[SGF FF[4] - Smart Game Format] last updated: 1997-05-27

1. General SGF FF[4] Example File

Purpose

The example SGF file and the GIF pictures should illustrate some of the features of SGF FF[4] and give application coders an impression how to draw or represent various properties.

Note: The colors chosen, the screen structure (seperate window for variations & other information, seperate comment window) etc. are specific to Primiview, the application used to create these pictures.

Your application doesn't have to look the same.
You are free to choose whatever colors, structures etc. you want. Same goes for representation of advanced markup such as DD (dimmed points).

General comments

Primiview's node numbering starts with zero (0) (just like MGT). Node numbering is done in the order the nodes appear in the SGF file.

If your application can't handle SGF collections then you have to extract the second part using a split utility or a text editor.

Download example SGF file

Gametree 1: properties

Variation A: (Moves, comments, annotations)

There's nothing special about these nodes.
Note the new (FF[4]) way to write pass moves: "B[]", "W[]" (nodes 12, 13)

Variation B: (Setup)

This variation illustrates how to use AB, AW, AE & PL.
Here compressed point lists are used for the first time. Have a look at the SGF specification and the two pictures to get the idea.

Variation C: (Markup)

Node 19 shows various kind of board markup.
Node 20 shows labels. Label length are from 1-8 chars. There are two pictures: the second one shows different ways of handling long labels.
Node 21 shows three new FF[4] properties: DD (dimmed points), AR (arrows) and LN (lines)

The picture ex08.gif illustartes how VW (view) works.
The VW property isn't directly encoded into the SGF file. The picture shows node 19 and gives two examples of a restricted view.

Variation D: (Style & text type)

Node 22 contains a comment text which serves as example for hard and soft linebreaks and for different encodings of linebreaks.

Note that ex09.gif & ex10.gif are both taken from the same node (#23). They only differ in the ST (style) used. The example itself doesn't contain a ST property. The picture just illustrates the use of ST.

Variation E: (Time limits, captures & move numbers)

This variation shows the use of BL, WL, OB, OW, MN.
It also contains a suicidal move (and capture).

Gametree 2: Game-info

This game-tree shows how game-info properties may be stored, if there are several games merged into a single gametree. See the comment texts for what the game-info should look like.

2. Print Example Files

SGF provides some properties for storing print and layout information. These properties are: FG, VW, PM and MN.

The following files contain two games from GoWorld 78 (of course, the commentary isn't included, but all the board-markup is). You should have this magazine to verify the layout with the example files.