Program options Back to the index There are many ways that the user can customize the look and feel of this program. The program will remember the options and colors that each user prefers (provided that the same User ID has been entered) so that they do not have to be reset every time this program is used. The button on the toolbar will display a dialog window (shown to the left) that can be used to set all of the colors and options. Some of the more frequently used options can be set directly through the toolbar: Toggle between Pictures of cards and Hand diagram modes Toggle between Hiding and Showing played cards Toggle between Big deal and Small deal modes (only during the play) Here follows a description of the options:

Pictures of cards If 'Pictures of cards' is selected then bridge deals will be displayed using pictures of playing cards. If 'Pictures of cards' is not selected then bridge deals will be displayed as hand diagrams. This option is also available through the button of the tool bar.

Confirm end of trick If this option is selected then cards from the current trick will remain on the screen after the trick ends until a mouse click or keystroke is made. (But a mouse click on a card in the hand that is on lead will cause that card to be led.) If this option is not selected then cards from the current trick will be automatically removed from the screen a few seconds after the trick ends. In either case, a box like this (the messages window) will be displayed as long as the cards from the completed trick are still displayed.

Show played cards If the option 'Show played cards' is selected then played cards will remain on the display, but they will be colored differently than unplayed cards. If this option is not selected then played cards will be removed from the display after the trick in which they were played is completed. If 'Pictures of cards' is being used then played cards will be displayed in gray. If 'Hand diagrams' is being used then played cards will be displayed in the Played cards color. This option is available through the button of the tool bar.

(Repeated for convenience) Autoplay singletons If this option is selected then singletons will be played automatically. If this option is not selected then the user will have to click on singletons in order to play them. Annotate cards If this option is selected then cards from the current trick and in the display of past tricks will be annotated (e.g., 3. South followed with the H, winning trick 5.) If this option is not selected then no annotations will appear. Animate messages If this option is selected then the gray and white squares around the messages window will move. Big deal If this option is selected in the Options dialog window, or through the button (Big deal/Small deal) of the tool bar, then the full window (or monitor screen) will be used to display the deal. If this option is not selected, then the bottom 20% of the window will be used to display the Count window (if selected). This option is not available while viewing a bridge movie. Sound If this option is selected then sound effects will be played at the end of the play. If this option is not selected there will be no sound effects. Voice If this option is selected then the text in the text area will be voiced. If this option is not selected there will be no voice effects. Animate cards If this option is selected and Pictures of cards is being used then cards will be shown to drift across the screen when they are played. If this option is not selected then cards will be played immediately, without any drifting animation. The slider sets the speed of the animation. The farther to the left, the slower the cards will move; the farther to right, the faster the cards will move. Font This option allows the user to select the letter font with which the texts in this program are displayed. The choices are: Arial, Times New Roman, or Verdana. The standard font is Arial. Deck This option allows the user to select which deck of cards will be used for display purposes when 'Pictures of cards' are selected. The choices are the Windows deck or Fancy cards. However, if 'Big' has been checked and a big program window is used, then only the cards from the Windows deck will be displayed in large format. Player at bottom. This option is not available in this program. (It is used for the Bridge Base Online vugraph.) Language This option allows the user to select which language will be used to display the screen text. This option will not change the language of the text that appears in bridge movies. Color Color Deal. This button is used to set the background color of the deal. Color Hand. This button is used to set the background color of the non-dummy hands in Hand diagrams. The button to set this color is disabled if Pictures of cards is being used. Color Dummy. This button is used to set the background color of the dummy's hand in Hand diagrams. The button to set this color is disabled if Pictures of cards is being used. Color Played cards. This button is used to set the color of played cards in Hand diagrams when the Show played cards options is selected. The button to set this color is disabled if Pictures of cards is being used.. Color Current trick. This button is used to set the background color of the cards that have been played to the current trick in Hand diagrams. The button to set this color is disabled if Pictures of cards is being used. Color Auction. This button is used to set the background color of bidding diagrams. The button that controls this color is only enabled when the bidding is displayed. Color Names. This button is used to set the background color for the names of the four players. However, the Who's turn color is used, instead, to indicate which player is next to bid or play. Color Who's turn. This button is used to set the background color for the name of the player who's turn it is to bid or play next. The other three players' names are displayed with the Names color as the background color. Restore defaults. This command will restore the colors used by this program to their initial settings (so you can experiment to your heart's content without losing the initial settings).

(Repeated for convenience) OK button The OK button will implement the (newly) chosen options settings and close the Options dialog window. Apply Button The Apply button will implement the (newly) chosen options settings without closing the Options dialog window. Cancel Button The Cancel button will close the Options dialog window without implementing the new options settings; the current selection of options will remain in force. Help The Help button will display the help file for this Options dialog window in your default browser (e.g.Netscape, Internet Explorer or Firefox). Back to the index