UCI and Winboard are really very simple.
There is a published grammar for both interfaces.
The program and a server of some kind just exchange character string messages.
You don't need a complicated interface to start with.
Look at some simple examples in C++ or C to see how other people have done it.
Later on, you can get cute with it (e.g. use a hash table for look-ups and other fancy stuff).
This is the UCI interface for Sungorus chess program, written in C. As you can see, it's not rocket science:
Code: Select all
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "sungorus.h"
void ReadLine(char *str, int n)
{
char *ptr;
if (fgets(str, n, stdin) == NULL)
exit(0);
if ((ptr = strchr(str, '\n')) != NULL)
*ptr = '\0';
}
char *ParseToken(char *string, char *token)
{
while (*string == ' ')
string++;
while (*string != ' ' && *string != '\0')
*token++ = *string++;
*token = '\0';
return string;
}
void UciLoop(void)
{
char command[4096], token[80], *ptr;
POS p[1];
setbuf(stdin, NULL);
setbuf(stdout, NULL);
SetPosition(p, START_POS);
AllocTrans(16);
for (;;) {
ReadLine(command, sizeof(command));
ptr = ParseToken(command, token);
if (strcmp(token, "uci") == 0) {
printf("id name Sungorus 1.4\n");
printf("id author Pablo Vazquez\n");
printf("option name Hash type spin default 16 min 1 max 4096\n");
printf("option name Clear Hash type button\n");
printf("uciok\n");
} else if (strcmp(token, "isready") == 0) {
printf("readyok\n");
} else if (strcmp(token, "setoption") == 0) {
ParseSetoption(ptr);
} else if (strcmp(token, "position") == 0) {
ParsePosition(p, ptr);
} else if (strcmp(token, "go") == 0) {
ParseGo(p, ptr);
} else if (strcmp(token, "quit") == 0) {
exit(0);
}
}
}
void ParseSetoption(char *ptr)
{
char token[80], name[80], value[80];
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
name[0] = '\0';
for (;;) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (*token == '\0' || strcmp(token, "value") == 0)
break;
strcat(name, token);
strcat(name, " ");
}
name[strlen(name) - 1] = '\0';
if (strcmp(token, "value") == 0) {
value[0] = '\0';
for (;;) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (*token == '\0')
break;
strcat(value, token);
strcat(value, " ");
}
value[strlen(value) - 1] = '\0';
}
if (strcmp(name, "Hash") == 0) {
AllocTrans(atoi(value));
} else if (strcmp(name, "Clear Hash") == 0) {
ClearTrans();
}
}
void ParsePosition(POS *p, char *ptr)
{
char token[80], fen[80];
UNDO u[1];
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (strcmp(token, "fen") == 0) {
fen[0] = '\0';
for (;;) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (*token == '\0' || strcmp(token, "moves") == 0)
break;
strcat(fen, token);
strcat(fen, " ");
}
SetPosition(p, fen);
} else {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
SetPosition(p, START_POS);
}
if (strcmp(token, "moves") == 0)
for (;;) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (*token == '\0')
break;
DoMove(p, StrToMove(p, token), u);
if (p->rev_moves == 0)
p->head = 0;
}
}
void ParseGo(POS *p, char *ptr)
{
char token[80], bestmove_str[6], ponder_str[6];
int wtime, btime, winc, binc, movestogo, time, inc, pv[MAX_PLY];
move_time = -1;
pondering = 0;
wtime = -1;
btime = -1;
winc = 0;
binc = 0;
movestogo = 40;
for (;;) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
if (*token == '\0')
break;
if (strcmp(token, "ponder") == 0) {
pondering = 1;
} else if (strcmp(token, "wtime") == 0) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
wtime = atoi(token);
} else if (strcmp(token, "btime") == 0) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
btime = atoi(token);
} else if (strcmp(token, "winc") == 0) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
winc = atoi(token);
} else if (strcmp(token, "binc") == 0) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
binc = atoi(token);
} else if (strcmp(token, "movestogo") == 0) {
ptr = ParseToken(ptr, token);
movestogo = atoi(token);
}
}
time = p->side == WC ? wtime : btime;
inc = p->side == WC ? winc : binc;
if (time >= 0) {
if (movestogo == 1) time -= Min(1000, time / 10);
move_time = (time + inc * (movestogo - 1)) / movestogo;
if (move_time > time)
move_time = time;
move_time -= 10;
if (move_time < 0)
move_time = 0;
}
Think(p, pv);
MoveToStr(pv[0], bestmove_str);
if (pv[1]) {
MoveToStr(pv[1], ponder_str);
printf("bestmove %s ponder %s\n", bestmove_str, ponder_str);
} else
printf("bestmove %s\n", bestmove_str);
}
