Get Ray's Bridge Game Back

Ray's Bridge Game is written in Java©, therefore, you must have Java installed on your computer. If you do not have Java, there are sites on the internet where you can download Java for free.

If you have Java on your PC, you must have version 1.5.0 or later. On a Windows© machine you can check the level of Java by opening an MS-DOS Prompt window and executing the following command:

Create a folder/directory on your PC. Download raysbb.jar into that directory using the following link:

The first time you run the game, it creates three files, rbgb2.xml, rbgp1.xml and raysbb.ini. The rbgb2.xml file is a set of rules which tell the game how to bid a hand. The rbgp1.xml file is a set of rules which tell the game how to play a hand. The raysbb.ini file saves preferences you have set in the game.

I hope that you enjoy the game and do not encounter any problems. But, I make no guarantees of any kind about this game. I have not put anything in this game with the intention of hurting you or your computer. But, I assume no liability for any damages resulting from either the use or misuse of this game. I make this game available to you to use as is without giving you the right to modify or reverse engineer the game. You may make as many copies of the game as you like and give them to anyone you wish.

While I hope that you enjoy the game without problems, you may, as with any software, encounter a bug at some time. If you do, please write down what you were doing before hitting the bug. If possible, recreate the error. If you can recreate the error and tell me the steps taken, that will make the problem easier to solve. If the problem appears related to a particular hand, save the hand to file and send the file along with your report. If the game creates a log file, send that, also.

Now that you have the file raysbb.jar installed on your computer, you are ready to play the game. Let's assume you have created a directory named bridge, and downloaded the file there. There are several ways to start the game. The following instructions apply to the Windows operating system.

	Start / Run
	On the menu bar, select Start. From the menu, select Run. Click the Browse button, locate the raysbb.jar file, and select it. Click the OK button to start the game.
	Windows Explorer©
	Bring up Windows Explorer. Go to the bridge directory you created and double click on the raysbb.jar file to start the game.
	Create an icon
	Windows Explorer allows you to create a shortcut to the game by right clicking on the raysbb.jar file. Select Create Shortcut. After you create the shortcut, you can drag it to the desktop. Double clicking on the icon will start the game.
	Run from a DOS Prompt window
	Running the game from a DOS Prompt window is not as convenient as one of the above methods, but, it is the easiest way to run the game and pass in parameters. This is the way to start the game when you want to automatically run batches of hand files through at one time. Open a DOS Prompt window and execute the command:   cd  bridge Then execute the command:   java  -jar  raysbb.jar The game takes three parameters: -c This instructs the game to automatically create a new quality, if an unknown quality is encountered in a rules file. If an unknown quality is encountered, and the -c parameter was not specified, a pop up box will ask whether you want to create the new quality or not load the rules file. names of bid rules files List the names of rules files you wish to load. These names are in addition to the names of rules files already found in the raysbb.ini file. names of hand files List the names of hand files you wish to have automatically bid. If you do list one or more hand files, the game will start, bid and save the bidding of the hand files, and then exit. If you invoke the game with the names of both rules files and hand files, the files may be in any order. The game will read each file and handle it according to the contents of the file. For example:   java  -jar  raysbb.jar  rule1.xml  hand1.txt  hand2.txt  rule2.xml will start the game using the rules files rule1.xml and rule2.xml and the hand files hand1.txt and hand2.txt.