options

Cipher Tab

Enables some of the general default values to be set for ciphers.

Default cipher – When CryptoCrack is started the initial cipher type is set to this default value. The initial default setting will show the Unknown cipher type which will display the cipher in its original form showing all characters included in the original cipher, i.e. A-Z, 0-9, spaces and punctuation. Selecting another cipher type will show only characters valid for the particular file type.

Location of ciphers – Upon selecting File - Open for the first time after running CryptoCrack the file path will default to this setting.

Recently used file list – Enter the number of items, between 1 and 50, to display in the Recent Documents pane of the File menu.

Show plaintext in uppercase – Conventionally plaintext is shown in lowercase and ciphertext is displayed in uppercase. Checking this option will show the plaintext in uppercase in the Best match  and Top solutions fields.

Language Tab

Set the default languages and the locations of the language data files and dictionary files.

Default languages – Sets the default plaintext and keyword languages.

Language files location - Sets the default file location of the Languages folder. This must target the folder in which individual language folders are located.

Dictionary files location - Sets the default file location of the Dictionary folder. This must target the folder in which individual language dictionary files are located.

Keyword Tab

Set the range of keyword lengths to be searched when performing both dictionary searches and brute force searches.

Keyword range limits - Sets the minimum and maximum key length to be searched when performing brute force searches. This sets the range of periods shown in the Home tab - Cipher Settings drop down list for periodic cipher types.

Dictionary keyword range limits - Sets the minimum and maximum key length to be searched when performing dictionary keyword searches. The maximum keyword length should not be set to a higher figure than the maximum length of the words in the dictionaries.

Keylength limit for brute force searches – Sets the maximum keyword length searched by brute force in some of the ciphers before hill-climbing methods of solving are used. Up to this keyword length every possible key is tested. For slower computers this value can be reduced and for fast computers it can be increased.

This setting is currently used only for the Amsco, Complete Columnar Transposition and Incomplete Columnar Transposition ciphers.

Parser Tab

These locations are used in the Separate Cipher File tool to set the default file paths.

Source file – Sets the location of the source file containing all the ciphers.

Target file path – Sets the path of the folder in which the files are saved when the Separate Cipher File tool is used.

Miscellaneous Tab

This section is for miscellaneous option settings.

5x5 Grid Letter Pairing – Sets the missing letter in a 5x5 keyword grid and the letter which replaces it. The missing letter is usually ‘J’ and ‘I’ is used in its place though this can vary. The two letters selected must be different. The selected grid pairing letters are displayed on the main CryptoCrack window in the status bar.

Tip Scoring – If a tip is entered in the main CryptoCrack window the resulting score of the plaintext will be increased if this tip is present in the plaintext. The percentage increase of the score is set by this value.

Maximum number of top solutions - Sets the maximum number of solutions listed in the Top Solutions window. This is accessed from the Home tab on the main CryptoCrack window. Increasing this may slow down the performance of solving a cipher.

Test all keysquare routes – By default only the 8 most common keysquare routes for writing a keyed alphabet into a keysquare are checked. This can be changed to 48 different routes by selecting the Test All Key Routes option on the Home tab. Selecting the checkbox in the Options windows will default the program to test all 48 routes.

Spell check best match result - Unchecking this option turns off the automatic spell checker on best match solutions containing word breaks.

When CryptoCrack has finished solving a cipher and word breaks are present the best match solution is automatically checked for misspelled or unrecognised words such as where the inserted space is in the wrong place or the word is a proper name so should be capitalised. This is indicated by some of the words being underscored with a red wavy line.

Right-click the mouse over a misspelled word and the spell checker shows some possible corrections. Choose a correction to change the text.

Note that this only checks for spelling errors if the .NET Framework 4.0 English language pack is installed on the computer.

Show results of All Solutions as #nn plaintext keyword score - Changes the order of the results in All Solutions from "#nn keyword plaintext score" format to "#nn plaintext keyword score".