Re: [pbmserv-dev] The "debate" over graphics

[John Williams <williams@morinda.com>]

I might as well add my thoughts to the discussion too...

The simple way to add graphical boards would be to program into each game
a PrintHTML method, which sends the board in HTML format, linking to
images on the server.  I imagine linking to images for each space on the
board, but I suppose for truly strange games, a single large image could
be created when the move is made and referred to as the current board.

Players must explicitly set a flag to request HTML format.  This would
have to be added to various games over time, as programmers have the time
and desire.  Perhaps Javascript could even be used to automate some the
moving.



As for a web version of the server, a few fundamental things need to be
changed for it to work.  The locking mechanism currently used would have
to go.  We lock an entire game type while a command is run, and some
commands ("show all") and games with complex searches can take a long time
to run, locking everyone else out of the game type for quite a while.

My preference would be to move everything into a mysql or postgres
database, with most of the data stored in a BLOB/TEXT field. (Or perhaps
Richard has thought of a different way around the problem while keeping
the text file approach intact.)

~ John Williams



I suppose if Zillions were bright enough to hook their engine up to
the web (and make it free), we wouldn't be needed anymore.