Decoder Ring Live Demo

This project is for anyone who loves escape rooms and puzzles. This application includes three algorithms that will help you encode and decode all kinds of fun messages? Use it to build your own puzzles, to add a twist to your scavenger hunt, or just to send a secret message. Enjoy!

Project setup

Follow the instructions below to get this project up and running on your own machine:

• Fork and clone this repository.
• Run npm install to install the dependencies needed for this project.

To run the tests, you can run the following command:

npm test

To watch how the code you write affects the application website, you can run the following command, which will start a server and take over your terminal window:

npm start

To stop the server and regain control of your terminal, you can press Ctrl + C.

Caesar Shift

The Caesar Shift is a type of substitution cipher originally used by Julius Caesar to protect messages of military significance. It relies on taking the alphabet and "shifting" letters to the right or left, based on the typical alphabetic order.

For example, if you were to "shift" the alphabet to the right by 3, the letter "A" would become "D".

"thinkful" -> "wklqnixo"

When decoding the message, you need to know the number the original message was shifted by so that you can shift in the opposite direction.

caesar()

The caesar() function in the src/caesar.js file has three parameters:

• input is a string that refers to the inputted text to be encoded or decoded.
• shift is an integer refers to how much each letter is "shifted" by. A positive number means shifting to the right (i.e. "A" becomes "D") whereas a negative number means shifting to the left (i.e. "M" becomes "K").
• encode is a boolean that refers to whether you should encode or decode the message. By default, it is set to true.

Keep the following constraints and rules in mind:

• If the shift value is not present, equal to 0, less than -25, or greater than 25, the function should return false.
• Spaces in the message should be maintained before and after encoding or decoding, as should other non-alphabetic symbols.
• Encoding is case-insensitive (e.g., both "a" or "A" would be encoded to the same result).
• If a letter is shifted so that it goes "off" the alphabet (e.g. a shift of 3 on the letter "z"), it should wrap around to the front of the alphabet (e.g. "z" becomes "c").

Examples

caesar("thinkful", 3); //> 'wklqnixo'
caesar("thinkful", -3); //> 'qefkhcri'
caesar("wklqnixo", 3, false); //> 'thinkful'

caesar("This is a secret message!", 8); //> 'bpqa qa i amkzmb umaaiom!'
caesar("BPQA qa I amkzmb umaaiom!", 8, false); //> 'this is a secret message!'

caesar("thinkful"); //> false
caesar("thinkful", 99); //> false
caesar("thinkful", -26); //> false

Polybius Square

	1	2	3	4	5
1	A	B	C	D	E
2	F	G	H	I/J	K
3	L	M	N	O	P
4	Q	R	S	T	U
5	V	W	X	Y	Z

The Polybius Square is a cipher that is achieved by arranging a typical alphabet into a grid. Each letter is represented through a coordinate. Typically, it is possible to arrange the letters however you like and read off the coordinates in whatever direction you like.

In this example, the grid will be arranged as above and coordinates will be read by comparing the first digit to the number on the top of the table and the second digit to that on the left. For example, in the above table, the letter "B" would be represented by the numerical pair "21".

"thinkful" -> "4432423352125413"

When decoding the message, each pair of numbers is translated using the coordinates.

polybius()

The polybius() function in the src/polybius.js file has two parameters:

• input is a string that refers to the inputted text to be encoded or decoded.
• encode is a boolean that refers to whether you should encode or decode the message. By default it is set to true.

Keep the following constraints and rules in mind:

• You are welcome to assume that no additional symbols will be included as part of the input. Only spaces and letters will be included.
• When encoding, your output should still be a string.
• When decoding, the number of characters in the string excluding spaces should be even. Otherwise, return false.
• Spaces in the message should be maintained before and after encoding or decoding.
• Encoding is case-insensitive (e.g., both "a" or "A" would be encoded to the same result).
• The letters "I" and "J" share a space. When encoding, both letters can be converted to 42, but when decoding, both letters should be shown as "(i/j)".

Examples

polybius("thinkful"); //> "4432423352125413"
polybius("Hello world"); //> '3251131343 2543241341'

polybius("3251131343 2543241341", false); //> "hello world"
polybius("4432423352125413", false); //> "th(i/j)nkful
polybius("44324233521254134", false); //> false

Substitution Cipher

The Substitution Cipher requires a standard alphabet and a substitution alphabet. Letters from the standard alphabet will be transposed to the standard alphabet. This cipher requires that the recipient have the substitution alphabet; otherwise, it will be difficult for them to decode the message.

For example, in the image above, the word "HELLO" would be translated as follows:

• "H" becomes "R".
• "E" becomes "M".
• "L" becomes "W".
• "O" becomes "L".

This would result in the code "RMWWL". To decrypt this code, you would simply take the result and transpose back from the substitution alphabet to the standard alphabet.

substitution()

The substitution() function in the src/substitution.js file has three parameters:

• input is a string that refers to the inputted text to be encoded or decoded.
• alphabet is a string that refers to substitution alphabet.
• encode is a boolean that refers to whether you should encode or decode the message. By default, it is set to true.

Keep the following constraints and rules in mind:

• You are welcome to assume that no additional symbols will be included as part of the input. Only spaces and letters will be included.
• Spaces in the message should be maintained before and after encoding or decoding.
• Encoding/decoding is case-insensitive (e.g., both "a" or "A" would be encoded to the same result).
• The alphabet parameter must be a string of exactly 26 characters. Otherwise, it should return false.
• All of the characters in the alphabet parameter must be unique. Otherwise, it should return false.

Examples

substitution("thinkful", "xoyqmcgrukswaflnthdjpzibev"); //> 'jrufscpw'
substitution("You are an excellent spy", "xoyqmcgrukswaflnthdjpzibev"); //> 'elp xhm xf mbymwwmfj dne'
substitution("jrufscpw", "xoyqmcgrukswaflnthdjpzibev", false); //> 'thinkful'

substitution("thinkful", "short"); //> false
substitution("thinkful", "abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcyz"); //> false