winboard/xboard 4.5.0 feature request

[F. Bluemers]

First : I am impressed with the new xboard,finally side by side with winboard.
build on fedora 13 ,64bits,no problems encountered.


It would be nice if in analysis mode(not analyze file) both engines loaded would be analysing,not just the first.

Best
Fonzy

[F. Bluemers]

First : I am impressed with the new xboard,finally side by side with winboard.
build on fedora 13 ,64bits,no problems encountered.


It would be nice if in analysis mode(not analyze file) both engines loaded would be analysing,not just the first.

Best
Fonzy

Let me bump this up again,as I just read

The analyzing with eight engines at a time might be a useful idea, though. Are there any people that would want that? Or is it a bit over the top? An obvious disadvantage seems that the more engines you have, the less room there is to look at the output of each. But two engines certainly looks like a good (and easy) feature.

in some other forum
Two is enough.

[H.G.Muller]

With what I have now in the TM version (which can start a new second engine during the session) this should be quite easy. I will look into it.

Most difficult issue is always how to let the user operate it. Click 'Analyze Mode' a second time?

[F. Bluemers]

With what I have now in the TM version (which can start a new second engine during the session) this should be quite easy. I will look into it.

Most difficult issue is always how to let the user operate it. Click 'Analyze Mode' a second time?

Not shure ,I like the toggle idea (click=analyze,another click is stop analyze)
What about making it default,if a user loads two engines,analyze means both analyze?

[H.G.Muller]

Does it work that way, now? I always click Edit Game when I want to leave Analyze. ('Always' is a relative notion here, since I never use analysis mode, but sometimes I test if it still works!)

The problem is that formally there always is a second engine. WinBoard just doesn't use it, except when you click Two Machines. There is Game-Viewer, ICS and Two-Engine mode in the Startup dialog, but not a One-Engine mode.

[F. Bluemers]

Does it work that way, now? I always click Edit Game when I want to leave Analyze. ('Always' is a relative notion here, since I never use analysis mode, but sometimes I test if it still works!)

The problem is that formally there always is a second engine. WinBoard just doesn't use it, except when you click Two Machines. There is Game-Viewer, ICS and Two-Engine mode in the Startup dialog, but not a One-Engine mode.

no it does not work that way.though it seems more intuitive to me,i'll have to remember "edit game" then..

I never use the startup dialog,mostly i use it with one engine,sometimes with two and in that case analyze
could/should use both engines.
I won't comment on the other modes,I hardly use them,but it could be a problem with ICS i guess..

[H.G.Muller]

Well,it could be made to work anyway we want, but I guess merely switching off Analyze Mode does not tell you what mode to switch to, and that this is why it was originally not done that way. I use the multiple clicks on the same menu item in the Open Chat Box menu, where you can keep clicking it even when you already have a Chat window open, an dit just gives you another one.

Similarly, re-clicking Analyze Mode could be made to mean: activate one more engine. Who knows, perhaps we will ever have more than two engines; current WinBoard is fully prepared for that. (All options pertaining to an engine are now stored in arrays of two elements. I just would have to set ENGINES to another value than 2.) Of course the engine-output window would not have enough panes in that case. (But perhapsoutput fromdifferent engines could be merged in one pane?)

An alternative would be to make a new menu item "Analyze with Second". But then you will also create a state where only the second engine would be anayzing, which does make things more complex.