perl newbie. hangman.cgi script displaying strangely (additional code) on the web.

WorldBuilder · 11-11-2003, 12:21 PM

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.[list=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?[*]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.[*]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?[*]Even when a new game is started, you only get 9 tries for letters, not 10. Why?[*]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?[*]The "letter-guessing" line is solid. How can I make it dashed, so that each dash represents a letter in the word?[*]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?[/list=1]
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:

Code:

#!/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

WorldBuilder · 11-11-2003, 01:11 PM

Quote:

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!

WorldBuilder · 11-12-2003, 06:13 PM

Hi again, guys...

Ok, I have fixed everything regarding this script, except for one final thing... 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.

I don't understand why it doesn't go directly to a new, working game. Can anyone help me with that? I've been pulling my hair out for a while on this one. URL is http://www.bartlett-family.net/cgi-bin/hangman2.cgi
New code:

Code:

#!/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({-style=>'letter-spacing:5px'},$current{'revealed'}),
   "Tries Remaining: ",
   b($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;
}

Thanks in advance!

Chris

8nasmith · 11-21-2003, 05:12 AM

my god whats that all about i have trouble just loading linux never mind programming it

WorldBuilder · 11-21-2003, 07:09 AM

lol, yeah. It can take a while to get used to. I got the script working... Even added a scoring feature.

Chris