Re: [gnugo-devel] reading connections

[Gunnar Farneback]

Tristan wrote:
> Here is a file I wrote to start implementing connections
> by reading in gnugo.
> I have NOT tested it, where should I plug it in, in gnugo
> in order to test it ?
> The functions to be called are :
> 
> int recursive_connect (int str1, int str2, int depth);
> int recursive_disconnect (int str1, int str2, int depth);

Could you send us a few sample positions which could be useful for
testing the code (i.e. ones you think the code should be capable of
handling while not being too trivial)?

> The file is far from being complete (it is 1/10th of 
> the corresponding file in Golois), but it can serve
> as a starting point.

What kind of added functionality does the remaining 90% provide? I can
think of several possibilities, so I'm curious.

> Maybe it is better to have something simple working now
> rather than waiting before sending it.

That has been a guiding philosophy in the entire development of GNU
Go. Better to have something simple in place early than waiting
forever for the perfect solution. E.g. determining life and death
status of groups has gone through at least three major revisions, each
radically increasing both accuracy and code complexity.

Dan wrote:
> Perhaps for testing purposes we should start by adding
> gtp functions that call recursive_connect and 
> recursive_disconnect and test on some of our
> existing connection examples.

This is clearly something we should do. We also need to implement a
--decide-connection option which allows us to get an sgf of the
reading tree, just like --decide-string and --decide-dragon do. That
helps understanding and (if necessary) debugging of the code
tremendously.

/Gunnar