WinBoard 4.7.0 released (with CCT support!)

[Modern Times]

I use the keepAlive option, and whilst it helps, it also doesn't totally get rid of random disconnects. I can be online for 2 or 3 days before I get disconnected from the ICS, or it could just be just an hour or two. No home internet connection has 100% reliability, and any glitch, no matter how brief, could be causing it. I think it is something you have to live with.

[hgm]

Indeed, the internet will never be a 100% reliable thing. Some people seem to suffer especially bad, though, and cannot remain connected even for 5 min. Tinker had huge problems during CCT, suffering multiple disconnects per game. And then suddenly he could stay on for 10 hours uninterrupted.

I guess the only thing that helps is to automatically log on again after a disconnect. I have not built that function in WinBoard, (I think icsDrone does it, though), but bot operators usually run WinBoard from a batch script with a loop to take care of that.

[michiguel]

Indeed, the internet will never be a 100% reliable thing. Some people seem to suffer especially bad, though, and cannot remain connected even for 5 min. Tinker had huge problems during CCT, suffering multiple disconnects per game. And then suddenly he could stay on for 10 hours uninterrupted.

I guess the only thing that helps is to automatically log on again after a disconnect. I have not built that function in WinBoard, (I think icsDrone does it, though), but bot operators usually run WinBoard from a batch script with a loop to take care of that.

Winboard/xboard should document what the output is after terminating to run the scripts with confidence. That is, terminating by disconnection, terminating by clicking quit, etc.

Miguel

[hgm]

Output? You mean the number passed to exit();? I am not even sure that concept exists in Windows.

[michiguel]

Output? You mean the number passed to exit();? I am not even sure that concept exists in Windows.

Yes, that is what I mean. I think it is evaluated with "errorlevel".

Miguel

[hgm]

XBoard's routine DisplayFatalError has a parameter errorExitStatus, which is used in the exit() call. In most calls it is 1 or 2. I have never tried to look if there is any systematics inthis. Quit or window-close gives status 0. But 'connection closed by ICS' might do that too.

[michiguel]

XBoard's routine DisplayFatalError has a parameter errorExitStatus, which is used in the exit() call. In most calls it is 1 or 2. I have never tried to look if there is any systematics inthis. Quit or window-close gives status 0. But 'connection closed by ICS' might do that too.

My script in linux works well after some trial and error. I think that the the exit with 'quit' is 0 but the 'connection closed by ICS' gives something different. It is important to detect the exit code because if I want to terminate the session gracefully, I quit from xboard and I am out of there without the script trying to re-start again. So, I am happy with it at the moment, but I think that whatever it is it will be better to be documented.

I do not know about winboard if it will work the same.

Miguel