RE: [Bug-gnubg] Export positions to GammOnLine format

[Albert Silver]

I think the copy-of-board function is a great idea. Right now, in order
to do this, a number of not so simple steps are required to do this
(saving to HTML, opening the file, viewing the source, copying the
source.... pant, pant). Now, with a simple command, it will be sent to
the Windows clipboard, ready to be pasted where the user wants! A
simple, user-friendly solution. Just great.

I agree with Ned: add analysis, or at least have the option to add
analysis. In Chess Assistant, we have at least a dozen copy-to-clipboard
options for different areas (via local menu - right-clicking), and it is
the choice in options that make it user-friendly. Ex: a user can export
the board position in simple ASCII such as:

   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 8 |   |   | K*|   | R*|   |   | R*|
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 7 | P*| P*|   | B*|   |   |   |   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 6 |   |   |   | N*| P*| P*|   |   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 5 | Q*|   |   | P*|   |   | P*|   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 4 | P |   | P*| P |   | P |   |   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 3 |   |   | P |   |   | B |   | P |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 2 |   |   | P | Q |   |   | P | B |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
 1 | R |   |   |   |   | R | K |   |
   +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
     a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h  

or they could copy the board in a GIF, a GIF with visual markers, etc.
In fact, these were ideas of mine for the previous Chess Assistant 5, so
I'm kind of kicking myself for not having thought of it here. :-) 

Great idea, Joern.  BTW, may I suggest the option be placed in File -->
Export --> Position --> Clipboard --> BBS HTML and another with BBS HTML
with analysis
This would allow further additions in the future such as ASCII and FIBS
HTML for example. Same could go for the game score. Again, in chess at
least, this is fairly standard, and I am pasting the following with CA's
PGN-to-clipboard option (PGN = Portable Game Notation BTW):

[Event "Buenos Aires"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1960.7.2"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Fischer Robert James"]
[Black "Uhlmann Wolfgang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "C19"]
[Annotator "Mednis"]
[Source "MainBase"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Bd7 8.a4
Qa5 9.Qd2 Nbc6 10.Bd3 c4 11.Be2 f6 ( 11...O-O-O 12.Ba3 f6 13.O-O {"With
this and the following series of fine moves, White ensures an excellent
diagonal for his QB and paralyzes any hopes Black may have for
meaningful counterplay." (Mednis 74)} Rde8 16.Nxg6 {!} 

etc.

Albert

> -----Original Message-----
> From: address@hidden [mailto:address@hidden On
Behalf
> Of Joern Thyssen
> Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 7:35 AM
> To: Ian Shaw
> Cc: GNU Backgammon Bugs
> Subject: Re: [Bug-gnubg] Export positions to GammOnLine format
> 
> On Tue, Sep 24, 2002 at 10:15:48AM +0100, Ian Shaw wrote
> > > From: Joern Thyssen [mailto:address@hidden
> > >
> > > On Tue, Sep 17, 2002 at 12:54:38PM +0100, Ian Shaw wrote
> > >
> > > I'll use c_center.gif for centered cube. This should be fixed now.
> > >
> > c_center.gif is a centered cube. The actual position calls for
> > c_blank.gif because Blue owns the cube.
> 
> Yes, I know :-) gnubg uses c_center.gif for centered cube and
> c_blank.gif for non-centered cube now.
> 
> > > > The big, bold fonts for Game Number and players/match score
> > > don't look right
> > > > here. Can they be made normal size please?
> > > > The two horizontal separators don't really need to be
> > > there. They break the
> > > > post up with greater intensity than the separations between
> > > multiple posts.
> > >
> > > Can you be more specific: is it only a problem for export to GoL
or is
> > > it a general problem? Is it only a problem for export of
> > > positions or is
> > > it a general problem?
> > >
> 
> > This is simply a question of aesthetics. If you look at the example
I
> > sent you, you should see what I mean. The large fonts completely
> > dominate the thread, so the look of the thing is a bit clumsy. I
don't
> > tend to post on other BBS, but I think the same comment would apply
to
> > GammonVillage. For a straightforward export to html I think the
large
> > fonts are OK, but I've no strong feelings on the matter.
> >
> > > BTW, how do you export the output from gnubg into GoL? By
> > > copy'n'paste of the board section?
> > >
> > I save the file to html, open it in Notepad and copy & paste the
board
> > section. This is rather unwieldy so if you could streamline the
> > process it would be fab. Ideally it would be great to put the board
> > position straight into the paste buffer so I could paste it into the
> > GoL message page. If you look at the output generated by GoFigure
> > you'll see that it's rather shorter than GnuBg's.
> 
> The export position command was indented for exporting positions to a
> stand-alone web page, but I see there is a demand for export of just
the
> position for copy'n'paste into, say, GoL.
> 
> I think I'll add commands for easy pasting of just the board. Do you
> need to include analysis as well, or is it sufficient just to copy the
> board onto the clipboard?
> 
> > > > Is there a good reason for the W3 link buttons? They are
> > > non-bg related and
> > > > it's not obvious what they are for.
> > >
> > > To let people know that gnubg produces well-formed and
> > > validating xhtml
> > > 1.0. That is, we follow the standards set-up by W3C. The output
> > > generated by Snowie 3.0 does *not* validate, thus, some
> > > browsers may have
> > > problems rendering html files proceduced by Snowie.
> > >
> 
> > Hmmm. I can understand why you'd want to play one-upmanship with
> > Snowie, and I totally agree with adhering to standards. However, I
> > think if folks start making extensive use of GnuBg to post
positions,
> > those little buttons will be quite irritating. They break up the
> > thread and take up too much screen space considering the amount of
use
> > or interest they'll get.
> 
> I prefer to keep the images on the stand-alone export, but the new
> copy-of-board function will of course not include the pictures,
> horizontal lines, large fonts etc.
> 
> Jørn
> 
> --
> Joern Thyssen, PhD
> Vendsysselgade 3, 3., DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark
> +45 9813 2791 (private) / +45 2818 0183 (mobile) / +45 9633 7036
(work)
> Note: new mobile number!
> 
> 
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