[computer-go] CGOS game records

[Don Dailey]

I have provided a way for anyone to retrieve all the CGOS game records
due to many requests for all or part of the database.

Until I make some CGI scripts to do this,  this will have to do.

Each month there is a sqlite database placed on the server that has ALL
the games for a given month.   Basically, you must download the database
and query it with sqlite (It was built using  sqlite version 3.3.4)

sqlite is very simple to use and there are versions for many platforms.
It is a database contained in a single file.   If you don't know or
understand SQL I hope someone will create some simple instructions in
the Sensei's library wikki.   Perhaps I will do this myself, but don't
hold your breath for too long :-)   It's not too hard to figure out for
yourself however.

If you want the FULL database, you must download each month's database
and put them together yourself.   Right now there is a database for Feb,
Mar, Apr and May.   (the current month is updated daily within a few
hours of the GMT day.)    

One way to get the full data is using the .dump sqlite command on each
part and rebuild the database.   It isn't too hard to figure out.

The general form of the url is:

       http://cgos.boardspace.net/public/SGF/2006.02.db.bz2

Substitute 2006.02 for the year and month of the database file you
require.


Yes, the files are compressed using bzip2.   This makes the file
signficantly smaller than zip or gzip.    Most unix machines already
have bzip2  installed and I have no idea what the state of this is under
windows but bzip2 is easily available for windows - perhaps the commonly
used zip programs for windows already handle this? - I don't know.

I would also request that you don't hammer the server with gratuitous
downloads.   Although the current month is updated once every day,
please don't fetch them every day unless you really need the most up to
date version.    

Of course the most recently played games are not in the database until
the following day.   

This database can be used for game retrieval,  statistical analysis,
research projects, etc.

- Don