This isn't something that is all that easy to find in dictionaries (I've edited in two that don't contain a relevant example).
OALD [amended, below] contains two examples licensing the use of 'use' with non-sentient agents, though the definition doesn't really cover the case in the question:
use [2] [A1] verb [transitive]:
[use something]: to take a particular amount of a liquid, substance,
[fuel] etc. in order to achieve or make something
- This type of heater uses a lot of electricity.
[transitive] to say or write [or be constructed/assembled from/using;
EA] particular words or a particular type of language [or other
elements; EA] [use something]
- The poem uses simple language.
And Collins gives the example
- The show uses Zondo's trial and execution as its framework.
It is not a vast leap from the second OALD example in the extract above to
- Fill in the grid so that each column or row only uses the same number once.
'X uses Y to ...' shows an instrumental relation, but 'the table uses only odd numbers' is usually merely compositional.
Some may argue that the style (for the purely compositional relation) is not wonderful, with 'contains' / 'consists of' to be preferred, but the usage is not unacceptable, and I've certainly seen this usage in my maths-teaching days.
Reasonable-looking examples from the internet include:
- A row consists of a, aq, aq², etc, and each row uses a different variable.
- Each matrix uses rows for likelihood and columns for severity. [MDPI
Wikipedia
- Notice that each table uses a different naming convention. [Microsoft Press Store]
The obviously acceptable
- Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers, similar to how ASCII uses numbers to represent
characters. [ASCII
Code]
is arguably a slightly different type, with global rather than particular non-sentient agents.