Jigwin piece template - Revision history

Havoc Crow: /* The format */ clarify max vertex limit

2025-09-19T00:46:30Z

‎The format: clarify max vertex limit

Havoc Crow: more details

2025-09-19T00:45:22Z

more details

Havoc Crow: /* The format */ minor clarifications

2025-09-19T00:29:46Z

‎The format: minor clarifications

Havoc Crow: /* The format */ add filename for completness

2025-09-18T07:35:46Z

‎The format: add filename for completness

Havoc Crow: some copyediting

2025-09-18T07:34:39Z

some copyediting

Havoc Crow: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Graphics |extensions={{ext|asc}} |released=2005 }} The '''Jigwin piece template''' is a file format used by the Jigsaws Galore..."

2025-09-18T07:27:44Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Graphics |extensions={{ext|asc}} |released=2005 }} The '''Jigwin piece template''' is a file format used by the Jigsaws Galore..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=electronic
|subcat=Graphics
|extensions={{ext|asc}}
|released=2005
}}

The '''Jigwin piece template''' is a file format used by the [[Jigsaws Galore]] program. It defines a vector shape of a "fun piece": a fancifully-shaped puzzle piece which can appear in jigsaw puzzles alongside normal-shaped pieces.

The "fun piece" feature was added in version 6 (2005), which comes with 22 pre-made Jigwin piece templates and explains the format in its help file. To be recognized by the program, a template file must have the <code>asc</code> extension and placed in the Pieces/ subfolder.

== The format ==

An example Jigwin piece template (one of the default ones bundled with version 6) looks as follows:
<pre>
Jigwin piece template version 1.0
Title: Square
Author: David P. Gray
Corners: 1,2,3,4
1, 0.0, 0.0
2, 1.0, 0.0
3, 1.0, 1.0
4, 0.0, 1.0
</pre>
From this example, the format is mostly self-explanatory.
* After the initial metadata, each row contains a point id number (integer), and x/y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces.
* The <code>Corners:</code> line specifies the ids of the four points which map to the corners of the piece, in the order: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left.
* The piece templates bundled with the program sometimes have additional numbers after the coordinates, e.g. <code>1,0.330000,9.210000,0.000000,1</code>. However, the help file clarifies that those extra numbers are ignored. (Perhaps they're the leftovers of some cut feature.)

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 * The <code>Title:</code> and <code>Author:</code> lines are optional. They specify the title and author name that will be displayed by Jigsaws Galore in the fun piece settings dialog.
 * Any other lines in the metadata section are ignored.
-* After the initial metadata, each row contains a vertex id number (integer), and x, y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces. There's no specific limit on the number of vertices.
+* After the initial metadata, each row contains a vertex id number (integer), and x, y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces. There can be of course more than four vertices listed (it's unknown if there's any specific limit to their number).
 * The vertices must be listed in increasing order, starting from 1, without repetitions or gaps in id numbers. This section of the file cannot contain any lines other than vertex definitions. The final line can end with a newline character, but this is not required.
 * The piece templates bundled with the program sometimes have additional numbers after the coordinates, e.g. <code>1,0.330000,9.210000,0.000000,1</code>. However, the help file clarifies that those extra numbers are ignored. (Perhaps they're the leftovers of some cut feature.)

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The "fun piece" feature was added in version 6 (2005), which comes with 22 pre-made Jigwin piece templates and explains the format in its help file. To be recognized by the program, a template file must have the <code>asc</code> extension and be placed in the Pieces/ subfolder.
 == The format ==
@@ Line 25: / Line 27: @@
 , 0.0, 1.0
 </pre>
-The format is pretty self-explanatory. Some notes:
+The format is pretty self-explanatory. Some notes: (Checked as of Jigsaws Galore version 6)
 * After the initial metadata, each row contains a vertex id number (integer), and x, y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces. There's no specific limit on the number of vertices.
-* The <code>Corners:</code> line specifies the ids of the four vertices which are the corners of the piece, in the order: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left.
+* The vertices must be listed in increasing order, starting from 1, without repetitions or gaps in id numbers. This section of the file cannot contain any lines other than vertex definitions. The final line can end with a newline character, but this is not required.
 * The piece templates bundled with the program sometimes have additional numbers after the coordinates, e.g. <code>1,0.330000,9.210000,0.000000,1</code>. However, the help file clarifies that those extra numbers are ignored. (Perhaps they're the leftovers of some cut feature.)

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 </pre>
 The format is pretty self-explanatory. Some notes:
-* After the initial metadata, each row contains a point id number (integer), and x, y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces.
+* After the initial metadata, each row contains a vertex id number (integer), and x, y coordinates (floats or integers). Coordinates can be positive or negative, and given to any scale or precision; the program automatically resizes the piece to match the other jigsaw pieces. There's no specific limit on the number of vertices.
-* The <code>Corners:</code> line specifies the ids of the four points which are the corners of the piece, in the order: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left.
+* The <code>Corners:</code> line specifies the ids of the four vertices which are the corners of the piece, in the order: top-left, top-right, bottom-right, bottom-left.
 * The piece templates bundled with the program sometimes have additional numbers after the coordinates, e.g. <code>1,0.330000,9.210000,0.000000,1</code>. However, the help file clarifies that those extra numbers are ignored. (Perhaps they're the leftovers of some cut feature.)

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Jigwin piece template files are plaintext lists of vertex coordinates.
-An example Jigwin piece template (one of the default ones bundled with version 6) looks as follows:
+An example Jigwin piece template (<code>square.asc</code>, one of the default ones bundled with version 6) looks as follows:
 <pre>
 Jigwin piece template version 1.0