Next Previous Contents

## 12. Fourth Example: Hearts

Here is the hoary old game of Hearts, written for UNIX systems by Bob Ankeney sometime in the '80's, revised in 1992 by Mike Yang, and currently maintained by Jonathan Badger. Its predecessor was an even older Pascal program by Don Backus of Oregon Software, later updated by Jeff Hemmerling. Originally intended as a multiplayer client, it also works well in single-player mode against computer opponents. The graphics are nice, though the game lacks sophisticated features and the computer players are not particularly strong. All the same, it seems to be the only decent Hearts game available for UNIX and Linux machines even at this late date.

Due to its age and lineage, this package is particularly difficult to build on a Linux system. It requires solving a long and perplexing series of puzzles. It is an exercise in patience and determination.

Before beginning, make certain that you have either the `motif` or `lesstif` libraries installed.

xmkmf

make

> `

>     client.c: In function `read_card':
>     client.c:430: `_tty' undeclared (first use in this function)
>     client.c:430: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
>     client.c:430: for each function it appears in.)
>     client.c: In function `scan':
>     client.c:685: `_tty' undeclared (first use in this function)
>     make: *** [client.o] Error 1

> `

These are the culprits in the file `client.c`:

> `

>     #ifndef SYSV
>             (buf[2] != _tty.sg_erase) && (buf[2] != _tty.sg_kill)) {
>      #else
>             (buf[2] != CERASE) && (buf[2] != CKILL)) {
>     #endif

> `

In `client.c`, add

> `

>     #define SYSV

> `

at line 39. This will bypass the reference to _tty.

make

> `

>     client.c:41: sys/termio.h: No such file or directory
>     make: *** [client.o] Error 1

> `

The include file `termio.h` is in the `/usr/include` directory on a Linux system, rather than the `/usr/include/sys` one, as was the case on older UNIX machines. Therefore, change line 41 of `client.c` from

> `

>     #include <sys/termio.h>

> `

to

> `

>     #include <termio.h>

> `

make

> `

>     gcc -o hearts -g      -L/usr/X11R6/lib client.o hearts.o select.o connect.o
>     sockio.o start_dist.o  -lcurses -ltermlib
>     /usr/bin/ld: cannot open -ltermlib: No such file or directory
>     collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
>     make: *** [hearts] Error 1

> `

Modern Linux distributions use the terminfo and/or termcap database, rather than the obsolete termlib one.

Edit the `Makefile`.

Line 655:

> `

>     CURSES_LIBRARIES = -lcurses -ltermlib

> `

changes to:

> `

>     CURSES_LIBRARIES = -lcurses -ltermcap

> `

make

> `

>     gcc -o xmhearts -g      -L/usr/X11R6/lib xmclient.o hearts.o select.o
>     connect.o sockio.o start_dist.o gfx.o  -lXm_s -lXt -lSM -lICE -lXext -lX11
>     -lPW
>     /usr/bin/ld: cannot open -lXm_s: No such file or directory
>     collect2: ld returned 1 exit status

> `

The main lesstif library is `libXm`, rather than `libXm_s`. Therefore, edit the `Makefile`.

In line 653:

> `

>     XMLIB = -lXm_s $(XTOOLLIB) $(XLIB) -lPW

> `

changes to:

> `

>     XMLIB = -lXm $(XTOOLLIB) $(XLIB) -lPW

> `

make

> `

>     gcc -o xmhearts -g      -L/usr/X11R6/lib xmclient.o hearts.o select.o
>     connect.o sockio.o start_dist.o gfx.o  -lXm -lXt -lSM -lICE -lXext -lX11 -lPW
>     /usr/bin/ld: cannot open -lPW: No such file or directory
>     collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
>     make: *** [xmhearts] Error 1

> `

Round up the usual suspects.

There is no `PW` library. Edit the `Makefile`.

Line 653:

> `

>     XMLIB = -lXm $(XTOOLLIB) $(XLIB) -lPW

> `

changes to:

> `

>     XMLIB = -lXm $(XTOOLLIB) $(XLIB) -lPEX5

> `

(The `PEX5` lib comes closest to `PW`.)

make

> `

>     rm -f xmhearts
>     gcc -o xmhearts -g      -L/usr/X11R6/lib xmclient.o hearts.o select.o
>     connect.o sockio.o start_dist.o gfx.o  -lXm -lXt -lSM -lICE -lXext -lX11 -lPEX5

> `

The `make` finally works (hurray!).

Installation:

As root,

> `

>     [root@localhost hearts]# make install
>     install -c -s  hearts /usr/X11R6/bin/hearts
>     install -c -s  xmhearts /usr/X11R6/bin/xmhearts
>     install -c -s  xawhearts /usr/X11R6/bin/xawhearts
>     install in . done

> `

Test run:

rehash

(We're running the `tcsh` shell.)

xmhearts

> `

>     localhost:~/% xmhearts
>     Can't invoke distributor!

> `

From `README` file in the `hearts` package:

> `

>          Put heartsd, hearts_dist, and hearts.instr in the HEARTSLIB
>          directory defined in local.h and make them world-accessible.

> `

From the file `local.h`:

> `

>     /* where the distributor, dealer and instructions live */

>     #define HEARTSLIB "/usr/local/lib/hearts"

> `

This is a classic case of RTFM.

As root,

cd /usr/local/lib

mkdir hearts

cd !$

Copy the `distributor` files to this directory.

cp /home/username/hearts/heartsd .

cp /home/username/hearts/hearts_dist .

cp /home/username/hearts/hearts.instr .

Try another test run.

xmhearts

It works some of the time, but more often than not crashes with a `dealer died!` message.

The "distributor" and "dealer" scan the hardware ports. We should thus suspect that those programs need root user privileges.

Try, as root,

chmod u+s /usr/local/lib/heartsd

chmod u+s /usr/local/lib/hearts_dist

(Note that, as previously discussed, suid binaries may create security holes.)

xmhearts

It finally works!

`Hearts is available from Sunsite.`

Next Previous Contents