How to use Sudoku Dragon

Here's a page from the extensive help system for Sudoku Dragon. It is available as a help screen when running the program. To get the full picture Download our Sudoku Dragon and see the screen in its context.

We now offer an alternative product only available for download from Microsoft Store. This shares many features but not all of them. For documentation of the SudokuDragon for Store version see its separate help section.

Here are some tips and suggestions to help you get the best out of the Sudoku Dragon software.

Transfer to another PC	If you have purchased a license for Sudoku Dragon you can easily move it to a new computer. The same technique will work if you need to re-install after a disk failure. Simply install the software, freshly downloaded from the web site onto the new computer. Run the installer and on the first screen select the Reinstall purchased version option and press Next, in a subsequent page you will be asked for the order details. All you need to supply is the long Order number contained in the order confirmation e-mail sent when the program was purchased. The order number (8 or 9 digits) is included in the email sent to you when you purchased the product.
Getting help about a puzzle	Our web site has a number of online forums with tips and general solution strategies. Our powerful hint display gives a useful range of options. The software has in-built support for showing possibilities.
How to move around the grid	You can use the mouse to select any square in the grid, just click with the left mouse button to select a square. The square will be then be highlighted. You can also use the keyboard to navigate around the grid. Use the Up, Down, Left and Right arrow keys to move the selected square in any direction. The Page Up and Page Down keys will move the selection by one region, press CTRL at the same time will move the selection horizontally rather than vertically. Home moves to the top left square and End moves to the bottom right.
Larger grid and font sizes	The grid and the text will automatically be scaled to fit the available window size. Drag the bottom right corner of the window to re-size the whole window until the grid is the required size. The size will be remembered for the next time that the program is run. You can also choose to run the program full screen by double clicking on the caption bar. The size can also be zoomed in and out one step at a time using the View menu. If the side panel is displayed you can change the grid and panel relative sizes by dragging the vertical divider bar between the two display areas.
Getting new puzzles	Our web site has a huge selection of Sudoku puzzles for you to download and solve. They are available from the File \| Download New option. The puzzles discussed in the online forums can be simply downloaded from the web site and then double clicked to open them. These will automatically open a new puzzle solver window.
Getting a hint, showing possibilities	The software works well for both novices and experts. For a beginner we provide a full display of the possible square allocations color coded according to the rule used to suggest or exclude the possibilities. You can choose a hint to see the complete solution; just do a blind check on whether everything so far looks OK; show a square that can be straightforwardly allocated; or show any squares that are incorrectly assigned. The View menu controls how much automatic analysis takes place to display hints and give possibilities for squares. You can also set your own 'tentative possibilities' on any square. These interact with the automatic possibilities in quite complex ways - please look at the possibilities and highlighting screens to see what settings are in effect. The display of possible Sudoku square allocations is changed using the View \| Options... screen and the hints on what next to do is available with Game \| Hint....
Customize the grid's appearance	If you prefer different colors or fonts for the grid area you are in full control. Just select the View \| Options command and click on Appearance to select a different display theme or even create your own new theme.
Concentrating on individual squares	With the more taxing puzzles you'll have to carefully consider the options for particular squares. To support this, Sudoku Dragon allows easy access to information for a square, both on the side panel, double clicking and by pressing the Return or Enter key. A screen is displayed showing all the possibilities for the square together with any manually added notes you may have.
Setting possibilities	You can set any of the possibilities by pressing CTRL at the same time as pressing a number. If the number is already set it will clear it. The possibilities are displayed at the bottom of each grid square. The setting of tentative possibilities is remembered so the program can selectively Undo and Redo them if you find you need to change your mind later. You can also mark tentative impossibilites too using SHIFT and the number. To clear all marked possibilities for the current square use F7 or the Edit \| Clear all Possibilities menu command.
Correcting mistakes	If you find you need to correct a square allocation there are two ways to do it. Firstly you can go back any number of allocation steps using the Edit \| Undo feature. This will put the square back to where it was prior to the allocation. You can also move to the square and press the Delete or Space key to clear the number from the square.
Solving a printed puzzle	You can use Sudoku Puzzle as a convenient way to solve a puzzle, by using your manual method or using the various hints provided by Sudoku Dragon. First use File \| New... to generate a blank puzzle grid. Then go through the grid square by square copying in the Newspaper grid allocations. When you have done all the squares use File \| Save... to store the puzzle in a file. This lets you go back and solve the puzzle some later time and also tells the program that the initial grid allocation is complete. You can now print or solve the puzzle as normal. NOTE: Some printed puzzles are copyright protected, you should not copy or store these puzzles without permission.
Accessing the Internet	Sudoku Dragon needs to access the Internet to check for program updates and download new puzzles . In order to do this you may need to change your computer's Firewall settings to allow the program 'sudokudragon.exe' access to the Internet. What you need to do will vary according to the firewall you have installed on your computer, please refer to the help system for your firewall.