Precept Squares

Today Apple approved Precept Squares for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. I wrote Squares for iOS during Christmas break. Squares is a fun puzzle game where you place tiles on a game board and try to form squares. You can play against a friend or the computer.

Squares is available for iOS and Android. The Android version was written by a friend of mine, who asked me to write it for iOS.

Today's word: Symbolication

When developing applications for iOS, it is important to keep a copy of the debug symbols for builds delivered to testers and for builds submitted to the App Store. Without these files, it is not possible to "symbolicate" crash reports from users. Unfortunately all of the documentation on symbolicating crash reports seems to assume a single developer model. The documentation talks about the build archiving functionality built in to Xcode. If you archive your builds within Xcode, you'll be able to symbolicate crash reports from users running that build.

In a team environment, it is a bit more complicated. Since documentation from Apple and elsewhere on Internet is lacking in this area, I felt it might be useful to share what I've figured out.

For my project we have a build server that performs nightly builds of the project, as well as builds on demand. In order to symbolicate crash reports, developers need to copy the build artifacts (the application and associated debug symbols) from the build server to their workstations. I doesn't matter where you save the files on your workstation as long as Spotlight can index them.

Our automated build produces a .zip file containing something like this:

  ios/cmMobile_src.zip
  ios/debug/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Info.plist
  ios/debug/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Resources/DWARF/cmMobile
  ios/debug/cmMobile.ipa
  ios/distribution/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Info.plist
  ios/distribution/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Resources/DWARF/cmMobile
  ios/distribution/cmMobile.ipa
  ios/release/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Info.plist
  ios/release/cmMobile.app.dSYM/Contents/Resources/DWARF/cmMobile 
  ios/release/cmMobile.ipa

Once this .zip file is uncompressed, the .ipa file must also be uncompressed. Despite the .ipa suffix, these files are just .zip files with a top-level folder called "Payload" which contains all of the files for the application. After the .zip and .ipa files are uncompressed, you can speed Spotlight along by typing 'mdimport .' in a parent folder.

That's all there is to it. Once you've done that you should be able to symbolicate crash reports from users running the corresponding build.

Scrabby, the Awesome Scrabble Player

This morning my brother sent me a text:

him: "Do you have the scrabble app on your iphone?"

me: "No. Installing it now."

Soon we were playing a game of Scrabble against each other. After a few turns, he sent another text:

him: "After u play click on that teacher tile to see how bad u are."

me: "Teacher says I played the best word."

him: "Yea u get lucky now and then."

The teacher tile reveals the best word that was possible from your previous rack of tiles.

What my brother didn't know is that I fired up my old Scrabble solver program, affectionately called "Scrabby." I wrote Scrabby about two years ago after my wife started playing Scrabble on the Internet. After I played a couple of games against her, I quickly realized that it would be more fun to write a Scrabble program than to actually play Scrabble. Given a Scrabble game board and a rack of tiles, Scrabby reveals the best possible word to play. So, "teacher" and Scrabby should always be in agreement. That means I'll get "lucky" more than "now and then."

A few turns later, I placed two tiles worth over 20 points. "I can see you have played this game before," said the next text. *Grin.* Once the end of the game is near, Scrabby can also tell me what tiles are on my opponent's rack. Imagine his surprise when I started telling him what his best word was.

It's not cheating if I wrote the solver, right?

Scrabby is a console program written in Python with a command-line interface. Perhaps I'll give it a prettier interface some day. Here is a sample of Scrabby in action. If you're reading this from a mobile device, the pre-formatted text below may not display properly.

>>>> rack uaarrct
Searching... (\) 5% complete.
5 1 N v RIATA
5 1 N v TIARA
8 1 N h AA
8 1 N h AR
8 1 N h AT
8 1 N h TA
Searching... (-) 7% complete.
10 2 C h CURARI
Searching... (|) 8% complete.
14 2 F h CRIT
Searching... (|) 17% complete.
14 1 K v ENACT
Searching... (-) 18% complete.
16 2 M v DATURA
16 2 M v DUCAT
Searching... (/) 33% complete.
21 6 B v CURARA
Searching... (\) 99% complete.
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 21 : 6 B v CURARA
  #################################   | 16 : 2 M v DATURA
1 # * . . # . . . L U R E X . . * # 1 | 16 : 2 M v DUCAT
2 # . $ . . . % . I . % N I D I . # 2 | 16 : 6 F h FARO
3 # . . $ . . . # T # . . . $ . . # 3 | 16 : 1 H v LITHER
4 # # . . $ . P . H . . . $ . . # # 4 | 14 : 2 F h CRIT
5 # . . . . J U B E S . $ . . . . # 5 | 14 : 1 K v ENACT
6 # . % . . . F A . O % . . . % . # 6 | 14 : 2 M v DUCT
7 # . . # . . F A . Y . . . # . . # 7 | 14 : 6 J v RAT
8 # * . . G A S E S . . . # . . * # 8 | 14 : 7 B v CRURA
9 # . . # L . . D . # . . . # . . # 9 | 13 : 7 J v ACTA
10# . % . O . W . . . % . . . % . #10 | 13 : 8 B v ACTA
11# . . T O N E . . . . $ . . . . #11 | 12 : 2 M v DURRA
12# # . A M I N . # . . . $ . . # #12 | 12 : 7 J v AURAR
13# . . V . E D # . # . . . $ . . #13 | 12 : 14 A h AA
14# . $ . . c % . . . % . . . $ . #14 | 12 : 14 A h TA
15# A G G I E . . * . . . # . . * #15 | 11 : 6 I h OCA
  #################################   | 11 : 7 J v AURA
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 11 : 8 B v AURA
>>>> word 6 B v CURARA

    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 21 : 6 B v CURARA
  #################################   | 16 : 2 M v DATURA
1 # * . . # . . . L U R E X . . * # 1 | 16 : 2 M v DUCAT
2 # . $ . . . % . I . % N I D I . # 2 | 16 : 6 F h FARO
3 # . . $ . . . # T # . . . $ . . # 3 | 16 : 1 H v LITHER
4 # # . . $ . P . H . . . $ . . # # 4 | 14 : 2 F h CRIT
5 # . . . . J U B E S . $ . . . . # 5 | 14 : 1 K v ENACT
6 # . C . . . F A . O % . . . % . # 6 | 14 : 2 M v DUCT
7 # . U # . . F A . Y . . . # . . # 7 | 14 : 6 J v RAT
8 # * R . G A S E S . . . # . . * # 8 | 14 : 7 B v CRURA
9 # . A # L . . D . # . . . # . . # 9 | 13 : 7 J v ACTA
10# . R . O . W . . . % . . . % . #10 | 13 : 8 B v ACTA
11# . A T O N E . . . . $ . . . . #11 | 12 : 2 M v DURRA
12# # . A M I N . # . . . $ . . # #12 | 12 : 7 J v AURAR
13# . . V . E D # . # . . . $ . . #13 | 12 : 14 A h AA
14# . $ . . c % . . . % . . . $ . #14 | 12 : 14 A h TA
15# A G G I E . . * . . . # . . * #15 | 11 : 6 I h OCA
  #################################   | 11 : 7 J v AURA
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 11 : 8 B v AURA
>>>> word 2 m v DEHORN

    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 21 : 6 B v CURARA
  #################################   | 16 : 2 M v DATURA
1 # * . . # . . . L U R E X . . * # 1 | 16 : 2 M v DUCAT
2 # . $ . . . % . I . % N I D I . # 2 | 16 : 6 F h FARO
3 # . . $ . . . # T # . . . E . . # 3 | 16 : 1 H v LITHER
4 # # . . $ . P . H . . . $ H . # # 4 | 14 : 2 F h CRIT
5 # . . . . J U B E S . $ . O . . # 5 | 14 : 1 K v ENACT
6 # . C . . . F A . O % . . R % . # 6 | 14 : 2 M v DUCT
7 # . U # . . F A . Y . . . N . . # 7 | 14 : 6 J v RAT
8 # * R . G A S E S . . . # . . * # 8 | 14 : 7 B v CRURA
9 # . A # L . . D . # . . . # . . # 9 | 13 : 7 J v ACTA
10# . R . O . W . . . % . . . % . #10 | 13 : 8 B v ACTA
11# . A T O N E . . . . $ . . . . #11 | 12 : 2 M v DURRA
12# # . A M I N . # . . . $ . . # #12 | 12 : 7 J v AURAR
13# . . V . E D # . # . . . $ . . #13 | 12 : 14 A h AA
14# . $ . . c % . . . % . . . $ . #14 | 12 : 14 A h TA
15# A G G I E . . * . . . # . . * #15 | 11 : 6 I h OCA
  #################################   | 11 : 7 J v AURA
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 11 : 8 B v AURA
>>>> rack tkpmnde
Searching... (\) 5% complete.
20 1 N v KITED
20 1 N v TIMED
Searching... (|) 8% complete.
20 2 F h KNIT
Searching... (/) 24% complete.
24 4 L h KHET
24 4 L h THEM
Searching... (\) 37% complete.
27 6 J v PENT
28 6 J v PEND
28 6 J v MEND
Searching... (\) 99% complete.
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 28 : 6 J v PEND
  #################################   | 28 : 6 J v MEND
1 # * . . # . . . L U R E X . . * # 1 | 27 : 6 J v PENT
2 # . $ . . . % . I . % N I D I . # 2 | 27 : 6 J v MED
3 # . . $ . . . # T # . . . E . . # 3 | 27 : 6 J v PED
4 # # . . $ . P . H . . . $ H . # # 4 | 27 : 7 A v MEN
5 # . . . . J U B E S . $ . O . . # 5 | 27 : 7 A v MET
6 # . C . . . F A . O % . . R % . # 6 | 26 : 6 J v PET
7 # . U # . . F A . Y . . . N . . # 7 | 26 : 6 J v MEN
8 # * R . G A S E S . . . # . . * # 8 | 26 : 6 J v MET
9 # . A # L . . D . # . . . # . . # 9 | 26 : 6 J v PEN
10# . R . O . W . . . % . . . % . #10 | 25 : 6 J v ME
11# . A T O N E . . . . $ . . . . #11 | 25 : 6 J v PE
12# # . A M I N . # . . . $ . . # #12 | 24 : 4 L h KHET
13# . . V . E D # . # . . . $ . . #13 | 24 : 4 L h THEM
14# . $ . . c % . . . % . . . $ . #14 | 22 : 4 L v EM
15# A G G I E . . * . . . # . . * #15 | 22 : 7 A v ME
  #################################   | 22 : 8 A v EM
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 21 : 6 J v DENT
>>>> word 6 J v PEND

    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 28 : 6 J v PEND
  #################################   | 28 : 6 J v MEND
1 # * . . # . . . L U R E X . . * # 1 | 27 : 6 J v PENT
2 # . $ . . . % . I . % N I D I . # 2 | 27 : 6 J v MED
3 # . . $ . . . # T # . . . E . . # 3 | 27 : 6 J v PED
4 # # . . $ . P . H . . . $ H . # # 4 | 27 : 7 A v MEN
5 # . . . . J U B E S . $ . O . . # 5 | 27 : 7 A v MET
6 # . C . . . F A . O P . . R % . # 6 | 26 : 6 J v PET
7 # . U # . . F A . Y E . . N . . # 7 | 26 : 6 J v MEN
8 # * R . G A S E S . N . # . . * # 8 | 26 : 6 J v MET
9 # . A # L . . D . # D . . # . . # 9 | 26 : 6 J v PEN
10# . R . O . W . . . % . . . % . #10 | 25 : 6 J v ME
11# . A T O N E . . . . $ . . . . #11 | 25 : 6 J v PE
12# # . A M I N . # . . . $ . . # #12 | 24 : 4 L h KHET
13# . . V . E D # . # . . . $ . . #13 | 24 : 4 L h THEM
14# . $ . . c % . . . % . . . $ . #14 | 22 : 4 L v EM
15# A G G I E . . * . . . # . . * #15 | 22 : 7 A v ME
  #################################   | 22 : 8 A v EM
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O     | 21 : 6 J v DENT
>>>>