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Subject: Re: Autoplayer for Win32 (again)

Author: Robert Hyatt

Date: 16:47:56 09/12/98

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On September 12, 1998 at 14:18:08, Hannu Wegner wrote:

>
>Hi Bob,
>
>I think a bad autoplayer is better than no autoplayer, don't you think so. In my
>opinion it is absolutly great that Stefan wrote the winautoplayer and everybody
>can use it. Don't forget that there are more than 20 programs which are
>compatible to the auto232-standard. Of course you are right , that the
>autoplayer 232 (dos-version) has its mistakes but you can use it! Everybody
>would like to see a better solution, but the "bad" autoplayer works. And there
>is another very important thing: The Winautoplayer 232 is compatible to the
>Chess 232-pcchessboard. There are still people who like to play themself against
>these programs (I do). For me this is even more important that the
>autoplayercompability.
>
>I still do not understand why nobody had the idea to make winboard compatible to
>the Winautoplayer 232. There would be some more fine possibilities to use the
>Chess 232-pc-board.
>
>I offered you some times allready to make some tests for crafty. If you allready
>have a version with the winautoplayer which does not work with the tablebases
>why don't you release it anyway?
>
>
>Best greetings,
>Hannu Wegner

The DOS auto232 interface is really buggy.  The windows version may be
perfectly fine.  My biggest problem with the windows version is that the
code becomes part of the engine, when it shouldn't be.  IE the auto232
driver should be a separate program that operates just like winboard does
under windows.  Then it can be changed, enhanced, and no one has to recompile
or release a new version of the engine, because the auto232 stuff is not in
the engine...

That would be the "clean" approach.

I haven't fooled with the windows version because I have no way to compile
windows code and no way to debug the same.  Since winboard and xboard are
identical from the engine's point of view, I can test new xboard stuff and
know that it will work under windows painlessly.  But I really don't want to
include windows-specific serial port stuff in my code, I'd rather see that
remain separate as in winboard, so that it could support network play as well,
without me having to change my engine to handle the network stuff in addition
to the serial port stuff...

Software engineering:  "separation of concerns"...


>



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