Hangman User Interface Prototype

[ Command line ]  [ SimpleUI ]  [ SwingUI ]  [ GallowsUI ]

Command Line Parameters

When invoked with no command line parameters, display an explanation of the parameters:

java HangmanApp 

Usage: java HangmanApp [ui class] [-t]
   [ui class] is name of user interface class (default is 'SimpleUI').
   [-t] optional flag to turn on test mode (for developers'). Uses wordlist
   as word source.

Welcome to Hangman!

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0

 
 

SimpleUI

For the SimpleUI version of the user interface, the console will be used for input and output.
The hidden word is shown with an underscore in the place of each letter.
Correctly guessed letters are filled in placed in the proper position.
In the example game below, the user runs out of guesses and loses the game.
The user input is shown in bold face.

java HangmanApp SimpleUI
Welcome to Hangman!

 _ _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0
Enter move: e
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 0
Enter move: s
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 1
Enter move: r
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 2
Enter move: n
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 3
Enter move: t
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 4
Enter move: l
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 5
Enter move: o
 _ E _ _ E
Guesses: 6
Enter move: a
 _ E A _ E
Guesses: 6
Enter move: x
 _ E A _ E
Guesses: 7
 

You have Lost!
The word was: PEACE
Play Again?
y

In the example game below, the user guesses the word and wins the game.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0
Enter move: e
 _ _ E _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0
Enter move: a
 _ _ E _ _ A _
Guesses: 0
Enter move: o
 _ _ E _ _ A _
Guesses: 1
Enter move: i
 _ _ E _ I A _
Guesses: 1
Enter move: l
 _ _ E _ I A L
Guesses: 1
Enter move: s
 S _ E _ I A L
Guesses: 1
Enter move: p
 S P E _ I A L
Guesses: 1
Enter move: c
 S P E C I A L
Guesses: 1
 

You have Won!
Play Again?
n

In the example below a player guesses an invalid letter.

Welcome to Hangman!

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0
Enter move: 2
Error: Invalid move
Enter move: a
 _ _ _ A _ _ A _ _ _ _
Guesses: 0
Enter move:
 


SwingUI

To run the program with the Swing user interface, provide the SwingUI class name on the command line.

java HangmanApp SwingUI

When the application begins, a window appears displaying the game board.  The title bar may be customized for your team.

During play, the player uses the mouse or keyboard to select buttons for the letter they want to guess. Guessed letter buttons are greyed out (disabled) and correctly guessed letters are placed in their proper position.  In the example below, the user has guessed letters A and C correctly so they appear in the word display in the position they belong in the hidden word.  The letter X was guessed and it is NOT in the hidden word so the guess counter is incremented to one.  All three letters A, C, and X are greyed out.  Note that the guess counter is not incremented for correctly guessed letters.

 

In the example below, the user has used all seven guesses so they lost the game.

 

In the example below, the player correctly guessed all the letters in the word, so they won the game.

 

The picture below shows the Play Again dialog which appears when the game is over.  Note that the buttons have keyboard shortcuts and that the default button is Yes.

 

GallowsUI (optional)

This interface is also console based but features more clever ASCII graphics of a stick figure hanging from a gallows.  It also shows available letters.
 

         _________
         |       |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                ---
         _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Possible moves:
 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Enter move: p

         _________
         |       |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                ---
         _ P _ _ _ _ _

Possible moves:
 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Enter move: o

         _________
         |       |
         O       |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                 |
                ---
         _ P _ _ _ _ _

Possible moves:
 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Enter move:
 
 
 

You have Lost!

         _________
         |       |
         O       |
        \|/      |
         |       |
        / \      |
                 |
                ---

The word was: SPECIAL
Play Again?
 
 
 

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