How to create opening books with WinBoard?

[Vladimir Medvedev]

I want to create .bin opening book in WinBoard 4.8 under WinXP SP3 32-bit. First I open .pgn file with games, and select "Save games to book" (the only book-related item in File menu). The dialog appears: "Book file exists. Try again to overwrite". I try again. After that I see the games in "Game list" window but no .bin file is created. Also, I see nothing in "Edit book" dialog, and "Edit" button is disabled too.
What am I doing wrong?

[lantonov]

.bin books are not created with Winboard, but with Polyglot. For instructions, see http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/details1/PolyGlot.html.

[H.G.Muller]

I want to create .bin opening book in WinBoard 4.8 under WinXP SP3 32-bit. First I open .pgn file with games, and select "Save games to book" (the only book-related item in File menu). The dialog appears: "Book file exists. Try again to overwrite". I try again. After that I see the games in "Game list" window but no .bin file is created. Also, I see nothing in "Edit book" dialog, and "Edit" button is disabled too.
What am I doing wrong?

I don't understand that. The .bin file should already have been there, because otherwise it would not have given the "Book file exists" warning. It only does that if it can open the currently selected book filename (in Common Engine Options) for reading.

So are you saying that the file was no longer present after this action, because WinBoard deleted it? That should not be possible, as it just tries to overwrite it with the new book. This should always let the file continue to exist, even if its new size could be zero bytes. Even an empty book should take 16 bytes, because Polyglot books always contain a dummy entry with key 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

I have no PGN collection of Chess games on the laptop I am now on, but I just tried this a few days ago for a collection of 1000 Shogi games, and it worked flawlessly.

I also don't understand the "after that I see the games". You should already have seen those games before, right? The "Save Games as Book" would not open the Game List by itself.

[lantonov]

I think I guessed what the problem is. In the dialog "Options", "Common engine ..." uncheck the box "Use book:".

[Vladimir Medvedev]

.bin books are not created with Winboard, but with Polyglot. For instructions, see http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/details1/PolyGlot.html.

How to understand the following statement in this case?
http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?t=51528

New features of WinBoard 4.7 are the possibility to exclude moves from interactive analysis, create opening books from files with games, and improved graphics options which can be organized as themes by means of a new dialog.

[Vladimir Medvedev]

I don't understand that. The .bin file should already have been there, because otherwise it would not have given the "Book file exists" warning. It only does that if it can open the currently selected book filename (in Common Engine Options) for reading.

So are you saying that the file was no longer present after this action, because WinBoard deleted it? That should not be possible, as it just tries to overwrite it with the new book. This should always let the file continue to exist, even if its new size could be zero bytes. Even an empty book should take 16 bytes, because Polyglot books always contain a dummy entry with key 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

Probably I had occasionally deleted this file. I will try to reinstall WB and check.
But anyway, if I want to create opening book from scratch from PGN (not to update existing file), how to do this in WB?

[Vladimir Medvedev]

.bin books are not created with Winboard, but with Polyglot. For instructions, see http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl/html/details1/PolyGlot.html.

Thank you, I think this is sufficient for my needs!

[H.G.Muller]

Probably I had occasionally deleted this file. I will try to reinstall WB and check.
But anyway, if I want to create opening book from scratch from PGN (not to update existing file), how to do this in WB?

Just load a file with a PGN game collection (so the Game List will pop up), put a name for the book file you want to create in the Common Engine Options, and press "Save Games as Book" in the File menu. That should do it. Best to do it in Game Viewer mode, without an engine.