NANY 2015 Entry: Ballistic: an easy list filter

[BGM]

NANY 2015 Entry Information

Application Name	Ballistic
Version	1.3
Short Description	A word finder and filter
Supported OSes	Windows 7
Web Page	Documentation pages with screenshots
Download Link	Download Ballistic
System Requirements	Only works on Windows
Version History	Link to Version History
Author	Link to Author's Profile page on Stack Exchange

Description
This program was designed to aid in making word puzzles.  The authour publishes a childrens' magazine, and Ballistic helps in making custom crosswords, word searches and other word games.
You can use the pre-made wordlists or even a custom wordlist, and easily filter the list to match certain criteria.  It doesn't generate puzzles or games, but you can use it to find words that will fit in your puzzles.  You can easily find a word that matches any pattern.

I made this program for myself and have hosted it for a few people, but it has never been officially released.  This is my first public mention of the program.

Features
•Use any wordlist (simple text files)
•Comes with a collection of pre-made lists
•Find-as-you-type
•Reports the number of Matches
•Anagrams
•Permutations
•Wildcard Matching
•Typoglycemic matches
•Palindromes
•Semordlinaps
•Phoneagrams (Phone Words)
•Export Results
•Copy Results to the Clipboard
•Quick List-switching menu
•Quickly open the list in current text editor
•Full-featured GUI with lots of options

Planned Features
Update the word lists
Fix bugs
Maybe create an installer.

Screenshots

Please visit the documentation page for more images

Usage
Installation
Just extract the zip file to a folder and run the exectuable.
There isn't any installer at this time.

Using the Application
A brief description of how a user will use the Application. What tips does a user need to get going?

Uninstallation
Just exit the application and delete all the files.

Tips
The searches are faster if you disable the progressbar.
But the progressbar is fun.

Known Issues
Typoglycemiacize List is really slow for long lists.
If you stop the typoglycemiacize process midterm it won't save.  I can fix that.

[AzureToad]

Ho
Lee
Smokes!   

This is gonna come in handy with those sneaky Sunday crossword puzzles!
Whoo, nice!

I'm excited to give this a shot!

[BGM]

I wrote it in autohotkey!

[DyNama]

Downloading Ballistic from here, or the author's Goodies page, where the link says "Download Ballistic v1.1 --Last updated December, 26, 2013", only gets me v1.0.

[BGM]

DyNama - sorry!  I had updated the package but forgot to upload it!
Please download it again.
It is version 1.1 now.

[DyNama]

I downloaded it twice from both places just now, still get v1.0! I check the About page and look for Double Wildcard in help, still v1.0 

[Ath]

Well I can confirm that, the .exe file in the first-time downloaded zip is dated August 2013, not really close to December 2014 when it was first posted, but hey, that's what can happen with NANY
But, as a side-note, Ballistic isn't very Hi-dpi (actually, 125% in Windows 7) friendly, as my screenshot shows:

[BGM]

Okay, try it again, please (sorry!)  I've double-checked the zip file and it *is* version 1.1 this time.
I've never tried it at any other resolution than 100%; I can't guarantee it will work in another resolution.

It actually was first published close to December 2014 as version 1.1; I had created it and posted it on my private page but only ever privately shared it.    Mouser told me it was okay.  This is the first time I've ever publicly shared Ballistic.

[Ath, by the way, the link in your signature leads to a blank page...  http://ath.dcmembers.com/]

[DyNama]

Ballistic v1.1 is pretty fab! I'll be happy to use an offline version.

When I put 17 letters in the finder box and run permutations, I get "Error:  Memory limit reached (see #MaxMem in the help file)."

[BGM]

DyNama.   Hmmm..  
I don't know what you mean by "offline" version.  It doesn't even connect to the internet.

I've never put 17 letters in the box before.  Permutations can take hours, you know, especially with 17 letters - it will try to find *all* possible combinations from those letters.   For example, if you try to permutate just 8 letters, you create a list that is 362,880 lines long.

However, I was able to reproduce that problem.  I'll see if I can fix it.

[DyNama]

BGM, i even edited that sentence to try to make it more clear. I mean Ballistic is indeed offline, but I've been using online dictionaries for this purpose for years. Just the other day, i needed a 5-letter word ending in "ya", I couldn't think of any. Ballistic will be useful cuz it's offline, and can be configured with specialized word lists.

Isn't permutations still only using the word list? I cant imagine needing a list of every possible rearrangement of the letters. Anagrams find all the words from the list within the entry, I presumed permutations would find combinations of words from the list that use all the letters, if any.

[BGM]

No, permutation does not use the word list; it just does the calculation on the word you enter.
That's why if you enter a 17-letter word it runs past the memory limit (I did not think to try that and I'm looking for a way to resolve the error)

For example, if you enter cat, you get all of its permutations, regardless of the loaded list:
cat
act
atc
tac
tca
cta

However, everything else does use the word list.

[IainB]

This might be useful:
For crossword puzzling/solving - including anagrams, hidden words, palindromes - there is Logos:
Refer: http://www.moorscape...logos/Downloads.html

[BGM]

Logos is a nice program.  Thanks for the link.
Ballistic will do anagrams, crossword puzzling/solving and some other things, but it doesn't do palindromes. 
Ballistic just uses plain old text files, and you can add/update the lists on the fly.

[BGM]

Hi, all.  I did some extensive work on Ballistic.  Ballistic is now updated to version 1.2.

Now it does palindromes, semordlinaps and phonewords.  And it is 30% faster.  I've also added a half-dozen new lists.

[BGM]

But, as a side-note, Ballistic isn't very Hi-dpi (actually, 125% in Windows 7) friendly, as my screenshot shows:

-Ath (February 15, 2015, 12:19 PM)

Ath, I've not figured out how to deal with different DPI, I'm sorry. I have to calculate the sizes for the controls manually. 

[BGM]

Updated Ballistic to version 1.3.
Added a Recent Menu, and fixed drag-n-drop for custom lists.