Provided by: libdds-dev_2.4.2+ddd105-1_amd64 
NAME
InitStart, SolveBoard, SolveBoardPBN, CalcDDtable, CalcDDtablePBN, CalcAllTables,
CalcAllTablesPBN, SolveAllBoards, CalcPar, CalcParPBN - calculate number of possible
tricks in a Bridge hand
SYNOPSIS
#include <dds.h>
void InitStart(int gb_ram, int ncores);
int SolveBoard(struct deal, int target, int solutions, int mode, struct futureTricks
*futp, int threadIndex);
int SolveBoardPBN(struct dealPBN, int target, int solutions, int mode, struct futureTricks
*futp, int threadIndex);
int CalcDDtable(struct ddTableDeal tableDeal, struct ddTableResults *tablep);
int CalcDDtablePBN(struct ddTableDealPBN tableDealPBN, struct ddTableResults *tablep);
int CalcAllTables(struct ddTableDeals *dealsp, int mode, int trumpFilter[5], struct
ddTablesRes *resp, struct allParResults*presp);
int CalcAllTablesPBN(struct ddTableDealsPBN *dealsp, int mode, int trumpFilter[5], struct
ddTablesRes *resp, struct allParResults *presp);
int SolveAllBoards(struct boardsPBN *bop, struct solvedBoards *solvedp);
int CalcPar(struct ddTableDeal tableDeal, int vulnerable, struct ddTableResults * tablep,
struct parResults *presp);
int CalcParPBN(struct ddTableDealPBN tableDealPBN, struct ddTableResults * tablep, int
vulnerable, struct parResults *presp);
DESCRIPTION
Short description of the DLL functions supported in Double Dummy Problem Solver 2.1.2
InitStart
Initialize data structures for SolveBoard.
If either gb_ram or ncores are zero, autoconfiguration is done. This is currently only
supported on Windows; other platforms exit fatally when attempted.
SolveBoard
Before SolveBoard can be called, a structure of type "futureTricks" must be declared.
SolveBoard returns a status integer, "no fault" means the DLL supplies the trick data in
the "futureTricks" type structure. Status codes:
1=No fault
-1=Unknown fault
-2=No of cards = 0
-3=target > Number of tricks left
-4=Duplicated cards
-5=target < -1
-7=target > 13
-8=solutions < 1
-9=solutions > 3
-10=No of cards > 52
-11=Not used
-12=Suit or rank value out of range for deal.currentTrickSuit or deal.currentTrickRank
-13=Card already played in the current trick is also defined as a remaining card to play
-14=Wrong number of remaining cards for a hand
-15=threadIndex < 0 or >=noOfThreads, noOfThreads is the configured maximum number of
threads.
Structure ”deal” defines all data needed to describe the deal to be analyzed.
struct deal {
int trump; /* I.e. which suit that is trump or if contract is NT, Spades=0, Hearts=1,
Diamonds=2, Clubs=3, NT=4 */
int first; /* 0-3, 0=North, 1=East, 2=South, 3=West , Leading hand for the
trick.*/
int currentTrickSuit[3]; /* 0-2 for up to 3 cards in the order played */
int currentTrickRank[3]; /* 2-14 for up to 3 cards */
unsigned int remainCards[4][4]; /* 1st index hand (0-3), 2nd index suit (0-3), values
as bitstring of ranks bit 0=0, bit 1=0, bit 2=rank 2, ………. bit 14=rank 14, bit 15=0 for
cards remaining after already played cards (cards already played to the current trick are
not included in this bitstring).
The decimal value for a card then range between 4 (=rank 2) and 16384 (Ace=rank 14). */
};
Parameter ”target” is the number of tricks to be won by the side to play, -1 means that
the program shall find the maximum number. For equivalent cards only the highest is
returned.
Parameter ”solutions” defines how many card solutions that SolveBoard must return:
target=1-13, solutions=1:
Returns only one of the cards. Its returned score is the same as target when target
or higher tricks can be won. Otherwise, score -1 is returned if target cannot be
reached, or score 0 if no tricks can be won.
target=-1, solutions=1:
Returns only one of the optimum cards and its score.
target=0, solutions=1:
Returns only one of the cards legal to play with score set to 0.
target 1-13, solutions=2:
Return all cards meeting target. Their returned scores are the same as target when
target or higher tricks can be won. Otherwise, only one card is returned with score
-1 if target cannot be reached, or score 0 for all cards legal to play if no tricks
can be won.
target -1, solutions=2:
Return all optimum cards with their scores.
target=0, solutions=2:
Return all cards legal to play with scores set to 0.
target irrelevant, solutions=3:
Return all cards that can be legally played with their scores in descending order.
Parameter ”mode” defines the DLL mode of operation.
mode=0 Do not search to find the score if the hand to play has only one card, including
its equivalents, to play. Score is set to -2 for this card, indicating that there
are no alternative cards. If there are multiple choices for cards to play, search
is done to find the score. This mode is very fast but you don’t always search to
find the score.
mode=1 Always search to find the score. Even when the hand to play has only one card,
with possible equivalents, to play. For both mode=0 and mode=1: If the preceding
SolveBoard call had the same trump suit and the same or similar deal, except for
deal.first, then the transposition table contents is reused from the preceding
SolveBoard call. Setting mode=2 is no longer needed in this case, but can still be
done for backwards compatibility.
mode=2 As for mode=1, but the transposition table contents is reused from the preceding
SolveBoard call. It is the responsibility of the programmer using the DLL to
ensure that reusing the table is safe in the actual situation. Example: Deal is the
same, except for deal.first. Trump suit is the same.
1st call: SolveBoard(deal, -1, 1, 1, &fut, 0), deal.first=1, i.e. East leads.
2nd call: SolveBoard(deal, -1, 1, 2, &fut, 0), deal.first=2, i.e. South leads.
3rd call: SolveBoard(deal, -1, 1, 2, &fut, 0), deal.first=3, i.e. West leads.
4th call: SolveBoard(deal, -1, 1, 2, &fut, 0), deal.first=0, i.e. North leads.
struct futureTricks { /* The DLL provides the score (number of tricks) that can be won by
the card to play defined by its suit and rank. Array of all alternative cards. */
int nodes; /* Number of searched nodes */
int cards; /* No of alternative cards */
int suit[13]; /* 0=Spades, 1=Hearts, 2=Diamonds, 3=Clubs */
int rank[13]; /* 2-14 for 2 through Ace */
int equals[13]; /* Bitstring of ranks for equivalent lower rank cards. The decimal
value range between 4 (=2) and 8192 (King=rank 13). When there are several ”equals”, the
value is the sum of each ”equal”. */
int score[13]; /* -1 indicates that target was not reached, otherwise target or max
numbe of tricks */
};
Parameter ”threadIndex” defines the identity of the thread used when calling SolveBoard.
A configured maximum number of threads can call SolveBoard in parallel, threadIndex must
be an integer in the range 0..max number of threads - 1. This maximum number is configured
at DLL initial start-up and cannot exceed 16.
SolveBoard is thread-safe, so several threads (max 16) can call SolveBoard in parallel.
SolveBoardPBN
In SolveBoardPBN the remaining cards in the deal information are given in PBN text format
(e.g. W:T5.K4.652.A98542 K6.QJT976.QT7.Q6 432.A.AKJ93.JT73 AQJ987.8532.84.K) instead of
using bits 2-14 in an integer array. Otherwise, SolveboardPBN is identical to SolveBoard.
struct dealPBN {
int trump;
int first;
int currentTrickSuit[3];
int currentTrickRank[3];
char remainCards[80]; /* First character identifies the hand having the cards given
first
in the string, then the cards of the other hands are
given in a
clock-wise order, see example above. Null characters fill
out
the character array at the end. */
};
CalcDDtable
CalcDDtable calculates the double dummy values of the initial 52 cards for all the 20
trump suit/declarer hand combinations.
Before CalcDDtable can be called, a structure of type "ddTableResults" must be declared.
CalcDDtable returns a status integer, "no fault" means the DLL supplies the double dummy
scores in the "ddTableResults" type structure. Status codes:
1=No fault,
Other status codes are errors, with codes equal to SolveBoard status codes.
Structure ”ddTableDeal” defines the dealt cards to be analyzed.
struct ddTableDeal {
unsigned int cards[4][4]; /* 1st index is hand, 2nd index is suit, same coding as for
deal.remainCards for SolveBoard. */
};
struct ddTableResults { /* For each combination trump suit / declarer hand, the DLL
provides the double dummy score. */
int resTable[5][4]; /* 1st index is trump (0=Spades, 1=Hearts, 2=Diamonds, 3=Clubs,
4=No Trump 2nd index is declarer hand, 0=North, 1=East, 2=South, 3=West */
};
CalcDDtablePBN
In CalcDDtablePBN the remaining cards in the deal information are given in PBN text
format, see the description above for SolveBoardPBN. Otherwise, CalcDDtablePBN is
identical to CalcDDtable.
struct ddTableDealPBN {
char cards[80];
};
CalcAllTables
CallAllTables calculates the double dummy values of the trump suit/declarer hand
combinations for a nu mber of DD tables in parallel. This increases the speed compared to
calculating these values using a Ca lcDDtable call for each DD table.
The maximum number of DD tables in a CallAllTables call depends on the number of strains
(the number o f 5 trump alternatives, any of the 4 suits and no trump) to be part of the
DD calculations. If all 5 st rains are included there are 20 declarer hand / strain
combinations. The maximum number of boards that can be calculated in parallel is 200, so
the maximum number of DD tables that can be included in a Call AllTable call is 10. At
fewer strains the maximum number of DD tables in a call is higher:
4 strains maximum 12 DD tables
3 strains maximum 16 DD tables
2 strains maximum 25 DD tables
1 strain maximum 50 DD tables
Before CalcAllTables can be called, a structure of type "ddTablesRes" must be declared.
CallAllTables returns a status integer, "no fault" means the DLL supplies the double dummy
scores in t he "ddTablesRes" type structure. Its contained structure of type
“ddTableResults” is described for the function CalcDDtable. The variable “noOfBoards”
shows the number of solved boards (max 200).
struct ddTablesRes {
int noOfBoards;
struct ddTableResults results[MAXNOOFBOARDS / 4];
};
Status codes:
1=No fault,
-201=Error, all trump suits and the no trump suit alternative have been marked in the
calling parameter trumpFilter to be left out (i.e. they have all been set to TRUE),
-202=Error, too many DD tables in the call.
Structure “ddTableDeals” contains up to 50 DD table deals, each in a structure
“ddTableDeal”, described for the function CalcDDtable. The actual number is set in the
“noOfTables” parameter.
struct ddTableDeals {
int noOfTables;
struct ddTableDeal deals[MAXNOOFBOARDS / 4];
};
Parameter “mode” specifies whether or not par score and par contracts will be calculated
and if so, which sides that are vulnerable:
-1: no par calculation
0: par calculation, vulnerability None
1: par calculation, vulnerability All
2: par calculation, vulnerability NS only
3: par calculation, vulnerability EW only
The results of the par calculations are given in the structure “allParResults”, which
contains the results for all boards. Each board results are given in structure
“parResults”, described for the CalcPar function.
struct allParResults {
struct parResults presults[MAXNOOFBOARDS / 4];
};
Parameter “trumpFilter” describes which, if any, of the trump suits or the no trump suit
alternatives that will be excluded from the calculations. They are defined in the order
Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and No Trumps. E.g. setting trumpFilter to {FALSE, FALSE,
TRUE, TRUE, TRUE} means that values will only be calculated for the trump suits Spades and
Hearts.
CalcAllTablesPBN
As for CalcAllTables except that the deals are given in PBN format. The structure
“ddTableDealPBN” is described for the CalcDDtablePBN function.
struct ddTableDealsPBN {
int noOfTables;
struct ddTableDealPBN deals[MAXNOOFBOARDS / 4];
};
SolveAllBoards
SolveAllBoards solves a number of boards in parallel for increased performance compared to
solve them sequentionally using a SolveBoard call for each board.
SolveAllBoards is called with a buffer containing board data for a number of boards,
maximum 200 boards per call. Each board is defined with the same input data as in
SolveBoardPBN. The input data per board can be freely given independent of the settings
for the other deals. SolveAllBoards uses multi-thread calls to SolveBoardPBN for solving
the buffered boards.
struct boardsPBN {
int noOfBoards;
struct dealPBN deals[MAXNOOFBOARDS];
int target[MAXNOOFBOARDS];
int solutions[MAXNOOFBOARDS];
int mode[MAXNOOFBOARDS];
};
struct solvedBoards {
int noOfBoards;
struct futureTricks solvedBoard[MAXNOOFBOARDS];
};
In the SolveAllBoards call, the cards are coded in PBN text format using the dealPBN
structure. The number of boards to be solved must be defined in the boardsPBN structure,
the number must not exceed MAXNOOFBOARDS which is 100. In the returned information in
struct solvedBoards, the number of solved boards are given. The futureTricks information
is provided for all solved boards with the same returned information per board as with
SolveBoard.
SolveAllBoards returns 1 if the call succeeds, otherwise an error code identical to the
SolveBoard error codes is given when there is a problem in the input information.
Notes on DDS use for simulations
SolveAllBoards is optimal when the input boards are dissimilar. Adjacent boards in the
boards buffer that are similar (same trump, very minor difference between cards
distribution between hands) typically means that transposition table information cannot be
reused. That is because these boards typically use different threads. In simulations
involving different declarer hand alternatives and possibly also different suit trump
alternatives, usage of CalcAllTables is a more convenient and probably a faster
alternative. E.g. if the task is to make simulations to find which of the major suits is
best in a trump contract and which hand is best as declarer, then such simulation is
easily set up using CalcAllTables and most likely runs faster than with SolveAllBoards.
CalcPar
CalcPar calculates the par score and par contracts of a given deal. It also includes
calculation and presentation of the double dummy values table otherwise calculated by the
CalcDDtable function, since this table is a prerequisite for the par calculations. Thus
there is no need to make a CalcDDtable call before calling CalcPar.
Before CalcPar can be called, a structure of each type " ddTableResults" and “parResults”
must be declared. CalcPar returns a status integer, "no fault" means the DLL supplies the
double dummy scores in the "ddTableResults" type structure and the par results in the
“parResults” structure. Calling CalcPar with the structure of type “ddTableDeal” is done
in the same way as for calling CalcDDtable.
Status codes:
1=No fault,
Other status codes are errors, with codes equal to SolveBoard status codes.
Parameter “vulnerable” is set according to:
0 = None
1 = Both sides
2 = North / South side vulnerable
3 = East / West side vulnerable
The structure types “ddTableDeal” and “ddTableresults” are described for the function
CalcDDtable. The “parResults” structure type includes the par score and the par contracts
results returned by the call to CalcPar:
struct parResults {
char parScore[2][16]; /* index = 0 is from NS view and index =1 is from EW view. */
char parContractsString[2][128]; /* index = 0 is NS view and index = 1 is EW view. By
“view” is
here meant which side that starts the bidding. */
};
Par score is given as a text string, e.g NS -460. NS lost 460 points. All par contracts
for different suits are listed with comma separating the suits. Possible different trick
levels of par score contracts are enumerated in the contract description, e.g the possible
trick levels 3, 4 and 5 in No trumps, are given as 345N.
Example of par contracts in different suits:
NS:NS 23S,NS 23H This is from the NS view. North and South as declarer make 2 or 3 Spades
and Hearts contracts, 2 Spades and 2 Hearts with an overtrick. If only North could make 3
Hearts, the text string would have looked:
NS:NS 23S,N 23H NS before the colon refers to the assumed side that made the initial bid
in the process for determining the par score / contracts. Also, DDS calculates the par
score / contracts when the assumed side is EW:
EW:NS 23S,N 23H Nearly always, the par score / contracts are the same for both starting
points. One case where they are not is if both sides can make 1 NT but no other contract.
CalcParPBN
The only difference compared to CalcPar is that the structure type “ddTableDealPBN” is
used instead of “ddTableDeal”. For description of “ddTableDealPBN”, see CalcDDtablePBN.
Revision History
Rev A, 2006-02-25 First issue.
Rev B, 2006-03-20 Updated issue.
Rev C, 2006-03-28 Updated issue. Addition of the SolveBoard parameter ”mode”.
Rev D, 2006-04-05 Updated issue. Usage of target=0 to list all cards that are legal to
play.
Rev E, 2006-05-29 Updated issue. New error code -10 for number of cards > 52.
Rev F, 2006-08-09 Updated issue. New mode parameter value = 2. New error code -11 for
calling SolveBoard with mode = 2 and forbidden values of other parameters.
Rev F1, 2006-08-14 Clarifications on conditions for returning scores for the different
combinations of the values for target and solutions.
Rev F2, 2006-08-26 New error code -12 for wrongly set values of deal.currentTrickSuit and
deal.currentTrickRank.
Rev G, 2007-01-04 New DDS release 1.1, otherwise no change compared to isse F2.
Rev H, 2007-04-23 DDS release 1.4, changes for parameter mode=2.
Rev I, 2010-04-10 DDS release 1.2, multi-thread support.
Rev J, 2010-05-29 DDS release 2.1, OpenMP support, reuse of previous DD transposition
table results of similar deals.
Rev K, 2010-10-27 Correction of fault in the description: 2nd index in resTable of the
structure ddTableResults is declarer hand.
Rev L, 2011-10-14 Added SolveBoardPBN and CalcDDtablePBN.
Rev M, 2012-07-06 Added SolveAllBoards.
Rev N, 2012-07-16 Max number of threads is 8.
Rev O, 2012-10-21 Max number of threads is configured at initial start-up, but never
exceeds 16.
Rev P, 2013-03-16 Added functions CalcPar and CalcParPBN.
Rev Q, 2014-01-09 Added functions CalcAllTables/CalcAllTablesPBN.
Rev R, 2014-01-13 Updated functions CalcAllTables/CalcAllTablesPBN.
Rev S, 2014-01-13 Updated functions CalcAllTables/CalcAllTablesPBN.
2014-01 SolveBoard(3)