Freecell Solver Readme File
===========================
Shlomi Fish <shlomif@cpan.org>
:Date: 2025-11-17
:Revision: $Id$

[id="intro"]
Introduction
------------

This is Freecell Solver version 6.16.x, a program that automatically
solves most layouts of Freecell, and similar Solitaire variants as
well as those of Simple Simon.

Freecell Solver is distributed under the MIT/Expat License
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License ), a free, permissive,
open-source license.

Note that the Freecell Solver source and Win32 binary distributions *do not*
provide a graphical user-interface (GUI) and are primarily meant to be used
by Solitaire researchers and software developers. If you're looking for a
suitable GUI based on Freecell Solver, see our links at:

http://fc-solve.shlomifish.org/links.html#front_ends

I hope you'll enjoy using Freecell Solver, and make the best of it.

-- Shlomi Fish ( http://www.shlomifish.org/ )

[id="build"]
Building
--------

Read the file +INSTALL.txt+ for information on how to do that.

[id="usage"]
Usage
-----

The program is called "fc-solve". You invoke it like this:

    fc-solve board_file

board_file is the filename with a valid Freecell startup board. The file is
built as follows:

It has the 8 Freecell stacks.

Each stack contains its cards separated by a whitespace
and terminated with a newline character( it's important that the last stack
will also be terminated with a newline !). The cards in the line are ordered
from the topmost card (= the card right on the virtual table and the one with
the most cards placed on it) in the left, to the bottommost card in the right
(= the card with no other cards placed on it).

A card string contains the rank of the card followed by its suit.
The card number is one of: +A,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,T,J,Q,K+. Alternatively,
+10+ can be used instead of +T+, but using that is discouraged and
is only supported for backward compatibility. The card suit is one of:  +H,S,D,C+ (standing
for Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs respectively).

Here is an example board: (PySol/Microsoft board No. 24)

-----------------------
4C 2C 9C 8C QS 4S 2H
5H QH 3C AC 3H 4H QD
QC 9S 6H 9H 3S KS 3D
5D 2S JC 5C JH 6D AS
2D KD TH TC TD 8D
7H JS KH TS KC 7C
AH 5S 6S AD 8H JD
7S 6C 7D 4D 8S 9D
-----------------------

Visually, it appears as this:

image:http://fc-solve.shlomifish.org/images/pysol-freecell-ms24.png[Freecell Deal No. 24]

As can be seen, the four of clubs (4C), five of hearts (5H), etc. are at the
bottom of the stacks and the start of the lines in the board input.

And another one: (PySol board No. 198246790)

-----------------------
KD JH 5H 7D 9H KC 9D
3H JD 5D 8H QH 7H 2D
4D 3S QC 3C 6S QS KS
TC 9S 6D 9C QD 8S TD
TS 8C 7S TH 2C AS
8D AC AH 4H JC 4C
6H 7C 4S 5S 5C JS
AD KH 6C 2H 3D 2S
-----------------------

Starting from Freecell Solver 3.14.x, a stack can also start with a leading
colon (":"). This is to allow input from states as output by Freecell Solver
using the -p option.

You can specify the contents of the freecells by prefixing the line with
"FC:" or with "Freecells:". For example:

-----------------------
FC: 3H QC
-----------------------

will specify that the cards 3 of hearts and queen of clubs are present in
the freecells. To specify an empty freecell use a "-" as its designator.

If there's another "FC:" line, the previous line will be overridden.

You can specify the contents of the foundations by prefixing the line with
"Founds:" or with "Foundations:" and then using a format as follows:

-----------------------
Founds: H-5 C-A S-0 D-K
-----------------------

Hence, the suit ID followed by a dash followed by the card number in the
foundation. A suit that is not present will be assumed to be 0. Again, if
there's more than one line like that, then the previous lines will be
ignored and overridden.

The program will stop processing the input as soon as it read 8 lines of
standard stacks. Therefore, it is recommended that the foundations and
freecells lines will come at the beginning of the file.

The program will process the board and try to solve it. If it succeeds it
will output the states from the initial board to its final solution to the
standard output. If it fails, it will notify it.

For information about the various command-line switches that Freecell
Solver accepts, read the +USAGE.txt+ file in this directory.

To solve Simple Simon boards append +--game simple_simon+ right after
the "fc-solve" program name.

[id="board_gen_programs"]
The board generation programs
-----------------------------

Several programs which can generate the initial boards of various Freecell
implementations can be found in the "board_gen/" sub-directory. Read the
+README.txt+ file there for details on how they can be compiled and used.

In any case, they can save you the time of inputting the board yourself.

[id="complete_examples"]
Some complete examples for layouts
----------------------------------

A layout in the middle of the MS Freecell deal No. 109 solution:

-----------------------
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells:  QS  3S  2S  KD
: 8H 3D
: KS QD JC
: AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
: 7S 6D
: 5S
: KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
: KC QH JS TH 9S
: 4D
-----------------------

Similar, but with an empty Freecell:

-----------------------
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells:  QS  3S  -  KD
: 8H 3D 2S
: KS QD JC
: AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
: 7S 6D
: 5S
: KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
: KC QH JS TH 9S
: 4D
-----------------------

Likewise, only without leading colons where unnecessary:

-----------------------
Foundations: H-6 C-9 D-2 S-0
Freecells:  QS  3S  -  KD
8H 3D 2S
KS QD JC
AS 8D TD 7D JH TS 9D
7S 6D
5S
KH QC JD TC 9H 8S 7H 6S 5D 4S
KC QH JS TH 9S
4D
-----------------------

[id="how_to_read_sol"]
How to read the solutions
-------------------------

The file +USAGE.txt+ covers all of Freecell Solver’s command line options,
but it may be too exhaustive for casual users. As a result, here is a shorter
tutorial. First of all whenever invoking +fc-solve+ one should add the
flags +-p -t -sam -sel+ which will make the solution easier to understand. Then,
assuming the board could be successfully solved, one will be given the layouts
in the solution (in the format given above) vis-a-vis with the moves as the
string. Note that the indexes of the resources given in the moves are
0-based rather than the more natural 1-based notation.
