Hi all,
I'm a newbie trying to learn perl and cgi. I have written a script which you can find here. There are several problems.

1. When you first arrive at that url, you'll notice that there is additional html-like code visible on the page, as well as an extra "New Game" button. Why are those visible?
2. You'll also notice that when you first arrive at that url, the game doesn't actually work. You can input letters, but nothing happens when you guess.
3. If you click one of the "New Game" buttons, though, it will THEN start a "working" game! Why doesn't it just do that from the get-go?
4. Even when a new game is started, you only get 9 tries for letters, not 10. Why?
5. When you complete a game (win or lose), it should flash text saying "Sorry (or Congratulations), you're word was 'whatever'. It does, but it also adds more of that html-like code there. Why?
6. The "letter-guessing" line is solid. How can I make it dashed, so that each dash represents a letter in the word?
7. If at that point you start a new game, the last letter you guessed on the previous game starts off as a newly-chosen letter for the new game. Why?

I think that's it for problems. Any ideas would be most appreciated! Thank you so much! Here's the code the the perl/cgi script:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use CGI ':standard';
use CGI::Carp 'fatalsToBrowser';
use Fcntl;
use SDBM_File;

$max_tries = 10;

%current = ( 'word' => "evermeet",
'tries_left' => "10",
'letters' => "",
'revealed' => "________",);

tie(%hash, 'SDBM_File', '/tmp/game_file.sdbm', O_CREAT¦O_RDWR, 0666) ¦¦ die $!;

&PrintHeader();

my $tries_left = $current{'tries_left'};
my @guessed_letters = split( //, $current{'letters'} );
my $secret_word = $current{'word'};
my $revealed_word = $current{'revealed'};
my $this_guess = "";
my $guessed_string = "";
my $found_letter = 0;

$this_guess = param('guess');
$found_letter = &GuessLetter($this_guess);

if( $tries_left > 0 ) {
if( ($current{'word'} eq $current{'revealed'}) && ($tries_left < $max_tries) )
{
&PrintContent();
&win();
}
else {

if( $found_letter == 0 ) {
$tries_left--;
}

push(@guessed_letters, $this_guess );
$guessed_string = join( "", @guessed_letters );

$current{'tries_left'} = $tries_left;
$current{'letters'} = $guessed_string;

&PrintContent();

$hash{$id} = $current{'word'}."~".$current{'tries_left'}."~". $current{'letters'}."~".$current{'revealed'};

}
}
else {
&PrintContent();
&lose();
}

untie(%hash);

sub generate_gameid() {
for ($j = 0; $j <= 9; $j++) {
$id .= int(rand 9);
}

return $id;
}

sub win {
my $the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
-value=>$id,
-expires=>'+1h');

print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie),
start_html("Hangman - Congratulations!"),
"Congratulations, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
start_form,
submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"New Game"),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub lose
{
my $the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
-value=>$id,
-expires=>'+1h');

print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie),
start_html("Hangman - Sorry!"),
"Sorry, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
start_form, submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"New Game"),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub PrintHeader() {
my $the_cookie;
my $saved_game;

if(param('new_game')) {
$id = &generate_gameid();
$the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
-value=>$id,
-expires=>'+1h');
&InitGame();
}
else {
$id = cookie('gameid');
$saved_game = $hash{$id};
&LoadGame($saved_game);
}

print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie);
}

sub PrintContent() {
print start_html( -title=>"Hangman!", -onLoad=>"document.forms[0].guess.select()"),
h1("Hangman!"),
h1($current{'revealed'}),
"Tries Remaining: ",
b($current{'tries_left'}),
br,
"Letters guessed so far: ",
b(em(join " ", split //, $current{'letters'})),
br,
start_form,
"Next Guess: ",
textfield ( -name=>"guess", -size=>5, -maxlength=>1, -default=>''),
br, br,
submit (-name=>"submit", -label=>"Guess"),
submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"New Game"),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub InitGame() {
my $word = &FetchWord();

$current{'word'} = $word;
$current{'tries_left'} = $max_tries;
$current{'letters'} = "";
$current{'revealed'} = &MakeLines($word);
}

sub LoadGame() {
my $foo = $_[0];
my @saved_game = split(/~/,$foo);

$current{'word'} = $saved_game[0];
$current{'tries_left'} = $saved_game[1];
$current{'letters'} = $saved_game[2];
$current{'revealed'} = $saved_game[3];
}

sub FetchWord() {
my $word = "superman";
my @lines;
my @words;

my $line_count = 0;
my $word_count = 0;

my $rand_line = 0;
my $rand_word = 0;

open( DICTIONARY, "words.txt" ) or die "Cannot open file: $!\n";

@lines = <DICTIONARY>;
$line_count = @lines;

$rand_line = int(rand $line_count);

@words = split(/,/, $lines[$rand_line] );
$word_count = @words;

$rand_word = int(rand $word_count);

$word = $words[$rand_word];
chomp($word);

close( DICTIONARY );

return $word;
}

sub MakeLines() {
my @word = split(//, $_[0]);
my $letter = "";
my $blanks = "";

foreach $letter(@word) {
$blanks .= "_";
}

return $blanks;
}

sub GuessLetter() {
my $guess = $_[0];
my @word = split(//,$current{'word'});
my $letter = "";
my @old_revealed = split(//,$current{'revealed'});
my @new_revealed = @old_revealed;
my $new_revealed_string = "";
my $got_one = 0;
my $count = 0;

foreach $letter(@word) {
if($guess eq $letter) {
print LOG "Matched letter [$guess] at position [$count]\n";

$new_revealed[$count] = $guess;
$got_one = 1;
}
else {
$new_revealed[$count] = $old_revealed[$count];
}

$count++;
}

$new_revealed_string = join("",@new_revealed);
$current{'revealed'} = $new_revealed_string;

return $got_one;
}

Again, I'm a newbie, so please be gentle! Thanks, guys!

Chris

6. The "letter-guessing" line is solid. How can I make it dashed, so that each dash represents a letter in the word?
Nevermind... I figured out that one. Still pulling my hair out about the rest. Help! Thanks!

you are printing the http header more than once per page load which is causing the extra html-ish stuff you see. Your script runs and always executes &PrintHeader, but then you reprint the header in &win or &lose. You must also print the cookie before the http header is completed printing or the cookie will be printed to the screen instead of the cookie file on the client computer.

with a little fiddling it seems to work OK:


#!/usr/bin/perl

use CGI ':standard';
use CGI::Carp 'fatalsToBrowser';
use Fcntl;
use SDBM_File;

$max_tries = 10;

%current = ('tries_left' => 10, 'letters' => '', 'revealed' => '________');

tie(%hash, 'SDBM_File', '/tmp/game_file.sdbm', O_CREAT|O_RDWR, 0666) || die $!;

&PrintHeader();

my $tries_left = $current{'tries_left'};
my @guessed_letters = split( //, $current{'letters'} );
my $secret_word = $current{'word'};
my $revealed_word = $current{'revealed'};
my $this_guess = 0;
my $guessed_string = "";
my $found_letter = 0;

$this_guess = param('guess');
$found_letter = &GuessLetter($this_guess);

if( $tries_left-1 > 0) {

if( ($current{'word'} eq $current{'revealed'}) && ($tries_left <= $max_tries) ) {
#&PrintContent();
&win();
}
else {
if( $found_letter == 0 && $this_guess) {
$tries_left--;
}

push(@guessed_letters, $this_guess);
$guessed_string = join( "", @guessed_letters);

$current{'tries_left'} = $tries_left;
$current{'letters'} = $guessed_string;

&PrintContent();

$hash{$id} = $current{'word'}."~".$current{'tries_left'}."~". $current{'letters'}."~".$current{'revealed'};
}
}
else {
#&PrintContent();
&lose();
}

untie(%hash);
exit(0);

sub generate_gameid() {
for ($j = 0; $j <= 9; $j++) {
$id .= int(rand 9);
}
return $id;
}

sub win {
#my $the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
# -value=>$id,
# -expires=>'+1h');

#print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie),
print start_html("Hangman - Congratulations!"),
"Congratulations, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
start_form,
submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"New Game"),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub lose {
#my $the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
# -value=>$id,
# -expires=>'+1h');

#print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie),
print start_html("Hangman - Sorry!"),
"Sorry, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
start_form, submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"New Game"),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub PrintHeader {
my $the_cookie;
my $saved_game;

if(param('new_game')) {
$id = &generate_gameid();
$the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
-value=>$id,
-expires=>'+1h');
&InitGame();
}
else {
$id = cookie('gameid');
$saved_game = $hash{$id};
&LoadGame($saved_game);
}
print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie);
}

sub PrintContent {
print start_html( -title=>"Hangman!", -onLoad=>"document.forms[0].guess.select()"),
h1("Hangman!"),
h1($current{'revealed'}),
"Tries Remaining: ",
b($current{'tries_left'}),
br,
"Letters guessed so far: ",
b(em(join " ", split //, $current{'letters'})),
br,
start_form,
"Next Guess: ",
textfield ( -name=>'guess', -size=>5, -maxlength=>1, -default=>'', override=>1),
submit (-name=>'submit', -label=>'Guess'),br,br,
submit (-name=>'new_game', -label=>'New Game'),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub InitGame {
my $word = &FetchWord();
$current{'word'} = $word;
$current{'tries_left'} = $max_tries;
$current{'letters'} = "";
$current{'revealed'} = &MakeLines($word);
}

sub LoadGame {
my $foo = $_[0];
my @saved_game = split(/~/,$foo);
$current{'word'} = $saved_game[0];
$current{'tries_left'} = $saved_game[1];
$current{'letters'} = $saved_game[2];
$current{'revealed'} = $saved_game[3];
}

sub FetchWord {
#my $word = "superman";
my @lines;
my @words;
my $line_count = 0;
my $word_count = 0;
my $rand_line = 0;
my $rand_word = 0;
open( DICTIONARY, "words.txt" ) or die "Cannot open file: $!\n";
@lines = <DICTIONARY>;
close( DICTIONARY );
$line_count = @lines;
$rand_line = int(rand $line_count);
@words = split(/,/, $lines[$rand_line] );
$word_count = @words;
$rand_word = int(rand $word_count);
$word = $words[$rand_word];
chomp($word);
return $word;
}

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_" for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

sub GuessLetter {
my $guess = $_[0];
my @word = split(//,$current{'word'});
my $letter = "";
my @old_revealed = split(//,$current{'revealed'});
my @new_revealed = @old_revealed;
my $new_revealed_string = "";
my $got_one = 0;
my $count = 0;

foreach $letter(@word) {
if(lc($guess) eq lc($letter)) {
#print LOG "Matched letter [$guess] at position [$count]\n";
$new_revealed[$count] = $guess;
$got_one = 1;
}
# else {
# $new_revealed[$count] = $old_revealed[$count];
# }
$count++;
}

$new_revealed_string = join("",@new_revealed);
$current{'revealed'} = $new_revealed_string;

return $got_one;
}

Wow, thanks a million, guys! I didn't expect such a great response. Let me continue to play with it and I will certainly get back to you! Thank you!

Chris

Sorry about saying "guys". I didn't realize at first that both posts were yours, millenium. Thanks a lot.

You were right about the http headers. I didn't even see that. Thanks! There are some new issues...
When first visiting the site, it says:
"Sorry, your word was:"
New Game button

If I then press the "New Game" button, that game starts and works fine. Other than that, your iteration of the script seems to work fine! Great, thanks!

I changed this in the script:

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_" for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

to this:

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_ " for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

Notice the whitespace now inside the quotation marks?
"_ " instead of "_". I did that so that when a game is played, it will show, say 10 spaces if the word in question happens to have 10 letters to guess. The problem now is that, when I do that, I have noticed that, say once again that a word has 10 letters, fifteen spaces will actually appear, and even if you get the word right, there are still empty spaces and the game will force a loss on the player if you continue down to 0 guesses. Why is that? I would appreciate any further help, millenium! Thank you!

Chris

Sorry about saying "guys". I didn't realize at first that both posts were yours, millenium. Thanks a lot.

You were right about the http headers. I didn't even see that. Thanks! There are some new issues...
When first visiting the site, it says:
"Sorry, your word was:"
New Game button

If I then press the "New Game" button, that game starts and works fine. Other than that, your iteration of the script seems to work fine! Great, thanks!

I changed this in the script:

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_" for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

to this:

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_ " for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

Notice the whitespace now inside the quotation marks?
"_ " instead of "_". I did that so that when a game is played, it will show, say 10 spaces if the word in question happens to have 10 letters to guess. The problem now is that, when I do that, I have noticed that, say once again that a word has 10 letters, fifteen spaces will actually appear, and even if you get the word right, there are still empty spaces and the game will force a loss on the player if you continue down to 0 guesses. Why is that? I would appreciate any further help, millenium! Thank you!

Chris

Reference the white space, I did not try and determine the cause of the effect you noticed because another solution is very simple and easy, insert the spaces only when the word is displayed, like so:


sub PrintContent {
print start_html( -title=>"Hangman!", -onLoad=>"document.forms[0].guess.select()"),
h1("Hangman!"),
h1({-style=>'letter-spacing:5px'},$current{'revealed'}),



The game starts off with "sorry......" because there is no initial condition the script defaults to the first time the script is run. It just jumps into the game assuming some input has been supplied. You need to create a default condition which will display some brief instructions or a welcome screen, something along those lines.

I understand. Ok, thanks! I will write up a default condition and get back to you if when I'm done. Again, thanks!

Chris

Ok... Ugh, I have tried a million things to no avail regarding the problem when first visiting the site. I either get errors, or I get the welcome message I create in ADDITION to the "Sorry, etc... This is driving me crazy. Can you help further? Give me an example, please? Thanks! My brain is fried...

Chris

Ok... Ugh, I have tried a million things to no avail regarding the problem when first visiting the site. I either get errors, or I get the welcome message I create in ADDITION to the "Sorry, etc... This is driving me crazy. Can you help further? Give me an example, please? Thanks! My brain is fried...

Chris

LOL... the old fried brain


actually I was having fun with the script so I added a couple of things this afternoon. I think you can figure out what I did for the default condition, plus I added a routine that gives a score if you win, its not anything very well thought out but hopefully it adds to the fun. Anyways, here it is (not real well tested but looks like it should work OK):


#!/usr/bin/perl

use CGI ':standard';
use Fcntl;
use SDBM_File;
use strict;

my $max_tries = 10;
my $id;

my %current = ('tries_left' => 10, 'letters' => '', 'revealed' => '');
tie(my %hash, 'SDBM_File', '/tmp/game_file.sdbm', O_CREAT|O_RDWR, 0666) || die $!;

&PrintHeader();
my $tries_left = $current{'tries_left'};
my @guessed_letters = split(//, $current{'letters'} );
my $secret_word = lc $current{'word'};
my $this_guess = 0;
my $guessed_string = "";
my $found_letter = 0;
my $playing = 0;
$playing = 1 if param('new_game') || param('start_game') || param('submit');
$this_guess = lc param('guess');
undef($this_guess) if param('new_game') || param('start_game');
$found_letter = &GuessLetter($this_guess) if $this_guess;

if ($playing) {
&win() if (($current{'word'} eq $current{'revealed'}) && ($tries_left <= $max_tries));
$tries_left-- if ($found_letter == 0 && $this_guess);
&lose() if ($tries_left < 1 && $this_guess);
push(@guessed_letters, $this_guess) if $found_letter == 0;
$guessed_string = join( "", @guessed_letters);
$current{'tries_left'} = $tries_left;
$current{'letters'} = $guessed_string;
&PrintContent();
$hash{$id} = $current{'word'}."~".$current{'tries_left'}."~".$current{'letters'}."~".$current{'revealed'};
}
else {&enter;}
untie(%hash);
exit(0);

sub enter {
print start_html( -title=>"Hangman!"),
h1("Lets Play Hangman!"),
"The rules: guess letters to reveal the secret word.",
br,
"You win if you guess the secret word before your tries remaining run out.",
start_form,
submit (-name=>'start_game', -label=>'Start Game'),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub generate_gameid {
$id .= int(rand 9) for (0..8);
return $id;
}

sub win {
my ($score,$max_score) = &score($current{'revealed'},$current{'word'});
print start_html("Hangman - Congratulations!"),
"Congratulations, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
"Your score was <b>$score</b> of a possible <b>$max_score</b> points.",
start_form,
submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"Play Again"),
end_form,
end_html;
untie(%hash);
exit(0);
}

sub lose {
my ($score,$max_score) = &score($current{'revealed'},$current{'word'});
print start_html("Hangman - Sorry!"),
"Sorry, your word was:",
h2($current{'word'}),
"Your score was <b>$score</b> of a possible <b>$max_score</b> points.",
start_form, submit (-name=>"new_game", -label=>"Play Again"),
end_form,
end_html;
untie(%hash);
exit(0);
}

sub PrintHeader {
my $the_cookie;
my $saved_game;

if(param('new_game')) {
$id = &generate_gameid();
$the_cookie = cookie ( -name=>'gameid',
-value=>$id,
-expires=>'+1h');
&InitGame();
}
else {
$id = cookie('gameid');
$saved_game = $hash{$id};
&LoadGame($saved_game);
}
print header(-cookie=>$the_cookie);
}

sub PrintContent {
print start_html( -title=>"Hangman!", -onLoad=>"document.forms[0].guess.select()"),
span({-style=>'font-size:30px;font-weight:bold;'},'Secret Word: '),
span({-style=>'letter-spacing:5px;font-size:30px;font-weight:bold;'},$current{'revealed'}),
br,br,
"Tries Remaining: ",
b($current{'tries_left'}),
br,
"Incorrect guesses: ",
b(em(join " ", split //, $current{'letters'})),
br,
start_form,
"Your Guess: ",
textfield ( -name=>'guess', -size=>5, -maxlength=>1, -default=>'', override=>1),
submit (-name=>'submit', -label=>'Guess'),br,br,
submit (-name=>'new_game', -label=>'New Game'),
end_form,
end_html;
}

sub InitGame {
my $word = &FetchWord();
$current{'word'} = $word;
$current{'tries_left'} = $max_tries;
$current{'letters'} = "";
$current{'revealed'} = &MakeLines($word);
}

sub LoadGame {
my $foo = $_[0];
my @saved_game = split(/~/,$foo);
$current{'word'} = $saved_game[0];
$current{'tries_left'} = $saved_game[1];
$current{'letters'} = $saved_game[2];
$current{'revealed'} = $saved_game[3];
}

sub FetchWord {
#my $word = "superman";
my @lines;
my @words;
my $line_count = 0;
my $word_count = 0;
my $rand_line = 0;
my $rand_word = 0;
open( DICTIONARY, "words.txt" ) or die "Cannot open file: $!\n";
@lines = <DICTIONARY>;
close( DICTIONARY );
$line_count = @lines;
$rand_line = int(rand $line_count);
@words = split(/,/, $lines[$rand_line] );
$word_count = @words;
$rand_word = int(rand $word_count);
my $word = $words[$rand_word];
chomp($word);
return $word;
}

sub MakeLines {
my $blanks;
$blanks .= "_" for (1..length($_[0]));
return $blanks;
}

sub GuessLetter {
my $guess = $_[0];
my @word = split(//,$current{'word'});
my $letter = "";
my @old_revealed = split(//,$current{'revealed'});
my @new_revealed = @old_revealed;
my $new_revealed_string = "";
my $got_one = 0;
my $count = 0;

foreach $letter(@word) {
if(lc($guess) eq lc($letter)) {
$new_revealed[$count] = $guess;
$got_one = 1;
}
$count++;
}

$new_revealed_string = join("",@new_revealed);
$current{'revealed'} = $new_revealed_string;

return $got_one;
}

sub score {
$tries_left = 1 if $tries_left < 1;
my ($score,$score2,$max_score) = (0,0,0);
my @guess = split(//,shift);
my @word = split(//,shift);
my @points = qw(aeiou ytrnlchds bfgkmp jqvwxz);
foreach (@guess) {
$score+=3 if (/[$points[0]]/i);
$score+=7 if (/[$points[1]]/i);
$score+=10 if (/[$points[2]]/i);
$score+=15 if (/[$points[3]]/i);
}
foreach (@word) {
$score2+=3 if (/[$points[0]]/i);
$score2+=7 if (/[$points[1]]/i);
$score2+=10 if (/[$points[2]]/i);
$score2+=15 if (/[$points[3]]/i);
}
$max_score = $score2*$max_tries;
$score = $score*$tries_left;
return ($score,$max_score);
}

HA! That scoring system is pretty cool, millenium! I like it! The script works pretty good, man! I see what you did for the default condition. Thanks. The script does start off properly with the "Let's Play Hangman" welcome screen, however, there is one little problem. If you then click on Start Game, you get:

Congratulations, your word was:
Your score was 0 of a possible 0 points.

"Play Again" button

Once again, if you then click the button the game finally starts and works perfectly. This code is very different and I will take a look to see if I can figure it out, but do you happen to know why it's doing that? It's a very similar problem to before. It seems to me that it's printing the "win" subroutine after the "enter" subroutine, but before the actual game is played. I think I see why, and have tried a few things to no avail.

My brain is doing a little better... LOL. We'll see how long it lasts today! I already tried removing the &win() from the first line of the if ($playing) statement, but that only gives me a compilation error. I've also replaced &win() with several other things to see what would happen. Nothing's working. Argh... No wonder I'm a hardware guy!

Thanks!

Chris

PS. I posted it at a new URL of http://www.bartlett-family.net/cgi-bin/hangman_new.cgi (underscore between "hangman" and "new") in case you want to see it in action!

HA! That scoring system is pretty cool, millenium! I like it! The script works pretty good, man! I see what you did for the default condition. Thanks. The script does start off properly with the "Let's Play Hangman" welcome screen, however, there is one little problem. If you then click on Start Game, you get:

Congratulations, your word was:
Your score was 0 of a possible 0 points.

"Play Again" button

Once again, if you then click the button the game finally starts and works perfectly. This code is very different and I will take a look to see if I can figure it out, but do you happen to know why it's doing that? It's a very similar problem to before. It seems to me that it's printing the "win" subroutine after the "enter" subroutine, but before the actual game is played. I think I see why, and have tried a few things to no avail.

My brain is doing a little better... LOL. We'll see how long it lasts today! I already tried removing the &win() from the first line of the if ($playing) statement, but that only gives me a compilation error. I've also replaced &win() with several other things to see what would happen. Nothing's working. Argh... No wonder I'm a hardware guy!

Thanks!

Chris

PS. I posted it at a new URL of http://www.bartlett-family.net/cgi-bin/hangman_new.cgi (underscore between "hangman" and "new") in case you want to see it in action!

Try this, in the sub PrintHeader find this line:

if(param('new_game')) {

and change it to this:

if(param('new_game') || param('start_game')) {

and see if that helps.

That DID it! I didn't even think to look into the PrintHeader subroutine. Argh! Very cool. This forum is awesome, and so are you. God, I am elarning so much. I understand so much better now. Thanks a million, millenium!

Chris