hangman Command

Purpose

Starts the hangman word-guessing game.

Syntax

hangman [ File ]

Description

The hangman command chooses a word of at least seven letters from a standard dictionary. The File parameter specifies an alternate dictionary. You guess the word by guessing letters one at a time. You are allowed seven mistakes.

When you start hangman, the game displays:

guesses: word: ....... errors: 0/7
guess:

The guesses displays the letters you have used as guesses. Every letter you guess is listed after guesses. The word: ....... displays the number of letters in the mystery word. In this case there are seven . (periods) so there are seven letters in the word. As you correctly guess letters, the game replaces the appropriate . with the correct letter. The errors: 0/7 displays the number of incorrect guesses. You enter your letter guess at the guess: prompt. For example:

guesses: word: .......... errors: 0/7
guess: q
guesses: q word: .......... errors: 1/7
guess: a
guesses: aq word: .a....a... errors: 1/7
guess: b
guesses: abq word: .a....a... errors 2/7
guess: j
guesses: abjq word: .a....a... errors: 3/7
guess: s
guesses: abjqs word: .a....a..s errors: 3/7
guess: z
guesses: abjqsz word: .a....a..s errors: 4/7
guess: y
guesses: abjqsyz word: .a....a..s errors: 5/7
guess: k
guesses: abjkqsyz word: .a....a..s errors: 6/7
guess: x
the answer was calculates, you blew it

To quit the game, press the Interrupt (Ctrl-C) or End Of File (Ctrl-D) key sequence.

Files