[Molster]

I was very happy with new format using my Mac OS X 10.5.2. Only in last couple of days I have been having trouble getting onto the site via http://www.bbotv.com...v10/bbo.php?m=e
which is the only address that works. Have you made any changes or are the difficulties at my end?

[Old York]

I found that I was allowed to log-in as Old York using the new software, and simultaneously log-in as DukeOfYork using the old software.
This allowed me to sit North and South at the same table and see 26 cards.
It is also easy to kib the table and see 52 cards.

Is there any way to stop unscrupulous players from doing this?

Tony

[barmar]

When you're watching a VuGraph in BBO Flash, nowhere on the screen does it say what event or table you're watching. The title bar just has the name of the table, something like vugraph115.

The right thing happens when kibitzing a team game, it says "Teams Cayne vs Stars" in the title bar.

[barmar]

I just upgraded to the June 2 version. None of the Help pop-ups are working, I just get an empty window. I don't know if this was working correctly in previous versions.

A long-standing gripe that I haven't mentioned before is the player rank symbols. They're really fuzzy, they look like an anti-aliased font that has been magnified, so now you can see all the shaded pixels.

[Dwingo]

The graphics greatly improved in the Jun 2 version. The deal display on the lower right has more clarity and vastly improved.

Some on my wish list
1) Sound prompt when I get Team Invitation or Tourney invitation
2) I would like to see the Table list in tourney ( who is playing where). Possibility of adding another Tab next to kibitzers list for Table list?

[barmar]

I just checked, and the problem with the Help window was there in the previous version as well. In the old version there was just a single Help, and it's a blank window. In the new version, Help is a menu, and no matter which option I choose I get a blank window.

I'm seeing this on two different Macs. One is running Leopard 10.5.3, Safari 3.1.1, Flash 10 beta, the other is running Tiger 10.4.11, Safari 3.1.1, Flash 9.0.124. And I just now reproduced it on Linux running Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.14 and Flash 9.0.124.

[barmar]

I just noticed another problem in Linux. None of the special characters are showing up properly in chat. I just get a little rectangle in place of suit symbols and the arrow when it says SoAndSo->Table. I guess I'm missing a font, but I don't know how to get these for Linux.

[uday]

Help is still stubbed out, sorry.

I've asked Gerardo, our resident linux guy, to come take a look at the symbol/font thing.


Uday

[Gerardo]

Barry:
Check for the package msttcorefonts (or similar). What distribution, what flash version?

[barmar]

I'm running Debian 3.1. I don't see anything like msttcorefonts in my package manager (Synaptic Package Manager). I googled for it and downloaded a tarball, but the installer script failed when it tried to use cabextract, which I don't have.

It's not a big deal for me, I don't normally use my Linux box for much, I use my Mac.

[mink]

Some new observations and suggestions:

1. About linux and special characters: I can see them all, and in chat I can successfully type most, but not the German umlauts ÄäÖöÜü. ü for example results in "ü" when I hit that key.

2. Just before writing this, I had played in the Main Bridge Club and had been South, host and dummy when I stood up from my seat. After the next board appeared, I saw the North cards only.

3. Text fits into the space assigned for it in this version much better than in the previous.

4. It is now possible to assign oneself as a sub to all tournaments, which is a great idea for sure. However, there should be a field where the user can specify the maximum amount of time he wants to play, in order to avoid to be sucked into a tourney that last longer than I can afford. Maybe there should be options to select only pair or indy and only IMP or MP.

5. For people with an empty BBO$ account, maybe the list of free tournaments should be displayed for default, instead of all tournaments.

6. I liked the option that profiles are shown when I hover over a name. However, it would be even better if the profile is displayed as long I hover there and immediately removed when the mouse moves somewhere else, as it was in BBOWIN. And maybe try to display the profile so that it does not cover the area where the mouse points to.

7. I would consider the "Be right back" button important enough to place it in the upper left button area that is always visible, instead of the "who's online" area, which is not visible when the hands history is displayed.

8. In the "my results - my table" area there should be a button that resets the hand to its initial state, after some tricks are replayed. If there are too many buttons then, maybe better remove the "previous hand" and "next hand" buttons, as it is easy to click into the list above.

9. In the "who's online" area, the navigation keys on the keyboard switch between the tabs, and it it not possible to use the page down key on the keyboard for scrolling in a list of names.

I like all changes made in the latest version, and the GUI is now very well designed, both regarding functionality and look.

Karl

[1eyedjack]

If you try to access the Total Points Tournament club from the direct link provided, ie the link on the same level as the link to all public clubs, all private clubs etc, then it takes you to the main bridge club. You can still get to TPT club but have to go through the "all public clubs" first.

[Gerardo]

Barry:

the msttcorefonts package is in the contrib section (.
cabextract is in a package of its own, in main. "apt-get install cabextract" will be enough.

Karl:

Looks like an unicode issue (UTF-8 char trying to be displayed as a non UTF-8 char).

[barmar]

Is anyone concerned that someone might be offended by the "wardrobe malfunction" in the graphic that goes along with "Play against robots" when you first connect? Or is that a cyber-bra?

[barmar]

I think I managed to get the msttcorefonts installed. I see the arrow now, but still no suit symbols.

Which specific font do they come from?

[TylerE]

symbol.ttf

[mink]

Some more:

10. A tourney is finished. I click on "Refresh" in the list of the tables of the tourney, which causes the Home display to appear. However, results are still displayed in the "My table" area, and I now can also look at what happened at other tables. But the hand displayed below the result list does not show the hand belonging to highlighted result above. Rather, the hand that happened to be there remains there. The << button below the hand moves the highlight one result upwards, but still the hand displayed remains the same. However, the >> button displays the next hand alright, until the last hand is reached, which stays there until I enter another table.

11. When sitting at a table in the east or west seat, the vul and dealer indicaters in the upper left corner reflect the situation from the N/S perspective. I hope this is not intentional.

12. In a tourney where the movement places me on different compass directions in different rounds, it is confusing to see the "My Table" results from the N/S perspective for all hands, and nothing indicates where I was sitting in this round, unless I click on the result and (hopefully) get the hand displayed. When I later show the results with the "Recent Tournaments display, I see a "We" and "They" column. I really prefer the we-and-they display and suggest you use only this one whenever my results are shown. But when displaying "Other Tables", "We" and "They" makes less sense of course.

13. Whenever a hand is displayed that I have played, I suggest that it is rotated to show the cards I had in the lower seat, maybe even if it is currently displayed in the context of another table. I know that this was not the case in BBOWIN, but I still think most would appreciate this. If you are not sure about that, maybe make it an "Advanced option".

Karl

[Gerardo]

I _think_ BBOFlash does not use symbol.ttf (I know I don't have it around except for Wine).

[fred]

mink, on Jun 5 2008, 10:57 PM, said:

Some more:

10. A tourney is finished. I click on "Refresh" in the list of the tables of the tourney, which causes the Home display to appear. However, results are still displayed in the "My table" area, and I now can also look at what happened at other tables. But the hand displayed below the result list does not show the hand belonging to highlighted result above. Rather, the hand that happened to be there remains there. The << button below the hand moves the highlight one result upwards, but still the hand displayed remains the same. However, the >> button displays the next hand alright, until the last hand is reached, which stays there until I enter another table.

11. When sitting at a table in the east or west seat, the vul and dealer indicaters in the upper left corner reflect the situation from the N/S perspective. I hope this is not intentional.

12. In a tourney where the movement places me on different compass directions in different rounds, it is confusing to see the "My Table" results from the N/S perspective for all hands, and nothing indicates where I was sitting in this round, unless I click on the result and (hopefully) get the hand displayed. When I later show the results with the "Recent Tournaments display, I see a "We" and "They" column. I really prefer the we-and-they display and suggest you use only this one whenever my results are shown. But when displaying "Other Tables", "We" and "They" makes less sense of course.

13. Whenever a hand is displayed that I have played, I suggest that it is rotated to show the cards I had in the lower seat, maybe even if it is currently displayed in the context of another table. I know that this was not the case in BBOWIN, but I still think most would appreciate this. If you are not sure about that, maybe make it an "Advanced option".

Karl

Thanks for your ongoing help in reporting bugs, Karl.

What you report in 11 is not intentional. It will be fixed in the next version.

The issues in 10 and 12 are not intentional either and (unfortunately) my initial attempts to replicate these conditions have failed. Can you please tell me:

1) What kind of a tournament were you playing in?

2) Did you get disconnected (or logoff and login again) either in the middle of the tournament or immediately after it ended?

3) About 12, you should see we/they instead of ns/ew. Do you remember if you saw ns/ew while you were playing, after the tourney ended, or in both cases?

It is the case that it sometimes takes a few seconds after all tables complete play for the hands and results to be accessable. I suppose this could take longer than a few seconds if some process on one of our servers is slower than usual.

I am not suggesting that this is necessarily the explanation for either 10 or 12, but thought you should know in case you feel like doing some more testing.

If you do feel like doing some more testing and prefer to play in our pay tournaments, please send me an e-mail and let me know your BBO user ID. I will give you some free BB$ in appreciation for the help you continue to provide.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[fred]

Gerardo, on Jun 6 2008, 11:56 AM, said:

I _think_ BBOFlash does not use symbol.ttf (I know I don't have it around except for Wine).

That is correct. The only system font that BBOFlash uses is Arial.

Windows machines (and Macs I think) come with a unicode version of the Arial font that contains definitions for the suit symbols. Apparently the same is not true for all Linux machines.

I believe that the only place in BBOFlash where this matters is in the chat area. If you do not see suit symbols in chat where you should then you need to install a unicode Arial font that contains definitions for the suit symbols. Sorry but I know almost nothing about Linux so I am not in a position to recommend a place where you might find such a font.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com