X-Git-Url: http://winboard.nl/cgi-bin?a=blobdiff_plain;f=readme.htm;fp=readme.htm;h=ca59e5cf0f703b2eef540e2109b3317c2d682435;hb=a180888cfea059c10e147b2357571c421cb4346f;hp=0000000000000000000000000000000000000000;hpb=e89dd0113650c84737e2bfab8cff9595a9ebc990;p=xboard.git diff --git a/readme.htm b/readme.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca59e5c --- /dev/null +++ b/readme.htm @@ -0,0 +1,223 @@ + + + + + +Tinkering with Winboard
+by Alessandro Scotti
+
+Last update: March 22, 2005.
+
+This readme is about some modifications I made to Winboard 4.2.7. Some +will work in Xboard too, while others are for Winboard only. +Regardless, everything here is absolutely experimental and has been +tested very little... so no warranties ok?
+
+All modified sources are included in this archive, the rest can be +downloaded from Tim +Mann's Xboard page. Please feel free to take my changes and use +them as you like, they are released under the GPL.
+
+Game adjudication
+
+User can adjudicate a game between two machines, using the "Action" +menu. Note that this only works if two machines are playing.
+
+Also, it is possible to adjudicate a game automatically with this +parameter:
+
+

/adjudicateLossThreshold=-700
+

+
+if set to a negative value, Winboard will adjudicate a game if a engine +can't get a score above the specified threshold for 3 full moves (6 +plies). Note that both engines must agree on the score value, and also +the game is only adjudicated after the last move from the losing engine.
+
+Adjudication is still under test!
+
+Background textures
+
+Add the following to winboard.ini:
+
+

/liteBackTextureFile="sandstone_w.bmp"
+/darkBackTextureFile="sandstone_b.bmp"
+/liteBackTextureMode=1
+/darkBackTextureMode=1
+

+
+Of course you can choose any file you like for texturing the light and +dark squares, as long as it's a valid BMP (Windows bitmap) file.
+
+Valid texture modes are 1 (default) and 2. In mode 1 the squares are +taken from portions of the texture bitmap and copied without further +processing. In mode 2, squares can also be rotated, mirrored and so on +in order to provide a little more variety to the texture. The +operations are selected at random so the board will look slightly +different every time the program is run.
+
+Note: to "comment out" a filename, put an asterisk in front of it, i.e. +"*sandstone.bmp" will be skipped.
+
+Additionally it is possible to override the size of the "gap" between +the squares, which is otherwise selected automatically. Add this to +winboard.ini:
+
+

/overrideLineGap=2
+

+
+I have added this because textures usually look better with a smaller +or no gap. Any negative value will ignore the override and use the +standard value from Winboard.
+
+The combination of these parameters can produce very interesting +effects, see for example Alex Guerrero's page.
+
+Font-based rendering of chess +pieces
+
+It is possible to use chess fonts to draw pieces, in place of the usual +bitmaps. You have to specify the font name by adding the following to +winboard.ini:
+
+

/renderPiecesWithFont="Chess Leipzig"
+

+
+Chances are the program will automatically recognize the font and +select the proper mapping, i.e. the correspondence between a chess +piece and the corresponding font character. So if the board looks good +you're set and there's nothing else to do, otherwise you'll have to +find the proper mapping and tell it to the program with this +setting:
+
+

/fontPieceToCharTable="phbrqkojntwl"
+

+
+The piece are in order: white pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen, king +and black pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen, king. So the example above +tells the program to use the letter "p" for a white pawn, the letter +"h" for a white knight, the letter "t" for a black rook and so on.
+
+Note: to "comment out" a font name, put an asterisk in front of it, +i.e. "*Chess Merida" will be skipped because of the asterisk.
+
+It is possible to customize the font foreground and background color, +with these settings:
+
+

/fontPieceBackColorWhite=#ffffcc
+/fontPieceForeColorWhite=#402010
+/fontPieceBackColorBlack=#ffffcc
+/fontPieceForeColorBlack=#301008
+

+
+Colors are expressed in RGB notation. If you are not familiar with the +RGB notation I would suggest to leave them alone until I manage +to update the GUI. In this case, the program will take the board +settings as for the usual piece set.
+
+It is also possible to control the size of the piece with respect to +the square, for example this entry:
+
+

/fontPieceSize=80
+

+
+tells the program to make the pieces about 20% smaller than a square +(i.e. the piece size is 80%). Note that different fonts may require +different values for this parameter. Usually values in the 70-80 range +provide the best values, however the program accepts anything from 50 +to 150.
+
+Font-based pieces are automatically given a "roundish" look. For now, +this option is not mapped to a user-definable setting.
+
+Fast clipboard pasting
+
+Press Ctrl-V to paste a PGN game or a FEN position from the clipboard, +the program will try to autodetect the proper type.
+
+Thread initialization bug
+
+I've tried to fix a bug reported (and fixed) by Anastasios Milikas (of +AICE), where a thread could try to access a not yet initialized +variable. I've used a different approach here, where threads are +started in a "suspended" state and then released only when the variable +has been initialized (this has the advantage of putting all the +required fix code in one place, and the disadvantage of not having been +tested by Anastasios).
+
+Protection from some buffer +overflows
+
+In just a few cases, I've tried to put some guard against buffer +overflows. These are just quick attempts... a lot more work would be +needed to provide some measurable benefits. I hope that bug **353 is +finally fixed now. The buffer overflows were propagated across several +functions so as soon as one was fixed another would crash!
+
+Absolute scores can be converted +to relative
+
+Some engines (e.g. Crafty, Delphi) always report scores from the white +side (i.e. absolute), rather than the engine side (i.e. relative). This +leads to confusion and breaks features such as automatic adjudication. +In order to convert the scores to relative add the following to +winboard.ini:
+
+

/firstScoreAbs=false
+

+
+If true, the score of the first program is absolute and will be negated +when playing black. And similarly:
+
+

/secondScoreAbs=false
+

+
+if true, the score of the second program is absolute and will be +negated when playing black.
+
+Engine search info can be saved +in a PGN file
+
+Add the following to winboard.ini:
+
+

/pgnExtendedInfo=true
+

+
+If true, and the PGN save game option is enabled, each move will be +followed by a comment containing the engine score and thinking +depth (when available).
+
+Note: can also be set from the General options dialog.
+
+Engine search info can be hidden +in human-computer games
+
+When "show thinking" is disabled, engine thinking is not generated at +all, rather than simply hidden. It is now possible to generate the +think lines (e.g. for logging or saving in the PGN) yet hide them when +the engine is playing against a human player. Add the following to +winboard.ini:
+
+

/hideThinkingFromHuman=true
+

+
+Note: can also be set from the General options dialog.
+
+Asymmetric time controls
+
+Very experimental! You can enter two time controls in the usual dialog, +separated by "/". If so, white will be assigned the first time and +black the second. So for example "0:30/2:00" will give 30 seconds to +white and 2 minutes to black.
+
+Note: for now these times stay with black and white, rather than the +corresponding player.
+
+User interface
+
+Options to "hide thinking from human" and "save extended info in PGN" +now appears in the "General" options dialog.
+
+ +