Giga Games 1/Giga Games.iso/net/go/prog/gs109sit.hqx/gs0.60.doc

Text File | 1993-02-09 | 13.8 KB | 259 lines

GoServant 0.60 Jan 25, 1993  (and version 1.00 Feb. 9, 1993)
============================================================

(See the gs1.00.update file for additonal features in GoServant 1.00.)

John A. Bate, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2   [phone]
email: [e-mail]

Introduction
------------
GoServant is an application which provides a convenient user interface
for the Internet Go Servers. You should already be familiar with the servers
before using this program. The servers can be reached by using the commands
   telnet icsib18.icsi.berkeley.edu 6969 (Berkeley, California)
   telnet ftp.pasteur.fr 6969 (France)
   ****DON'T FORGET THE PORT NUMBER 6969!!****
   ****The Berkeley address may cease to exist soon****
from any system supporting telnet. There is online help and you can also
obtain help files via ftp. Just log in, type help, and the rest is easy.
DON'T expect GoServant to enable you to use the servers without learning
about them. Get the help files, learn the commands, and become familiar
with the servers FIRST. Then you can use GoServant to make it all much easier.
GoServant is a "smart" terminal emulator which can parse and recognize the
normal output from the server. It is intended to be run by itself. You do
NOT need to run a terminal program at the same time.

GoServant is freeware. Please fill in, cut out, and mail (electronically
of course) the registration form below.

================GoServant 1.00 Registration====================
    Real name:
    IGS  name:
         rank:
email address:
Most wanted features in future versions (in order of priority):
   1:
   2:
   3:
===============================================================

Setting up your system for using GoServant
------------------------------------------

There are two ways to use GoServant: with the communications toolbox or
without it. Without the communications toolbox, GoServant will operate in
"plain" mode using only direct ascii communications via the serial ports
(probably to a modem) and a dumb terminal which knows about backspace, bell,
return and nothing else. This is a simple but usable configuration.
To get a full set of features, however, you need the communications toolbox.

The communications toolbox is a set of system routines which allow
an application (like GoServant) to use various "tools" for communication and
terminal emulation. To use it, you require 2 things:
   1) The communications toolbox
   2) The proper tools
If you have system 7, you already have the toolbox, since it is built-in. If
you have system 6.0.4 or higher, you can install the toolbox. If you have an
older system, you're out of luck. (Instructions for installing the toolbox
are given below.) You also need the correct tools, and there are two types
which GoServant can use: connection tools (which handle the communications)
and terminal tools (which simulate specific terminal types like VT102). You
must obtain the tools which fit your needs, and place them in the extensions
folder in your system folder (in system 7) or in the communications folder
in your system folder (in system 6).

Getting the toolbox and the tools
=================================

You can obtain by ftp from ftp.apple.com the following files:
  /dts/mac/sys.soft/netcomm/communications-1-0-1-image.hqx
  /dts/mac/sys.soft/netcomm/basic-conn-set-1-1-1-image.hqx
which contain the toolbox and the tools, respectively, in the form of "disk
images". To convert the disk images into disks, you need the Apple utility
"DiskCopy" which is also available from ftp.apple.com as file
  /dts/utils/diskcopy-4-2.hqx
Do the following:
  1. Get these files onto your Mac, un-binhex them, and un-StuffIt them.
  2. Use DiskCopy to create two disks from the disk image files.
  3. Run the installer on the communications toolbox disk to install the
     toolbox into system 6.0.4 or higher. (Ignore this if you have system 7.)
  4. Place the tools you need from the other disk into your extensions (sys7)
     or communications (sys6) folder.
The tools which I find useful are:
  Apple Modem Tool - a communications tool for using a modem (obviously)
  Serial Tool - for a direct serial ascii connection from your Mac
  VersaTerm Telnet Tool - for using a Mac which is on a network
     This tool is NOT available from Apple and is NOT public domain. Apple's
     MacTCP Tool, at last report, still didn't work with anything except MacX.)
     You can get a package called "VersaTilities" which
     includes this tool (I think). The last mail-order price I saw was $59US.
  TGE TCP Tool - A public domain tool for a Mac on a network, which can
     be used instead of the Versaterm tool. See the gs1.00.update file for
     information on how to obtain it.
  TTY Tool - a terminal tool which emulates a simple TTY terminal
  VT102 Tool - a terminal tool which emulates a VT102 terminal

***If you don't have at least one connection tool and at least one terminal
tool in the proper folder, DON'T CHOOSE THOSE MODES in GoServant!!***

Using GoServant
---------------

Before using GoServant, you should make sure that the server is not
in verbose mode, using the "toggle verbose off" command. Although both
verbose and non-verbose modes are supported, non-verbose is MUCH faster.
If you wish to have running time clocks, you should "toggle client on".
(In a future version of the server, this may no longer be required.)

If you have used the "chars" command to change the characters that the server
uses for black and white stones, then you must use the "Options" item
under the Board menu to inform GoServant of the new characters.

To play a game
--------------
1. Select "New Playing Window" from the File menu. A dialog box will appear
   allowing you to set the size of the board (9, 13, 19 are normal), and
   the drawing scale. If you set the scale to N, each stone will be 2N+1
   pixels in diameter. A value of 6 is about right for a 19x19 board on
   a small Mac. The value 2 will give barely visible stones, and 9 will
   give a bigger board if you have a larger screen. You can also request
   "mode icons" which duplicate the mode choices under the Board menu, but
   use up space on the screen. The "Next Move Number" is normally 0. You
   can also choose to have the rows and columns labelled if you wish, have
   the number of captives, score, and time displayed, and set the komi value.
2. From the Board menu, select "Black->Server" or "White->Server", or if
   you elected to have mode icons, click on one of the top two icons.
3. Start the game in the normal way. ("match opponent B/W size time byoyomi")
4. If you are Black, and it is a handicap game, select "Handicap" from the
   Board menu. (If you are White, it will be handled automatically.)
5. Play the game. Your opponent's moves will simply appear on the board,
   and you make your moves by clicking on the desired point.
6. To undo an opponent's move, choose "Undo->Server" (command-U) from the
   Board menu. When you opponent undoes one of your moves, GS will notice the
   message and handle it accordingly.
7. You can use the "Pass->Server" (command-P) item at the end of the game.
8. If nobody resigns and you enter scoring mode after 3 passes, GoServant
   will also enter a scoring mode. If you elected to display it when you
   created the window, the score will appear below the board, in the form
      B:territory+captives=total W:territory+captives+komi=total D:dame
   You should remove all dead stones by clicking on them. If you filled in
   all the dame before passing, you can tell when all of the dead stones
   are removed by the fact that the "dame" value should become 0. Type
   "done" when you are done. Hopefully, GoServant and IGS will get the same
   score for the game. If a mistake is made, "undo" will restore the board
   to its pre-scoring state in both GoServant and IGS. Note: scoring with
   GoServant is MUCH easier and MUCH more reliable than using IGS itself.
   I suggest that if your opponent is not using GoServant (or another
   client with a similar facility), you ask him/her to let you handle the
   scoring. (Tell him/her NOT to type "done"!)

To resume a saved game
----------------------
1. Open the playing window as above. Select "Black->Server" or
   "White->Server" as usual.
2. Type the "load white-black" command to the server as usual.
3. Type "moves" to load all of the past moves into the window. This is the
   best method, since GoServant can update its internal game record accurately.
   Or, alternatively, use the commands "toggle verbose on", "refresh",
   and "toggle verbose off", which is faster but does not allow "undo" and
   it also will not allow a reliable "Smart Go" game record to be saved.
4. Continue playing as above.

To observe a game
-----------------
1. Type the "games" command to the server to make sure you have the right
   game number and board size.
2. Select "New Observe Window" from the File menu. Enter the game number
   into the dialog box. Select the board size and scale as for playing.
3. If you chose that option in the dialog, a "moves" command will be sent
   to the server to load all of the moves that have already been played.
   (Note: you will probably want to temporarily turn off the "stone
   click" sound so that all of these moves don't cause clicks.) You may
   also manually type "moves n" , or the sequence "toggle verbose on",
   "refresh n", "toggle verbose off" to get the initial state of the board.
4. Watch the game. Moves will be placed on the board automatically.
5. Close the window whenever you wish. If the game is still in progress,
   type "observe n" (where n is its current game number) to quit observing.

You can have up to 5 game windows open and active at a time. (4 for observing,
and one for playing.)

When things go wrong
--------------------

GoServant operates by "watching" the characters coming in from the server
and identifying certain key strings of characters. In particular, it
watches for strings like "103(B): Q13" which represent moves. It keeps
track of the next move number for each window, and makes a move ONLY if it
sees a string like this WITH the expected move number. If the move numbers
get out of step somehow, then moves will no longer be recognized properly.
(If an observed game adjourns, then resumes again, this will often happen.)
You can use the "Board Info" item from the Board menu to change it
manually. (The Board menu items always affect the top game window.) Or using
"toggle verbose on", "refresh", "toggle verbose off" will fix it, too. (But
will cause problems with undo and Smart Go files.)

GoServant also recognizes the verbose listing of the entire board (*IF* you
have the characters set properly) and can quickly update the entire board
that way as well. It will recognize the next move number when it sees it
on a verbose listing as well. So you can use "toggle verbose on", "refresh",
"toggle verbose off" to fix up the board if necessary. (But "undo" will
not work reliably with this method since it cannot know the order in which
the stones were played, or whether the last move captured anything, etc.
And the Smart Go file of this board wil not be complete, either.)

When playing and/or observing several games at once, it watches for
"Game n: white vs black" and identifies the corresponding window as the
"active" one until it sees the next prompt "#>" or "1" at which point it goes
back to watching for moves in the game you are playing, if any.

If the board needs repairs, you may also use the other four "modes" which
add black, white, or alternating stones, or erase stones. These are
strictly local. (You can use them to experiment or doodle or fix up
the board or whatever you like. Undo does not handle these, however.)

Other Menu Items
----------------

The "Terminal" menu contains a "Terminal Options..." item, whose effect is
different in "plain", or "toolbox" mode. In plain mode, it will allow you to
toggle local echoing of characters, and whether or not backspace characters
are sent as "delete" characters instead (for Unix). (Control characters are
typed using the "control" key, by the way.) In toolbox mode, it will bring
up the tool dialog again, and you can change the options. These choices will
not be saved as defaults for next time, however. (You have to choose them
right at the start for that.) There is also an "Echo On Paste" item. When
pasting data to the terminal, select this option if you see the characters
twice, or not at all. The last two items type the standard Hayes-style
"dial" and "hang up" commands for you if you are using a modem.

The "Edit" menu supplies copy and paste operations. Note that the characters
on the screen are considered "read-only" and so clear and cut are not
allowed. Also, all pasting is done at the bottom of the terminal screen,
sending the characters on the communications line (and echoing them if that
option under the Terminal menu is checked). If you are using a terminal tool,
note that there are two separate sections on the screen: the bottom section
(usually 24 lines) that is handled by the terminal tool, and the top section
that GoServant handles which preserves the last 80 or so lines that have
scolled off the top of the terminal tool. (I suggest enabling a status bar in
the terminal tool, which gives a visual dividing line between the two
sections.) The only restriction is that it is not possible to select a block
of characters that spans both sections.


Problems/Suggestions/Comments
-----------------------------

Please let me know if you encounter any bugs or problems. If you can
identify the cause of a problem and REPEAT it, I will try to fix it promptly
if you tell me the details.

-----------------------------------+-----------------------------
Dr. John A. Bate    (1 kyu)        | Phone: [phone]
Department of Computer Science     | FAX: [phone]
University of Manitoba             |
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2 | email: [e-mail]
-----------------------------------+-----------------------------