Wbaduk NGF to SGF converter

Description

This program monitors the folder where the Wbaduk client saves it's games and instantly converts new games to SGF. Once configured, all your games on Wbaduk will be converted to SGF automatically.

Background

Wbaduk is a great place to play the game of Go (baduk in Korean) online. The Wbaduk client saves games in the NGF format but most other Go software use the SGF format. By automatically converting new NGF games to the SGF format you can review the games in your favourite editor such as Drago, SmartGo, Moyo Go Studio, Cgoban3, qGo etc and never have to bother with NGF files again.

This is accomplished by installing a Windows service that runs in the background (it takes no processing power when idle) that monitors the folder where the Wbaduk client saves it's NGF files, when a new NGF file is created the service is notified and it is converted to SGF.

Installation instructions

1. Download and install the program.
2. On the Start menu, in the newly created Ngf2Sgf group, start "Ngf2Sgf Configuration Utility".
3. In the "NGF Source Folder" field, browse (or type) the path where Wbaduk saves it's games.
4. In the "SGF Output Folder" field, browse to a folder where you want to place the SGF files.
5. Click "Start watching for NGF files". You can now exit the program and forget about it. You never have to start it again. When new NGF games are saved in the path you specified they are automatically converted to SGF in the "SGF Output Folder" folder. The program installs a Windows service that monitors te

Important:

Windows XP

"NGF Source Folder" is the Gibo folder in the Wbaduk install directory. E.g. "C:\Program Files\WBaduk\Gibo"

Vista and Windows 7

"NGF Source Folder" is the Gibo folder in the user's home directory. E.g. "C:\Users\yourusernamehere\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\WBaduk\Gibo". The (x86) part is only applicable if you are running 64 bit Windows.

The AppData folder is a hidden folder so in order to browse to it you need to make hidden folders visible. This can be done in Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

Known bugs and limitations:

• Sometimes the SGF is rotated from the orientation that it was played. This is caused by the the Wbaduk client saving the NGF in a rotated orientation. There is no information on rotation in the NGF file so the SGF converter can't know which orientation is correct.
• In order to convert your existing NGF files you have to move them to a temporary folder and then copy them back. Moving them back is not sufficient, you have to copy them back.
• The program will only work on file systems that the FileSystemWatcher class supports. That generally means NTFS and not FAT32.

Contact

Please primary use the support forum which can be found on the project page. Chances are you are not alone with the problem and others may benefit from reading about it. If the problem is with an NGF file that can't be converted, please attach the NGF file to the post. You can also mail me at johanrex@users.sourceforge.net.