PREFACE

Current Gowrite versions (2.3.41 or latest stable versions before) allow custom labels for multiple intersections but it can be very hard to discover this great feature. Therefore let me explain how to use it.


WHAT IS A LABEL?

It is a (short) character sequence written onto an intersection, regardless of being empty or having a black / white stone on it. You can enter any character sequence of your choice but more than three characters of normal size might not fit well. Characters can be upper case letters, lower case letters, hiragana, digits or punctuation marks. E.g., I find it very useful to put a question mark onto intersections with unclear status. The special markup signs triangle, square, cicle, cross are not characters for the purpose of labels.


SELECTING SEVERAL INTERSECTIONS

For putting the same label onto several intersections simultaneously, it is a necessity to know how to mark / select them. One convenient way is to right-click more and more single intersections while holding the CTRL key. It is also possible in this CTRL + right-click manner to add rectangular selected parts of the board by CTRL + right-clicking on an intersection and then dragging the mouse to mark a (or an additional) rectangle of intersections. When it has the right scope, lift the right mouse button and the intersections in that rectangle are added to the selection. Lift also the CTRL key when finished with forming your selection of intersections. They need not be connected. Dragging might not work when you start marking a selecting rectangle on an intersection with a stone. In that case, construct your dragging from another direction. In some cases, you might wish to unselect all intersections before selecting new ones: Right-click once or, if necessary, twice on an unselected intersection (while not pressing CTRL).


NEXT LABEL FIELD

Another required tool is the right window's part following the phrase "Next label:". You need to understand how it works. Firstly let me denote what is there:

Next label: [ ]\/

o Increment [<<] [<] [>]

The box right of the "Next label:" phrase looks like a pure drop-down box. This it is not! Rather it is a combination of a drop-down box and an editing field for entering a (short) line of text! Double-click into that field and enter your currently desired label. Otherwise the current label is the one currently appearing there. When applying labels to intersections, the applied label is the currently shown text in that "Next label:" field.

If you want to specify every next label manually or apply the same label several times, then unmark the Increment checkbox. If you want automatically increasing labels, then mark the Increment checkbox. Do either before applying a label to more intersections. The following characters are incremental: lower case letters, upper case letters, digits, (presumably) hiragana. Punctuation marks are invariant to increments. Digits start from 0 and increase as natural numbers. Letters are increased alphabetically on a letter-digit basis while keeping the number and position of letters in a text constant. Upper case letters build a sequence and lower case letters build another sequence. Example: Zy, Zz, Aa, Ab... (But the detail of that overflow
behaviour might be subject to change.)

[<<] goes to the first letter / digit of an incremental type, if applicable. [<] goes one step back and [>] one step forwards.

So what you really need to know is to enter your desired current label into the field and to (un)mark the Increment checkbox. First enter a label, then apply it.


APPLYING A LABEL

You have, in any procedural order, already selected the right intersections, entered the right text into the "Next label:" field and (un)marked the Increment checkbox. Now you apply the label to the selected intersections by this command:

CTRL L


REMAKRS

Intersections already having a label are not overwritten by a new label. If you want to have a new label there, either modify it by double-clicking onto the single intersection or remove prior labels by selecting their intersections and using the Remove Marks button. For applying a label to intersections, (currently) it appears to be immaterial which tool in the tool buttons window is being selected, although the programmer suggests the OK/? tool to be active. It is more convenient though that this is not required because one just does what is needed: selecting intersections or applying to intersections.

This looks like an excellent tool (please explain if you think otherwise!) for anyone interested in writing about go. Thanks for pointing out and explaining the use of this particular feature.

_________________
Patience, grasshopper.

Gowrite has been a very good editing program for many years. It is getting more and more particularly good tools. Some of them are even designed to counter restrictions by other popular softwares.

Due to its many features, Gowrite is not a sparse program but under constant development, testing and bug-elimination. The programmer is listening and reacting to user reports quickly but one man can never fix all and add all desired features before the most active users notice them. So the advanced users also need to update the program regularly. A minor drawback for an otherwise very powerful program!