[chessx-developer] Problems with ChessXsource/my actions with it for Windows

[chessenthusiast <che...@pr...>]

Hi everyone,

As a stable version of ChessX for Windows still has issues with tablebases and so on, I decided to use the latest source code to build up ChessX from it.

Technical information: system Windows 10; QT version 5.15.2; build-up kit MinGW 8.1 64 bit

First problem after qmake/ make chessx.pro actions was with some dll. Some were always missing, then when added manually "..No QT platform plugin could be initialized. error" It was annoying, but then I figured out windeployqt.exe that comes with MinGW fixes these errors easily.

Finally, chess.exe is ready to go and has all folders coming with it, but...

- I was initially unable to find the "data" folder normally. In the stable version of ChessX this one is coming together with all other folders and you can find "database", "engines" subfolders in it, but not in this case. "Data" folder for some reason gets installed to AppData/Local and has only "lang" subfolder in it
- I don't know is it a bug or I do something wrong, but I can't adjust engine settings Mr. Jens Nissen recommended to change via

m_engine

=

EngineX

::

newEngine

(

index

);

ui

.

vpcount-

>

setEnabled

(

m_engine-

>

providesMpv

());

ui

.

label-

>

setEnabled

(

m_engine-

>

providesMpv

());

if

(!

m_engine-

>

providesMpv

())

{

ui.vpcount->setValue(1)

;

}

to

m_engine

=

EngineX

::

newEngine

(

index

);

ui

.

vpcount-

>

setEnabled

(

m_engine-

>

providesMpv

());

ui

.

vpcount-

>

setValue

(

m_engine-

>

defaultMpv

());

ui

.

label-

>

setEnabled

(

m_engine-

>

providesMpv

());

I did that in analysiswidget.cpp, but engine still shows only 1 analysis line as a default despite being adjusted to 2. Then I changed code to

ui.vpcount->setValue(2)

;

but it still opens engine with a single analysis line only. I ask to help me with understanding what I am doing wrong

-

This one and next ones are already not about code, but about potential improvements. Is there some way to build up an indexed tree for a big database? Because I have databases with a few hundred thousands of chess games. Database takes long to get opened, then on each move it builds a tree from scratch, not excluding the games are already not applicable. Chessbase, SCID, Arena all have extremely fast trees, it could be great to have a fast one in ChessX as well. Or maybe, it's already present? Do I miss something? Because, lichess.book in ChessX is extremely fast despite having millions of games in it

-

There is some problem with ctg. Chessbase trees are not opened with ChessX on my computer. I create trees via Chessbase reader. Yes, there are temporary trees, but there's a way to create a stable ctg. tree there with all ctg. ctb. cto. But neither stable, nor source code version manage to open those. As CB reader is a freeware, maybe stable trees created by it are actually different from those created by commercial CB version. But it's still strange as those are not temporary. Maybe some advice?

-

Also, it could be great to have a possibility to adjust some simpler shortcuts. As far as I understood from the mainwindow.cpp shortcut should always contain system key (like CTRL) and some usual letter key. For instance, I tried to make shortcuts for drawing arrows/circles identical to Chessbase, but I failed, it didn't allow me to make green color simple ALT as in CB, yellow CTRL + ALT, etc.

Sorry for a long message. Also, I apologize, if some things I wrote were dumb from technical point of view, I am not a programmer, just an avid chess player, who really likes ChessX
I hope for your help

Have a nice day all
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