CELL (Cell Encoding Location Label) support for the Ruby language.
CELL (Cell Encoding Location Label) is a standardized format for representing coordinates on multi-dimensional game boards using a cyclical ASCII character system. CELL supports unlimited dimensional coordinate systems through the systematic repetition of three distinct character sets.
This gem implements the CELL Specification v1.0.0, providing a Ruby interface for working with multi-dimensional game coordinates through a clean, functional API.
# In your Gemfile
gem "sashite-cell"Or install manually:
gem install sashite-cellCELL uses a cyclical three-character-set system that repeats indefinitely based on dimensional position:
Dimension (n % 3 = 1): Latin Lowercase Letters
a,b,c, ...,z,aa,ab, ...,zz,aaa, ...
Dimension (n % 3 = 2): Arabic Numerals
1,2,3, ...,25,26, ...
Dimension (n % 3 = 0): Latin Uppercase Letters
A,B,C, ...,Z,AA,AB, ...,ZZ,AAA, ...
The primary functionality is validating CELL coordinates:
require "sashite/cell"
# Check if a string represents a valid CELL coordinate
Sashite::Cell.valid?("a1") # => true (2D coordinate)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("a1A") # => true (3D coordinate)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("e4") # => true (2D coordinate)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("h8Hh8") # => true (5D coordinate)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("*") # => false (not a CELL coordinate)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("a0") # => false (invalid numeral)
Sashite::Cell.valid?("") # => false (empty string)
# Alias for convenience
Cell = Sashite::Cell
Cell.valid?("a1") # => true# Get the number of dimensions in a coordinate
Sashite::Cell.dimensions("a1") # => 2
Sashite::Cell.dimensions("a1A") # => 3
Sashite::Cell.dimensions("h8Hh8") # => 5
Sashite::Cell.dimensions("foobar") # => 1
# Parse coordinate into dimensional components
Sashite::Cell.parse("a1A")
# => ["a", "1", "A"]
Sashite::Cell.parse("h8Hh8")
# => ["h", "8", "H", "h", "8"]
Sashite::Cell.parse("foobar")
# => ["foobar"]# Convert coordinates to arrays of integers (0-indexed)
Sashite::Cell.to_indices("a1")
# => [0, 0]
Sashite::Cell.to_indices("e4")
# => [4, 3]
Sashite::Cell.to_indices("a1A")
# => [0, 0, 0]
# Convert arrays of integers back to CELL coordinates
Sashite::Cell.from_indices(0, 0)
# => "a1"
Sashite::Cell.from_indices(4, 3)
# => "e4"
Sashite::Cell.from_indices(0, 0, 0)
# => "a1A"# Standard chess notation mapping
chess_squares = %w[a1 b1 c1 d1 e1 f1 g1 h1
a2 b2 c2 d2 e2 f2 g2 h2
a3 b3 c3 d3 e3 f3 g3 h3
a4 b4 c4 d4 e4 f4 g4 h4
a5 b5 c5 d5 e5 f5 g5 h5
a6 b6 c6 d6 e6 f6 g6 h6
a7 b7 c7 d7 e7 f7 g7 h7
a8 b8 c8 d8 e8 f8 g8 h8]
chess_squares.all? { |square| Sashite::Cell.valid?(square) }
# => true# Japanese shogi uses 9x9 board
shogi_position = "5e" # 5th file, e rank
Sashite::Cell.valid?(shogi_position) # => true
Sashite::Cell.dimensions(shogi_position) # => 2
Sashite::Cell.to_indices(shogi_position) # => [4, 4]# Three-dimensional game coordinates
positions_3d = %w[a1A b2B c3C a2B b3C c1A]
positions_3d.all? { |pos| Sashite::Cell.valid?(pos) && Sashite::Cell.dimensions(pos) == 3 }
# => true# Higher dimensional coordinates
coord_4d = "a1Aa"
coord_5d = "b2Bb2"
Sashite::Cell.dimensions(coord_4d) # => 4
Sashite::Cell.dimensions(coord_5d) # => 5
# Parse into components
Sashite::Cell.parse(coord_4d) # => ["a", "1", "A", "a"]
Sashite::Cell.parse(coord_5d) # => ["b", "2", "B", "b", "2"]Sashite::Cell.valid?(string)- Check if string represents a valid CELL coordinate
Sashite::Cell.dimensions(string)- Get number of dimensionsSashite::Cell.parse(string)- Parse coordinate into dimensional components array
Sashite::Cell.to_indices(string)- Convert CELL coordinate to 0-indexed integer arraySashite::Cell.from_indices(*indices)- Convert splat indices to CELL coordinate
Sashite::Cell.regex- Get the validation regular expression
Sashite::Cell::REGEX- Regular expression for CELL validation:/\A(?:[a-z]+|[1-9]\d*|[A-Z]+)+\z/
- Multi-dimensional: Supports unlimited dimensional coordinate systems
- Cyclical: Uses systematic three-character-set repetition
- ASCII-based: Pure ASCII characters for universal compatibility
- Unambiguous: Each coordinate maps to exactly one location
- Scalable: Extends naturally from 1D to unlimited dimensions
- Functional: Provides a clean, stateless API for coordinate operations
Single letters: a through z (positions 0-25)
Double letters: aa through zz (positions 26-701)
Triple letters: aaa through zzz (positions 702-18277)
And so on...
Standard decimal notation: 1, 2, 3, ... (1-indexed)
No leading zeros, unlimited range
Single letters: A through Z (positions 0-25)
Double letters: AA through ZZ (positions 26-701)
Triple letters: AAA through ZZZ (positions 702-18277)
And so on...
CELL complements the DROP specification for complete location coverage:
# Combined location validation
def valid_game_location?(location)
Sashite::Cell.valid?(location) || Sashite::Drop.reserve?(location)
end
valid_game_location?("a1") # => true (board position)
valid_game_location?("*") # => true (reserve position)
valid_game_location?("$") # => false (invalid)# Standard algebraic notation positions
start_position = "e2"
end_position = "e4"
Sashite::Cell.valid?(start_position) # => true
Sashite::Cell.valid?(end_position) # => true# Go board positions
corner = "a1" # Corner position
edge = "j1" # Edge position
tengen = "j10" # Center point (tengen) on 19x19 board
[corner, edge, tengen].all? { |pos| Sashite::Cell.valid?(pos) }
# => true# Multi-dimensional abstract games
hypercube_4d = "a1Aa"
tesseract_pos = "h8Hh8"
# Validate high-dimensional coordinates
Sashite::Cell.valid?(hypercube_4d) # => true
Sashite::Cell.dimensions(tesseract_pos) # => 5The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.
This project is maintained by Sashité — promoting chess variants and sharing the beauty of Chinese, Japanese, and Western chess cultures.