Re: [XBoard-devel] Opening pgn files in xboard

[h.g. muller]

> -viewerOptions seems fine, but is -viewer needed? We could apply the 
> viewerOptions automatically when a PGN-file is loaded, no matter if it is 
> because of a commandline option or from the "File|Load Game" menu.

-lgf is also used with engines in match mode, so it does not necessarily 
imply the user would want XBoard configured as  game viewer. Furthermore, I 
don't want to make it impossible for users to explicitly choose if they 
want to use an engine or just edit games. There could still be legitimate 
reasons to want -ncp mode with a PGN file for users that automatically 
invoke an engine when clicking one. For instance when he wants to   look up 
a game in a variant that his default analysis engine cannot play.

> Similary there cound also be other -xxxOptions which are applied when 
> something happens or some mode is turned on.

Indeed, -icsOptions could be another useful one, activated with -ics.

> No, there is no need, but it could be easier to have only one place to 
> edit these settings, and the same engine can be several times in the list 
> with different nicknames and options. It also be that the user wants to 
> have several analysis engines to choose among, then he can prepare entries 
> for them all in the engine list.

That was my first thought too, but now I m doubting that. Most of the 
viewerOptions would be for controlling the XBoard conformation, andnot be 
engine specific. Changing "stockfish -fUCI" ito "Crafty" in the exisiting 
-viewerOptions line presented in a dedicted single-line text-edit of the 
options dialog would not be significantly more difficult than changing 
"Stockfish-ana" into "Crafty-ana" if the field was representing a 
nickname.And the first time you did it, it wouldbemuch worse, because now 
you would have to duplicate the Stockfish-ana line in the engine list,and 
make the stockfish -> crafty substitution anyway.

And for people that would like the nickname system, they can 
almostperfectly mimic it by using settings-file names in the -viewerOption 
field ("@stockfish" or "@crafty"),and edit the real startup line into these 
files rather than in the engine list.

> Yes, most Linux/Unix users will probably know about .xboardrc (or 
> .xboard/xboardrc if moved) but only a few will know the format and 
> possibilities for the options, so being able to edit 
> -firstChessProgramNames inside xboard would be good.
Well, it is easy enough to port the WinBoard menu item for this toXBoard, 
but that won't solve the problem they have to know the option format to 
know how to edit it.