How to make a polyglot ini file

[Charles Browne]

This how to make a polyglot.ini file post is referenced in the A Basic Guide for setting up Winboard w/ an UCI Chess Engine post.

The below information contains the basics of how to go about making a polyglot.ini file. At least it contains the basics of 'my understanding of how to go about making one'.

It is not my intention to post a slew of my conceived - How to do's - on this forum. Please forgive me this last one.


******************************************


How to Make a Polyglot ini File


Polyglot is an adapter that was originated by Fabien Letouzey. The Polyglot adapter allows UCI chess engines to be used in non-UCI interfaces such as the Winboard GUI. The Polyglot adapter plays the middleman between the UCI chess engine and the GUI. It passes information back and forth between the chess engine and the GUI.


The chain in its basic form looks like this:
UCI Chess Engine <---> Polyglot Adapter <---> Graphical User Interface


The Polyglot adapter itself relies on an ini file to know what commands to receive and send from the chess engine to the GUI, and from the GUI to the chess engine.


This polyglot.ini file once made needs to be put in the same folder that the Polyglot.exe file is in.


The polyglot.ini file has two sections and these two sections need to be in each polyglot.ini file that is made. The two sections are the [Polyglot] and [Engine] sections.
Each Polyglot distribution, be it Fabien Letouzey's original version or a modified version of Polyglot that someone else has released, should come with a 'read me' file. This read me file is important and it should be read thoroughly. The 'read me' file included with the Polyglot download will provide much more information about the ini file sections than is contained in this single web page.


The original Polyglot version download, and at least one modified Polyglot version that I have seen, includes example ini files that can be looked at.


O.K., I want a polyglot.ini file for a chess engine and I know what the ini file is used for, so how do I go about making the file?


In this basic example of how to make a polyglot.ini file the free version of Fabio Cavicchio's chess engine Delfi will be used. Delfi has the capability to be used as an UCI engine or a Winboard engine. We will be treating it as an UCI engine in this example.

The Delfi chess engine can be downloaded from its home page here -
http://www.msbsoftware.it/delfi/



To start with I open a text editor - I will use notepad. In notepad I will type in the [Polyglot] heading. All of the Polyglot section options that are used will go underneath this heading. Some of the Polyglot section options are just that "options" and some can be considered "requirements". The Polyglot read me file should tell what Polyglot section options are available for the Polyglot version you are using.





Shown below I have added some options underneath the [Polyglot] section. I have also gone ahead and added the [Engine] section heading. Though some of these Polyglot section options are not "requirements", I still put them in my basic polyglot.ini file. A lot of options that I could have added I have left out, you may decide you want them and I may even add some of them to my ini files in the future, or you may even decide that you do not want to use some of the options that I am showing here.


Once you have your basic polyglot.ini file set up you could save it, to use it as a template for future ini files you may make. That way you do not have to start from scratch each time an ini file is made.





Below is a graphic with a brief description of what each of the Polyglot section options I have include in the ini file is for. The Polyglot read me file tells more.





With the basics of an ini file in the process of being made, and with the Polyglot section options that will be used, laid out. The free Delfi engine version was downloaded and I extracted the zip file's contents to a folder named 'Delfi'.
I now go to that Delfi folder.





And I double-click the Delfi exe file. The following window opens up.





In this window type "uci" - lower case and without the quote marks. Then press the 'Enter' key.





And certain information pertaining to the chess engine will be displayed in the window, included in this information will be the UCI options that the chess engine has.





Each individual UCI chess engine will have different options. It all depends on how the chess engine author programmed the chess engine. Even different versions of the same chess engine from the same author may have different UCI options. Some UCI chess engines have way more UCI options listed than does the Delfi chess engine displayed here.
It is not required that all of the UCI options that an engine has be put into the polyglot.ini file. It really is up to you on which engine options you include in the file (at least that is my understanding of it).



The UCI options of the engine will now be copied from the window so that they can be pasted into the Engine section of the polyglot.ini file that is being made.

The explanation of the way to copy the information that follows, pertains to my operating system (Windows ME) - the way of doing it may be the same or similar for different Windows operating systems.


Left-click the MS-DOS logo in the blue title bar or right-click in the blue title bar area. Then choose 'Edit' and left-click the 'Mark' selection





Put the mouse pointer at the beginning of the very first instance of the listing that reads - "option name".





Then left-click at that starting point and while holding the left button of the mouse down, drag the pointer across until all listings that have "option name" at the beginning of them are highlighted. Then let go of the mouse button. When the mouse button is let go, everything that was highlighted should still be highlighted





Then left-clicking the MS-DOS logo or right-clicking in the blue title bar area again. This time select "Edit" and then left-click "Copy Enter". Doing this should copy the highlighted area in the window to the operating system's 'Clipboard'.





The copied information can now be pasted under the Engine heading section of the polyglot.ini file that is being made.





And here the information is shown after it has been pasted in. We will edit this information in a moment.





As already noted above on this page, some UCI engines can have a lot of UCI options, but basically what needs to be pointed out here (the above graphic) is that the UCI option tells the "name" of the option, and the default setting that the engine has for that option, and the minimum and maxium approved settings that a particular UCI option might have (all dependent on how the chess engine's author designed the particular chess engine). The chess engine's documentation really needs to be read for any options a chess engine has that you do not understand. Be it documentation included with the chess engine, or the chess engine author's website, if any. On most chess engines the majority of the options can probably be left at their default state. It all depends on what the option is, and on what you want the engine to do.


Now lets close that chess engine window that was left open. I click the close button on the window and at the dialog box I click 'Yes' and the window closes.





Below is a graphic of the being made polyglot.ini file with the chess engine options pasted into it. The graphic that is below it shows the polyglot.ini file with all of the necessary information inputted into the [Polyglot] section and with the [Engine] section information cleaned up and edited so that now the polyglot.ini file is complete for this Delfi chess engine and the file just needs to be saved.
Both graphics can be compared to see how the Engine section information was edited. What data was left in and which data was removed.








To save the polyglot.ini file, in your text editor (notepad in this case) go to 'File > Save As...'.





In the 'File name' box type in polyglot.ini and from the 'Save as type' box click 'All files'.





Then click 'Save', and save the newly made polyglot.ini file to where you want it. Remember, to use the polyglot.ini file with Polyglot, the ini file needs to be in the same folder (directory) with the polyglot.exe file.






In this example I gave the saved file the name of polyglot.ini. Other people give the ini file other names. Read the 'read me' file that comes with the Polyglot download.
The information on this page is only a guide. Some people do things differently than shown here, but the essence of how to make an ini file for use with Polyglot is (should be) correct.


******************************************

The information given above is on how to manually make a polyglot.ini file.

An alternative for making polyglot.ini files is to use Alex Guerrero's excellent utility - Polyglot_GUI. Information on the utility and the download link can be found on Alex's website here.

Be sure to change Book=true to Book=false in the Polyglot section of the ini file if a Polyglot opening book is not being used.

******************************************


Edit: Added link to the Polyglot_GUI utility.

[Roger Brown]

This how to make a polyglot.ini file post is referenced in the A Basic Guide for setting up Winboard w/ an UCI Chess Engine post.

The below information contains the basics of how to go about making a polyglot.ini file. At least it contains the basics of 'my understanding of how to go about making one'.

It is not my intention to post a slew of my conceived - How to do's - on this forum. Please forgive me this last one.

Hello Charles,

I think you should allow the owner of the Forum to express his utter disgust at your long winded nonsensical posts which convey scarcely anything useful enough to justify their length.

When will you be making the next instalment?



Charles, please indulge yourself. Make as many as you like. We here at this Forum are trying to get the word out about this fabulous gui (Winboard in all its incarnations) and Forum. Posts like yours are invaluable in this effort.

Again, thanks.

I am going to do some maintenance work over this week-end when I will have a minute to myself.

Later.

[Olivier Deville]

This how to make a polyglot.ini file post is referenced in the A Basic Guide for setting up Winboard w/ an UCI Chess Engine post.

The below information contains the basics of how to go about making a polyglot.ini file. At least it contains the basics of 'my understanding of how to go about making one'.

It is not my intention to post a slew of my conceived - How to do's - on this forum. Please forgive me this last one.

Hello Charles,

I think you should allow the owner of the Forum to express his utter disgust at your long winded nonsensical posts which convey scarcely anything useful enough to justify their length.

When will you be making the next instalment?



Charles, please indulge yourself. Make as many as you like. We here at this Forum are trying to get the word out about this fabulous gui (Winboard in all its incarnations) and Forum. Posts like yours are invaluable in this effort.

Again, thanks.

I am going to do some maintenance work over this week-end when I will have a minute to myself.

Later.

Yes indeed, how disgusting !!

Yet another great contribution, thanks a lot Charles

We can host the pics if you want.

Olivier

[H.G.Muller]

Note that this is a very old post, and by current standards, this is very cumbersome. The recommended procedure is:

1) Start up WinBoard in any mode
2) Use the "Engine -> Install 1st" menu to edit the list of selectable engines
3) Add the line

"ENGINE.exe" /fd="ENGINEFOLDER" /fUCI

(don't forget a new-line at the end!) and OK the dialog.
4) Quit WinBoard

If the engine for which you want to make the Polyglot file was already installed in WinBoard, you could have skipped steps 1-4.

5) Start WinBoard through the Startup dialog, and select the engine you just added from the first combobox.
6) Open the "Engine -> Engine #1 Settings" menu dialog
7) Configure the engine as you want it, by setting all its options
8) In the "Polyglot" groupbox of the dialog, type the name you want the ini file to have behind "SettingsFile"
9) Press the "Save" button at the bottom of the "Polyglot" groupbox

This will make the ini file of the given name, with all options that did not have the default value specified.

Note that if you only want the Polyglot file for use with the engine as you just installed it under WinBoard, you can skip (8), and keep the name proposed there (in the _PG folder). This is the name Polyglot will automatically consult the next time you run the engine under WinBoard. If you want it for other purposes, you could still keep the name, and copy the file from the _PG folder to where you wanted it.

You can use the same procedure with XBoard, except that it does not have a Startup Dialog, and you would have to specify the engine from the command line. So you will always start with (5), by typing

xboard -fcp ENGINENAME -fUCI

Personally, I think this is a much faster method.

[Charles Browne]

Note that this is a very old post, and by current standards, this is very cumbersome. The recommended procedure is:

Yes a very old post and has no bearing on your new Winboard versions. Thanks for posting the recommended procedure.

How to invoke DOS commands from a ftp script? I have a requirement to know the status of the transfer of a file after invoking the FTP script from a command file. If I need to do this through SFTP (scp script), I would use SHELL command of DOS to invoke some kind of command for my checking purpose. But usage of SHELL does not seem to be permitted in FTP script. What else can be done to get back the return code of the file transmission.

Someone in the past has posted in various places asking a question that is similar to the one that is quoted above. Perhaps the replies from the Google search can be read to see if a satisfactory answer was received. Or contact one of the people asking the question to see if an answer was received concerning the quandary.


http://www.google.com/search?q=%22statu ... =&aql=&oq=

[M Mountain]

Hello,

I'm new to these forums and to using WinBoard, I want to say thanks to the great community here who are obviously so passionate about and interested in the fascinating problems and discoveries associated with computer chess.

I'm interested in using WinBoard to play some engine vs. engine matches, specifically to get a look at Houdini 1.5, which I first heard of a few days ago. I also have Rybka 2.3.2, which I had been using through a different GUI to do positional analysis, and figured that would make a pretty good opponent to play some games against Houdini

However, I'm having a little trouble getting Rybka to play nicely with PolyGlot. To clarify, I'm using Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe, and WinBoard 4.5.1 with the included version of PolyGlot, on a 64-bit Windows 7 installation. I believe I've followed the instructions above to the letter, but for some reason when I start a game with Rybka playing as white, polyglot.exe crashes after the opening book has been exhausted. What's more peculiar is that Houdini_15a_x64.exe runs perfectly fine, after going through the same procedure.

Below is the "Rybka_2.3.2a_mp.ini" that was created after saving my PolyGlot settings, per step 9:


; Created: Sat Apr 02 18:19:20 2011

[PolyGlot]
EngineCommand=Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe
EngineDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.5.1\WinBoard
Book=true
BookFile=C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.5.1\WinBoard\default_book.bin
[Engine]
Hash=64
Max CPUs=1
NalimovPath=..\egtb
NalimovCache=4
NalimovUsage=Never

Also, here is the dialog menu syntax included in my winboard.ini file for invoking polyglot:

"Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe" /fd="C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.5.1\WinBoard" /fUCI


Any help solving this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[matematiko]

Hi,

Modify the ini file to make polyglot log the inputs and outputs, then post the content of the file here and with a little luck somebody will be able to pinpoint the problem.

The ini should look something like this:

Code: Select all

[PolyGlot]
EngineCommand=Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe
EngineDir=C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.5.1\WinBoard
Book=true
BookFile=C:\Program Files (x86)\WinBoard-4.5.1\WinBoard\default_book.bin
log=true
LogFile = polyglot_rybka.log
[Engine]
Hash=64
Max CPUs=1
NalimovPath=..\egtb
NalimovCache=4
NalimovUsage=Never


Good luck,

[Josh Pettus]

Hmm well something is borked as the engine isn't moving. could be something with your Rybka.


Just for clarification you are launching Rybka with

"Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe" /fd="EngineFolder" /fUCI
Including quotation marks
Correct?


I assume so as WB would tell you if it didn't detect the engine. unless you forgot the /fUCI bit, then the engine wouldn't move.
of course this is assuming that winboard knows where polyglot is
check by going Options-> common engine settings
and make sure the directory for polyglot is in there.

Another thing you can do is try opening Engine Rybka itself. See if it isn't complaining about some error or missing file.

[H.G.Muller]

What you are doing sounds OK, and I would have expected it to work. Making a Polyglot log, and posting it here, would be a good idea. Note that you can also switch on the Polyglot logging from the WinBoard Engine #N Settings dialog, by ticking "log", and possibly altering the name of the LogFile.

[M Mountain]

Rybka itself is running fine, I've launched it separately and input some typical uci commands, it responds normally.

Here's my polyglot log file; just from glancing at it the problem might be that polyglot is sending the position and go commands before the engine has responded to the setoption? So then Rybka's response at the last line is causing a problem as polyglot was expecting a "bestmove" response:


1301928448.885 POLYGLOT *** LOGFILE OPENED ***
1301928453.413 GUI->Adapter: name mountm
1301928453.413 GUI->Adapter: time 30000
1301928453.413 GUI->Adapter: otim 30000
1301928453.413 GUI->Adapter: go
1301928453.413 POLYGLOT THINK
1301928453.482 POLYGLOT *BOOK MOVE*
1301928453.501 Adapter->GUI: move d2d4
1301928453.501 POLYGLOT MOVE d4
1301928453.504 POLYGLOT THINK -> WAIT
1301928455.747 GUI->Adapter: time 29991
1301928455.747 GUI->Adapter: otim 29775
1301928455.747 GUI->Adapter: usermove a7a5
1301928455.747 POLYGLOT MOVE a5
1301928455.747 POLYGLOT WAIT -> THINK
1301928455.748 POLYGLOT START SEARCH
1301928455.748 Adapter->Engine: setoption name UCI_Opponent value none none human mountm
1301928455.748 POLYGLOT Not sending option "UCI_AnalyseMode" since it already has the correct value.
1301928455.749 POLYGLOT Not sending option "Ponder" since it already has the correct value.
1301928455.749 POLYGLOT FEN rnbqkbnr/1ppppppp/8/p7/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2
1301928455.749 Adapter->Engine: position startpos moves d2d4 a7a5
1301928455.749 Adapter->Engine: go wtime 299910 btime 297750 movestogo 39
1301928455.750 Engine->Adapter: info string UCI_Opponent set to none none human mountm

[H.G.Muller]

I hope that Michel reads this thread, because it does indeed seem a Polyglot problem.

A work-around could be to not have Polyglot use the book at all, but the WinBoard GUI book in stead. It could be a Polyglot problem that only occurse when it leaves book, rather than playing from the start position. If the problem persists, you could also try to use UCI2WB (which does not even support a book), as I am pretty sure that that uses strict UCI (waiting for readyok, etc.). It should also be included in the WB 4.5.1 download. The engine line then should be

'UCI2WB "Rybkav2.3.2a.mp.x64.exe" "EngineFolder"'

(note the single quotes around the double-quoted stuff; you don't have to specify an /fd, as UCI2WB is in the WinBoard folder). UCI2WB also does not make logs, but it sends the engine-adapter communication to the GUI, so it would appear in the winboard.debug file if you run WB with the option /debug.

[M Mountain]

Thanks a lot! UCI2WB did the trick, all right.

Now to see if I can get a .ctg book loaded, I think I saw a thread elsewhere with some information about converting those...

One other question, is it possible to get UCI2WB to save engine settings, like ponder, outlook, etc.? It seems to even ignore what the engine suggests as a default value and put the highest or lowest for each one - and I don't have 2048 CPU's...

[Michel]

I am just noticing this thread. I am busy now but will have a look at the problem tomorrow.

BTW it is not clear to me which polyglot is being used. Can you specify this?

[H.G.Muller]

One other question, is it possible to get UCI2WB to save engine settings, like ponder, outlook, etc.? It seems to even ignore what the engine suggests as a default value and put the highest or lowest for each one - and I don't have 2048 CPU's...

Alas, not. UCI2WB is a very simple protocol adapter that converts UCI engine speak into WB GUI speak and vice versa. It has no memory and no game-state awareness. This is why it works ust as easily for Xiangqi as for Chess engines.

It should not set any options by itself, though. I just tried it with Fruit, and there does not seem to be any problem there. When I open the "Options -> Engine #1 Settings" dialog, I see al the proper default values for Fruit's UCI options. Could you post a piece of the winboard.debug file that has the startup of Ryba under UCI2WB?

If you would want to startup the engine with settings other than their default, you should install it that way in WinBoard. E.g.

'UCI2WB fruit_21 ..\Fruit' /firstOptions="NullMove Reduction=2,NullMove Pruning=Fail,Ponder=1"

[M Mountain]

I am just noticing this thread. I am busy now but will have a look at the problem tomorrow.

BTW it is not clear to me which polyglot is being used. Can you specify this?

Polyglot 1.4.64b

[Michel]

At least I managed to reproduce the problem.

It seems to happen only in windows and not in Linux.

Now I have to find the bug!

Code: Select all

./polyglot1.4.65b.exe
PolyGlot 1.4.65b by Fabien Letouzey.
go
move d2d4
a7a5
wine: Unhandled page fault on read access to 0xffffffff at address 0xf7530f3b (thread 0039), starting debugger...
Unhandled exception: page fault on read access to 0xffffffff in 32-bit code (0xf7530f3b).
Register dump:
 CS:0023 SS:002b DS:002b ES:002b FS:0063 GS:006b
 EIP:f7530f3b ESP:006479bc EBP:006479c8 EFLAGS:00010206(   - 00      - RIP1)
 EAX:ffffffff EBX:7bc8aff4 ECX:00000003 EDX:00000000
 ESI:00000025 EDI:004223f3
Stack dump:
0x006479bc:  7bc69bad ffffffff 00648c14 00647aa9
0x006479cc:  004163a9 ffffffff 00000000 0000000a
0x006479dc:  00000000 949b0000 0000242b 00000000
0x006479ec:  00000000 0000000a 00000000 ff003561
0x006479fc:  00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
0x00647a0c:  00000000 00000000 00000073 00000000
Backtrace:
=>1 0xf7530f3b strlen+0xb() in libc.so.6 (0x006479c8)
  2 0x004163a9 in polyglot1.4.65b (+0x163a9) (0x00647aa9)
  3 0x02020202 (0x08081010)
  4 0x00000000 (0x00000000)
0xf7530f3b strlen+0xb in libc.so.6: cmpb   %ch,0x0(%eax)
Modules:
Module   Address         Debug info   Name (18 modules)
PE     400000-  447000   Export          polyglot1.4.65b
ELF   7b800000-7b93c000   Deferred        kernel32<elf>
  \-PE   7b820000-7b93c000   \               kernel32
ELF   7bc00000-7bca7000   Deferred        ntdll<elf>
  \-PE   7bc10000-7bca7000   \               ntdll
ELF   7bf00000-7bf04000   Deferred        <wine-loader>
ELF   7ee0f000-7ee7b000   Deferred        msvcrt<elf>
  \-PE   7ee20000-7ee7b000   \               msvcrt
ELF   7ef9b000-7efa7000   Deferred        libnss_files.so.2
ELF   7efa7000-7efc0000   Deferred        libnsl.so.1
ELF   7efc0000-7efe6000   Deferred        libm.so.6
ELF   7efec000-7eff7000   Deferred        libnss_nis.so.2
ELF   7eff7000-7f000000   Deferred        libnss_compat.so.2
ELF   f74b5000-f74b9000   Deferred        libdl.so.2
ELF   f74b9000-f7617000   Export          libc.so.6
ELF   f7618000-f7631000   Deferred        libpthread.so.0
ELF   f764b000-f7782000   Deferred        libwine.so.1
ELF   f7784000-f77a4000   Deferred        ld-linux.so.2
Threads:
process  tid      prio (all id:s are in hex)
0000000c
   00000012    0
   0000000e    0
   0000000d    0
0000000f
   00000015    0
   00000014    0
   00000011    0
   00000010    0
00000017
   00000018    0
00000023
   00000024    0
0000002f
   00000030    0
00000038 (D) Z:\home\vdbergh\polyglot1.4.65b.exe
   0000003d    0
   0000003a    0
   00000039    0 <==
0000003b
   0000003c    0
Backtrace:
=>1 0xf7530f3b strlen+0xb() in libc.so.6 (0x006479c8)
  2 0x004163a9 in polyglot1.4.65b (+0x163a9) (0x00647aa9)
  3 0x02020202 (0x08081010)
  4 0x00000000 (0x00000000)


[Michel]

Ok I think fixed it. It was one of those infamous bugs where your format string in printf contains a 64 bit format specifier and your actual data is 32 bit (a constant 0 in this case).

The fixed version is 1.4.66b: http://alpha.uhasselt.be/Research/Algeb ... .4.66b.exe

[M Mountain]

Everything is great here as well, the previously afflicted engines now run with no problem. Many thanks for the fix!

[Skjaldmaer]

Greetings Everyone,

I'm going to use my Houdini6 on Winboard, because i'd like to use and make own .bin books for it.
I've downloaded the Winboard 4.8.0 and there's already a Polyglot.exe in it, but no Cygwin1.dll to find there. If i search on the links that you describe on 'A basic guide to setup winboard gui engines. I can't find the other polyglot original one and the cygwin1, if click at same links as you describe.
So, are those not there anymore, or is it not needed anymore to get the cygwin1 pls?
Thx in advance, and, i'm not a chessfile-virtuoso at all but will do my best, apollogy in advance if i don't understand some of things not immediately.


Skjaldmaer

[H.G.Muller]

This thread is more than 10 years old, and completely obsolete. The polyglot.exe contained in the WinBoard 4.8.0 package is a native Windows compile, and doesn't need cygwin1.dll to run. For normal applications you also won't need to make a polyglot.ini file; when you install a UCI engine like Houdini in WinBoard through the Engine -> Load Engine menu, all you have to do (after pointing out the Houdini executable) is to tick the UCI checkbox. WinBoard will then automatically invoke Polyglot, and instruct it to create the necessary ini file (in the _PG folder) for use with Houdini. If you want to adjust the setting of other Houdini options, you can do that through the Engine -> Engine #N Settings dialog, and when you want the altered settings to be in force on every future occasion you load Houdini, you can press Polyglot Save in that dialog. This then automatically updates the ini file.

The point is that you never have to know that Polyglot, let alone its ini files exist. If you have to access or refer to them in an explicit way, you are almost certainly doing something very wrong. Just tell WinBoard the engine is UCI, and it should take care of anything that is needed to use UCI engines in exactly the same way as WB engines.