Constraints describe and limit the kinds of words that Lexifind will return.

Constraints can be entered in the Constraints: field of either the Make Words column or the Find Words column. They behave identically in either location; the only difference is that in Make Words they are used to limit the set of words that can be made with the letters entered in the Rack Letters: field, while in Find Words every word in the presently-selected word list is filtered through the constraint expression, turning Lexifind into a Scrabble dictionary that can be searched not just for a specific word, but for all words matching a certain general expression.

The most important uses of Constraints are shown in the Quick Start Step 7 and Step 8 help pages, and in the help pages for Make Words and Find Words. Those pages deal specifically with restrictions on words that are needed in order to fit them into board or crossword spaces, and with how those restrictions can be translated into constraint expressions.

This section, by contrast, provides a comprehensive description of all aspects of Lexifind's constraint language in one place, including uses that have nothing to do with specific board positions, like generating the set of all words that can be made without using any vowels.

All constraint expressions in Lexifind are case-insensitive.

• On to page 2