sudoku solver

can anybody here post a simplest example of console based su-do-ku solver?
no. it's not needed for home work. neither for work.
please post well commented source. thanks

PS: the code should be C/C++ please.

You need a well commented source of a sudoku solver for what purpose?

here's a well documented algorithm .

http://www.eddaardvark.co.uk/sudokusolver.html

thanks indigo0086!
But that's just algorithm! And source is in Python
I think I am a bit too lazy to do it from algorithm and python source

Wraithan I just wanted to see how it works. Nothing special.
I have two versions of it already.
1) In assembly. Too hard to follow!
2) In C. Deliberately made too hard to follow

Now my questions:
If it was my home work. You would not post it, right?
If it was needed for work. You would ask for something in reward?

Since it is just for the purpose of learning (I am just curious), will you post the code?
I hope somebody must have written it already! :|

All you can learn from a Sudoku solver is algorithms. So the algorithmic description ought to be perfect.

Here's one of my solvers.

Code:

module Main where

import List

----------------- GENERIC HELPER FUNCTIONS ---------------------

-- Apply a list of functions to some data, one after the other,
-- from head to tail.
chainl :: [(a -> a)] -> a -> a
chainl [] x = x
chainl (f:fs) x = chainl fs (f x)

-- Repeat a function a number of times on a data item.
rp :: (a -> a) -> a -> Int -> a
rp _ x 0 = x
rp fn x n = rp fn (fn x) (n - 1)

-- Repeat a function a number of times on a data item, passing the counter.
rpn :: (a -> Int -> a) -> a -> Int -> a
rpn _ x 0 = x
rpn fn x n = rpn fn (fn x n) (n - 1)

-- Pad an array to a minimum length with the given item.
rpad :: a -> Int -> [a] -> [a]
rpad p len ls = ls ++ replicate (len - length ls) p



-------------------- TYPE DECLARATIONS -------------------------

-- The type of a row index
type RowIndex = Int
-- The type of a column index
type ColIndex = Int
-- The type of an area identifier
type AreaId = (Int, Int)
-- The type of a value collection
type PossibleValues = [Int]
-- The general value/values type of a field.
type FieldContent = Either Int [Int]

-- A Sudoku board: a collection of 81 fields.
data SudokuBoard =
        SudokuBrd [SudokuField]

-- A Sudoku field: a pair of coordinates on the board and either a single
-- known value, or a list of possibilities.
data SudokuField =
        SudokuUnsure RowIndex ColIndex PossibleValues |
        SudokuSure RowIndex ColIndex Int

-- A group of fields: can be a row, a column or an area. Each group, when
-- applied to a board, yields 9 fields.
data SudokuGroup =
        SudokuRow RowIndex |
        SudokuCol ColIndex |
        SudokuArea AreaId

-- The type of the dataset passed to init.
type InitData = [(RowIndex, ColIndex, Int)]


---------------- BASIC TYPE OPERATIONS ---------------------

----- FIELDS ------

-- Determine the ordering of two fields. Ordering works in reading order,
-- first across and then down.
fieldOrder :: SudokuField -> SudokuField -> Ordering
fieldOrder a b =
        if ar < br then LT
        else if ar > br then GT
        else if ac < bc then LT
        else if ac > bc then GT
        else EQ
        where
                ac = col a
                ar = row a
                bc = col b
                br = row b

-- Two fields are equal if their coordinates are the same; values are ignored.
instance Eq SudokuField where
        (==) a b = fieldOrder a b == EQ

-- Fields can be ordered.
instance Ord SudokuField where
        compare = fieldOrder

-- Fields can be displayed. Format is (row,column) -> values, where values
-- is either a list of possibilities, or the fixed value with a '!'.
instance Show SudokuField where
        show (SudokuUnsure r c vals) = "(" ++ show r ++ "," ++ show c ++
                ") -> " ++ show vals
        show (SudokuSure r c val) = "(" ++ show r ++ "," ++ show c ++
                ") -> " ++ show val ++ "!"

-- Get the row of a field.
row :: SudokuField -> RowIndex
row (SudokuUnsure r _ _) = r
row (SudokuSure r _ _) = r

-- Get the row group of a field.
rowOf :: SudokuField -> SudokuGroup
rowOf = SudokuRow . row

-- Get the column of a field.
col :: SudokuField -> ColIndex
col (SudokuUnsure _ c _) = c
col (SudokuSure _ c _) = c

-- Get the column group of a field.
colOf :: SudokuField -> SudokuGroup
colOf = SudokuCol . col

-- Create an area ID from a pair of field coordinates.
mkarea :: RowIndex -> ColIndex -> AreaId
mkarea r c = (r `div` 3, c `div` 3)

-- Get the area ID of a field.
area :: SudokuField -> AreaId
area (SudokuUnsure r c _) = mkarea r c
area (SudokuSure r c _) = mkarea r c

-- Get the area group of a field.
areaOf :: SudokuField -> SudokuGroup
areaOf = SudokuArea . area

-- Get the value/values of a field.
values :: SudokuField -> FieldContent
values (SudokuSure _ _ v) = Left v
values (SudokuUnsure _ _ vs) = Right vs

-- Create a field from coordinates and a value/values.
mkfield :: RowIndex -> ColIndex -> FieldContent -> SudokuField
mkfield r c (Left i) = SudokuSure r c i
mkfield r c (Right is) = SudokuUnsure r c is

isSure :: SudokuField -> Bool
isSure (SudokuUnsure _ _ _) = False
isSure (SudokuSure _ _ _) = True

-- Tells whether two fields share any group. Each field is related to 20 others.
related :: SudokuField -> SudokuField -> Bool
related f g = isIn g (rowOf f) ||
              isIn g (colOf f) ||
              isIn g (areaOf f)

------- BOARD -------

-- The board can be displayed. Each field is given a width of 12.
instance Show SudokuBoard where
        show (SudokuBrd flds) = "Board:\n" ++ showBrd flds
                where showBrd [] = "\n"
                      showBrd cs = showFlds (take 9 cs) ++ "\n"
                                   ++ showBrd (drop 9 cs)
                      showFlds [] = ""
                      showFlds ((SudokuSure _ _ v):cs) =
                        padF (show v) ++ showFlds cs
                      showFlds ((SudokuUnsure _ _ v):cs) =
                        padF (show v) ++ showFlds cs
                      padF = rpad ' ' 12


-- Get the empty board, where everything's possible.
emptyBoard :: SudokuBoard
emptyBoard = SudokuBrd [ SudokuUnsure x y [1..9] | x <- [0..8], y <- [0..8] ]


------ GROUPS -------

-- Get the fields on a board within a group.
fieldsIn :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuGroup -> [SudokuField]
fieldsIn (SudokuBrd flds) g = filter (\x -> isIn x g) flds

-- Get the fields on a board NOT within a group.
fieldsNotIn :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuGroup -> [SudokuField]
fieldsNotIn (SudokuBrd flds) g = filter (\x -> not (isIn x g)) flds

-- Whether a field is in a group.
isIn :: SudokuField -> SudokuGroup -> Bool
isIn f (SudokuRow r) = row f == r
isIn f (SudokuCol c) = col f == c
isIn f (SudokuArea a) = area f == a

-- Get all 27 groups of a board.
allGroups :: [SudokuGroup]
allGroups = allRows ++ allCols ++ allAreas

-- Get all row groups of a aboard.
allRows :: [SudokuGroup]
allRows = [SudokuRow x | x <- [0..8]]

-- Get all column groups of a board.
allCols :: [SudokuGroup]
allCols = [SudokuCol x | x <- [0..8]]

-- Get all area groups of a board.
allAreas :: [SudokuGroup]
allAreas = [SudokuArea (x, y) | x <- [0..2], y <- [0..2]]



---------------- GENERAL BOARD OPERATIONS --------------------

-- Sort a board so that the fields come in reading order.
sortBoard :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard
sortBoard (SudokuBrd flds) = SudokuBrd (sort flds)

-- Create an irregular (could be less than 81 fields) board of only the known
-- fields.
solvedBoard :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard
solvedBoard (SudokuBrd flds) = SudokuBrd (filter isSure flds)

-- Test whether a board has been completely solved, i.e. consists only of
-- certain fields.
isSolved :: SudokuBoard -> Bool
isSolved (SudokuBrd flds) = all isSure flds


--------------------- BOARD SETUP ----------------------------

-- Take a bunch of initialization data and prime a new board with it.
init :: InitData -> SudokuBoard
init = initInner emptyBoard

-- Apply the given initialization data to a board.
initInner :: SudokuBoard -> InitData -> SudokuBoard
initInner brd [] = brd
initInner brd (v:vs) = initInner (fixC brd v) vs
        where fixC b (r, c, val) = fix b (r-1) (c-1) val

-- Fix a field to a specific value.
fix :: SudokuBoard -> RowIndex -> ColIndex -> Int -> SudokuBoard
fix (SudokuBrd flds) r c v =
        SudokuBrd ((SudokuSure r c v) : (delete (SudokuSure r c 0) flds))


-------------------- BOARD SOLVING ----------------------------

-- Attempt to solve a board. WARNING: Current implementation will go into
-- infinite loop if it can't solve the board.
solve :: InitData -> SudokuBoard
solve = sortBoard . (until isSolved (chainl strategies)) . Main.init

-- List the solution strategies used in a single iteration.
-- strikeKnown is listed several times because it kind of performs cleanup
-- duty.
strategies :: [(SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard)]
strategies =
        [ strikeKnown   -- Strike out numbers that belong to fixed values.
        , strikePairs   -- Strike values x, y where group contains exactly
                        -- two fields [x, y].
        , strikeKnown   -- This is more likely to catch something.
        , fixLonely     -- Find possibilities that occur only in one field
        , strikeKnown   -- This is more likely to catch something.
        ]


------------- SOLUTION STRATEGY I: STRIKE KNOWN -----------------
{-
This is the simplest of all strategies. It scans the board for known fields.
Then it strikes their values from the possibilities of all uncertain fields in
the three associated groups.
-}

-- Perform the Strike Known step.
strikeKnown :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard
strikeKnown brd = let (SudokuBrd flds) = brd
                  in strikeKnownFields brd flds

-- The main controller of Strike Known. Iterates over all fields of a board
-- to strike the known values.
strikeKnownFields :: SudokuBoard -> [SudokuField] -> SudokuBoard
strikeKnownFields brd [] = brd
strikeKnownFields brd ((SudokuSure r c v):flds) =
        strikeKnownFields newbrd flds
        where newbrd = strikeFromGroup rowcolbrd (SudokuArea (mkarea r c)) v
              rowcolbrd = strikeFromGroup rowbrd (SudokuCol c) v
              rowbrd = strikeFromGroup brd (SudokuRow r) v
strikeKnownFields brd ((SudokuUnsure _ _ _):flds) =
        strikeKnownFields brd flds

{-strikeKnownFields :: [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField]
strikeKnownFields -}

-- The workhorse of Strike Known. Given a board, a group and a value, this
-- function gives a new board where, in the given group, all unsure fields
-- have the value stricken from their possibilities.
strikeFromGroup :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuGroup -> Int -> SudokuBoard
strikeFromGroup brd grp val =
        SudokuBrd (strikeFromFields (fieldsIn brd grp) val ++
                fieldsNotIn brd grp)

strikeFromFields :: [SudokuField] -> Int -> [SudokuField]
strikeFromFields flds val = map (\f -> strikeFromField f val) flds

strikeFromField :: SudokuField -> Int -> SudokuField
strikeFromField (SudokuUnsure r c (a : b : [])) v
        | a == v = SudokuSure r c b
        | b == v = SudokuSure r c a
        | otherwise = SudokuUnsure r c [a, b]
strikeFromField (SudokuUnsure r c vals) v = SudokuUnsure r c (delete v vals)
strikeFromField (SudokuSure r c v) _ = SudokuSure r c v


strikePairs :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard
strikePairs brd = strikePairsInGroups brd allGroups

strikePairsInGroups :: SudokuBoard -> [SudokuGroup] -> SudokuBoard
strikePairsInGroups = foldl strikePairsInGroup

strikePairsInGroup :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuGroup -> SudokuBoard
strikePairsInGroup brd g = SudokuBrd (fieldsNotIn brd g ++
        strikePairsInFieldList (fieldsIn brd g))

strikePairsInFieldList :: [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField]
strikePairsInFieldList flds = foldl strikePair flds pairs
        where pairs = findPairs flds

findPairs :: [SudokuField] -> [(SudokuField, SudokuField)]
findPairs [] = []
findPairs (f:fs) = pairl ++ findPairs fs
        where pair = findMatchFor f fs
              pairl = maybe [] (\e -> [e]) pair

findMatchFor :: SudokuField -> [SudokuField] -> Maybe (SudokuField, SudokuField)
findMatchFor (SudokuSure _ _ _) _ = Nothing
findMatchFor f [] = Nothing
findMatchFor f ((SudokuUnsure x y [v1,v2]):fs) =
        let (SudokuUnsure _ _ vals) = f
        in if [v1,v2] == vals then Just (f, (SudokuUnsure x y [v1,v2]))
                            else findMatchFor f fs
findMatchFor f (_:fs) = findMatchFor f fs

strikePair :: [SudokuField] -> (SudokuField, SudokuField) -> [SudokuField]
strikePair [] _ = []
strikePair (g:gs) (f1, f2) = f : strikePair gs (f1, f2)
        where f = if g == f1 || g == f2
                  then g
                  else strikeValuesOf f1 g

strikeValuesOf :: SudokuField -> SudokuField -> SudokuField
strikeValuesOf (SudokuUnsure _ _ svals) f = foldl strikeFromField f svals



fixLonely :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuBoard
fixLonely brd = fixLonelyInGroups brd allGroups

fixLonelyInGroups :: SudokuBoard -> [SudokuGroup] -> SudokuBoard
fixLonelyInGroups = foldl fixLonelyInGroup

fixLonelyInGroup :: SudokuBoard -> SudokuGroup -> SudokuBoard
fixLonelyInGroup brd g = SudokuBrd (fieldsNotIn brd g ++
        fixLonelyInFieldList (fieldsIn brd g))

fixLonelyInFieldList :: [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField]
fixLonelyInFieldList fs = fixLonelyInFieldListInner fs fs

fixLonelyInFieldListInner :: [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField]
fixLonelyInFieldListInner [] _ = []
fixLonelyInFieldListInner ((SudokuSure x y v):fs) ts =
        (SudokuSure x y v) : fixLonelyInFieldListInner fs ts
fixLonelyInFieldListInner ((SudokuUnsure x y vs):fs) ts =
        maybe (SudokuUnsure x y vs) (SudokuSure x y) fv :
                fixLonelyInFieldListInner fs ts
        where fv = findLonely vs mts mts
              mts = (delete (SudokuUnsure x y vs) ts)

findLonely :: [Int] -> [SudokuField] -> [SudokuField] -> Maybe Int
findLonely [] _ _ = Nothing
findLonely (c:cs) [] mts = Just c
findLonely (c:cs) ((SudokuSure _ _ v):ts) mts =
        if c == v then findLonely cs mts mts
                  else findLonely (c:cs) ts mts
findLonely (c:cs) ((SudokuUnsure _ _ vs):ts) mts =
        if elem c vs then findLonely cs mts mts
                     else findLonely (c:cs) ts mts


nr119a :: InitData
nr119a = [
        (1,6,8),
        (2,5,5),
        (2,6,4),
        (2,8,2),
        (2,9,8),
        (3,3,3),
        (3,5,1),
        (3,8,5),
        (3,9,7),
        (4,5,3),
        (4,7,9),
        (5,2,9),
        (5,3,7),
        (5,4,1),
        (5,8,8),
        (6,1,3),
        (6,2,8),
        (6,6,9),
        (6,8,4),
        (7,4,5),
        (7,9,9),
        (8,2,5),
        (8,3,4),
        (8,5,7),
        (8,6,3),
        (8,9,1),
        (9,2,7),
        (9,3,8),
        (9,7,5),
        (9,8,3)
        ]


nr119b :: InitData
nr119b = [
        (1,6,9),
        (1,9,8),
        (2,3,4),
        (2,4,8),
        (2,6,1),
        (2,7,7),
        (3,1,2),
        (3,3,1),
        (3,8,5),
        (4,3,7),
        (4,5,4),
        (4,6,8),
        (4,7,6),
        (5,7,1),
        (6,2,6),
        (6,3,3),
        (6,5,7),
        (6,9,9),
        (7,1,7),
        (7,4,2),
        (7,5,3),
        (7,8,9),
        (8,2,2),
        (8,7,5),
        (9,2,1),
        (9,3,9),
        (9,6,6),
        (9,8,7)
        ]

nr119c :: InitData
nr119c = [
        (1,6,5),
        (1,8,9),
        (1,9,2),
        (2,1,5),
        (2,2,4),
        (2,5,6),
        (2,6,9),
        (2,7,8),
        (3,3,2),
        (3,5,7),
        (3,9,4),
        (4,2,8),
        (4,6,4),
        (4,7,2),
        (5,4,3),
        (5,6,2),
        (6,3,4),
        (6,4,7),
        (6,8,8),
        (7,1,4),
        (7,5,2),
        (7,7,1),
        (8,3,3),
        (8,4,9),
        (8,5,1),
        (8,8,6),
        (8,9,8),
        (9,1,1),
        (9,2,6),
        (9,4,5)
        ]

mad :: InitData
mad = [
	(1,1,4),
	(1,8,2),
	(2,3,6),
	(2,4,7),
	(2,7,9),
	(3,2,8),
	(3,6,3),
	(4,3,1),
	(4,5,5),
	(4,9,6),
	(5,2,3),
	(5,8,4),
	(6,1,2),
	(6,4,9),
	(6,7,7),
	(7,4,8),
	(7,8,1),
	(8,3,5),
	(8,6,6),
	(8,7,2),
	(9,2,7),
	(9,9,3)
	]

Well ... that was HUGE act of kindly help! I am obliged sire! Hail you!
Just tell me ... which programming lingo is this!

I believe it's Haskell, but I'm not certain about that.

Thanks!
I thought it was C -= BASIC * Asm + Java / Python ^ Ruby - Perl language!

Haskell does that to you.

And if you havent cought the drift by now, ill spill the beans....nobody will do your work just because your lazy. You have python-source....stop being lazy and stop wasting our time because of it.

Originally Posted by Shakti

And if you havent cought the drift by now, ill spill the beans....nobody will do your work just because your lazy. You have python-source....stop being lazy and stop wasting our time because of it.

Oh Shakti, you spoilsport!!

Manav, I don't know your experience, but I wrote a Sudoku solver last year, and it was quite tricky. Perhaps because I had not played Sudoku before I started the program, and am a hobby programmer, not a pro.

In any case, the code is LONG*, and the algorithm is tricky, e.g. it repeatedly uses a 2D to 1D array manipulation - very unexpected.

My thought is that if you had the code, you wouldn't understand it, unless you had enough skill to code it yourself. If you had that skill, you wouldn't need the code.

Beyond the obvious solitary "must be this number, here", and "can't include this possibility on this square over here", you need to read up on "the rule of pairs" (either inside, or outside, or both), and how to switch to guessing for the toughest Sudoku puzzles, when all other techniques are exhausted, and the puzzle is still unsolved.

*my solver uses a fast technique, or a very slow "odometer" technique. The latter is a tribute to a friend who died most unexpectedly. (An odometer was the first bit of code he asked me to write for him.)

You'll like this challenge of writing a Sudoku program, Manav. You don't want to underestimate it.

What Shakti said, I already knew it by CornedBee's post
Thanks Adak for your suggestion. I know and this is proven by my own experience (time and again)
that I can never ever understand an algorithm in code form unless I know about the algorithm
itself in a very descriptive way (from book etc.)

Since I am spending life 40% sleeping, 40% in office, 15% daily chores, 5% entertainment.

I was acting a bit lazy and thought I will get some already written code in C. Stupid idea!