README
1Cryptoslam v1.2
2by Brian Enigma <enigma@netninja.com>
3
4Cryptoslam is a curses-based tool for solving the simple pencil-and-paper
5cryptograms found in newspapers and puzzle magazines. It is a tool that aids
6in analyzing, examining, and trying possible decodings of simple substitution
7cyphers.
8
9Start the Cryptoslam program with the command "./cryptoslam". If you already
10have a cyphertext file you would like to decode, you can start it with
11"./cryptoslam {filename}". Once running, you will be see a screen with three
12main areas. The top area always shows a menu or an input prompt. The bottom
13area always shows the mapping between a cyphertext alphabet and a plaintext
14alphabet. The central area displays what you are working on (usually, the
15cyphertext and plaintext side-by-side, but sometimes it shows the output
16of different commands, like the statistics of letter distribution). The menu
17gives you the following options:
18
19 S:SetChar Set a cyphertext letter's decoding to a plaintext letter
20 U:UnsetChar Set a cyphertext letter's decoding back to unknown
21 R:ResetChars Set ALL cyphertext letters back to unknown
22 F:File File Menu
23 L:Load Load a file. If the file is a text file, the entire
24 contents will be treated as a cyphertext to decode. If
25 the file is a binary file (see "saveBin" below), the
26 saved state of the system--cyphertext, plaintext, and
27 current alphabet decoding--will be restored.
28 T:saveText Save the cyphertext and current plaintext representation
29 to a text file.
30 B:saveBin Save the current state of the system (the cyphertext and
31 the current alphabet decoding) to a binary data file that
32 can be loaded again later.
33 N:New Launch your text editor ($VISUAL or $EDITOR environmental
34 variable) to create a new cyphertext file.
35 C:Cancle Return to main menu
36 T:Tools Tools Menu. This will show a letter distribution--how many
37 times each letter occurs in the cyphertext. In a normal
38 English language distribution, the top letters on this
39 list are bound to be something like "ERSTLN."
40 R:Random Scramble the cyphertext decoding (useful for creating a
41 new cypher--feed it plaintext, and treat the output as
42 cyphertext)
43 T:Transform If the file you loaded was plaintext, it will generate
44 a random substitution transform. Use this to create
45 a new puzzle from a message of your own. Write your
46 message in a simple text file, load it, then use
47 "Transform" upon it.
48 3:ROT13 Set the decoding to the standard Unix ROT13. Specifically,
49 A decodes to N, B decodes O, C becomes P, D becomes Q, etc.
50 G:Generate If you have the "fortune" command installed on your
51 system, generate a random puzzle. This could take a
52 little while because it has to keep running fortune
53 until a puzzle of sufficient size can be generated
54 (more than about 3 lines and less than about 9). If you
55 really have to give up, the plaintext version is stored
56 in the local directory as "tmp.tmp".
57 C:Cancel Return to main menu
58
59Have fun, and happy decoding!
60
61 Brian Enigma
62 <enigma@netninja.com>
63
64