CBSORT 0.1a (32-bit version) Copyright Rob Weir, 1996

CompuServe: 71165,2722
Internet: rweir@cybercom.net

This program is free for personal use.

CBSORT is a WIN32 executable which requires Windows NT or Windows 95
to run.  It WILL NOT WORK under Windows 3.1, DOS or OS/2.  It also 
require that you have download MSVCRT40.DLL.

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Changes from version 0.1

Fixed bug where if your sort key included S, but not W or B, the gmaes
would not be sorted correctly.
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Changes from the beta version

Nothing much in functionality has been added.  The big change is in speed.
I rewrote the file i/o code with speed in mind.  Before, it would take 
250 seconds to sort a 64,260 game. The same file is now sorted in 80 seconds.

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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?! 

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Files you now have:

CBSORT.TXT   the file you are reading
CBSORT.EXE   the CBSORT program

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The program CBSORT reads a ChessBase data file and sorts it based on
a combination of user-defined keys, including player's name, source, 
result, length, and ECO code.    

CBSORT produces a new file (always called CBSORT.CBF/CBI)
which contains the sorted games.  The original data files are left 
untouched.                   

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CBSORT is easy to use.  You just pass in on the command line a filename
and a list of sort keys and let it run.

Sort keys are given by a one-character abbreviation, using
capital letters for sorting in ascending order and lower-case letters
for sorting in descending order.  

The sort keys are:

W or w to sort by the White's name (first 15 characters)
B or b to sort by Black's name (first 15 characters)
S or s to sort by the source location (first 25 characters)
Y or y to sort by the year;
E or e to sort by the ECO code
R or r to sort by game result
L or l or to sort by game length


These options can be combined, like this:

CBSORT big.cbf WEl

This would sort in ascending order by the first player and with that by ECO code and inversely by length.

If you give no sort key, CBSORT will use a default key "YWBSR".

Remember, the file containing the results is called CBSORT.CBF.

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