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MAKEHANDS — A Bridge Deal Designer & Replicator
Welcome to Bridge For Diehards software at
Ted's World! This program enables the user to create
a series of 1-36 deals, then print them replete with double-dummy
analyses by Bo Haglund's ultra-fast
Double Dummy Solver. Included is a utility that produces
handy templates for at-the-table recording of hands just played.
After shuffling and playing boards on the first round, someone at the table records each deal on a sheet provided. The director then enters the hands into MakeHands during the game and does the necessary printing. At the conclusion of play, handrecords with analyses are available to the contestants.
This facility could serve as an alternative to the time-consuming tedium of
pre-duplicating an entire set of boards. It also would effectively
assuage the commonplace (albeit ludicrous) distrust of
"computer hands".
Alternatively, the director could merely snatch boards from the tables as they become available, and enter data by looking at the hands themselves.
Note: no provision is made for importing hands from an outside source.
ABOUT THE DOWNLOAD
MAKEHANDS.EXE
The executable file — the brains of the outfit.
BRIDGE.TTF
A proprietary TrueType font produces card symbols and other
custom characters.
DDS.DLL
The Double Dummy Solver engine.
(HRWIN.EXE)
This companion program generates random deals or imports PBN files.
These files are created as needed at runtime:
MAKEHANDS.INI
A program initialization file handles user preferences.
CLUBNAME.MH
Stores the last-used club name to save the user some future typing.
\GAMEFILE.MH
A sub-folder stores data for recovering an interrupted session.
INITIAL SETUP
DATA FILES
MMDDYYS
Three data files are created for each session; their sole function
is to enable restoration of an interrupted job without the necessity of
re-entering hands or waiting for another hand-analysis. The filenames
are based upon Month, Day, Year, and Session Time.
This information is merely an explanation, however, because you
need not concern yourself with these matters. As each archive file is tiny
(936 bytes at most), the disk space consumed is insignificant; however, feel
free to remove old files from the \GAMEFILE.MH folder at any time.
No such files ever are deleted by MakeHands.
USING MAKEHANDS
INTERFACE SPECIFICS
MakeHands menus should be self-explanatory. This file is the only documentation.
Entries for Club Name and Event Name are limited to
40 characters each.
The Escape key is your friend. Should you find yourself in
an undesired place, pressing > <Esc> will return you to the
last-accessed or other appropriate menu.
HRwin runs in a window as a text-based console. If you are
using Windows XP, you may toggle Full-Screen mode by pressing
<Alt-Enter> after launching the program.
MAIN MENU
A club name and event name are used in the header for the
post-game printouts. Date and Session Time are utilized both in the
page-header and as the basis for filenames.
A session date and time are entered. Any prior work done for that session is restored. You may then continue normal entering of boards, printing, etc.
Accesses the Session Options Menu for entering boards or changing program specifications. This option is available after a game is activated.
Player handouts can be printed only after all boards have been
entered and hand analyses are performed. Unless it has been done previously,
the double-dummy analysis runs automatically at this time, just prior to
printing.
This utility produces numbered templates, two per page, for use by players for recording hands at the table. You merely specify the number of boards in play.
Exit the program.
SESSION OPTIONS
Boards may be entered in any order. After finishing a
deal, a prompt displays the next higher number that is not already defined.
<Enter> accepts that board, or you may type in
another number.
Only the North, East, and South hands are entered. Cards
for a suit may be typed in any sequence; for example, "K3J4A"
is the same as "AKJ43".
<Enter> accepts the suit. Use "T"
or "0" for a ten-spot. For a void suit,
type "V", or <Enter> alone.
As each hand is defined, its cards are counted; if the total
is not thirteen, all four suits will be deleted and must be re-entered
straightaway.
In this initial entry mode, there is no editing function.
If you enter a suit incorrectly, there are options: finish out the hand with bogus
void suits, then re-enter it; or complete the entire deal, then type
"N" when asked whether the hand is okay.
After all three hands have been entered, a check is made for a
possible duplication of cards. If a match is found, the cursor is placed
at the "dupe-suit" nearest the top of the screen. Use the
<Up/Down Arrow> keys to scroll to a suit of your
choice. You may simply start typing new characters; the former suit will be
erased as you begin. Cards cannot be changed individually; an entire suit
always must be entered.
More than one correction may be made at this time by utilizing
the Arrow keys. Pressing <Enter>
accepts the current configuration. MakeHands will not permit you
to create an invalid deal (nor will Double Dummy Solver)
accept one. Once a proper pattern is obtained, all four hands are posted for
inspection. If there is an error, you may do more editing.
After setting up a game, adjustments may be made to the Club Name, Event Name, or Total Boards in play. Due to their usage as filename parameters, the Date and Session Time cannot be changed.
All printing functions are accessed from the Main Menu.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Hand entry can be made easier by substituting otherwise unused keys for
face-card designations. Instead of hunting incessantly
for "A", "K", "Q", or "J", even
non-expert typists should be able to enter hands without having to look at
the keyboard, by utilizing one of the "alternate" keyboard facilities
that are available in hand-entry mode:
KEYPAD: The unused keys on the numeric keypad represent honor-cards:
| / | Ace |
| * | King |
| - | Queen |
| + | Jack |
| 1 or 0 | Ten |
ASDF: The keys "A", "S",
"D" and "F" also have been remapped to
produce "A", "K", "Q",
"J", with the "T" nearby. Anyone reasonably proficient
with the numeric keypad might find this the fastest setup. The left hand
remains in a stationary position, ready to enter face-card designations,
while the right hand types the spot-cards on the numeric keypad.
Bear in mind that, although these typing aids can be quite useful, they are entirely optional.
PRINTOUTS
All printing is sent to the currently installed Default Printer.
If for some reason you wish to use a different unit with this program, you must
temporarily install it as the Windows Default, via
Start/Settings/Printers and Faxes/ <right-click an icon>
/Set as Default Printer.
POST-GAME HANDOUTS
The analysis box shows the maximum contract that can be made in
every denomination by every player, assuming best possible play by both sides.
Unlike certain commercially available programs, no makable contracts are
suppressed. If, for example, a player can make Four Spades on a 3-1
fit against best defense, then so be it; that result will appear in the box.
Also featured is Absolute Par on the deal —
that is, the result of best bidding and play by both sides. Par can be thought
of as the smallest possible loss by the weaker side. All failing contracts are,
of course, doubled.
Example: On Board #2 (N-S vulnerable), North-South can make Four
Hearts, for +620. East-West have a profitable save in
Five Clubs, for -300. That would be Par, except that
North-South also can make Five Diamonds, for +600.
East-West, however, still can gain by going to Six Clubs; so
[E-W -500] becomes Par on the deal. The same cards on Board #3,
with E-W vulnerable, would result in a Par of [N-S +420] in hearts,
because that outscores the Five-Diamond contract. An East-West
sacrifice in Five Clubs would lose 500 points, making that bid a
losing option. Finally, if this hand were to occur on Board #1 with
nobody vulnerable, Par would be [N-S +400] in Five Diamonds.
Note: The various printer types have differing
built-in margin settings, but those I have tested leave nearly 10½ inches
for printed output. HRwin's printouts are designed to use not more
than 10¼ vertical inches, so there should be no problem in accommodating
full pages.
BOARD-DUPLICATING SHEETS
Convenient numbered templates can be printed, two per page, to be used at the table for recording their hands after being played on the first round.
USER OPTIONS
It is not necessary to become involved with font changes, because the handrecord sheets look just fine without adjustment. If, however, you would like to experiment with a different look to your printout, then certain changes can be effected on the Setup Menu. This is the default font configuration:
| Typeface for the Club Name: | Times New Roman |
| Typeface for the Event Name: | Courier New |
Those specific header fonts have been selected only because they are known to be included with every Windows operating system. Feel free to choose other typefaces; in fact, I recommend it.
When entering a font name in Program Setup, letter case is immaterial, but the
spelling must be correct — that is, exactly as it appears when
viewing your font collection via:
Start/Control Panel/Settings/Fonts
Exception: you may omit the designation, "Regular," which is redundantly appended to the display name of certain fonts.
Example: you might change the Courier New font to
Comic Sans MS, a popular choice that probably is in your system
already. When prompted, type in:
Comic Sans MS or comic sans ms
Entering 'comic sans' or 'comicsansms' will not work
For Algerian Regular:
algerian
Some other fonts to try:
Souvenir Lt BT, Cooper Md BT,
Trebuchet MS, Arial Rounded MT Bold
By default, the most recently used club name is presented automatically in order
to save a frequent user some redundant typing. In a multi-user
environment, it might be preferable to disable that feature via this setting:
Club Name Prompt: No
For the player handouts only, the card symbols optionally can be printed in
two colors: crimson for hearts and diamonds, and midnight blue for spades and
clubs. Although not recommended, it is okay to use a
black-only printer with color enabled; in that case,
the card symbols will print as shades of gray. The default is for no color
in the printing. If you do wish to print colored card symbols, then enable
that option thusly:
Color Printing: Yes
Note: font adjustments are applicable only to the post-game
sheets; all other printing is handled by the proprietary Bridge Font.
HANDLING SYSTEM FILES
Should certain system modules "accidentally" disappear,
MakeHands might not object; for example, it would simply re-create
CLUBNAME.MH or the \GAMEFILE.MH subdirectory as needed. If the
initialization file HANDREC.INI is missing or corrupted, it will be
re-created with the default specifications. Should something bad happen
to one of the executable files, however, it could be restored from your carefully
archived copy or another download.
ABOUT THIS PROGRAM
A primary goal is to produce the best-looking printouts available anywhere. Every effort has been made to render the printed pages as readable and elegant as possible. To that end, minute adjustments are made to suit placement, character spacing, and font choices.
The aforementioned strategy of entering data directly from boards in play was
premiered at the Sacramento Bridge Center on November 27, 2007, with great
success. the entire procedure (27 boards) was completed in forty minutes
with some typing assistance from a kibbitzer. The players subsequently
responded by scooping up every sheet that I had printed.
I am confident that history was made at this session, as I know of no prior
occasion on which post-game printouts were provided with no pre-game
duplication of boards!
Thanks for your interest in MakeHands. Email feedback is appreciated.
