User Manual |

5. The View menu |

Contents of this page |

5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Scrambler 5.3 Viewing the wheel wiring 5.4 The Direct message windows

5.1 Introduction |

|  | Put the mouse pointer and open the Enigma-menu (click on middle mouse button). Slide off to View and watch the menu as shown here. The first section of this menu is about viewing the wiring of the various wheels, the ETW, the UKW and the Steckerbrett (plug board). This section is explained in more detail below. The next section affects the viewing of the windows of the first section. Next are the scrambler options (see Scrambler below). The first one, Scrambler, can be clicked to reveal the Scrambler-window. The option Show numbers should be ticked if you want to have a numbered index on the wheels, rather than the alphabet A-Z. The final section Direct message can be clicked to open two windows, 'Message in' and 'Message out', that can be used to type a plain or encrypted text directly.

5.2 The Scrambler |

When entering a character from the keyboard, electric current is fed via the Steckerbrett (if available) to the ETW (Eintrittzwalze). Next it is passed from right to left through each of the 3 or 4 wheels until it reaches the UKW (Umkehrwalze). The current is the 'reflected' and passes the wheels from left to right until it reaches the ETW again. From there it goes via the Steckerbrett to the lamp panel and will activate one of the lamps. In order to study this process in more detail the Scrambler window has been added. Select from the Enigma-menu: View > Scrambler. The window shown on the right will open. You may want to click on the image to view a larger version of it. The red line show the incoming current whenever a key is pressed. The returning current from the UKW is shown in blue. The alphabet indicators A-Z are given for clarity only. It can be used to study the translation of each individual wheel. You may want to use a numbered index 1-26 instead of the alphabet. If so, select Show numbers from the View-menu. |  |

5.3 Viewing the wheel wiring |

Apart from following the current flow through the scrambler above, you may also examine the exact wiring of each wheel as it changes with each key press. From the View-menu any of the wheels, including the ETW and UKW may be selected. E.g. select Wheel 1 from the menu and watch the wiring change as you press a key. If the option Allow multiple windows is off, only one of the wheels can be viewed at a time. If the option is ticked however, you may select any combination of wheels to be viewed, each in a separate window. Select View all to open all windows aligned side by side. |  |

5.4 The Direct message windows |

Typing a message directly on the Enigma keyboard is a rather time consuming activity. Especially when trying to decode a message, you may want to enter text in a more direct way. Select Direct message from the View-menu. Two small windows will be opened and the upper one has the input focus. Type a message directly into this window and see the ciphered message appear in the lower window. The Direct message windows have their own menu, which can be opened by placing the pointer over one of the message windows and clicking Menu (middle mouse button). |  |

Alternatively, if you have the input text available in a text file, you may drop this file directly in the 'Message in' window.

© Copyright Paul Reuvers. Last changed: Mon,18 Aug 2003.08:27:53