CBEXPORT 0.3 Copyright Rob Weir, 1994-96 CompuServe: 71165,2722 Internet: rweir@cybercom.net This program is free for personal use. CBEXPORT 0.3 is a WIN32 program, so you must be running Windows 95 or NT to use it! It also requires MSVCRT40.DLL, so be sure to download that also! ======================================================================= New in version 0.3 Added export based on Elo rating ======================================================================= New in version 0.2 CBEXPORT has been rewritten to take advantage of the extra memory and 32-bit file access in Windows 95 and Windows NT. Compared to CBWIN 1.1 I've found CBEXPORT 0.2 to be almost 4-times faster, I've added a single new feature: If you use the -delete flag, CBEXPORT will delete the games from the source database which it exports to the destination database. So if you type: CBEXPORT -Name=Kasparov -delete MAINBASE.CBF this will export all Kasparov's games into CBEXPORT.CBF and will also mark them as deleted in MAINBASE.CBF This can be useful for effectively moving games from one database to another. ======================================================================= WARNING: This program produces modified ChessBase data files, something quite difficult, and quite undocumented. This program seems to work for me, but don't you think it would be better if you made a backup of your BIG ChessBase database before using me?! ======================================================================= Files you now have: CBEXPORT.TXT the file you are reading CBEXPORT.EXE the CBEXPORT program ======================================================================= The program CBEXPORT scans multiple ChessBase data files and produces a new file which contains only games matching a user-defined combination of fields, including player's name, source, result, length, and ECO code. CBEXPORT produces a new file (always called CBEXPORT.CBF/CBI) which contains the exported games. The original data files are left untouched. ======================================================================= ChessBase for DOS and ChessBase for Windows both offer features like this, so why would you want something else? I'm glad you asked ! 1) If you only have KnightStalker or Fritz3, you cannot execute complex, multi-field searches. 2) If you have ChessBase for DOS, you can execute multi-field queries, but only against a single database at a time. 3) If you have ChessBase for Windows, you can search multiple databases at a time, but if you are like me, you run into problems when the result set returns more than 1000 games and when trying to produce a new data file with the results. 4) CBEXPORT is faster, easier to use and a lot cheaper than the alternatives! ======================================================================== CBEXPORT is easy to use. You just pass in on the command line a list of search options and the names of the ChessBase files an arguments and let it run. Possible search options are: -name=Name This allows you to search for games with a particular player. For example you could use "-name=Kasparov". This will be a case-sensitive string search, so make sure to use proper case where needed. -source=Source You use this for searching for text in the source field, which usually holds the event or location of the game. For example "-source=Bundesliga". -year=FirstYear-SecondYear This allows you to search for a range of years, so you must have two years listed, for example "-year=1990-1994". -length=MinLength-MaxLength This looks at the length of the games (number of moves). For example, "-length=20-30". -eco=FirstECO-LastECO You can use this to search for a range of ECO codes. For example, "-eco=C68-C69". This only works if the ECO codes have been entered in the games, perhaps with ChessBase's ECO.EXE program. -elo=MinElo-MaxElo You can use this to search for a range of Elo ratings. For example, find only master and above games with "-elo=2200-2900". Both players must be within the specified range for the game to be exported. -result=result You can search for games with a specific result. You give a letter, either "W","B" and/or "D" depending on whether you want games where the winner played White, Black or a Draw. You can combine several of these, for example "-result=WD". And finally, you need to pass the name of the ChessBase file(s) you want searched, making sure to include the ".CBF" suffix. CEXPORT is pretty picky about the syntax of the search options, so if you get an error message, check to make sure you are using the proper spellings, punctuation and spacing. Now all these options can be combined to do some creative searches. When combined, the options work as Boolean AND's, so the resulting export file contains only games that match all conditions. Let's take a look at some ways of combining options. First, something simple. Let's find all the games in MAINBASE which Euwe played in. You could use a command line like this: CBEXPORT -name=Euwe MAINBASE.CBF How about all King's Gambit games where White won in ten moves ore under? Try this command line: CBEXPORT -eco=C30-C34 -result=W -length=0-10 MAINBASE.CBF Games where Fischer didn't draw in all my data files? Try this: CBEXPORT -result=WB -name=Fischer C:\CB\DATA\*.CBF All games from the 1953 Zurich tournament? Try this: CBEXPORT -source=Zurich -year=1953-1953 C:\CB\DATA\*.CBF Remember the file containing the results is called CBEXPORT.CBF. I'm sure you'll find other interesting things to look for! =======================================================================