RE: computer-go: SGF alternatives

[sdossey@xxxxxxxx]

Jeff Massung stated:

>I like the idea of XML formatted saved games.  It's definitely a plus in
>readability (even 'pq' instead of 'q17'), but I think it would actually
take
>longer to write a parser for it than SGF format (simple scanf() works well
>on SGF because you only need to read the next character, and that tells you
>what to read next).

I don't think that's a very good argument because there are tons of free
"XML" parsing libraries for every computer language under the sun.   Parsing
would be trivial, you just would locate an appropriate free library, and
then its just a matter of specifying what tags are used and interpreting the
data.   A good place to start is http://wdvl.com/Software/XML/parsers.html.
This site however, is more orientated for web based design so it seems to
emphasize Java, Perl, and Python libraries.   There are a couple of
non-validating C parsers here.

http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xml.html has a lot of links that can also
help find an XML parser that is suitable.

Vlad, I think that XML computer go game formats is a stellar idea.   XML is
quickly becoming a "universal" format for just this type of file.   However,
one always has to hesitate before we release more confusion and
incompatibility into the computer go saved game format world.   I'd be
interested in the opinion of people who have "Real Working Software" out
there.
-Scott