ABC words

Definition

A word is an ABC word if the letters "a", "b" and "c" appear in the word in alphabetical order.

If any or all of these letters occur more than once in a word, then only the first occurrence of each letter should be used to determine whether a word is an ABC word or not.

Task

Show here (on this page) every ABC word in unixdict.txt.

Other tasks related to string operations:

Metrics

Counting

Remove/replace

Anagrams/Derangements/shuffling

Find/Search/Determine

Formatting

Song lyrics/poems/Mad Libs/phrases

Tokenize

Sequences

11l

<lang 11l>L(ln) File(‘unixdict.txt’).read().split("\n")

  V? a = ln.find(‘a’)
  I a != N
     V b = ln.findi(‘b’)
     I a < b & b < ln.findi(‘c’)
        print(ln)</lang>

Output:

aback
abacus
abc
abdicate
abduct
abeyance
abject
abreact
abscess
abscissa
abscissae
absence
abstract
abstracter
abstractor
adiabatic
aerobacter
aerobic
albacore
alberich
albrecht
algebraic
alphabetic
ambiance
ambuscade
aminobenzoic
anaerobic
arabic
athabascan
auerbach
diabetic
diabolic
drawback
fabric
fabricate
flashback
halfback
iambic
lampblack
leatherback
metabolic
nabisco
paperback
parabolic
playback
prefabricate
quarterback
razorback
roadblock
sabbatical
snapback
strabismic
syllabic
tabernacle
tablecloth

In the following solution the input file is loaded from H6 drive. Altirra emulator automatically converts CR/LF character from ASCII into 155 character in ATASCII charset used by Atari 8-bit computer when one from H6-H10 hard drive under DOS 2.5 is used. <lang Action!>BYTE FUNC FindC(CHAR ARRAY text CHAR c)

 BYTE i

 i=1
 WHILE i<=text(0)
 DO
   IF text(i)=c THEN
     RETURN (i)
   FI
   i==+1
 OD

RETURN (0)

BYTE FUNC IsAbcWord(CHAR ARRAY word)

 BYTE a,b,c

 a=FindC(word,'a)
 IF a=0 THEN RETURN (0) FI
 b=FindC(word,'b)
 IF b<a THEN RETURN (0) FI
 c=FindC(word,'c)
 IF c=40 THEN
       PutE() pos=2
     FI
     Print(line) Put(32)
     pos==+line(0)+1
   FI
 OD
 Close(dev)

RETURN
PROC Main()
CHAR ARRAY fname="H6:UNIXDICT.TXT"
FindAbcWords(fname)
RETURN</lang>

Output:
Screenshot from Atari 8-bit computer
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Ada
<lang Ada>with Ada.Text_Io; with Ada.Strings.Fixed;
procedure Abc_Words is
use Ada.Text_Io;
function Is_Abc_Word (Word : String) return Boolean is use Ada.Strings.Fixed; Pos_A : constant Natural := Index (Word, "a"); Pos_B : constant Natural := Index (Word, "b"); Pos_C : constant Natural := Index (Word, "c"); begin return Pos_B > Pos_A and Pos_C > Pos_B and Pos_A /= 0 and Pos_B /= 0 and Pos_C /= 0; end Is_Abc_Word;
Filename : constant String := "unixdict.txt"; File : File_Type; Column : Ada.Text_Io.Count := 0;
begin
Open (File, In_File, Filename); while not End_Of_File (File) loop declare Word : constant String := Get_Line (File); begin if Is_Abc_Word (Word) then Set_Col (1 + Column); Column := (Column + 15) mod 120; Put (Word); end if; end; end loop; Close (File);
end Abc_Words;</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
ALGOL 68
<lang algol68># find words that have "a", "b" and "C" in order in them # IF FILE input file;
STRING file name = "unixdict.txt"; open( input file, file name, stand in channel ) /= 0
THEN
# failed to open the file # print( ( "Unable to open """ + file name + """", newline ) )
ELSE
# file opened OK # BOOL at eof := FALSE; # set the EOF handler for the file # on logical file end( input file, ( REF FILE f )BOOL: BEGIN # note that we reached EOF on the # # latest read # at eof := TRUE; # return TRUE so processing can continue # TRUE END ); INT abc count := 0; WHILE STRING word; get( input file, ( word, newline ) ); NOT at eof DO IF INT w pos := LWB word; INT w max = UPB word; INT a pos := w max + 1; INT b pos := w max + 1; INT c pos := w max + 1; char in string( "a", a pos, word ); char in string( "b", b pos, word ); char in string( "c", c pos, word ); a pos < b pos AND b pos < c pos AND c pos <= w max THEN abc count +:= 1; print( ( whole( abc count, -5 ), ": ", word, newline ) ) FI OD; close( input file )
FI</lang>

Output:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
APL
Works with: Dyalog APL
<lang apl>abcwords←{
⍺←'abc' words←((~∊)∘⎕TC⊆⊢) 80 ¯1⎕MAP ⍵ match←∧/∊,2</⍳⍨ (⍺∘match¨words)/words
}</lang>

Output:
11 5 ⍴ abcwords 'unixdict.txt' aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Arturo
<lang rebol>words: read.lines relative "unixdict.txt"
isABC?: function [w][
a: index w "a" if null? a -> return false b: index w "b" if null? b -> return false if b < a -> return false c: index w "c" if null? c -> return false if c < b -> return false return true
]
loop words 'word [
if isABC? word -> print word
]</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
AutoHotkey
<lang autohotkey>FileRead, unixdict, unixdict.txt Loop, Parse, unixdict, `n if ABCWord(A_LoopField) { count++ text .= count ": " A_LoopField "`n" } Msgbox, %text%
ABCWord(Word) { if InStr(Word, "a") if InStr(Word, "b") > InStr(Word, "a") if InStr(Word, "c") > InStr(Word, "b") return true else return false else return false else return false } </lang>

Output:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
AWK
The following one-liner entered into a Posix shell returns the same 55 words as other entries.
<lang awk>awk '/^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c/' unixdict.txt</lang>
BASIC
<lang basic>10 DEFINT A,B,C: DEFSTR W 20 OPEN "I",1,"unixdict.txt" 30 IF EOF(1) THEN END 40 LINE INPUT #1, W 50 A = INSTR(W,"a") 60 B = INSTR(W,"b") 70 C = INSTR(W,"c") 80 IF A>0 AND B>0 AND C>0 AND A<B AND B<C THEN PRINT W, 90 GOTO 30</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
BCPL
<lang bcpl>get "libhdr"
let find(s, c) = valof $( for i=1 to s%0
if s%i=c then resultis i resultis -1
$)
let match(word) = valof $( let a = find(word, 'a')
let b = find(word, 'b') let c = find(word, 'c') resultis a ~= -1 & b ~= -1 & c ~= -1 & a<b & b<c
$)
let read(word) = valof $( let ch = ?
word%0 := 0 $( ch := rdch() if ch = endstreamch then resultis false word%0 := word%0 + 1 word%(word%0) := ch $) repeatuntil ch = '*N' resultis true
$)
let start() be $( let word = vec 63
let file = findinput("unixdict.txt") test file = 0 then writes("Cannot open unixdict.txt*N") else $( selectinput(file) while read(word) if match(word) do writes(word) endread() $)
$)</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
C
<lang c>#include <stdio.h>
include <string.h>
int match(const char *word) {
const char *a = strchr(word, 'a'); const char *b = strchr(word, 'b'); const char *c = strchr(word, 'c'); return a && b && c && a<b && b<c;
}
int main() {
char word[80]; FILE *file = fopen("unixdict.txt", "r"); if (!file) { fprintf(stderr, "Cannot open unixdict.txt"); return -1; } while (!feof(file)) { fgets(word, sizeof(word), file); if(match(word)) printf("%s", word); } return 0;
}</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
C#
Takes an optional command line for other character combinations. User can specify any reasonable number of unique characters. Caveat: see discussion page for issue about specifying repeated characters. <lang csharp>class Program {
static void Main(string[] args) { int bi, i = 0; string chars = args.Length < 1 ? "abc" : args[0]; foreach (var item in System.IO.File.ReadAllLines("unixdict.txt")) { int ai = -1; foreach (var ch in chars) if ((bi = item.IndexOf(ch)) > ai) ai = bi; else goto skip; System.Console.Write("{0,3} {1,-18} {2}", ++i, item, i % 5 == 0 ? "\n" : ""); skip: ; } }
} </lang>

Output:
Without command line arguments:
1 aback 2 abacus 3 abc 4 abdicate 5 abduct 6 abeyance 7 abject 8 abreact 9 abscess 10 abscissa 11 abscissae 12 absence 13 abstract 14 abstracter 15 abstractor 16 adiabatic 17 aerobacter 18 aerobic 19 albacore 20 alberich 21 albrecht 22 algebraic 23 alphabetic 24 ambiance 25 ambuscade 26 aminobenzoic 27 anaerobic 28 arabic 29 athabascan 30 auerbach 31 diabetic 32 diabolic 33 drawback 34 fabric 35 fabricate 36 flashback 37 halfback 38 iambic 39 lampblack 40 leatherback 41 metabolic 42 nabisco 43 paperback 44 parabolic 45 playback 46 prefabricate 47 quarterback 48 razorback 49 roadblock 50 sabbatical 51 snapback 52 strabismic 53 syllabic 54 tabernacle 55 tablecloth

With command line argument "alw":

1 afterglow 2 airflow 3 alewife 4 allentown 5 alleyway 6 allow 7 allowance 8 alway 9 always 10 baldwin 11 barlow 12 bartholomew 13 bungalow 14 caldwell 15 candlewick 16 cauliflower 17 fallow 18 foamflower 19 galloway 20 gallows 21 galway 22 halfway 23 hallow 24 halloween 25 hallway 26 malawi 27 mallow 28 marlowe 29 marshmallow 30 mayflower 31 metalwork 32 railway 33 sallow 34 saltwater 35 sandalwood 36 shadflower 37 shallow 38 stalwart 39 tailwind 40 tallow
C++
<lang cpp>#include <cstdlib>
include <fstream>

include <iostream>
bool is_abc_word(const std::string& word) {
bool a = false; bool b = false; for (char ch : word) { switch (ch) { case 'a': if (!a) a = true; break; case 'b': if (!b) { // fail if we haven't seen 'a' yet if (!a) return false; b = true; } break; case 'c': // succeed iff we've seen 'b' already return b; } } return false;
}
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
const char* filename(argc < 2 ? "unixdict.txt" : argv[1]); std::ifstream in(filename); if (!in) { std::cerr << "Cannot open file '" << filename << "'.\n"; return EXIT_FAILURE; } std::string word; int n = 1; while (getline(in, word)) { if (is_abc_word(word)) std::cout << n++ << ": " << word << '\n'; } return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}</lang>

Output:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
Delphi
Library: System.SysUtils
Library: System.IoUtils
Translation of: C#
<lang Delphi> program ABC_words;
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}
uses
System.SysUtils, System.IoUtils;
var
bi, ai, i: Integer; chars, item: string; ch: char; skip: boolean;
begin
bi := 0; i := 0; chars := 'abc';
if ParamCount > 0 then chars := ParamStr(1);
writeln('Search words with letters "', chars, '" in alphabetical order'#10);
for item in TFile.ReadAllLines('unixdict.txt') do begin ai := -1; skip := false; for ch in chars do begin bi := item.IndexOf(ch); if bi > ai then begin ai := bi; end else begin skip := true; Break; end; end;
if not skip then begin inc(i); write(i: 3, ' ', item.PadRight(18)); if i mod 5 = 0 then writeln; end; end;
{$IFNDEF UNIX} readln; {$ENDIF}
end.</lang>
Factor
<lang factor>USING: grouping io.encodings.ascii io.files kernel prettyprint sequences sets ;
"unixdict.txt" ascii file-lines [ "abc" within members "abc" = ] filter 5 group simple-table.</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Forth
Works with: Gforth
<lang forth>: abc-word? ( addr u -- ? )
false false { a b } 0 do dup c@ case 'a' of true to a endof 'b' of a invert if unloop drop false exit then true to b endof 'c' of unloop drop b exit endof endcase 1+ loop drop false ;
256 constant max-line
main
0 0 { count fd-in } s" unixdict.txt" r/o open-file throw to fd-in begin here max-line fd-in read-line throw while here swap 2dup abc-word? if count 1+ to count count 2 .r ." : " type cr else 2drop then repeat drop fd-in close-file throw ;
main bye</lang>

Output:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
FreeBASIC
<lang freebasic>
define NOTINSTRING 9999
function first_occ( s as string, letter as string ) as uinteger
for i as ubyte = 1 to len(s) if mid(s,i,1) = letter then return i next i return NOTINSTRING - asc(letter)
end function
function is_abc( s as string ) as boolean
if first_occ( s, "a" ) > first_occ( s, "b" ) then return false if first_occ( s, "b" ) > first_occ( s, "c" ) then return false if first_occ( s, "c" ) > len(s) then return false return true
end function
dim as string word dim as uinteger c = 0
open "unixdict.txt" for input as #1 while true
line input #1, word if word="" then exit while if is_abc( word ) then c+=1 print c;". ";word end if
wend close #1</lang>

Output:
1. aback 2. abacus 3. abc 4. abdicate 5. abduct 6. abeyance 7. abject 8. abreact 9. abscess 10. abscissa 11. abscissae 12. absence 13. abstract 14. abstracter 15. abstractor 16. adiabatic 17. aerobacter 18. aerobic 19. albacore 20. alberich 21. albrecht 22. algebraic 23. alphabetic 24. ambiance 25. ambuscade 26. aminobenzoic 27. anaerobic 28. arabic 29. athabascan 30. auerbach 31. diabetic 32. diabolic 33. drawback 34. fabric 35. fabricate 36. flashback 37. halfback 38. iambic 39. lampblack 40. leatherback 41. metabolic 42. nabisco 43. paperback 44. parabolic 45. playback 46. prefabricate 47. quarterback 48. razorback 49. roadblock 50. sabbatical 51. snapback 52. strabismic 53. syllabic 54. tabernacle 55. tablecloth
Go
<lang go>package main
import (
"bytes" "fmt" "io/ioutil" "log"
)
func main() {
wordList := "unixdict.txt" b, err := ioutil.ReadFile(wordList) if err != nil { log.Fatal("Error reading file") } bwords := bytes.Fields(b) count := 0 fmt.Println("Based on first occurrences only, the ABC words in", wordList, "are:") for _, bword := range bwords { a := bytes.IndexRune(bword, 'a') b := bytes.IndexRune(bword, 'b') c := bytes.IndexRune(bword, 'c') if a >= 0 && b > a && c > b { count++ fmt.Printf("%2d: %s\n", count, string(bword)) } }
}</lang>

Output:
Based on first occurrences only, the ABC words in unixdict.txt are: 1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
Haskell
<lang haskell>import Data.Maybe (isJust)

ABC WORDS -----------------------

isABC :: String -> Bool isABC s =
isJust $ afterChar 'a' "bc" s >>= afterChar 'b' "c" >>= afterChar 'c' ""
afterChar :: Char -> String -> String -> Maybe String afterChar c except = go
where go [] = Nothing go (x : xs) | x `elem` except = Nothing | c == x = Just xs | otherwise = go xs

TEST -------------------------

main :: IO () main =
readFile "unixdict.txt" >>= mapM_ print . zip [1 ..] . filter isABC . lines</lang>

Output:
(1,"aback") (2,"abacus") (3,"abc") (4,"abdicate") (5,"abduct") (6,"abeyance") (7,"abject") (8,"abreact") (9,"abscess") (10,"abscissa") (11,"abscissae") (12,"absence") (13,"abstract") (14,"abstracter") (15,"abstractor") (16,"adiabatic") (17,"aerobacter") (18,"aerobic") (19,"albacore") (20,"alberich") (21,"albrecht") (22,"algebraic") (23,"alphabetic") (24,"ambiance") (25,"ambuscade") (26,"aminobenzoic") (27,"anaerobic") (28,"arabic") (29,"athabascan") (30,"auerbach") (31,"diabetic") (32,"diabolic") (33,"drawback") (34,"fabric") (35,"fabricate") (36,"flashback") (37,"halfback") (38,"iambic") (39,"lampblack") (40,"leatherback") (41,"metabolic") (42,"nabisco") (43,"paperback") (44,"parabolic") (45,"playback") (46,"prefabricate") (47,"quarterback") (48,"razorback") (49,"roadblock") (50,"sabbatical") (51,"snapback") (52,"strabismic") (53,"syllabic") (54,"tabernacle") (55,"tablecloth")
Java
<lang java>import java.io.BufferedReader; import java.io.FileReader;
public class AbcWords {
public static void main(String[] args) { String fileName = "unixdict.txt"; String chars = "abc"; for (int i = 0; i + 1 < args.length && args[i].length() > 1 && args[i].charAt(0) == '-'; ++i) { switch (args[i].charAt(1)) { case 'f': fileName = args[++i]; break; case 'c': chars = args[++i]; break; } } try (BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(fileName))) { String line; int n = 0; while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) { if (match(line, chars)) { ++n; System.out.printf("%3d: %-20s", n, line); if (n % 3 == 0) System.out.println(); } } if (n > 0 && n % 3 != 0) System.out.println(); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } }
// Returns true if word contains every character in chars in the // same order. chars may contain the same character more than once. private static boolean match(String word, String chars) { int length = chars.length(); boolean[] seen = new boolean[length]; int wordLength = word.length(); for (int w = 0; w < wordLength; ++w) { char ch = word.charAt(w); int index = -1; for (int c = 0; c < length; ++c) { if (ch == chars.charAt(c) && !seen[c]) { index = c; break; } } if (index == -1) continue; if (index + 1 == length) return index == 0 ? true : seen[index - 1]; if (index > 0 && !seen[index - 1]) return false; seen[index] = true; } return false; }
}</lang>

Output:
With no command line arguments:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
With command line arguments "-c pmm":
1: anthropomorphism 2: epigrammatic 3: epimorphism 4: euphemism 5: optimism 6: optimum 7: pandemonium 8: pantomime 9: pantomimic 10: pemmican 11: persimmon 12: pessimism 13: pessimum 14: plummet 15: postmortem 16: pragmatism 17: praseodymium 18: premium 19: primitivism 20: programmable 21: programmed 22: programmer 23: programming 24: promethium 25: pummel 26: supremum
jq
Works with: jq
Works with gojq, the Go implementation of jq <lang jq>def is_abc_word:
[index("a", "b", "c")] | all(.[]; . != null) and .[0] < .[1] and .[1] < .[2] ;
select(is_abc_word)</lang> Invocation: jq -rR -f abc-words.jq unixdict.txt

Output:

(synopsis)

aback abacus abc ... aback abacus abc

Julia
See Alternade_words#Julia for the foreachword function. <lang julia>function isabcword(w, _)
positions = [findfirst(c -> c == ch, w) for ch in "abc"] return all(!isnothing, positions) && issorted(positions) ? w : ""
end
foreachword("unixdict.txt", isabcword)

</lang>

Output:
Word source: unixdict.txt aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Lua
<lang Lua>for word in io.lines('unixdict.txt') do
if string.find(word, "^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c") then print(word) end
end</lang>
Nim
<lang Nim>import strutils
func isAbcWord(word: string): bool =
let ia = word.find('a') if ia < 0: return false let ib = word.find('b') if ib < ia: return false let ic = word.find('c') if ic < ib: return false result = true
var count = 0 for word in "unixdict.txt".lines:
if word.isAbcWord: inc count echo ($count).align(2), ' ', word</lang>

Output:
1 aback 2 abacus 3 abc 4 abdicate 5 abduct 6 abeyance 7 abject 8 abreact 9 abscess 10 abscissa 11 abscissae 12 absence 13 abstract 14 abstracter 15 abstractor 16 adiabatic 17 aerobacter 18 aerobic 19 albacore 20 alberich 21 albrecht 22 algebraic 23 alphabetic 24 ambiance 25 ambuscade 26 aminobenzoic 27 anaerobic 28 arabic 29 athabascan 30 auerbach 31 diabetic 32 diabolic 33 drawback 34 fabric 35 fabricate 36 flashback 37 halfback 38 iambic 39 lampblack 40 leatherback 41 metabolic 42 nabisco 43 paperback 44 parabolic 45 playback 46 prefabricate 47 quarterback 48 razorback 49 roadblock 50 sabbatical 51 snapback 52 strabismic 53 syllabic 54 tabernacle 55 tablecloth
Perl
Outputs same 55 words everyone else finds. <lang perl>#!/usr/bin/perl
@ARGV = 'unixdict.txt'; print grep /^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c/, <>;</lang>
Phix
with javascript_semantics function abc(string word) integer {ia,ib,ic} = apply(true,find,{"abc",{word}}) return ia>0 and ib>ia and ic>ib end function sequence words = filter(unix_dict(),abc) printf(1,"%d abc words found: %s\n",{length(words),join(shorten(words,"",3),", ")})

Output:
55 abc words found: aback, abacus, abc, ..., syllabic, tabernacle, tablecloth
PL/I
<lang pli>abcWords: procedure options(main);
declare dict file; open file(dict) title('unixdict.txt'); on endfile(dict) stop; declare word char(32) varying, col fixed; col = 0; do while('1'b); get file(dict) list(word); declare (a, b, c) fixed; a = index(word, 'a'); b = index(word, 'b'); c = index(word, 'c'); if a ^= 0 & b ^= 0 & c ^= 0 & a < b & b < c then do; put edit(word) (A(15)); col = col + 1; if col = 5 then do; put skip; col = 0; end; end; end;
end abcWords;</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Processing
<lang processing>String[] words;
void setup() {
words = loadStrings("unixdict.txt"); int count = 1; for (int i = 0; i < words.length; i++) { if (isAbcWord(words[i])) { println(count + " " + words[i]); count++; } }
}
boolean isAbcWord(String word) {
if (word.contains("a") && word.indexOf("a") < word.indexOf("b") && word.indexOf("b") < word.indexOf("c")) { return true; } return false;
}</lang>

Output:
1 aback 2 abacus 3 abc 4 abdicate 5 abduct 6 abeyance 7 abject 8 abreact 9 abscess 10 abscissa 11 abscissae 12 absence 13 abstract 14 abstracter 15 abstractor 16 adiabatic 17 aerobacter 18 aerobic 19 albacore 20 alberich 21 albrecht 22 algebraic 23 alphabetic 24 ambiance 25 ambuscade 26 aminobenzoic 27 anaerobic 28 arabic 29 athabascan 30 auerbach 31 diabetic 32 diabolic 33 drawback 34 fabric 35 fabricate 36 flashback 37 halfback 38 iambic 39 lampblack 40 leatherback 41 metabolic 42 nabisco 43 paperback 44 parabolic 45 playback 46 prefabricate 47 quarterback 48 razorback 49 roadblock 50 sabbatical 51 snapback 52 strabismic 53 syllabic 54 tabernacle 55 tablecloth
Python
Outputs the same 55 words as other examples when entered in a Posix terminal shell
<lang python>python -c ' import sys for ln in sys.stdin:
if "a" in ln and ln.find("a") < ln.find("b") < ln.find("c"): print(ln.rstrip())
' < unixdict.txt </lang>
Or a functionally composed variant, with a predicate which takes a single recursive pass through the characters of each word:
<lang python>ABC Words

isABC :: String -> Bool
def isABC(s):
True if s contains 'a', 'b' and 'c', with the first occurrences of each in that order. return None != bind( bind( residue('a')('bc')(s) )( residue('b')('c') ) )( residue('c')() )

residue Char -> String -> String -> Maybe String
def residue(c):
Any characters remaining in s after c, unless c is preceded by excluded characters. def excluding(cs): def go(s): if s: x = s[0] return None if x in cs else ( s[1:] if c == x else go(s[1:]) ) else: return None return go return excluding

------------------------- TEST -------------------------

main :: IO ()
def main():
All words matching the isABC predicate in a local copy of unixdict.txt for x in enumerate( filter( isABC, readFile('unixdict.txt').splitlines() ), start=1 ): print(x)

----------------------- GENERIC ------------------------
bind (>>=) :: Maybe a -> (a -> Maybe b) -> Maybe b
def bind(m):
Composition of a sequence of (a -> None | b) functions. If m is None, it is passed straight through. If m is x, the result is an application of the (a -> None | b) function (mf) to x. def go(mf): return m if None is m else mf(m) return go

readFile :: FilePath -> IO String
def readFile(fp):
The contents of any file at the path derived by expanding any ~ in fp. with open(fp, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f: return f.read()

MAIN ---
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()</lang>

Output:
(1, 'aback') (2, 'abacus') (3, 'abc') (4, 'abdicate') (5, 'abduct') (6, 'abeyance') (7, 'abject') (8, 'abreact') (9, 'abscess') (10, 'abscissa') (11, 'abscissae') (12, 'absence') (13, 'abstract') (14, 'abstracter') (15, 'abstractor') (16, 'adiabatic') (17, 'aerobacter') (18, 'aerobic') (19, 'albacore') (20, 'alberich') (21, 'albrecht') (22, 'algebraic') (23, 'alphabetic') (24, 'ambiance') (25, 'ambuscade') (26, 'aminobenzoic') (27, 'anaerobic') (28, 'arabic') (29, 'athabascan') (30, 'auerbach') (31, 'diabetic') (32, 'diabolic') (33, 'drawback') (34, 'fabric') (35, 'fabricate') (36, 'flashback') (37, 'halfback') (38, 'iambic') (39, 'lampblack') (40, 'leatherback') (41, 'metabolic') (42, 'nabisco') (43, 'paperback') (44, 'parabolic') (45, 'playback') (46, 'prefabricate') (47, 'quarterback') (48, 'razorback') (49, 'roadblock') (50, 'sabbatical') (51, 'snapback') (52, 'strabismic') (53, 'syllabic') (54, 'tabernacle') (55, 'tablecloth')
Quackery
<lang Quackery> [ true swap
behead swap witheach [ tuck < not if [ dip not conclude ] ] drop ] is ascending ( [ --> b )
[ [] swap $ "abc" witheach [ over find swap dip join ] size join ascending ] is abcword ( $ --> b ) [] $ "rosetta/unixdict.txt" sharefile drop nest$ witheach [ dup abcword iff [ nested join ] else drop ] dup size echo say " words found." cr 70 wrap$</lang>

Output:
55 words found. aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Racket
<lang racket>#lang racket
(for ((i (in-naturals 1))
(w (filter (curry regexp-match #rx"^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c.*$") (file->lines "../../data/unixdict.txt")))) (printf "~a\t~a~%" i w))</lang>

Output:
Output is elided... it's the same list of words in every other implementation
1 aback 2 abacus 3 abc 4 abdicate 5 abduct 6 abeyance 7 abject 8 abreact 9 abscess 10 abscissa 11 abscissae 12 absence ... 50 sabbatical 51 snapback 52 strabismic 53 syllabic 54 tabernacle 55 tablecloth
Raku
<lang perl6>put display 'unixdict.txt'.IO.words».fc.grep({ (.index('a')//next) < (.index('b')//next) < (.index('c')//next) }),
:11cols, :fmt('%-12s');
sub display ($list, :$cols = 10, :$fmt = '%6d', :$title = "{+$list} matching:\n" ) {
cache $list; $title ~ $list.batch($cols)».fmt($fmt).join: "\n"
}</lang>

Output:
55 matching: aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
REXX
This REXX version doesn't care what order the words in the dictionary are in, nor does it care what
case (lower/upper/mixed) the words are in, the search for the ABC words is caseless.
It also allows the (ABC) characters to be specified on the command line (CL) as well as the dictionary file identifier. <lang rexx>/*REXX program finds all the caseless alternade words (within an identified dictionary).*/ parse arg minL iFID . /*obtain optional arguments from the CL*/ if minL== | minL=="," then minL= 6 /*Not specified? Then use the default.*/ if iFID== | iFID=="," then iFID='unixdict.txt' /* " " " " " " */ @.= /*default value of any dictionary word.*/
do #=1 while lines(iFID)\==0 /*read each word in the file (word=X).*/ x= strip( linein( iFID) ) /*pick off a word from the input line. */ $.#= x; upper x; @.x= . /*save: original case and the semaphore*/ end /*#*/ /* [↑] semaphore name is uppercased. */
= # - 1 /*adjust word count because of DO loop.*/
finds= 0 /*count of the alternade words found. */ say copies('─', 30) # "words in the dictionary file: " iFID say
do j=1 for #; L= length($.j) /*process all the words that were found*/ if L<minL then iterate /*Is word too short? Then ignore it. */ p.= /*initialize 2 parts of alternade word.*/ do k=1 for L; _= k // 2 /*build the " " " " " */ p._= p._ || substr($.j, k, 1) /*append to one part of alternade word.*/ end /*k*/
parse upper value p.0 p.1 with p0 p1 /*obtain the uppercase alternade parts.*/ if @.p0== | @.p1== then iterate /*either parts of alternade not extant?*/ finds= finds + 1 /*bump the count of alternades found.*/ say right(left($.j, 20), 25) left(p.1, 10) left(p.0, 10) /*indent a bit.*/ end /*j*/ /*stick a fork in it, we're all done. */
say copies('─',30) finds ' alternade words found with a minimum length of ' minL</lang>

output when using the default input:
────────────────────────────── 25104 words in the dictionary file: unixdict.txt aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth ────────────────────────────── 55 "ABC" words found using the characters: abc

output when using the (vowels in order) input: aeiou
────────────────────────────── 25104 words in the dictionary file: unixdict.txt adventitious facetious ────────────────────────────── 2 "ABC" words found using the characters: aeiou
Ring
<lang ring> cStr = read("unixdict.txt") wordList = str2list(cStr) num = 0
see "ABC words are:" + nl
for n = 1 to len(wordList)
bool1 = substr(wordList[n],"a") bool2 = substr(wordList[n],"b") bool3 = substr(wordList[n],"c") bool4 = bool1 > 0 and bool2 > 0 and bool3 > 0 bool5 = bool2 > bool1 and bool3 > bool2 if bool4 = 1 and bool5 = 1 num = num + 1 see "" + num + ". " + wordList[n] + nl ok
next </lang> Output:
ABC words are: 1. aback 2. abacus 3. abc 4. abdicate 5. abduct 6. abeyance 7. abject 8. abreact 9. abscess 10. abscissa 11. abscissae 12. absence 13. abstract 14. abstracter 15. abstractor 16. adiabatic 17. aerobacter 18. aerobic 19. albacore 20. alberich 21. albrecht 22. algebraic 23. alphabetic 24. ambiance 25. ambuscade 26. aminobenzoic 27. anaerobic 28. arabic 29. athabascan 30. auerbach 31. diabetic 32. diabolic 33. drawback 34. fabric 35. fabricate 36. flashback 37. halfback 38. iambic 39. lampblack 40. leatherback 41. metabolic 42. nabisco 43. paperback 44. parabolic 45. playback 46. prefabricate 47. quarterback 48. razorback 49. roadblock 50. sabbatical 51. snapback 52. strabismic 53. syllabic 54. tabernacle 55. tablecloth
Ruby
translation from Perl <lang ruby>puts File.open("unixdict.txt").grep(/^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c/) </lang>

Output:

Same 55 words

aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess ... quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Swift
<lang swift>import Foundation
func loadDictionary(_ path: String) throws -> [String] {
let contents = try String(contentsOfFile: path, encoding: String.Encoding.ascii) return contents.components(separatedBy: "\n")
}
func isAbcWord(_ word: String) -> Bool {
var a = false var b = false for ch in word { switch (ch) { case "a": if !a { a = true } case "b": if !b { if !a { return false } b = true } case "c": return b default: break } } return false
}
do {
let dictionary = try loadDictionary("unixdict.txt") var n = 1 for word in dictionary { if isAbcWord(word) { print("\(n): \(word)") n += 1 } }
} catch {
print(error)
}</lang>

Output:
1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
Tcl
<lang tcl>proc is_abc_word word { regexp {^[^bc]*a[^c]*b.*c} $word }
set res [lmap w [read [open unixdict.txt]] { if {[is_abc_word $w]} {set w} else continue }]
puts "Found [llength $res] words:" puts [join $res \n]</lang>

Output:
$ tclsh abc_words.tcl Found 55 words: aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth
Wren
Library: Wren-fmt
<lang ecmascript>import "io" for File import "/fmt" for Fmt
var wordList = "unixdict.txt" // local copy var words = File.read(wordList).trimEnd().split("\n") var count = 0 System.print("Based on first occurrences only, the ABC words in %(wordList) are:") for (word in words) {
var a = word.indexOf("a") var b = word.indexOf("b") var c = word.indexOf("c") if (a >= 0 && b > a && c > b) { count = count + 1 Fmt.print("$2d: $s", count, word) }
}</lang>

Output:
Based on first occurrences only, the ABC words in unixdict.txt are: 1: aback 2: abacus 3: abc 4: abdicate 5: abduct 6: abeyance 7: abject 8: abreact 9: abscess 10: abscissa 11: abscissae 12: absence 13: abstract 14: abstracter 15: abstractor 16: adiabatic 17: aerobacter 18: aerobic 19: albacore 20: alberich 21: albrecht 22: algebraic 23: alphabetic 24: ambiance 25: ambuscade 26: aminobenzoic 27: anaerobic 28: arabic 29: athabascan 30: auerbach 31: diabetic 32: diabolic 33: drawback 34: fabric 35: fabricate 36: flashback 37: halfback 38: iambic 39: lampblack 40: leatherback 41: metabolic 42: nabisco 43: paperback 44: parabolic 45: playback 46: prefabricate 47: quarterback 48: razorback 49: roadblock 50: sabbatical 51: snapback 52: strabismic 53: syllabic 54: tabernacle 55: tablecloth
XPL0
<lang XPL0>string 0; \use zero-terminated strings int I, J, K, Ch, Len; char Word(100); \(longest word in unixdict.txt is 22 chars) def LF=$0A, CR=$0D, EOF=$1A; [FSet(FOpen("unixdict.txt", 0), ^I); \open dictionary and set it to device 3 OpenI(3); repeat I:= 0;
loop [repeat Ch:= ChIn(3) until Ch # CR; \remove possible CR if Ch=LF or Ch=EOF then quit; Word(I):= Ch; I:= I+1; ]; Word(I):= 0; \terminate string Len:= I; for I:= 0 to Len-1 do if Word(I)=^a then [for J:= 0 to Len-1 do if Word(J)=^b then [for K:= 0 to Len-1 do if Word(K)=^c then [if K>J & J>I then [Text(0, Word); CrLf(0)]; K:= Len; ]; J:= Len; ]; I:= Len; ];
until Ch = EOF; ]</lang>

Output:
aback abacus abc abdicate abduct abeyance abject abreact abscess abscissa abscissae absence abstract abstracter abstractor adiabatic aerobacter aerobic albacore alberich albrecht algebraic alphabetic ambiance ambuscade aminobenzoic anaerobic arabic athabascan auerbach diabetic diabolic drawback fabric fabricate flashback halfback iambic lampblack leatherback metabolic nabisco paperback parabolic playback prefabricate quarterback razorback roadblock sabbatical snapback strabismic syllabic tabernacle tablecloth