Level 18

I've found what calls itself a compressed file but doesn't appear to be.

If you downloaded the file with your browser, it was probably automatically decompressed for you.

I've split it down the middle and tinkered a bit but the items seem damaged and wont load. Not sure where the diff-erence is supposed to come in.

You have two sets now, right? See if there is a Python module that'll help you deal with differences..

Sure there is, but what does 'deal with' entail? The text output generated by that module is far less than useful. What am I missing?

You have two sets now, right? See if there is a Python module that'll help you deal with differences..

Sure there is, but what does 'deal with' entail?

Solving the riddle, of course. Sorry, but answering that question in a way you'd be happy with would give away the solution.

The text output generated by that module is far less than useful.

Yet also far more than useless .

The text output generated by that module is far less than useful.

Yet also far more than useless .

Believe it or not, that helped, at least for one step. Thank you!

Now, I'm at the point 'jungle' was when he wrote

The output gives me three different, interleaved 'streams'. It is at this point that I'm not sure what to do to further proceed. A gentle push in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks.

Alas, no one ever seemed to give him that gentle push. I sure could use it now.

(Edit) Never mind. I should learn how to code.

I've separated the zipped file, got 2 files with hexadecimal data inside
I tried to use the module suggested by the title, and got a third file
I've also tell-ed (not told) the difference between the two files I've found but the result doesn't lead to the level 19
Any hints?

I've separated the zipped file, got 2 files with hexadecimal data inside
I tried to use the module suggested by the title, and got a third file
I've also tell-ed (not told) the difference between the two files I've found but the result doesn't lead to the level 19
Any hints?

It sounds like you're going about this the right way, but you need to get three files from the output of the module. Hopefully, looking at the output should make how to divide it obvious.

I've separated the zipped file, got 2 files with hexadecimal data inside
I tried to use the module suggested by the title, and got a third file
I've also tell-ed (not told) the difference between the two files I've found but the result doesn't lead to the level 19
Any hints?

It sounds like you're going about this the right way, but you need to get three files from the output of the module. Hopefully, looking at the output should make how to divide it obvious.

I seem to be in a similar situation. Got the gz file. Extracted the text file. Split the text file into exactly equal size parts down the middle. Problem is, I now cannot figure out the next step. I have looked at two objects (and their related methods from a certain library module (which I am assuming is right (from the page title clue) but I get nothing meaningful out. One object just gives me loads of '+' or '-' leaded lines and the other object I cannot figure out the usage of.

This is the first of these challenges that I have not been able to figure out how to do the 'programming' bit. Googling has drawn a blank, as has my Learning Python book and Python Cookbook.

Completely stumped.

I seem to be in a similar situation. Got the gz file. Extracted the text file. Split the text file into exactly equal size parts down the middle. Problem is, I now cannot figure out the next step. I have looked at two objects (and their related methods from a certain library module (which I am assuming is right (from the page title clue) but I get nothing meaningful out. One object just gives me loads of '+' or '-' leaded lines and the other object I cannot figure out the usage of.

I've got exactly the same problem, don't know how to use that module.
And I'm not sure if I have separated the data from gz correctly.

getting the data from the .gz file is generally an all or nothing thing. If you didn't get an error, you got it. You should have a couple objects you can look at before you get to the pluses and minuses.

After that, there's several different ways to get pluses and minuses, you just have to find the right way and decide what to do with them.

I have looked at two objects (and their related methods from a certain library module (which I am assuming is right (from the page title clue) but I get nothing meaningful out. One object just gives me loads of '+' or '-' leaded lines and the other object I cannot figure out the usage of.

Sussed it, make sure your use of the module is by the line and not by the character. Use the example from the python documentation exactly.

For a few days now, I keep looking at the swan picture & get nowhere. Tried to adjust the URL with some obvious differences I saw & got zip.
Tried a few thing with the 2 parts of the picture, to no avail until now...

So I need a gentle push in the right direction.

Greetz

EDIT : Found the file!!!!!

EDIT : was stuck for a week... & then solved lvl 19 in an hour...
Stuck at 20 now

If you think you have your 3 files right but they don't seem to work, make sure you have saved the files in binary mode:

  Code:

f=open("filename.ext",'wb')

It took me 2 hours to figure that out... sigh! So hopefully this will prevent you from doing the same mistake...

After a bit of though I have managed to split the compressed file into three groups. However, at this point I'm not really sure what to do with them. I've tried writing them to file and then trying to open them. Do I need to convert the hex values to hex string literals or something, or am I just going at this the wrong way? Any help would be appreciated.

"Do I need to convert the hex values to hex string literals or something?"

That might be worth a try...

"Do I need to convert the hex values to hex string literals or something?"

That might be worth a try...

Yeah, I got it. Was a bit confusing at first because the files didn't open right with Python but got em open with Firefox. Was a bit of a pain though. Anyway thanks.

just solved the level but couldn't get the permission to view the wiki - if I change the url of lvl 19 to "pcc" i just get a 404?

edit: partially solved as I have solved the next level and thereby got the permission for both levels