Pencil Marks
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#233 Pencil Marks
I'm probably not the only person who would like to have the ability to add my own pencil marks when I see fit.
Currently Hodoku has an all or nothing approach when it comes to pencil marks. It shows all candidates for a given cell when they are turned on and it shows no pencil marks if they are off.
For the users which solve off the computer by drawing in all candidates as a first step, and then eliminate them one by one in order to expose naked singles, this is a convenience as it takes time to draw in pencil marks for each candidate in every cell.
However it is precisely due to the time consuming nature of using this method that many Sudoku solvers do not use this method at all, however they still use pencil marks in another way. I am one of these people.
The solving method that I use involves adding pencil marks when I have narrowed a candidate down to exactly two cells within a larger box. This alone can provide enough information to solve most puzzles. There are other solvers who use different techniques which would also greatly benefit from the simple feature that I am requesting.
The feature that I am requesting is simply to allow the user to start with no pencil marks at all if he chooses, and then to turn a pencil mark ON in the right click menu for a cell. Currently Hodoku only has the option to 'Make' the cell a number, or to 'Exclude' a candidate from a cell, which turns the pencil mark OFF for a certain number.
By doing this, Hodoku will have increased usability. Users who learned on paper and don't fill in all candidates for each cell will be more comfortable using the program as a Sudoku generator, without having to change the way they solve Sudoku.
It will also allow people who adopt Hodoku as a tool to assist in learning Sudoku, or improve their skills, with the specific intention of bringing these skill to the paper counterpart of the puzzle, without being forced to learn techniques which involve drawing all candidates.
When I came to Hodoku, it was the result of a decision and a search. The decision was to improve my Sudoku abilities and to learn about advanced techniques using Sudoku software and the wealth of information available on the internet. The Search was to find and choose the right piece of software from the many Sudoku packages available for free.
When I made the decision to choose Hodoku, I was only using the cross hatching technique and I knew that I could improve. I saw the solving techniques section of the Hodoku online manual and information. These were some of the things that drew me to this program.
However, when I started to learn using this software and these techniques I became discouraged because I really didn't like the idea of having to draw and manipulate hundreds of pencil marks for each puzzle, and it seemed that almost all of the techniques described specifically used this practice as a prerequisite.
I became sad because I felt that modern Sudoku had become something which could only be enjoyed on the computer, using advanced filters and visualization options. My original intention was not to sit in front of the computer to do Sudoku, but to use Hodoku to improve my skills so that I could sit in the bathtub and do Sudoku quickly enough that I wouldn't waste water and my skin wouldn't get quite so wrinkled.
I knew that Sudoku magazines were still quite popular and I knew that of the hundreds of solving techniques available, only a handful were really discussed in the Hodoku manual. So my search continued until I found several people, including a former world champion Sudoku solver, using different methods which seemed much simpler and more suitable than the 'every candidate' method. One instructor even went so far as to insist that his students NEVER use that method and proceeded to demonstrate how time consuming it was.
At last my concerns were justified. I realized that it was possible to play Sudoku the way I wanted to play it. I sat in my bathtub and had a wonderful time solving difficult puzzles more quickly than before. Then I returned to Hodoku.
Much to my dismay, I was unable to play Sudoku in a fashion that suited me within my favorite Sudoku program. I checked and double checked searching for the option which would allow me to do something which seemed so simple and obvious. I thought to myself... 'surely this amazing piece of software must have such a simple feature'.
But alas... it currently just can't be done.
Please add my requested feature to Hodoku!
If I understand you correctly, you want to "pencil in" candidates when "Show all candidates" is disabled?
You have three possibilities to do so:
I didnt include the "set candidate n" options in the context menu because it would have become to big.
is there any chance of getting a way to write candidates directly onto the lines between the spaces?
and by the way thank you, the alternate mouse mode is pretty close to what i was looking for.