Version History

Version 3.2.6
9th August 2023

Fixed

• Tools - Separate Cipher Files. Fixed issue with Null cipher missing final ciphertext line.

Added

• • Tridigital. Added a hill-climbing solution to make solving this cipher type much quicker and easier.

  • Tools - Keyed Alphabet Finder. Added solver for Trifid cipher.

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Option added to solve a Ragbaby cipher using a 26-letter alphabet.

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Always add a full stop at the end of the best match result.

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Added option to automatically capitalise best match result.

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Added option to automatically change '=' to '-' in best match result. (* See Note below)

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Added option to remove '*' from best match result when copying to clipboard using Copy Solution. (* See Note below)

  • Options - Miscellaneous. Added option to automatically change the number 'Ø' to '0' when a cipher is read from a file or pasted into the window. (* See Note below)

Updated

• Fractionated Morse. Improved algorithm. For best results enter a crib or use common trigraph such as the, ing etc.

• Ragbaby. Improved algorithm.

• Trifid. Improved algorithm.

• The version number increased to v3.2.6

Note:

• These options have been added for the benefit of ACA members who use the downloadable digital cons file from the ACA website which uses =, * and Ø as special characters.

Version 3.2.5
14th June 2023

Fixed

• Four Square. Fixed issue with tip not being found on 6x6 keysquares.

• Ragbaby. Hyphenated words in ciphertext are tested by treating them as both single words or two separate words.

• Bazeries. Spanish numbers and general numbers below 1000 are not correctly converted to text.

• Playfair 6x6. Fixed issue when solving with a keyword which caused an error.

• ADFGX/ADFGVX. End of cipher incorrectly deciphered.

• Condi. Error caused if tip located towards end of cipher.

• Edit - Add Word Breaks. Removed spaces between digits in best match result.

Added

• • Main Window. Aristocrat, Patristocrat, Headline. Allow '¿' and '¡' to be included in ciphers to allow them to be included in Spanish ciphers.

  • Morbit. Now checks for any missing number in the cipher, not just '0'.

  • Tools - Identify Cipher. Now lists either 'Incomplete Columnar' or '(In)complete Columnar' if both types are possible.

  • Tools - Read Aloud. This will read the best match text using the voice of the selected plaintext language, if available. Additional voices can be added in Windows at Settings -> Time & Language -> Speech -> Add voices.

Updated

• Ragbaby. This has been improved by using tetragraph data which include spaces' frequency. (see Note below)

• Aristocrat/Patristocrat. Improved algorithm.

• Bacon. Improved algorithm.

• Key Phrase. Added hill climbing solving method which uses tetragraph data that includes spaces' frequency. (see Note below)

• Bifid. Improved algorithm and increased maximum number of keys tested to over 5x10^8.

• Trifid. Removed period limit of 20 letters.

• The version number increased to v3.2.5

Note:

For the improved Ragbaby solver to work a new tetragraph frequency file is required for each language. These can be downloaded at https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1alOtfw7w4-eP4JRrKFMcO1h9ZRXyJ2dY and should be installed with the existing language data, normally located in the /CryptoCrack/Languages/... folder. If these are not installed the program will try to read them from the internet where they are held in GitHub.com. If the data file is read from the internet you will be asked if you want to automatically install the file in your default Languages folder. If you agree the file will be installed.

Version 3.2.4
22nd February 2023

Fixed

• Cryptarithm. Multiple equations occasionally produced additional invalid solutions.

• Bifid. Issue with very long periods of over 60 causing an error.

• Cadenus. Added warning for key lengths greater than 25 to prevent an error.

• Amsco. Error caused if 'Key length limit for brute force searches' setting in Tools - Options is set to higher than 10 when all keys are tested in solving.

Added

• • ADFGX/ADFGVX. Added solver for ADFGX/ADFGVX ciphers.

  • Tools - Read Aloud. Reads the best match text aloud. 

  • Beaufort, Variant, Vigenère, Porta. Added dictionary search.

  • Null. Allow numbers to be included in ciphers.

  • Grille. Added test for multiple complete squares in ciphertext.

  • Tools - Keyed Alphabet Finder. Added solver for 26-letter mixed alphabet keys such as those used by Gromark, Periodic Gromark and Headline.

Updated

• The version number increased to v3.2.4

Version 3.2.3
24th August 2022

Changed

• • Main Window. Character frequency window is now read only to prevent users accidentally pasting ciphertexts into it.

Fixed

• Cryptarithm. Multiplication puzzles occasionally produced invalid results.

• Key Phrase. User-entered fixed key not correctly reflected in results.

• Trifid. Hill climbing search finished after 13 million trials.

• Monome-Dinome. Last plaintext character in results occasionally not shown.

• Null. Best key not correctly shown when selected from Top Solutions with CTRL + left mouse click.

Updated

• The version number increased to v3.2.3

Version 3.2.2
15th June 2022

Fixed

• Tri-Square. Error given if tip located at the end of the cipher.

• Tri-Square. Number of total trials to perform not showing correct value.

Added

• Main window. Added 'Keep tip on cipher change' checkbox. This will retain the user entered tip/crib when the cipher type changes or a new cipher is loaded.

• Transposition cipher types. These now allow numbers to be included in the ciphers.

• Morbit. Checks for the invalid number 0 in cipher and reports an error if found.

• Grandpré. Added ability to include additional fixed plaintext.

• Key Phrase. Added ability to include additional fixed plaintext.

• Numbered Key. Added ability to include additional fixed plaintext.

• Tri-Square. Added ability to include additional fixed plaintext.

Updated

• Null. Improved scoring and added more tests.

• The version number increased to v3.2.2

Version 3.2.1
13th April 2022

Changed

• • Word Search tab - Word Match. Now includes diacritical chars (ÅÄÆÖÜØ) in results.

  • Tools - Options. Window now opens in the centre of the main window.

  • Main Window. Changed initial size to be based on screen size.

Fixed

• Fixed issue with searching keyword files containing diacritical chars.

• Tools - Parser. Fixed where ACA digital cons includes Caesar substitution crib/tip.

• Digrafid. Period length drop-down list showed odd numbers if minimum keyword length is set to an odd number in Tools - Options.

• Monome-Dinome. Issue causing the program to crash.

Added

• Phillips. Added 6x6 key square solver.

Updated

• Fractionated Morse. Improved hill climbing solver routine.

• Ragbaby. Improved hill climbing solver routine.

• The version number increased to v3.2.1

Version 3.2.0
23rd December 2021

Changed

• • Main Window - Renamed Top matches to read Top solutions.

  • Home tab - Renamed Top solutions button to read All solutions. These make the naming more consistent.

Fixed

• Main Window - Entering less than 20 chars then tabbing or clicking  away from the Ciphertext field causes the program to crash.

• Tools - Parser. Fixed to reflect the new format of the ACA digital cons.

Added

• Main Window - Top matches. Hold the Ctrl key then press the mouse button on one of the top matches to copy it to the Best match, Best key and Best score fields.

• Tri-Square. Enabled option for user to test only 8 most common ones routes instead of testing all (48) key square routes by default.

• Application. If an unhandled error (crash?) occurs a log of the error will be saved to help identify the cause. By default this will be the same location as the 'Location of ciphers' set in the Options window.

Updated

• Edit - Add Word Breaks. Improved the word breaks routine. This is based on word frequencies and requires a new data file for each language which can be downloaded at Additional Word Frequency Order Lists. 

• The version number increased to v3.2.0

IMPORTANT

To receive this update the new version must be installed from the website instead of selecting the 'Check for Updates' option in previous versions (v3.1.2 dated Oct 21 or earlier). The reason for this is that the CryptoCrack signing certificate used by the update function has now expired and I've had to create a new one. As a result, to update to the latest version the current version of the app will need to be uninstalled and the new version installed containing the new signing certificate.

The old version can be uninstalled from the Windows Start Menu and the new version can be downloaded from https://sites.google.com/site/cryptocrackprogram/installation-and-setup.

If you wish to save the Options file containing your settings and the list of recent files before uninstalling copy the files:

• CryptoCrackOptions.xml

• MRUFiles.xml

from:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\Data\<random_folder>\<random_folder>\<random_folder>\Data

Notes:

You may need to show hidden files to see the AppData folder. In File Explorer select View -> Hidden items.

Also use the most recent folder if more than one sub-folder is found.

Restore these files to the same location after installing the new version. 

Version 3.1.2
13th October 2021

Changed

• Home tab - Top Solutions. Changed numbering to start at 0 instead of 1 to align with Top matches in the main window.

• Edit tab - Format Text. Shadow effect added to the Copy text button to make it clearer when it's pressed.

• Tools - Parser. Changed to reflect the new format of the ACA digital cons.

• Tools - Options. Shadow effect added to the Apply, Save and Cancel buttons to make it clearer when each is pressed.

Fixed

• Aristocrat. Fixed issue with K2 dictionary search causing crashes with dictionaries containing diacritical chars.

• Morbit. Fixed issue if 'Morse.txt' data file contained duplicate entries.

• Home - Solve. Button not disabled if no valid ciphertext found for selected cipher type.

• Tools - Identify Cipher. Program crashed if the 'UnknownStat.txt' statistics file was not found.

Added

• Tools - Options. Added option to change the order of Top Solutions from "#nn keyword plaintext score" format to "#nn plaintext keyword score".

• Edit tab - Convert Text. Converts source text containing letters, numbers, punctuation and symbols into alphabetic characters or number groups.

• Statistics - Frequency Count. Added values to the bar chart showing single frequency count.

Updated

• The version number increased to v3.1.2

Version 3.1.1
11th August 2021

Changed

• Statistics tab. Changed icons for the Index of Coincidence, Kasiski and Chi Square buttons.

Fixed

• Bazeries. Data files not cleared after changing the keyword language causing inaccurate results if run more than once.

• Ragbaby. Words' numbering is incorrectly counted when asterisks are present.

• Checkerboard. 6x6 cipher not recognised.

• File tab. If the selected file didn't exist it was moved to the top of the list of files.

• Tools tab - Identify Cipher. Values not correctly calculated.

Added

• Checkerboard. Added dictionary search option for key square.

• Statistics - Frequency Count. Added bar chart showing single and digraph frequency count of valid ciphertext characters for the selected cipher type.

Updated

• The version number increased to v3.1.1

Version 3.1.0
21st June 2021

Changed

• Ribbon Home tab. Increased the size of the 'Solve' and 'Stop Solving' buttons.

• Ribbon Edit tab. Changed the 'Sentence case' icon to make it clearer.

• Wording on labels and buttons changed to sentence case in accordance with Microsoft Guidelines.

• Options. Renamed the "OK" button to "Save".

• Options - Miscellaneous. Renamed "Test all keyword routes" to read "Test all keysquare routes".

• Tools - Translate. This is now always available. Previously it was disabled if there was no best match solution in the main window.

• Word Search - Key Square. Now searches in all 48 key square routes.

• Statistics tab. Removed the Kappa statistic.

• Other minor changes.

Fixed

• • Checkerboard. Added more error checking to prevent crashes.

Added

• Sudoku. Examples added to the solver window to illustrate the format required for entering the puzzle.

• Main Window. Added help button in the ribbon command bar. This links to the user guide on the new website.

• Support tab. Link to Version History page on new website (this page).

Updated

• The version number increased to v3.1.0

Version 3.0.7
18th May 2021

Changed

• Options - Miscellaneous Tab. Increased field width of Tip scoring value.

• Renamed "Keyphrase" to read "Key Phrase".

Fixed

• • Morbit. Cipher not solved if plaintext contains numbers.

  • Grandpré. Tip location finder incorrectly shows "Valid tip location not found" if tip amended.

  • Swagman. Solving not stopped when 'Stop Solve' pressed.

  • Key Square Search. Progress bar not hidden after search finished.

  • Key Square Search. 9x3 grid not finding correct keyword.

  • General. Error generated if selected Keyword/Dictionary files not found.

  • Tools - Create Data Files. Diacritical marks in source files not counted correctly.

  • Cryptarithm. Program crashed if unable to solve entered equation.

Added

• • Edit - Format Text. Feature to select character groups (A-Z, 0-9, punctuation etc.), capitalize, reverse and group text.

  • Key Phrase. Included option to fix ciphertext/key phrase letters.

  • Condi. Dictionary search gives option to add tip resulting in all keyed alphabet shifts being tested.

Updated

• Various Cipher Types. Improved dictionary key search speed (about 13%). (Aristocrat/Patristocrat, Bifid, CM Bifid, Condi, Four Square, Fractionated Morse, Playfair, Quagmire, Ragbaby, Trifid, Tri-Square, Two Square)

• The version number increased to v3.0.7

Version 3.0.6
5th February 2021

Changed

• Renamed "Vigenere" to read "Vigenère".

• Renamed "Grandpre" to read "Grandpré".

• Main Window. In the Ciphertext field changed "No cipher loaded" to read "Please enter your ciphertext here."

• Status Bar. Grid pairing only displayed if relevant to selected cipher type, i.e. ciphers based on 5x5 Polybius square.

Fixed

• Grandpré. Error produced if no tip location found.

• Grandpré. Tip location form should now resize dependent on screen resolution.

Added

• Tooltips for the options "All Types", "Substitution", "Transposition" and "Other" show the number of cipher types listed.

• Added: Support Tab. Link to view the program version history on the CryptoCrack website.

• Added: Numbered Key. The program can now solve Numbered Key ciphers, with or without a tip.

Updated

• English Pentagraph.dat file. Based on larger (35Mb) data source to improve scoring.

• Updated the version number to v3.0.6

Version 3.0.5
8th January 2021

Changed

• Main Window. When deleting ciphertext in the Ciphertext field changed "Do you want to delete the current cipher?" to read "Do you want to delete the current ciphertext?"

• Main Window. 'Best Keyword' and 'Keyword' fields made read only to prevent accidental deletion.

• Hill cipher. Message warning of invalid matrix size changed from "Cipher contains odd number of characters..." to read "Ciphertext length is not divisible by..."

Added

• Main Window Status Bar. Solving method added for Headline.

Updated

• Updated the version number to v3.0.5

Version 3.0.4
31st December 2020

Changed

• On the main window renamed "Cipher Frequency" to read "Character Frequency"

• Renamed "Enter tip, if known" to read "Enter tip/crib, if known"

Added

• Added n-Gram frequencies for 1-Gram to 5-Grams

• Added tooltips to red Xs on main window (delete tip and delete key)

Updated

• Updated the version number to v3.0.4

Version 3.0.3

9th December 2020

Fixed

• Issue with access to the Dictionary files

• issue with not reading new files in lowercase

Updated

• Updated the version number to v3.0.3

Version 3.0.0
1st December 2020

New:

• Ribbon Interface: Redesigned interface introducing a ribbon interface instead of the dropdown menus which should make it easier to find the various functions and make it clearer what each button does. Requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4.7.2 (x86 and x64) or later. This shouldn't be an issue as .NET Framework 4.7.2 was included with the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

• Cipher Length: The limitation of 1950 characters for the cipher length has been removed.

• Cipher Settings: Removed the option of selecting either 5x5 or 6x6 grid keysquares for some of the cipher types such as the Playfair. These are now automatically detected by looking for numbers in the cipher.

• Dictionary Files: Simplified the dictionary format. The new format uses a single file for each different language. Each file contains only one word per line in upper or lower case, mixed pattern and non-pattern words and the order is not important so you can add additional words to the end or middle of the list. The new language lists I've created are in alphabetical order to enable you to check if a particular word is included. If you've created your own dictionary files or amended the ones previously provided you can merge them into a single file to continue using them. Online websites are available to do this for free.

• Progress Bar: This is a little smaller and included in the status bar of the main window. Solving progress is also shown on the taskbar.

• Program Updates: These are automatically rolled out though users retain the option to install it. Users can also manually check for updates in the Support tab.

Changed:

• The limitation of 1950 characters for the cipher length has been removed.

Added:

• Ability to translate the best match text to a selected language.

• Automatic English spell check is enabled for the best match text. Requires .NET Framework 4.0 English language pack installed on your computer.

• Sequence Transposition solver.

• Straddling Checkerboard solver.

v2.0 (Build 7086.15214) x64: 64-bit

v2.0 (Build 7086.15174) x86: 32-bit

(27 May 2019)

• Improved: Created a x64 (64-bit) version.

• Improved: [Periodic Gromark] Added hill climbing solver.

• Improved: [Cryptarithm Solver] Now handles number bases 6-16 and improved speed.
  ACA members can now enter problems into the solver in the format published in The Cryptogram magazine.

• Fixed: [Bifid] Fixed issue with periods greater than 20 not solving correctly.

• Fixed: [Interrupted Key] Fixed issue with very short dictionary words and long tip.

• Added: [Options] Ability to set a default to test for all 48 routes in a keysquare instead of the most common 8 routes. This has been added to the Miscellaneous page in the Options window (Tools - Options). Note: Selecting this option will increase the solving time.

• Added: [Main Window] Added 'TempDictionary' option to Language->Keyword menu to enable user created dictionary files to be selected from anywhere on your drive as required. Instructions for adding them can be found in the User Guide.

• Added: [Nicodemus] Added Porta cipher type option.

• Changed: [Main Window] The limit of the number of trials has increased from 214 million to 18 quintillion (18*1018). When running, numbers greater than 214 million are rounded down to the nearest million, e.g. 2,153,568,000 is shown as 2,153m. The exact number of trials is displayed when the solving is stopped.

• Changed: [Main Window - About] Changed version numbering format to "Version x.x (Build xxxx.xxxxx)".

• Removed: [Options] Removed Statistics page. This wasn't used by the program so won't affect users.

v1.2.6904.24964

v1.2.6904.25059 (XP)
(27 November 2018)

• •  Added: [Syllabary] Added Syllabary solver for 'Unknown Coords/Known Keysquare' and 'Known Coords/Unknown Keysquare'.

  • Improved: [CM Bifid] Added hill climbing solver.

v1.1.6832.15519

v1.1.6832.15594 (XP)
(15 September 2018)

• Fixed: [Monome-Dinome] Fixed invalid top match in results.

• Fixed: [Tools] Fixed issue with Keyed Alphabet Finder not recognising 36 char alphabet.

• Added: [Main Window] Added 'UserDefined' option to language menus to enable user created dictionaries and data files to be used. Instructions for adding them can be found in the User Guide.

• Improved: [Cadenus] Added hill climbing solver.

• Improved: [Nicodemus] Added hill climbing solver.

• Update: [User Guide] Updated to describe the use of the 'UserDefined' option to languages and other minor changes.

Interim releases omitted.

0.1.4165.15675

(29 May 2011)

• Initial release.