# dlx_rs
[](https://docs.rs/dlx-rs/)
[](https://crates.io/crates/dlx-rs)
[](https://github.com/tveness/dlx-rs/actions/workflows/rust.yml)
dlx_rs is a Rust library for solving exact cover/constraint problems
problems using Knuth's [Dancing Links](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_Links) (DLX) algorithm.
It also provides specific interfaces for some common exact cover problems,
specifically:
* arbitrary Sudokus
* N queens problem
* Pentomino tilings (TODO)
* graph colouring (TODO)
## Setting up a general constraint problem
A constraint problem may be expressed in terms of a number of items \[i_1,...,i_N\] and options \[o_1,...,o_M\].
Each of the options "covers" some of the items, e.g. picking option o1 might involve selecting items i1, i5, and i7.
The constraint problem is to find a collection of options which cover all of the items exactly once.
This can be expressed in terms of a matrix, where each option covers the
items for which the corresponding entry is 1, and doesn't if it is 0
```text
i1 i2 i3 i4 i5 i6 i7
o1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
o2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
o3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
o4 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
o5 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
o6 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
```
The exact cover problem is that of finding a collection of options such that
a 1 appears exactly once in each column.
This is achieved in the case above by selecting options \[o_1,o_4,o_5\].
The code to solve this is
```rust
use dlx_rs::Solver;
let mut s = Solver::new(7);
s.add_option("o1",&[3,5]);
s.add_option("o2",&[1,5,7]);
s.add_option("o3",&[2,3,6]);
s.add_option("o4",&[1,4,6]);
s.add_option("o5",&[2,7]);
s.add_option("o6",&[4,5,7]);
let sol = s.next().unwrap();
assert_eq!(sol,["o4","o5","o1"]);
```
## Solving a Sudoku
```rust
use dlx_rs::Sudoku;
let sudoku = vec![
5, 3, 0, 0, 7, 0, 0, 0, 0,
6, 0, 0, 1, 9, 5, 0, 0, 0,
0, 9, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0,
8, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 3,
4, 0, 0, 8, 0, 3, 0, 0, 1,
7, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 6,
0, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 8, 0,
0, 0, 0, 4, 1, 9, 0, 0, 5,
0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 0, 0, 7, 9,
];
let mut s = Sudoku::new_from_input(&sudoku);
let true_solution = vec![
5, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2,
6, 7, 2, 1, 9, 5, 3, 4, 8,
1, 9, 8, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6, 7,
8, 5, 9, 7, 6, 1, 4, 2, 3,
4, 2, 6, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 1,
7, 1, 3, 9, 2, 4, 8, 5, 6,
9, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7, 2, 8, 4,
2, 8, 7, 4, 1, 9, 6, 3, 5,
3, 4, 5, 2, 8, 6, 1, 7, 9,
];
let solution = s.next().unwrap();
assert_eq!(solution, true_solution);
assert_eq!(s.next(), None);
```