if you then use your browser's "SAVE AS" option, you can save the SVG

Here is how it works. It angles the tab/edge curve either left or right (random) a random angle. Picture a parallelogram. A no skew produces a rectangle, a low skew produces a mild parallelogram, and a high skew produces a very angled parallelogram. Now, if you draw a single edge tab inside that ractangle and apply a skew, you can see how the tab will be affected by the tilting of the top either left or right. The actual amount of skew is determined by the tab shape you select. Some tabs can skew more without causing touching tabs in the corners than others so I set a max limit on each shape. You then choose a 0% to 100% (in 10% steps to keep is simple) amount of skew as the max YOU want that is a percentage of the max I set for the tab shape. So if you set it to 50% and I had limited the tab to a max of 20 degrees of skew, it will randomly choose a number between -10(50% of 20) and +10(50% of 20) degrees to skew the tab. Each row and column gets a random pick so each one is likely unique so row 1 may be -8 and row two may be +4, col 1 may be +7 and col 2 might be +1, etc. Then when you look at any individual piece it has a possibility of 4 completely different skews applied to it, one per side since it participates in two rows (top and bottom) and two columns (left and right). Any adjacent piece will have only one of those 4 in common and it should have 3 others that differ.

I put this in as a randomization factor to make it so its unlikely that any piece could physically fit anywhere but its own place despite the picture on its front. This should prevent the puzzle from being assembled in such a fashion that the picture on the front is not correct.

As it notes on the page, this does not apply to individual pieces. I am in Florida on vacation right now. I didn't get a chance to deal with the skew factors on the code that generates individual pieces before I hit the road. I figured most of us were wanting the whole rows/columns cutting anyway since individual pieces are not really appropriate to laser cutting anyway (unless you want a single piece to cut).

So, hope that explains it a bit better. I know most of us like to know whats under the hood of things. Kinda the nature of what we do I guess. I am the same way so I don't have a problem with these questions

And after I get the code cleaned up and fully debugged. I can make the ASP files available to anyone who wants to take what I did and improve on it. Its in VB so it should be pretty simple to work with and I didn't use any custom DLLs. So long as you don't profit from it by selling the code itself (feel free to sell the puzzles you make with it, don't care about that).

Lastly, I only annonced it here at SMC. I don't care if yall post links elsewhere, its fine by me if you do or don't. Its not a secret. I just have received a great deal of help and information from the members here at SMC, I felt I should let yall have the lead crack at it first. I won't be charging anything for it, ever. I really don't benefit in any way whether yall use or tell others...or don't. Its a freebie. It will always be a freebie. Its for yall to use freely, no strings attached.

[Ray Scott]

I have a web site for my business. I believe that I get a lot of traffic for people reading the tutorials, FAQs, schematics and such. I would love to add your asp code to a web page within my site. It looks to be a nice feature... And would continue to be freely available.

thank You,

[Scott Shepherd]

I have a web site for my business. I believe that I get a lot of traffic for people reading the tutorials, FAQs, schematics and such. I would love to add your asp code to a web page within my site. It looks to be a nice feature... And would continue to be freely available.

thank You,

Why not just link to his page? Then it drives traffic to his site and it helps him, rather than you alone? Linking it makes sure both of you benefit from the traffic.

[Lee DeRaud]

And after I get the code cleaned up and fully debugged. I can make the ASP files available to anyone who wants to take what I did and improve on it. Its in VB so it should be pretty simple to work with and I didn't use any custom DLLs.

Hmmm...for some reason the phrase "convert to CorelDraw macro" just jumped into my head.

[Mark Ward]

Superb work that Mike.

Does anyone have a single jigsaw puzzle piece with 4 male connectors on it by any chance?

[Bruce Bob]

I tried the link from the #1 post. In the past it worked . Now i get this message....

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005'

Invalid connection string attribute

/permissions/globalASASQL.asa, line 26..........

Can anyone tell me what that means?

Are there other puzzle generator if this is not available any more?

[Mike Audleman]

Superb work that Mike.

Does anyone have a single jigsaw puzzle piece with 4 male connectors on it by any chance?

I set my puzzle generator to 3 pieces per row and random and individual pieces. Then refreshed until the center piece was 4 outward tabs (male).

1.svg.txt

Take the .txt off it to make it a svg. Then you should be able to open it up and get at the center piece.

I tried the link from the #1 post. In the past it worked . Now i get this message....

Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005'

Invalid connection string attribute

/permissions/globalASASQL.asa, line 26..........

Can anyone tell me what that means?

Are there other puzzle generator if this is not available any more?

My bad. Sorry. Let the transaction logs get full.

Should be all good now.

[Bruce Bob]

I set my puzzle generator to 3 pieces per row and random and individual pieces. Then refreshed until the center piece was 4 outward tabs (male).

1.svg.txt

Take the .txt off it to make it a svg. Then you should be able to open it up and get at the center piece.





My bad. Sorry. Let the transaction logs get full.

Should be all good now.

Works again.

Thank you

[Bruce Bob]

I set my puzzle generator to 3 pieces per row and random and individual pieces. Then refreshed until the center piece was 4 outward tabs (male).

1.svg.txt

Take the .txt off it to make it a svg. Then you should be able to open it up and get at the center piece.





My bad. Sorry. Let the transaction logs get full.

Should be all good now.

Working again Thank You