Introduction to Morse Code

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Introduction

Morse code is a method of transmitting string information into a series of dots[.] and dashes[-] encrypting a message between two entities and so making communication possible between two parties. And we are going to have the fun task of doing just that.

Using Morse

At first we will need to define a dictionary to be able to communicate. Find the Morse code value of the letter we want to type and instantiate a dictionary Element and the reason for doing so is that we will not have to use all of the redundant if statements or case statements thus increasing our calculation speeds.

namespace Morse_Code
{
    public class TheLib
    {
        private Dictionary<String, String> m_TheLibrary = 
                      new Dictionary<string, string>();

        public Dictionary<String, String> TheLibrary
        {
            get { return m_TheLibrary; }
            set { m_TheLibrary = value; }
        }
    }
}

This will keep track of all our data. Well now we have to add some data into our little library. Let's create a load method to do the adding of all our Morse values for our characters.

protected void LoadMorse()
{
    #region Alphabet A-Z
    TheLibrary.Add("A", ".-");
    TheLibrary.Add("B", "-...");
    TheLibrary.Add("C", "-.-.");
    TheLibrary.Add("D", "-..");
    #endregion
}

This will enable us to add some values into our library and using the library will be just as easy to do, just by calling on the library and sending our characters. Let's create a method that will return the Morse encrypted string value.

public String Sentance_To_Morse(String Sentence)
{
    //A single Space will identify inter character spaces in our words
    //A Triple Space will identify inter word spaces in our sentence
    String returnString = "";
    //We will start by deconstructing our sentence into a String List 
    //to hold our words in the sentence
    List<string> Words = Sentence.Split(' ').ToList<string>();//Convert the array to a list 
    //then we will loop through our words to start 
    //creating the Morse value for each letter in the list
    foreach (String Word in Words)
    {
        for (int letter = 0; letter < Word.Length; letter++)
        {
            //to upper is used to check if the value is in our library
            if (TheLibrary.ContainsKey(Word[letter].ToString().ToUpper()))
            {
                returnString += TheLibrary[Word[letter].ToString().ToUpper()];//Gets the morse value for our letter
            }//Makes Sure That the character is in our library
            else 
            {
                Console.WriteLine("The Character {0} is not recognized in the Morse Library", letter.ToString().ToUpper());
            }//tell the user there was a mistake
            returnString += " ";//add inter character space
        }
        returnString = returnString.Trim(' ');  //remove the single space from the back to add
                                                //inter word space other wise we will have four spaces
        returnString += "   ";
    }
    return returnString.Trim(' ');//to remove all unnecessary spaces
} 

If we call on this method and send through the sentence "SOS SOS".

We will get the value of "... --- ... ... --- ..."

What if we got a series of dots and dashes and wanted to convert it back to a sentence? Let's create a method to do the conversion.

public String Morse_To_Sentance(String Morse)
{
    String returnString = "";
    //we will split the Code received into word segments remember the triple space
    //well now we will just replace that with a comma and split the Code on the comma
    Morse = Morse.Replace("   ", ",");
    string[] MorceWords = Morse.Split(',');
    foreach (String word in MorceWords)
    {
        if (word != "")
        {
            //remember the inter character spaces we assigned
            //now we will split the word into its charaters
            String[] MorseCodeLetters = word.Split(' ');
            foreach (string MorseCodeLetter in MorseCodeLetters)
            {
                if (TheLibrary.ContainsValue(MorseCodeLetter))
                    //there is no get key by value in a dictionary thus we need to get the key manualy
                    foreach (KeyValuePair<String, String> MorseItem in TheLibrary)
                    {
                        if (MorseItem.Value == MorseCodeLetter)
                            returnString += MorseItem.Key;
                    }
            }
        }
        returnString += " ";//add inter word space
    }
    return returnString.Trim(' ');//to remove all unnecessary spaces
}

And that will be all we need for our little converter. Hope this was a great example of a Morse code converter.

Now let's use the class we created:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    TheLib m_lib = new TheLib();
    Console.Write("Type the Sentence you would like to encrypt to Morse ::");
    string MorseSentance = m_lib.Sentance_To_Morse(Console.ReadLine());
    Console.WriteLine("Your sentence has been encrypted to {0}", MorseSentance);
    Console.WriteLine(m_lib.Morse_To_Sentance(MorseSentance));
    Console.Read();
}

Points of Interest

Morse code was originally represented by sounds, beeps, and the methods bellow will play the Morse code to simulate a communication. Just add them to the library TheLib class and call on the method.

I used it three times as a long method. Well all it says basically is that a dash is three times as long as a dit and an inter character is as long as a dit.

protected void CreateDAH(int time)
{
    Console.Beep(1100, time);
}

protected void CreateDIT(int time)
{
    Console.Beep(1100, time);
}

public void playMessage(String message)
{
    message.ToList<char>().ForEach((c) =>
    {
        if (c == '.') CreateDIT(200);
        else if (c == '-') CreateDAH(600);
        else Thread.Sleep(200);
    });
}