X-Git-Url: http://winboard.nl/cgi-bin?a=blobdiff_plain;f=whats_new%2F4.7.0%2Findex.html;h=012d4ffee7943f3704e70f390d619edac4f1e76a;hb=8d62a24d8c59089275dafce0718b6d2de462fb03;hp=e66cd2eec516501a785c3777c1a859fbdcccc2ac;hpb=9d617ed09387abb080e6728fda8a9ddfbc71ba41;p=xboard.git diff --git a/whats_new/4.7.0/index.html b/whats_new/4.7.0/index.html index e66cd2e..012d4ff 100644 --- a/whats_new/4.7.0/index.html +++ b/whats_new/4.7.0/index.html @@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
-So far the development version has:-Interactive Analysis
Other New Functionality@@ -34,24 +34,40 @@ |
+
Interface Improvements
|
@@ -454,6 +470,133 @@ This would imply the -is option.
So you can connectto FICS by simply typing "xboard fics".
+Pieces from external bitmap files+
Creating an opening book from a PGN file++It is now possible to 'compile' an opening book (in Polyglot format) from one or more game files. +A new menu item File -> Create Opening Book will add the positions (upto the given -bookDepth) of all games in the file +to a memory buffer. +After all games have been added, the buffer is saved as a Polyglot book of the name specified for GUI book. +The buffer is not cleared afterwards, +so this process could be repeated a number of times, +to accumulate the positions from several game files. +The importance of this feature is that it also works in any of the variants; +for Chess there already existed other oftware that could do this. + + +Analyzing a position by playing many fast games++Another way to create or refine a book is by 'Monte-Carlo' game play. +With the option -mcBookMode the book-probing algorithm is altered: +probing is not done from a book file, but from the memory buffer that is used to create a book. +Games that are played are added to this memory buffer as soon as they finish. +Probing is done in a way to promote diversity, +although moves that on average produce better results are chosen much more frequently than moves with a poor performance record. +When the moves are played in the ratio they deserve, a book miss is reported, so that the choice is left to the engine. +This can then also provide moves that were so far not in the book. +By playing matches with randomizing engines, +or tourneys with many different, approximately equally strong engines in this mode, +a book can be built from scratch. +Of course these match and tourneys could use an arbitrary starting position. +After having collected enough games, a Polyglot book can be made from the resulting PGN file. + + +Pausing a game++The Pause (P) button in the button bar, as well as 'Pause' menu item, +now also function when the engine is thinking. +The pause / resume commands defined in WB protocol will be used to suspend all activity of the engine +(be it thinking or pondering), +for engines that support those commands. +If the currently thinking engine doesn't support them, +the effect of pressing Pause will only commence once the engine moves. +The pondering engine will be suspended with the aid of easy / hard commands if it does not support pause / resume. + + +Resizable board with anti-aliased pieces+
+The SVG images are scalable, and this has opened the possibility to allow continuous resizing of the board window. +The Cairo library provides good anti-aliasing, and even PNG graphics can be resized to a certain degree before it starts to look ugly. +Note that the new XBoard no longer contains built-in piece images in its binary, +but relies on a default set of external piece images (stored with its data files) even when you don't specify a -pieceImageDirectory. + +The Cairo library also supports transparency, and the background of the supplied piece images has to be fully transparent. +XBoard also uses trasparency when dragging pieces for entering moves to exclude from analysis; +in this case the 'ghost' of the piece that you are dragging will be redered semi-transparently. + + +An experimental GTK port of XBoard++The new source code can optionally be built using the GTK widget set in stead of the (by now very obsolete) Athena widget set. +A simple switch option during configure can be used to request this. +The only difference should be that the dialogs look prettier. +Note that the GTK build is still in an experimental stage, +and could contain many bugs and imperfections, including some things that are simply not implemented yet (such as key bindings). +This holds even for GTK builds made from versions for which the Xaw build is declared stable. + +Fixed bugsSome bugs were encountered and reported during the refactoring process, @@ -523,7 +666,7 @@ Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. Updated: -$Date: 2013/02/21 06:27:14 $ +$Date: 2013/02/21 06:41:59 $ |