Is it possible to generate sudoku games with LaTeX?

Question

I am a fan of sudoku and I was wondering if it is possible to randomly generate sudoku tables with their solutions in LaTeX. I see a few problems in the generation of numbers in the tables, but, sincerely, I wouldn't know where to start.

Answer 1

a package, sudokubundle, by peter wilson is on ctan. this appears to do what you're asking. it requires the random package to generate puzzle data.

Answer 2

For typesetting Sudokus (well, LaTeX is mainly for typesetting, while calculations can be done for example with Lua, or pgf which provides a random number generator), Roberto Bonvallet has contributed a Sudoku example to the TikZ gallery.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[pdftex,active,tightpage]{preview}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{mathpazo}
\PreviewEnvironment{tikzpicture}
\newcounter{row}
\newcounter{col}

\newcommand\setrow[9]{
  \setcounter{col}{1}
  \foreach \n in {#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9} {
    \edef\x{\value{col} - 0.5}
    \edef\y{9.5 - \value{row}}
    \node[anchor=center] at (\x, \y) {\n};
    \stepcounter{col}
  }
  \stepcounter{row}
}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=.5]

  \begin{scope}
    \draw (0, 0) grid (9, 9);
    \draw[very thick, scale=3] (0, 0) grid (3, 3);

    \setcounter{row}{1}
    \setrow { }{2}{ }  {5}{ }{1}  { }{9}{ }
    \setrow {8}{ }{ }  {2}{ }{3}  { }{ }{6}
    \setrow { }{3}{ }  { }{6}{ }  { }{7}{ }

    \setrow { }{ }{1}  { }{ }{ }  {6}{ }{ }
    \setrow {5}{4}{ }  { }{ }{ }  { }{1}{9}
    \setrow { }{ }{2}  { }{ }{ }  {7}{ }{ }

    \setrow { }{9}{ }  { }{3}{ }  { }{8}{ }
    \setrow {2}{ }{ }  {8}{ }{4}  { }{ }{7}
    \setrow { }{1}{ }  {9}{ }{7}  { }{6}{ }

    \node[anchor=center] at (4.5, -0.5) {Unsolved Sudoku};
  \end{scope}

  \begin{scope}[xshift=12cm]
    \draw (0, 0) grid (9, 9);
    \draw[very thick, scale=3] (0, 0) grid (3, 3);

    \setcounter{row}{1}
    \setrow { }{2}{ }  {5}{ }{1}  { }{9}{ }
    \setrow {8}{ }{ }  {2}{ }{3}  { }{ }{6}
    \setrow { }{3}{ }  { }{6}{ }  { }{7}{ }

    \setrow { }{ }{1}  { }{ }{ }  {6}{ }{ }
    \setrow {5}{4}{ }  { }{ }{ }  { }{1}{9}
    \setrow { }{ }{2}  { }{ }{ }  {7}{ }{ }

    \setrow { }{9}{ }  { }{3}{ }  { }{8}{ }
    \setrow {2}{ }{ }  {8}{ }{4}  { }{ }{7}
    \setrow { }{1}{ }  {9}{ }{7}  { }{6}{ }

    \node[anchor=center] at (4.5, -0.5) {Solved Sudoku};

    \begin{scope}[blue, font=\sffamily\slshape]
      \setcounter{row}{1}
      \setrow {4}{ }{6}  { }{7}{ }  {3}{ }{8}
      \setrow { }{5}{7}  { }{9}{ }  {1}{4}{ }
      \setrow {1}{ }{9}  {4}{ }{8}  {2}{ }{5}

      \setrow {9}{7}{ }  {3}{8}{5}  { }{2}{4}
      \setrow { }{ }{3}  {7}{2}{6}  {8}{ }{ }
      \setrow {6}{8}{ }  {1}{4}{9}  { }{5}{3}

      \setrow {7}{ }{4}  {6}{ }{2}  {5}{ }{1}
      \setrow { }{6}{5}  { }{1}{ }  {9}{3}{ }
      \setrow {3}{ }{8}  { }{5}{ }  {4}{ }{2}
    \end{scope}

  \end{scope}

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

Answer 3

For typesetting Sudokus, you can also use the logicpuzzle bundle [CTAN].

\begin{center}
  \begin{lpsudoku}
    \setrow{9}{{},2,6,{},{},{},{},{},{}}
    \setrow{8}{{},{},{},{},{},{},1,7,{}}
    \setrow{7}{{},{},3,1,{},6,{},{},{}}
    \setrow{6}{{},6,{},{},5,{},8,{},3}
    \setrow{5}{{},{},9,2,6,1,7,{},{}}
    \setrow{4}{5,{},4,{},8,{},{},6,{}}
    \setrow{3}{{},{},{},8,{},4,3,{},{}}
    \setrow{2}{{},4,8,{},{},{},{},{},{}}
    \setrow{1}{{},{},{},{},{},{},9,4,{}}
    \end{lpsudoku}
    \hspace{1.5cm}
    \begin{lpsudoku}
    \setrow{9}{1,2,6,5,7,8,4,3,9}
    \setrow{8}{4,8,5,9,3,2,1,7,6}
    \setrow{7}{7,9,3,1,4,6,5,8,2}
    \setrow{6}{2,6,1,4,5,7,8,9,3}
    \setrow{5}{8,3,9,2,6,1,7,5,4}
    \setrow{4}{5,7,4,3,8,9,2,6,1}
    \setrow{3}{6,5,2,8,9,4,3,1,7}
    \setrow{2}{9,4,8,7,1,3,6,2,5}
    \setrow{1}{3,1,7,6,2,5,9,4,8}
  \end{lpsudoku}
\end{center}

You can use the createlpsudoku bash script to transfer exported Sudokus from e.g. HoDoKu or QQwing into lpsudoku environments. See: How to create a Sudoku magazine

With the lpsmag bash script, you can even produce your own Sudoku magazines with solutions! Whenever you run the script, you have a new magazine.