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BGonline.org Forums
Nactation: file-naming tricks
Posted By: Nack Ballard In Response To: nactation if on the bar (Andreas)
Date: Friday, 1 January 2010, at 4:48 a.m.
Andreas: Are there similiar to > < -> ^ alternatives/considerations re. replacement of italic letters for file naming&saving purposes?
Nack: The number of italic letter possibilities outnumber the number of unused symbols remaining, so it cannot be guaranteed in the strictest sense. Whether an italic (or lower-case-conflict) letter can be replaced for file-naming purposes should be determined on a case by case basis.
For example, for 43S-61P-31, P is 8/5 6/5, p is 10/7 8/7, and P is 24/20. The file name can't handle the italic P, but you can use @ or U (or even 0, arguably) instead. Admittedly, this is a convenient example, but as you have already seen most plays have at least two choices and there is a good chance a non-italic one can be found.
Assumption (i.e., assumptive Nactation) can help as well. If part of the move is obvious enough (and feel free to push the envelope), nactating the other part will usually suffice.
Deduction (i.e., Deductive Nactation) is another technique. If you know that you typically shy away from a certain letter when you have a choice -- could be almost anything, but let's use "J" as an example, you can use J in some only vaguely related situation or even make up an entirely new meaning for J. Usually it is only you or maybe a couple others who will look at your file name, so you can afford to be creative.
Alternate meaning: This is a related idea. If there is no Lifting play available in the position, you can find a word beginning with L that sorta describes the play you're making. It's better if you can find only one alternate meaning for each letter, else you are less likely to remember what you came up with, but either way it's something to fall back on. (Some day, I might create an official set of alternate meanings, even though it's overkill.)
Rollover: Another trick is that you can roll over to the next letter in the alphabet. For example, instead of a [P, p, P, p] hierarchy, you can use [P, p, Q, q]. The italic P is changed to a (non-italic) Q in the file name. This works if there is no quadruple split play available. Or, if the likely interpreter of the file name (which might be only you) is a strong player, even better: it works well enough as long as there is no good quadruple split available.
You can also combine two or more of the above concepts (the use of which is not restricted just to file-naming, btw). Lest the prospect frightens you, I assure you that for all the possible uses available, I rarely use any of techniques except some assumption. Mostly they're just fun to ponder.
Finally, if your imagination fails you altogether or you don't feel confident you'll be able to decipher your choice later (neither has happened to me yet), you can type the non-italic version of the letter twice. (In case it matters, omitting the hyphen keeps the file name the same length.)
Meanwhile, I think I can hear Stick laughing in the background, barely managing to blurt out the words: "Donkeys, all o' you. Assumptive Nactation is all you ever need."
Nack
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