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Kungsgeten / bml

A markup language for writing contract bridge system notes.
MIT License
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** Bidding tables

The most powerful part of BML is the ability to write bidding tables easily. Let's take a look at this basic precision structure:

+BEGIN_SRC

1C Any hand with 16+ hcp 1D Artificial. 0--7 hcp 1H Any hand with 20+ hcp 1HS 5+ suit, forcing to game (8+ hcp) 1N Natural game force, 8+ hcp 2m 5+ suit, forcing to game (8+ hcp) 2M 6+ suit, 5--7 hcp 1D Nebulous with 2+!d, 11--15 hcp 1HS 5+ suit, 11--15 hcp 1N 14--16 hcp 2C 6+!c or 5!c and 4!h/!s, 11--15 hcp 2D 4414. 4405, 4305 or 3405, 11--15 hcp 2HS Weak 2N Weak with 5-5 minors

+END_SRC

Pretty simple, right? A row is written according to the format

. Each bid may have sub-bids, by increasing the indentation (number of spaces). The text !c, !d, !h and !s will be converted to suit symbols when exported (and so will the bid names in the bid table). When writing bidding tables you may sometimes want to have a description with linebreaks. This can be done in BML by indenting the description lines at the same level. Here's an example: #+BEGIN_SRC 1C Polish club, one of three: a) 12--14 NT b) 15+ hcp and 5+!c c) 18+ hcp any distribution #+END_SRC Because of the description linebreak feature it isn't possible to start a sub-bid at the same indentation level as the previous bid's description. You may add equal signs when separating bids and descriptions, instead of only whitespaces, if you prefer that notation. This can make the bidtable easier to read: #+BEGIN_SRC 1m = 3+ minor 1M = 5+ major 1N = 15--17 May have 5M, 6m or 5-4 minors 2C = Strong and forcing 2X = Weak 2N = 20--21 #+END_SRC As bids you could type for instance 1C, to show the bid of 1 club. D(iamond), H(eart), S(spade) and N(o trump) work too. You could also use to suits, like 3CD to define both 3C and 3D at the same time. There's also some other special cases: - m :: Defines both C and D - M :: Defines both H and S - X :: Defines C, D, H and S - red :: Defines D and H - step[s] :: Defines the bid steps above the parent bid (the previous bid made). In response to 1C, 1step would be 1D, 2steps would be 1H etc. It is worth noticing that whitespaces before the *first bid* in the bidding table is ignored. Other indentation whitespaces are part of the syntax. You probably won't want to add your entire system to a single bidding table. The first bid in a bidding table is the start of a sequence, if the characters - and/or ; are included in the bid. Here's an example of adding the answers to Stayman to an already exisiting sequence. #+BEGIN_SRC 1N-2C; 2D No 4 card major 2H 5+!h, 4!s, invitational 2S 5+!s, invitational 3HS Smolen (5+ cards in other major) 2HS 4+ suit 2N 4-4 majors, minimum 3C 4-4 majors, maximum #+END_SRC If a bid has already been defined, it will not be overwritten; the first definition stands. Normal bids (like 2C) are evaluated before special bids (like 2X), hence this would work: #+BEGIN_SRC 2C Strong, forcing 2D Waiting 2X Weak 2N Ogust #+END_SRC *** Competetive auctions In order to describe competetive auctions, use parantheses around the opponents' bids. All bids, even passes, needs to be described in an competetive auction. P stands for Pass, D is for Double and R is for Redouble. Here's an example of a defense to 1NT: #+BEGIN_SRC (1NT)--- D Strength, ca 15+ 2C At least 5-4 majors (D) P 5+!c, suggestion to play R Asking for better/longer major 2D 5+!d, suggestion to play (P) 2D Asking for better/longer major 2D A weak major or a strong minor 2HS Constructive 2N 5-5 minors 3X Preemptive #+END_SRC Note that the above only defines competing directly over 1NT, balancing over 1NT would be written as ~(1NT)-P-(P)---~ instead of ~(1NT)---~. *** Hiding from export If you add #HIDE at the beginning of a row somewhere in the bidding table, the bidding table will only be exported to Full Disclosure; not HTML nor LaTeX. *** Copy/Cut/Paste You could copy/cut sections of bidding tables. This is done by writing #COPY or #CUT . The is later used when pasting the copy. The difference between #COPY and #CUT is that #COPY will preserve the copied rows, while #CUT will remove them (and hence they will not be parsed until pasted). Use #ENDCOPY or #ENDCUT to specify where the copying/cutting ends. To paste a copied/cut section, use #PASTE . #PASTE takes indentation into consideration, so for instance a #CUT may be done at the top level of the document and later pasted deep into a bidding table. You can also replace text in the copy when pasting, a somewhat complex but powerful tool. This is done by typing #PASTE =. A paste may have several targets and replacements. Let's look at an example: #+BEGIN_SRC #CUT transfer 2\R Transfer 2\M Transfer accept 3\M Super accept #ENDCUT 1N--- 2C Stayman #PASTE transfer \R=D \M=H #PASTE transfer \R=H \M=S #+END_SRC *** Seat and vulnerability dependency By default it doesn't matter which seat you're in, or which vulnerability it is, when you bid. Full Disclosure, however, allows for different meanings of sequences depending on these factors. To change the vulnerability (for the forthcoming bidding tables) type #VUL . Both and can be Y, N or 0: Yes, No or Doesn't matter. #VUL Y0 would mean that where vulnerable, but it doesn't matter if the opponents are. Seat is changed in a similar way: #SEAT , where can be 0 (doesn't matter), 1, 2, 3, 4, 12 (first or second) or 34 (third or fourth). ** Headers and paragraphs In order to write text, just write normal text and separate the paragraphs by blank lines. Any whitespace in the beginning of a row will be ignored. In order to separate the document into sections, asterisks are used. One for the first level, two for the second level etc. The character combinations !c, !d, !h and !s will be converted into suit symbols when exported, just as in the case of bidding tables. #+BEGIN_SRC * The 1!c opening Opening 1!c shows at least 16+ hcp, and is forcing. The continuation is fairly natural. Some hands might be upgraded to 1!c due to distribution, but wildly distributional hands might also be downgraded to avoid problems if the opponents preempt. ** The 1!d negative Responding 1!d shows a hand which doesn't have enough values to establish a game force. #+END_SRC In the examples above whitespace are used in the beginning of the paragraph lines, in order to make the text easier to read, but doing this is optional. ** Metadata Metadata are written like ~#+METADATA:data~, where ~METADATA~ is the type of the data and ~data~ is the actual content. The available type of metadata is: - TITLE :: The system's title, and also the title of the document - DESCRIPTION :: A short description of the system - AUTHOR :: The author of the document #+BEGIN_SRC #+TITLE: Precision club #+AUTHOR: John Smith #+DESCRIPTION: Strong club system. Nebulous diamond and 5 card majors #+END_SRC The metadata can be set anywhere in the BML file. If the metadata has already been set, it will not be overwritten. ** Deal diagrams It is possible to create deal diagrams with BML. *Right now these can only be exported to LaTeX.* Here's an example of a deal diagram: #+begin_src N None 35 4SXS hK N Kxx T9 xxx Q987x E Jx AJxxx AJx KTx S A987xx - Q9xx Axx W QT KQxxxx KTx Jx #+end_src The first row is the header row. The header row adds additional information about the deal, and may be excluded if you only want to show the cards. The header row can include the following information: - Dealer :: The dealer of this deal. You simply write the first letter of the player: ~N E S W~ - Vulnerability :: Who is vulnerable on this deal? You write ~NS~ (north/south), ~EW~ (east/west), ~None~ or ~All~ - Board number :: If you write a digit, this will be interpreted as the board number. 35 in the example above. - Final contract :: To specify the final contract of the deal, you simply write the contract (capital letters) and the player which played the contract. In the example above this is ~4SXS~ (four spades doubled, played by south). If the board is passed out, write ~P~. - Lead :: The deal is written with a lower-case suit (~s h d c~), followed by the card (a number or ~A K Q J T~). Any of the above parameters may be excluded from the header row if you do not want to include all the info. They may also be entered in any order. They may be followed by a comma, to make it more readable. The board number may have a # in front of it. You may have any other words in the header row as well, to increase readability. After the (optional) header row, the hands are specified. Each hand is written on its own row, starting with the player holding the hand (~N E S W~), optionally followed by a colon. Any hand may be excluded if you'd like a diagram not showing all hands. A hand may have any number of cards but all four suits must be specified, separated by space, in the order spades, hearts, diamonds clubs. A dash ~-~ is used to notate a void. A card is notated by a number, ~A K Q J T~ or ~x~. Here's an example of how the above example diagram may be more readable: #+begin_src #35, Dealer N, None vul, played 4SXS with hK lead N: Kxx T9 xxx Q987x E: Jx AJxxx AJx KTx S: A987xx - Q9xx Axx W: QT KQxxxx KTx Jx #+end_src ** Lists There are two types of lists available in BML; ordered lists and unordered lists. The syntax is easy: #+BEGIN_SRC - The first item in an unordered list - The second item - Etc.. 1. The first item in an ordered list 2. The second item 3. Etc.. #+END_SRC At the moment it is not possible to have different levels in a BML list. ** Comments If you want to write text which shouldn't be shown in the export, use ~//comment here~. ** Including other files It is possible to split your system notes into different files. To include another file in a document, use #INCLUDE . The filename may be a relative path. Let's say you have made a BML file for a multi opening, and placed it into a subfolder called "modules". You could now write #INCLUDE modules/multi.txt where you want the file to be inserted. ** Font styles By surrounding words/sentences with / * or = you can make them italic, bold or monospace. #+BEGIN_SRC /Here's/ *an* =example= (italic, bold, monospace) #+END_SRC