[VicPiMakers Projects] Jim's Challenge - Output 10 (caesar cipher)

Sun Oct 11 12:16:02 EDT 2020

Thanks Craig. I do understand the problem.

Patrick sees what I'm saying, although we probably don't need both strings
in the input since the first string ("HOUVYE") can already be derived from
Jim's challenge. I think something like this would work a bit better as
input:

$ my_solution "72,111,63,85,61,56,118,121,61,69,63,61" "BIOPSY"

This would allow us to code up a generic solution where the cipher key
value can change from input to input.

On Sun, 11 Oct 2020 at 08:35, Patrick McMorris <patrick at mcmorris.ca> wrote:

> I agree it's not that clear.
>
> If the goal to be able to simply run the existing code on new input bytes
> then yes, "BIOPSY" is always the decrypted word since the byte array is the
> only given input. If the word changes, that hasn't been specified where
> that input would come from. So, either it doesn't change or the description
> of the second input is missing.
>
> But using a hard-coded word doesn't sound terribly interesting to code up.
> You could still write your key finding function to accept two strings of
> equal length and output the required caesar key. Then for question #10,
> call it with the word you extract from the input array and the hard-coded
> target word and write the output key. Then the problem is hard-coded but
> your code is more generic.
>
>
> Patrick
>
> On Sun., Oct. 11, 2020, 8:01 a.m. Greg H, <greg.horie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> For me, the confusion is that we're intended to write code to derive the
>> cipher key value. I did this and came up with an answer, but this key is
>> only relevant "HOUVYE" / "BIOPSY".
>>
>> So should I take this key and make it a constant for future inputs /
>> encryptions? That's what I ended up doing with my final code submission.
>>
>> I took out the code that solved the problem because unused code seems
>> like lint to me, but maybe I should put it back to show how I did it.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, 10 Oct 2020 at 17:45, James Briante <briantej at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Patrick,
>>>  Yes, you can look at only the first character of the string and use it
>>> to get the key. Comparing all characters as the advantage of catching
>>> errors in encryption/decryption. The code is just as short using
>>> "compare strings"  of your particular language.
>>>
>>> In C int strcmp (const char* str1, const char* str2);, in C++ *int*
>>> *CompareText*(*const* AnsiString *S1*, *const* AnsiString *S2*); Pascal
>>> ( Delphi) *function* *CompareText*(*const* *S1*: *string*; *const* *S2*:
>>> *string*): Integer;
>>>
>>> Aside: The purpose of the final test data is to see if your outputs are
>>> correct when you run your code with the new data. It should work the first
>>> time with no changes in the actual code.
>>> Jim
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 4:46 PM George Bowden <gtbowdeng at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Michelle
>>>> If you are on a laptop or computer using chrome, you can hold down the
>>>> CTRL key and tap the letter u .  There are things further back than that
>>>> but its a start.  As for ink marks showing through, we try to avoid that
>>>> because it usually reveals security holes that the bad people exploit.
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Oct 10, 2020 at 1:23 PM Michelle Wiboltt <
>>>> michellewiboltt at outlook.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Please help:)
>>>>> Here’s where my crazy comes in, see this image...
>>>>> [image: Image.jpeg]
>>>>> Ok.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, if u could think in terms of front back / embroidery and its
>>>>> front back...
>>>>> So, above is a code interface? But where is the back front and back?
>>>>> Front would be the website, right? So, when I do online shopping, that’s
>>>>> the front. Where is the back view of the front of the website?
>>>>>
>>>>> Another example, when writing in ink it can show through the backside
>>>>> when held to the light, kind of thing is what I’m trying to understand?
>>>>> Where’s that on the internet?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thx
>>>>> m
>>>>>
>>>>> Michelle Wiboltt
>>>>> www.elb1b69.net
>>>>> 604-612-2505
>>>>>
>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>> *From:* Projects <projects-bounces at vicpimakers.ca> on behalf of Greg
>>>>> H <greg.horie at gmail.com>
>>>>> *Sent:* Saturday, October 10, 2020 8:56:49 AM
>>>>> *To:* projects at vicpimakers.ca <projects at vicpimakers.ca>
>>>>> *Subject:* [VicPiMakers Projects] Jim's Challenge - Output 10 (caesar
>>>>> cipher)
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm looking for clarification on output 10 - caesar cipher problem.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is the intent to calculate the caesar cipher key value OR is the
>>>>> intent to encrypt the string with a pre-determined key? Initially I thought
>>>>> the question was to discover the cipher key value, but on reflection this
>>>>> seems fragile.
>>>>>
>>>>> Reasoning:
>>>>> - "BIOPSY" will work for the 12 integer input that leads to "HOUVYE",
>>>>> but it will not work for any 12 random integers.
>>>>> - You'd have to reverse engineer your integers starting from "BIOPSY"
>>>>> to get a valid set of 12 integers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I solved it both ways, but posted only the 2nd solution to github
>>>>> because only the 2nd solution will work for a random set of 12 integers.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm curious how other folks solved this one.
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Projects mailing list
>>>>> Projects at vicpimakers.ca
>>>>> http://vicpimakers.ca/mailman/listinfo/projects_vicpimakers.ca
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> George Bowden, vice president, Victoria Computer Club
>>>> gtbowdeng at gmail.com
>>>> --
>>>> Projects mailing list
>>>> Projects at vicpimakers.ca
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>>>>
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>>>
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