aoc-mod script

The aoc-mod command-line script can be used for automatically setting up a challenge project folder structure and pulling an Advent of Code day’s challenge input and instructions. It can also be used for submitting answers to Advent of Code.

usage: aoc-mod [-h] [--version] [-y YEAR] [-d DAY] {setup,submit} ...

positional arguments:
  {setup,submit}        run with '{setup, submit} -h' for more info
    setup               setup challenge files for AoC puzzle
    submit              submit answer for an AoC puzzle

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --version             show program's version number and exit
  -y YEAR, --year YEAR  year of the puzzle
  -d DAY, --day DAY     day of the puzzle

Setup a solution directory

usage: aoc-mod setup [-h] [-t TEMPLATE] [-o OUTPUT_ROOT_DIR]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -t TEMPLATE, --template TEMPLATE
                        path to a code template file
  -o OUTPUT_ROOT_DIR, --output-root-dir OUTPUT_ROOT_DIR
                        root path where the 'challenges' folder structure will
                        be created

The first main option of the aoc-mod script is the creation of a solution directory that takes the form “challenges/<year>/day<day_num>”. By default, three files will be created in each new directory:

  • input_day<day_num>.txt - the puzzle input

  • instructions_day<day_num>.md - the puzzle instructions

  • day<day_num>.py - a template code file that will be default provided in the project or custom

Setting a template file

The template path is a path to a file that will be copied into each new solution directory and can be created by a user for their own challenges. An example Python file is included in the default Advent of Code module and can be created by not setting this option.

The file can take on any format that is necessary and be of any programming language. However, AOC Mod supports two strings that are found and replaced when the template file is generated:

  • {YEAR} - replaced with the puzzle year

  • {DAY} - replaced with the puzzle day

These are used in the template file docstring to make it unique for each solution puzzle directory but are not required for user-created templates.

Setting an output root directory

The output root directory argument is the directory that will be prepended to the challenges solution output directory. If the directory doesn’t exist, it will be created relative to the current directory.

Submit puzzle answers

usage: aoc-mod submit [-h] -a ANSWER -p {1,2}

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -a ANSWER, --answer ANSWER
                        answer to submit
  -p {1,2}, --part {1,2}
                        part A = 1; part B = 2

Most likely, this will be the most useful feature to users of AOC Mod. This option will take in a solution from the user and, if the SESSION_ID is set, will submit (post) that answer to the Advent of Code website.

The response will be received from Advent of Code’s website and displayed to the user in the terminal.

NOTE: See the SESSION_ID section for more information about which operations are supported with and without a session id.