Provided by: freecell-solver-bin_5.0.0-2build1_amd64 
NAME
fc-solve - automated solver for Freecell and related Solitiare variants
INTRODUCTION
This is Freecell Solver version 5.0.x, a program that automatically solves most layouts of
Freecell, and similar Solitaire variants as well as those of Simple Simon.
Freecell Solver is distributed under the MIT/Expat License (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License ), a free, permissive, open-source license.
Note that the Freecell Solver source and Win32 binary distributions do not provide a
graphical user-interface (GUI) and are primarily meant to be used by Solitaire researchers
and software developers. If you’re looking for a suitable GUI based on Freecell Solver,
see our links at:
http://fc-solve.shlomifish.org/links.html#front_ends
I hope you’ll enjoy using Freecell Solver, and make the best of it.
— Shlomi Fish ( http://www.shlomifish.org/ )
BUILDING
Read the file INSTALL.txt for information on how to do that.
USAGE
The program is called "fc-solve". You invoke it like this:
fc-solve board_file
board_file is the filename with a valid Freecell startup board. The file is built as
follows:
It has the 8 Freecell stacks.
Each stack contains its cards separated by a whitespace and terminated with a newline
character( it’s important that the last stack will also be terminated with a newline !).
The cards in the line are ordered from the topmost card (= the card right on the virtual
table and the one with the most cards placed on it) in the left, to the bottommost card in
the right (= the card with no other cards placed on it).
A card string contains the rank of the card followed by its suit. The card number is one
of: A,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K. Alternatively, T can be used instead of 10. The card
suit is one of: H,S,D,C (standing for Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs respectively).
Here is an example board: (PySol/Microsoft board No. 24)
4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D AS
2D KD 10H 10C 10D 8D
7H JS KH 10S KC 7C
AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
Visually, it appears as this:
[IMAGE] [1] [Freecell Deal No. 24]
As can be seen, the four of clubs (4C), five of hearts (5H), etc. are at the bottom of the
stacks and the start of the lines in the board input.
And another one: (PySol board No. 198246790)
KD JH 5H 7D 9H KC 9D
3H JD 5D 8H QH 7H 2D
4D 3S QC 3C 6S QS KS
10C 9S 6D 9C QD 8S 10D
10S 8C 7S 10H 2C AS
8D AC AH 4H JC 4C
6H 7C 4S 5S 5C JS
AD KH 6C 2H 3D 2S
Starting from Freecell Solver 3.14.x, a stack can also start with a leading colon (":").
This is to allow input from states as output by Freecell Solver using the -p option.
You can specify the contents of the freecells by prefixing the line with "FC:" or with
"Freecells:". For example:
FC: 3H QC
will specify that the cards 3 of hearts and queen of clubs are present in the freecells.
To specify an empty freecell use a "-" as its designator.
If there’s another "FC:" line, the previous line will be overridden.
You can specify the contents of the foundations by prefixing the line with "Founds:" or
with "Foundations:" and then using a format as follows:
Founds: H-5 C-A S-0 D-K
Hence, the suit ID followed by a dash followed by the card number in the foundation. A
suit that is not present will be assumed to be 0. Again, if there’s more than one line
like that, then the previous lines will be ignored and overridden.
The program will stop processing the input as soon as it read 8 lines of standard stacks.
Therefore, it is recommended that the foundations and freecells lines will come at the
beginning of the file.
The program will process the board and try to solve it. If it succeeds it will output the
states from the initial board to its final solution to the standard output. If it fails,
it will notify it.
For information about the various command-line switches that Freecell Solver accepts, read
the USAGE.txt file in this directory.
To solve Simple Simon boards append --game simple_simon right after the "fc-solve" program
name.
THE BOARD GENERATION PROGRAMS
Several programs which can generate the initial boards of various Freecell implementations
can be found in the "board_gen/" sub-directory. Read the README.txt file there for details
on how they can be compiled and used.
In any case, they can save you the time of inputting the board yourself.
SOME COMPLETE EXAMPLES FOR LAYOUTS
A layout in the middle of the MS Freecell deal No. 109 solution:
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells: QS 3S 2S KD
: 8H 3D
: KS QD JC
: AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
: 7S 6D
: 5S
: KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
: KC QH JS TH 9S
: 4D
Similar, but with an empty Freecell:
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells: QS 3S - KD
: 8H 3D 2S
: KS QD JC
: AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
: 7S 6D
: 5S
: KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
: KC QH JS TH 9S
: 4D
Likewise, only without leading colons where unnecessary:
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells: QS 3S - KD
8H 3D 2S
KS QD JC
AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
7S 6D
5S
KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
KC QH JS TH 9S
4D
HOW TO READ THE SOLUTIONS
The file USAGE.txt covers all of Freecell Solver’s command line options, but it may be too
exhaustive for casual users. As a result, here is a shorter tutorial. First of all
whenever invoking fc-solve one should add the flags -p -t -sam -sel which will make the
solution easier to understand. Then, assuming the board could be successfully solved, one
will be given the layouts in the solution (in the format given above) vis-a-vis with the
moves as the string. Note that the indexes of the resources given in the moves are 0-based
rather than the more natural 1-based notation.
THE PROGRAMS
Most command-line switches have two versions:
• A short POSIX one which is a dash followed by a letter or a few. This option must
come standalone and not clustered: -sam is not equivalent to specifying -s, -a and -m.
• A long switch which is two dashes followed by the command string. For example:
--prelude, --st-name.
If command line arguments have parameters, they are followed in separate parameters -
Freecell Solver won’t recognise a parameter preceded by an equal sign. --st-name=myname is
invalid, while --st-name myname is OK.
The Scope of the Options
The scope of the options is mentioned along with them. Options can be:
1. Global - affects all the soft-threads.
2. Instance-specific - affects an instance (separated by the --next-instance option
below). Each instance consists of several flares.
3. Flare-specific - affects the current flare (separated by the --next-flare option
below. Each flare consists of several hard threads.
4. Hard-thread-specific - affects the current hard thread (separated by the
--next-hard-thread option below. Each hard thread consists of several soft threads.
5. Soft-thread-specific - affects only the current soft thread.
GETTING HELP
-h , --help
Global
This option displays a help text on the screen. This help gives a help display summarizing
some ways to use the program and get more help.
--version
Global
This option displays the version number of the components that make the executable (and
then exits).
--help-configs
Global
Some help on the various configurations of Freecell Solver.
--help-options
Global
A help screen giving an overview of all available options.
--help-real-help
Global
Explains how to change the default help screen to a different one.
--help-short-sol
Global
How to generate shorter solutions.
--help-summary
Global
The default help screen.
OUTPUT OPTIONS
-p , --parseable-output
Global
This option will display the columns in a format that can be more easily manipulated by
text-processing programs such as grep or perl. Namely, The freecells will be displayed in
one line, and the foundations in a separate line. Plus, Each column will be displayed
horizontally, in its own line, while beginning with a :.
-t , --display-10-as-t
Global
This option will display the 10 cards as a capital T +instead of a +10. Thus, the cards
will be more properly aligned.
For example, here is a command line using -p and -t:
$ pi-make-microsoft-freecell-board 24 | fc-solve -p -t
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Foundations: H-0 C-0 D-0 S-0
Freecells:
: 4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
: 5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
: QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
: 5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D AS
: 2D KD TH TC TD 8D
: 7H JS KH TS KC 7C
: AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
: 7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
====================
Foundations: H-0 C-0 D-0 S-A
Freecells:
: 4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
: 5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
: QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
: 5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D
: 2D KD TH TC TD 8D
: 7H JS KH TS KC 7C
: AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
: 7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
-c , --canonized-order-output
Global
Freecell Solver re-arranges the stacks and freecells in a given state according to their
first card. It keeps their actual position in a separate place, but internally it uses
their canonized place. Use this option, if you want Freecell Solver to display them in
that order. One should be warned that that way the place of a given stack in the board
will not be preserved throughout the solution.
-m , --display-moves
Global
This option will display the moves instead of the intermediate states. Each move will be
displayed in a separate line, in a format that is human-readable, but that can also be
parsed and analyzed by a computer program with some effort on the programmer’s part.
For example:
$ pi-make-microsoft-freecell-board 24 | fc-solve -m | head -30
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Move a card from stack 3 to the foundations
====================
Move a card from stack 6 to freecell 0
====================
Move a card from stack 6 to freecell 1
-sn , --standard-notation
Global
This option will display the moves in standard notation in which every move consists of
two characters and there are ten moves in a line. Naturally, this option will only become
apparent if the display moves is specified. (it does not implicitly specify it, though).
For more information regarding standard notation refer to the following web-page:
http://home.earthlink.net/~fomalhaut/freecell.html
-snx , --standard-notation-extended
Global
This option is similar to the previous one, except that when a sequence move is made to an
empty stack with more than one card in the sequence, the move will be followed with "v"
and the number of cards moved in hexadecimal.
-sam , --display-states-and-moves
Global
This option will display both the intermediate states and the moves that are needed to
move from one to another. The standard notation option applies to it to.
$ pi-make-microsoft-freecell-board 24 | fc-solve -sam -p -t | head -50
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Foundations: H-0 C-0 D-0 S-0
Freecells:
: 4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
: 5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
: QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
: 5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D AS
: 2D KD TH TC TD 8D
: 7H JS KH TS KC 7C
: AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
: 7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
====================
Move a card from stack 3 to the foundations
Foundations: H-0 C-0 D-0 S-A
Freecells:
: 4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
: 5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
: QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
: 5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D
: 2D KD TH TC TD 8D
: 7H JS KH TS KC 7C
: AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
: 7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
====================
Move a card from stack 6 to freecell 0
Foundations: H-0 C-0 D-0 S-A
Freecells: JD
: 4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
: 5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
: QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
: 5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D
: 2D KD TH TC TD 8D
: 7H JS KH TS KC 7C
: AH 5S 6S AD 8H
: 7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
====================
Move a card from stack 6 to freecell 1
-pi , --display-parent-iter
Global
This option (assuming the -s and -i options are specified) will also display the iteration
index of the state from which the current state was derived. This is especially useful for
BeFS (so-called a-star) or BFS scans.
-o [filename] , --output [filename]
Global
Outputs to a file instead of standard output. So for example:
$ fc-solve -o 2405.solution.txt 2405.board
Will put the solution to the file in 2405.board in the file 2405.solution.txt . This will
also be done using:
$ fc-solve --output 2405.solution.txt 2405.board
-sel , --show-exceeded-limits
Global
This option will display a different status message ("Iterations count exceeded.") instead
of "I could not solve this game." in case the iterations count was exceeded. This is
recommended because the "I could not solve this game." message can also mean that the
entire game graph was fully traversed (within the limitations of the specified moves'
types) and so no solution is possible.
This option is not the default, to retain compatibility with previous versions of Freecell
Solver, and was added in version 3.12.0 of fc-solve.
-hoi , --hint-on-intractable
Global
Presents the moves to the intermediate reached state, if the maximal number of iterations
was reached without a conclusion (= "intractable").
This option is not the default, to retain compatibility with previous versions of Freecell
Solver, and was added in version 4.20.0 of fc-solve.
GAME VARIANTS OPTIONS
--freecells-num [Number of Freecells]
Global
This option specifies the number of freecells which are available to the program. Freecell
Solver can use any number of freecells as long as it does not exceed its maximal number.
This maximum is hard-coded into the program, and can be specified at compile-time by
modifying the file config.h. See the file INSTALL (or alternatively INSTALL.html) for
details.
--stacks-num [Number of Stacks]
Global
This option specifies the number of stacks present in the board. Again, this number cannot
exceed the maximal number of stacks, which can be specified in the file config.h during
compile-time of Freecell Solver.
--decks-num [Number of Decks]
Global
This options specifies how many decks are found in the board. This number cannot exceed
the maximal number of decks, which can be specified by the Freecell Solver build system.
--sequences-are-built-by {suit|alternate_color|rank}
Global
This option specifies whether a card sequence is built by suit or by alternate colour or
by rank regardless of suit.
--sequence-move {limited|unlimited}
Global
This option specifies whether the sequence move is limited by the number of freecells or
vacant stacks or not.
--empty-stacks-filled-by {kings|none|all}
Global
Specifies which cards can fill an empty stack.
--game [game] , --preset [game] , -g [game]
Global
Specifies the type of game. Each preset implies several of the settings options above and
sometimes even the moves’ order below. The default configuration is for Freecell.
Available presets:
┌───────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│bakers_dozen │ Baker’s Dozen │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│bakers_game │ Baker’s Game │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│beleaguered_castle │ Beleaguered Castle │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│citadel │ Citadel │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│cruel │ Cruel │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│der_katz │ Der Katzenschwanz │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│die_schlange │ Die Schlange │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│eight_off │ Eight Off │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│fan │ Fan │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│forecell │ Forecell │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│freecell │ Freecell (default) │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│good_measure │ Good Measure │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│ko_bakers_game │ Kings' Only Baker’s Game │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│relaxed_freecell │ Relaxed Freecell │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│relaxed_sehaven │ Relaxed Seahaven Towers │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│seahaven │ Seahaven Towers │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│simple_simon │ Simple Simon │
├───────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│streets_and_alleys │ Streets and Alleys │
└───────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
Note: in order to solve Der Katzenschwanz and Die Schlange I recommend you compile
Freecell Solver with the INDIRECT_STACK_STATES option, or else it will consume much more
memory. For details consult the file INSTALL.
Examples
To solve PySol Eight Off game No. 1,000 type:
$ make_pysol_freecell_board.py 1000 eight_off | fc-solve -g eight_off
To solve PySol Baker’s Game No. 50, type:
$ make_pysol_freecell_board.py 50 bakers_game | fc-solve -g bakers_game
If you want to solve a game similar to Freecell only with sequences built by rank, and
unlimited sequence move, do:
$ fc-solve -g freecell --sequences-are-built-by rank --sequence-move unlimited
SOLVING ALGORITHM OPTIONS
-mi [Iterations num] , --max-iters [Iterations num]
Global
This parameter limits the maximal number of states to check. This will give a rough limit
on the time spent to solve a given board.
-md [Maximal depth] , --max-depth [Maximal depth]
Not currently implemented
Freecell Solver recurses into the solution. This parameter specifies a maximal recursion
depth. Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to set it, because that way several
important intermediate states may become inaccessible.
-mss [num] , --max-stored-states [num]
Global
Limits the number of the states stored by the program in the computer’s memory. This
differs from the maximal number of iterations in the sense, that it is possible that a
stored state was not checked yet.
-tmss [num] , --trim-max-stored-states [num]
Instance-wide
This also limits the number of trimmed stored states, but this time will try to trim them
once the limit has been reached (which is time consuming and may cause states to be
traversed again in the future).
-to [Moves’ Order] , --tests-order [Moves Order]
Soft-thread-specific
This option specifies the order in which Freecell Solver will try the different types of
moves (formerly termed "tests") that it can perform. Each move is specified by one
character, and they are performed in the order in which they appear in the parameter
string. You can omit moves by not including their corresponding characters in the string.
The moves along with their characters are:
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│Freecell Moves: │
├──┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│0 │ put top stack cards in the │
│ │ foundations. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│1 │ put freecell cards in the │
│ │ foundations. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│2 │ put freecell cards on top of │
│ │ stacks. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│3 │ put non-top stack cards in the │
│ │ foundations. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│4 │ move stack cards to different │
│ │ stacks. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│5 │ move stack cards to a parent │
│ │ card on the same stack. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│6 │ move sequences of cards onto │
│ │ free stacks. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│7 │ put freecell cards on empty │
│ │ stacks. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│8 │ move cards to a different │
│ │ parent. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│9 │ empty an entire stack into the │
│ │ freecells. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│j │ put freecell cards on empty │
│ │ stacks and right away put cards │
│ │ on top. │
├──┴──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│Atomic Freecell Moves: │
├──┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│A │ move a stack card to an empty │
│ │ stack. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│B │ move a stack card to a parent on │
│ │ a different stack. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│C │ move a stack card to a freecell. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│D │ move a freecell card to a │
│ │ parent. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│E │ move a freecell card to an empty │
│ │ stack. │
├──┴──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│Simple Simon Moves: │
├──┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│a │ move a full sequence to the │
│ │ foundations. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│b │ move a sequence to a true parent │
│ │ of his. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│c │ move a whole stack sequence to a │
│ │ false parent (in order to clear │
│ │ the stack) │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│d │ move a sequence to a true parent │
│ │ that has some cards above it. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│e │ move a sequence with some cards │
│ │ above it to a true parent. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│f │ move a sequence with a junk │
│ │ sequence above it to a true │
│ │ parent that has some cards above │
│ │ it. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│g │ move a whole stack sequence to a │
│ │ false parent which has some │
│ │ cards above it. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│h │ move a sequence to a parent on │
│ │ the same stack. │
├──┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│i │ move any sequence to a false │
│ │ parent (using it may make the │
│ │ solution much slower). │
└──┴──────────────────────────────────┘
Manipulating the moves order can be very helpful to the quick solution of a given board.
If you found that a certain board cannot be solved in after a long time or in a certain
maximal number of iterations, you should try different moves' orders. Usually, one can
find a moves order that solves a board very quickly.
Note that this moves order usually makes sense only for the Soft-DFS and Random DFS scans
(see the --method option below).
Also note that Freecell moves are not suitable for solving Simple Simon games and Simple
Simon moves are not suitable for solving anything except Simple Simon.
Moves can be grouped together into groups using parenthesis (e.g: "(0123)") or square
brackets ("[012][3456789]"). Such grouping is only relevant to the Random DFS scan (see
below). A group may optionally be followed by the equal sign "=" and by an ordering
specifier. If one specifies "=rand()", then the derived states will be randomised based on
the seed (which is what happens if no equal sign is specified). On the other hand, if one
specifies something like "=asw(5,0,5,0,0,5)", then the numbers inside the parentheses will
be treated as weights for the same ordering function used by the -asw flag (see below).
-dto2 [Min Depth],[Moves' Order] , --depth-tests-order2 [Min Depth],[Moves' Order]
Soft-thread-specific
Sets the Moves' order starting from the minimal depth onwards. This way, if a Soft-DFS
scan recurses deeply into the game, it will use a different moves' order.
Note that if you set the moves' order of a minimal depth of say 50, then it will override
all the moves' order of 50 and above. As a result, it is recommended that you set the
minimal depth moves order in an increasing depth.
It should be noted that the -to or --tests-order option above is equivalent to using this
option with a minimal depth of 0.
Here are some examples:
-to 0123456789 -dto2 30,0138924567
This sets the moves' order to 0123456789 for all depths below 30 and to 0138924567 for all
depths above it.
-to 0123457 -dto2 10,750123 -dto2 25,710235
This sets the moves' order to 0123457 for depths -9 (those below 10), to 750123 for depths
10-24, and to 710235 for the depths 25 onwards.
-to 0123457 -dto2 "10,[012357]=asw(1)"
This sorts the moves starting from 10 onward based on the asw() function.
-to 0123457 -dto2 "10,[012357]=rand()"
This randomises the moves from 10 onward.
-to 0123457 -dto2 "10,[012357]"
This does the same thing as the previous example.
Note : This option should be used instead of the older -dto option given below which
mutilates the moves order parameter and is still provided for backward compatibility.
-dto [Min Depth],[Moves' Order] , --depth-tests-order [Min Depth],[Moves' Order]
This is equivalent to specifying -dto2 [Min Depth],[Min Depth],[Moves' Order] - i.e: the
"[Min Depth]," string is prefixed to the given moves order.
This option is provided for backward compatibility with older versions of Freecell Solver.
-me [Solving Method] , --method [Solving Method]
Soft-thread-specific
This option specifies the solving method that will be used to solve the board. Currently,
the following methods are available:
• a-star - A Best-First-Search scan (not "A*" as it was once thought to be)
• bfs - A Breadth-First Search (or BFS) scan
• dfs - A Depth-First Search (or DFS) scan
• random-dfs - A randomized DFS scan
• patsolve - uses the scan of patsolve.
• soft-dfs - A "soft" DFS scan
Starting from recent Freecell Solver versions there is no difference between dfs and
soft-dfs. In earlier versions, use of soft-dfs is recommended. random-dfs is similar to
soft-dfs only it determines to which states to recurse into randomly. Its behaviour will
differ depending on the seed you supply to it. (see the "-seed" option below.)
BFS does not yield good results, and a-star has a mixed behaviour, so for the time being I
recommend using Soft-DFS or Random-DFS.
The Random-DFS scan processes every moves' random group, randomizes the states that it
found and recurses into them one by one. Standalone moves that do not belong to any group,
are processed in a non-random manner.
-asw [BeFS Weights] , --a-star-weight [BeFS Weights]
Soft-thread-specific
Specify weights for the a-star (= "Best-First Search") scan, assuming it is used. The
parameter should be a comma-separated list of numbers, each one is proportional to the
weight of its corresponding test.
The numbers are, in order:
1. The number of cards out.
2. The maximal sequence move.
3. The number of cards under sequences.
4. The length of the sequences which are found over renegade cards.
5. The depth of the board in the solution.
6. The negative of the number of cards that are not placed above their parents. To get
the irreversibility depth, give equal weight to this weight and to the number of cards
out.
The default weights are respectively: {0.5, 0, 0.3, 0, 0.2, 0}
-seed [Seed Number]
Soft-thread-specific
Specifies a seed to be used by Freecell Solver’s internal random number generator. This
seed may alter the behaviour and speed of the random-dfs scan.
--set-pruning [Pruning] , -sp [Pruning]
Soft-thread-specific
This option sets the pruning algorithm for the soft thread. Current valid values are only
the empty string ("") for no pruning and r:tf (short for "Run: to foundations") for
Horne’s rule. See:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/fc-solve-discuss/conversations/topics/214
-opt , --optimize-solution
Flare-wide
This option instructs Freecell Solver to try and optimize the solution path so it will
have a smaller number of moves.
-opt-to [moves order] , --optimization-tests-order [moves order]
Flare-wide
This argument specifies the moves order for the optimization scan, in case it should be
different than an order that contains all the moves that were used in all the normal
scans.
--reparent-states
Flare-wide
This option specifies that states that were encountered whose depth in the states graph
can be improved should be reparented to the new parent. This option can possibly make
solutions shorter.
--calc-real-depth
Flare-wide
This option becomes effective only if --reparent-states is specified. What it does, is
explicitly calculate the depth of the state by tracing its path to the initial state. This
may make depth consideration more accurate.
--patsolve-x-param [pos],[value]
Soft-thread-specific
Sets the patsolve’s scan X param (an integer) in position "pos" into "value".
Examples:
--patsolve-x-param 0,5
--patsolve-x-param 2,100
--patsolve-y-param [pos],[value]
Soft-thread-specific
Sets the patsolve Y param (a floating point number) in position "pos" into "value".
Examples:
--patsolve-y-param 0,0.5
--patsolve-y-param 1,103.2
RUNNING SEVERAL SCANS IN PARALLEL
Starting from Version 2.4.0, Freecell Solver can run several scans in parallel on the same
state collection. Each scan resides in its own "Soft Thread". By specifying several soft
threads on the command line one can create use several parallel scans. Once one of the
scans reaches a solution, the solution will be displayed.
-nst , --next-soft-thread
Hard-thread-specific
This option creates a new soft-thread and makes the following scan-specific options
initialize it. For example:
$ fc-solve --method a-star -nst --method soft-dfs -to 0123467 myboard.txt
will run an BeFS scan and a Soft-DFS scan with a moves order of 0123467 on myboard.txt.
-step [Step] , --soft-thread-step [Step]
Soft-thread-specific
This option will set the number of iterations with which to run the soft thread before
switching to the next one. By specifying a larger step, one can give a certain scan a
longer run-time and a higher priority.
Note: after some experimentation, we have concluded that the --prelude option normally
yields better results, but -step can be used as a fallback.
-nht , --next-hard-thread
Flare-wide
This argument lets one initialize the next hard thread. If Freecell Solver was compiled
with such support, then it is possible to run each hard thread in its own system thread.
Each hard-thread contains one or more soft threads.
--st-name [soft thread name]
Soft-thread-specific
This argument sets the name used to identify the current soft thread. This name can later
be used to construct the prelude (see below).
--prelude [\i1@st1{,\i2@st2{,\i3@st3...}}]
Hard-thread-specific
Sets the prelude for the hard thread. At the beginning of the search, the hard thread
plays a static sequence of iterations at each of the soft threads specified in the
prelude, for the number of iterations specified.
For example, if you had three soft threads named "foo", "bar" and "rin", then the
following prelude:
--prelude 500@foo,1590@bar,100@foo,200@rin
Will run 500 iterations in "foo", then 1590 in "bar", then 100 in "foo" again, and then
200 in "rin". After the prelude finishes, the hard thread would run the scans one after
the other in the sequence they were defined for their step number.
--scans-synergy {none|dead-end-marks}
Flare-wide
Specifies the synergy between the various scans, or how much they cooperate between
themselves. none means they do not cooperate and only share the same memory resources.
dead-end-marks means they try to mark states that they have withdrawn from, and states
whose all their derived states are such, as "dead ends". This may or may not improve the
speed of the solution.
-ni , --next-instance
Global
This option allows one to run two or more separate solvers one after the other. If the
first one returned an unsolvable verdict, then the second one would run and so on. One use
of it is to run an atomic moves scan after a meta-moves scan, so we will always get an
accurate verdict and still enjoy some of the speed benefits of the meta-moves scan.
-nf , --next-flare
Instance-wide
Each instance contains several flares. Flares are various alternative scans, that are ran
one after another, as specified in the --flares-plan below or defaulting to running only
the first flare (which isn’t very useful). Out of all the flares that are successful in
solving a board, Freecell Solver picks the one with the shortest solution.
--flare-name [flare name]
Flare-wide
This is a name that identifies the flare for use in the flares' plan.
--flares-plan [flare plan]
Instance-wide
This instance-wide parameter gives a plan for the flares as a big string. Here are some
examples:
--flares-plan "RunIndef:FlareyFlare"
This plan will run the flare with the name FlareyFlare indefinitely, until it terminates.
Once a RunIndef action is encountered, the rest of the plan is ignored.
--flares-plan "Run:500@MyFlare,Run:2000@FooFlare"
Runs MyFlare for 500 iterations and FooFlare for 2,000 iterations. Note that both flares
will be run and won’t share any resources between them, and then the minimal solution out
of both flares (or only those that finished ). If no flares finished, then Freecell Solver
will run them both again for the same number of iterations each, until at least one
finishes (or it ran out of the iterations' limit).
--flares-plan "Run:500@dfs,Run:1500@befs,CP:,Run:10000@funky"
This runs the flares identified by dfs and befs and then see if a solution was reached
("CP:" stands for "checkpoint"), and if so yield it. If both flares did not reach a
solution yet, or failed to solve the board, it will run the flare funky for 10,000
iterations and yield its solution. And like the previous case, this solution will loop
after it ended for as long as the no flare solved the board or the program did not run out
of iterations.
Using checkpoints one can yield a possibly sub-optimal (as far as solution length is
concerned) solution that will still solve faster than letting all the flares run.
--flares-choice [choice]
Global
This dictates how to choose the winning flare based on if more than one yielded a
solution. Possible options are:
1. --flares-choice fc_solve - the default, which picks up the solutions based on the
length of the solution in Freecell Solver’s moves.
2. --flares-choice fcpro - picks up the shortest solution based on the number of
Freecell Pro moves, while not considering implicit moves to the foundations using
Horne’s Prune / Raymond Prune.
-fif [factor] , --flares-iters-factor [factor]
Global
Sets a global, floating-point number, factor to multiply all the iterations counts in the
flares plans. The higher it is, the longer the scans will take, but there is a greater
chance more of them will succeed, and, as a result, the solution may be shorter.
As an example, the following:
--flares-plan "Run:500@MyFlare,Run:2000@FooFlare" --flares-iters-factor 2
Is equivalent to:
--flares-plan "Run:1000@MyFlare,Run:4000@FooFlare"
while:
--flares-plan "Run:500@MyFlare,Run:2000@FooFlare" --flares-iters-factor 0.5
Is equivalent to:
--flares-plan "Run:250@MyFlare,Run:1000@FooFlare"
--cache-limit [cache limit]
Global
This is a numeric limit to the LRU cache which only matters if Freecell Solver was
compiled with FCS_RCS_STATES enabled. This value should be a positive integer and the
higher it is, the more quickly it is likely that Freecell Solver will run, but it will
also consume more memory. (The entire point of FCS_RCS_STATES is to conserve memory).
META-OPTIONS
--reset
Global
This option resets the program to its initial state, losing all the configuration logic
that was input to it up to that state. Afterwards, it can be set to a different
configuration, again.
--read-from-file [num_skip,]filename
Global (but context-specific).
This option will read the configuration options from a file. The format of the file is
similar to that used by the UNIX Bourne Shell. (i.e: spaces denote separate arguments,
double-quotes encompass arguments, backslash escapes characters).
The filename can be preceded by an optional number of the arguments to skip followed by a
comma. (the default is 0)
-l [preset] , --load-config [preset]
Global (but context-specific).
Reads the configuration specified by [preset] and configures the solver accordingly. A
preset is a set of command line arguments to be analyzed in the place of this option. They
are read from a set of presetrc files : one installed system-wide, the other at
$HOME/.freecell-solver/presetrc and the third at the path specified by the
FREECELL_SOLVER_PRESETRC environment variable. You can add more presets at any of these
places. (refer to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fc-solve-discuss/message/403 for
information about their format)
Presets that are shipped with Freecell Solver:
┌────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐
│ │ │
│abra-kadabra │ a meta-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│amateur-star │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ solutions faster on average than │
│ │ three-eighty. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│blue-yonder │ a meta-moves preset generated by │
│ │ a quota optimization algorithm. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│children-playing-ball │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset that tends to yield very │
│ │ short solution, but is very slow │
│ │ (solves only 3 boards per second │
│ │ on a Pentium 4 2.4GHz). │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│conspiracy-theory │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ solutions faster on average than │
│ │ amateur-star. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│cookie-monster │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ solutions faster on average than │
│ │ one-big-family. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│cool-jives │ a meta-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│crooked-nose │ an atomic-moves preset │
│ │ (guarantees an accurate verdict) │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│enlightened-ostrich │ a meta-moves preset (that │
│ │ depends on Freecell Solver 3.4.0 │
│ │ and above) that yields solutions │
│ │ faster on average than │
│ │ foss-nessy. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│fools-gold │ an atomic-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│foss-nessy │ a meta-moves preset (that │
│ │ depends on Freecell Solver 3.2.0 │
│ │ and above) that yields solutions │
│ │ faster on average than │
│ │ the-iglu-cabal. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│good-intentions │ runs "cool-jives" and then │
│ │ "fools-gold" │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│gooey-unknown-thing │ a meta-moves preset that aims to │
│ │ minimise the outcome solution’s │
│ │ length. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│hello-world │ a meta-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│john-galt-line │ a meta-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│looking-glass │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ solutions faster on average than │
│ │ cookie-monster. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│maliciously-obscure │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset that tends to yield very │
│ │ short solutions (even in │
│ │ comparison to │
│ │ children-playing-ball ) but is │
│ │ slow. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│micro-finance │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset that tends to yield very │
│ │ short solutions (even in │
│ │ comparison to │
│ │ maliciously-obscure ) but is │
│ │ even slower. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│micro-finance-improved │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset, based on micro-finance │
│ │ that yields somewhat shorter │
│ │ solutions on average, and should │
│ │ not be slower. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│one-big-family │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ solutions faster on average than │
│ │ conspiracy-theory. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│qualified-seed │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset, based on │
│ │ micro-finance-improved that │
│ │ yields somewhat shorter │
│ │ solutions on average, and should │
│ │ not be slower. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│qualified-seed-improved │ qualified-seed with -fif 5 and │
│ │ --flares-choice fcpro │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│rin-tin-tin │ a meta-moves preset │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│sand-stone │ an atomic-moves preset that aims │
│ │ to minimise the outcome │
│ │ solution’s length. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│slick-rock │ run "gooey-unknown-thing" and │
│ │ then "sand-stone" │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│sentient-pearls │ a meta-moves and flares based │
│ │ preset with short solutions. │
│ │ Much faster than │
│ │ children-playing-ball but yields │
│ │ less optimal solutions. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│tea-for-two │ a meta-moves preset optimized │
│ │ for two-freecells' Freecell │
│ │ games (although it can work on │
│ │ other Freecell-like games as │
│ │ well). │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│the-iglu-cabal │ a meta-moves preset that yields │
│ │ faster solutions on average than │
│ │ blue-yonder. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│the-last-mohican │ a preset for solving Simple │
│ │ Simon. Yields less false │
│ │ negatives than the default one, │
│ │ but might be slower. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│three-eighty │ a meta-moves preset (that │
│ │ depends on Freecell Solver 3.4.0 │
│ │ and above) that yields solutions │
│ │ faster on average than │
│ │ enlightened-ostrich. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│toons-for-twenty-somethings │ an atomic-moves preset that │
│ │ solves more boards efficiently │
│ │ than "fools-gold". │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│video-editing │ a meta-moves and flare-based │
│ │ preset, based on qualified-seed │
│ │ that yields shorter solutions on │
│ │ average, but may be somewhat │
│ │ slower. Named to commemorate the │
│ │ earlier work of Adrian Ettlinger │
│ │ (1925-2013) who later │
│ │ contributed to Freecell Solver │
│ │ and to Freecell research. │
├────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤
│ │ │
│yellow-brick-road │ a meta-moves preset │
└────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘
They can be abbreviated into their lowercase acronym (i.e: "ak" or "rtt").
RUN-TIME DISPLAY OPTIONS
-i , --iter-output
Global
This option tells fc-solve to print the iteration number and the recursion depth of every
state which is checked, to the standard output. It’s a good way to keep track of how it’s
doing, but the output slows it down a bit.
--iter-output-step [step]
Global
Prints the current iteration if -i is specified, only every [step] steps, where [step] is
a positive integer. For example, if you do fc-solve -i --iter-output-step 100, you will
see this:
Iteration: 0
Iteration: 100
Iteration: 200
Iteration: 300
This option has been added in Freecell Solver 4.20.0 and is useful for speeding up the
runtime process, by avoiding excessive output.
-s , --state-output
Global
This option implies -i. If specified, this option outputs the cards and formation of the
board itself, for every state that is checked. "fc-solve -s" yields a nice real-time
display of the progress of Freecell Solver, but you usually cannot make what is going on
because it is so fast.
SIGNAL COMBINATIONS
If you are working on a UNIX or a similar system, then you can set some run-time options
in "fc-solve" by sending it some signal combinations.
If you send the fc-solve a single ABRT signal, then fc-solve will terminate the scan
prematurely, and report that the iterations’s limit has been exceeded.
If you send the signal USR1, without sending any other signals before that, then fc-solve
will output the present number of iterations. This method is a good way to monitor an
instance that takes a long time to solve.
If you send it the signal USR2 and then USR1, then fc-solve will print the iteration
number and depth on every state that it checks. It is the equivalent of specifying (or
unspecifying) the option -i/--iter-output.
If you send it two USR2 signals and then USR1, then fc-solve will also print the board of
every state. Again, this will only be done assuming the iteration output is turned on.
AUTHOR
Shlomi Fish <shlomif@cpan.org>
Author.
2018-10-27 FC-SOLVE(6)