KewlChess © 1997 Tom Wagner This is Beta Version 1.21 and is freeware. This script may be obtained from Tom Wagner's Web Site at: http://user.mc.net/~twagner/kewlchess.htm PLEASE DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE THIS SCRIPT! Portions of this script were based on code used by permission from: EveryChat © 1997 Matt Hahnfeld http://www.cs.hope.edu/~hahnfld/everychat/ TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Files Features Game Play Upgrades Installation Configuration Support, Problems, Bugs, etc. LIST OF FILES readme.txt This file. kewlchess.cgi The Perl Script Chess Program. chess.htm The page with the frames in it. board.txt Data file with the latest moves in it. newboard.txt Data file for initializing a new game. messages.htm Chat messages. board.htm A html page of the chess board. board1.htm A flipped version of the chess board. kewlchess-help.htm On-line help file. *.gif There are 12 small gif files. These are the images of pieces on the chess board. kewlchess.zip All of the files combined into one. FEATURES Two-Players Allows two players anywhere in the world to play chess. Real-Time Chess board has a 15 second automatic refresh. Chat has a 10 second automatic refresh. CGI/Perl Game runs and is saved on your server, and may be continued overnight or for indefinite periods of time. Much more... It does many other things too numerous to mention. GAME PLAY This game is designed for two players, you cannot play against the computer. What it does, is repond to user inputs. It does not check for illegal moves. You and your opponent must monitor yourselves as if you were playing over a board in person. To Castle, you must move two pieces, just like in real life. To advance a pawn in rank upon reaching the last row, requires going to "Modify Board" and selecting the desired piece. UPGRADES I will develop upgrades depending on interest from the field. Future plans include improved graphics and multiple playing rooms. INSTALLATION This will require a little bit of knowledge about installing files into your CGI-BIN directory. 1. Download 'kewlchess.zip' from my web site. There are some long filenames and you will need to use the appropriate software. 2. Copy 'kewlchess.cgi' into your CGI-BIN directory. This file needs two lines edited for configuration (see below). 3. Copy all of the other files into your homepage directory. Some configuration is required (see below). CONFIGURATION Edit the first configuration line in 'kewlchess.cgi' to show the absolute path to your chess directory files. The path MUST include a trailing slash. Edit the second line to show the URL to the same chess directory. Examples: $filepath='/home/username/public_html/kewlchess/'; $URL='http://www.domain.com/~username/kewlchess/'; Edit 'chess.htm' so it points to the 'kewlchess.cgi' file in your CGI-BIN directory. Example: There is also a hidden frame in chess.htm where you can place a counter. It had to be placed in its own frame so it would not increment everytime the pages refresh. Store the following files in the directory indicated by the absolute path (above). The (*) means this file must have chmod 777's. It is recommended that you copy these files into a new subdirectory named 'kewlchess' in order to avoid duplicate file names and to make it easier to upgrade in the future. chess.htm board.txt (*) newboard.txt messages.htm (*) board.htm (*) board1.htm (*) kewlchess-help.htm *.gif (12 files) SUPPORT, PROBLEMS, BUGS, ETC. I have been told that this script does not work with perl 4. It requires perl 5. There is a minor disadvantage associated with using perl and forms. If the refresh locks up on the board or chat frame, it is best not use your browsers "Reload" or "Refresh" button as this will repost your last form data and can cause confusing side effects. (It may repeat a move that has already occured, replacing the piece with an empty space. Or, it may repost a chat message.) If you have the page bookmarked, use that method to reload the page, which does not repost form data. Another item I am working on, is commonly called the "perl flash" which occurs during the frame refresh. This program does not seem to work well with the browser currently being used with Web TV, which does not support automatic refresh. I am open to suggestions for ways to improve these and other items that may also be discovered. This program is still in Beta. Please report any problems with the program or with this documentation on my Support Forum at: http://user.mc.net/~twagner/wwwboard/ or directly to Tom Wagner at twagner@mc.net.