Any way to recover the old WEI diagrams?

1pocket

1pocket

Steve Booth
Silver Member
Back in the day the WEI pool table diagram program was quite popular. But I think the original programmer eventually lost interest in it or something, and it kind of got left behind, as other methods of diagramming a shot took over -- especially simple photos of table layouts.

Does anyone know of a way to recover the old WEI diagrams and convert them to an image again?

Thank you!!
 
I think the site was infected with viruses so not a good idea to try to dig it up again unless the code was moved to another place that is clean.
 
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yes thats what i seem to recall
the site got hacked and was never restored
 
The Wei site had several issues including using an app/platform (Flash?) that had problems to start with and now is no longer supported and seems to be banned by at least one browser. Getting hacked was another. I'd say that the underlying problem was that Wei hadn't found a way to monetize the site so it became a worthless time sink. For a while he put a lot of effort into promoting it.

As I recall, the character-based position description strings were relatively simple and if a programmer had an interest they could build a translator to some other platform, such as Virtual Pool.

This is one facet of the general problem of using third-party tools for posts on AZB. Another is when people post links to photo-sharing websites rather than paste the image directly into their posts. Those third parties have no long-term duty to remain online or free.
 
Bob Jewett said:
... I'd say that the underlying problem was that Wei hadn't found a way to monetize the site so it became a worthless time sink. For a while he put a lot of effort into promoting it.
Click to expand...
This was the crux. While people liked using it, no one liked it enough to help Wei pay the bills.
 
This is 20 year old vague memory:

I vaguely recall in the early 2000's the Wei table had a standalone app you would download, and then paste the Wei code into it. I believe it was called "Shockwave" and maybe it was later bought by Adobe and merged with Flash? On a forum post you'd see only the code, not the diagram. It wasn't until Wei renamed it to "CueTable" that it would display the diagram into a forum post.

If you could find an old computer with the standalone app, I bet it would still display the diagram when you sent the code to the app. Then you could take a screenshot, and transfer that screenshot to a modern computer to post online.

However, even if you could do all that, it would be a lot of work, and doubtful anyone would really care to see the old diagrams and discussions. Things repeat over the years, and the same discussions have probably been had many times over.

Once the iPhone took over mobile in 2007, everyone started taking pictures of layouts and posting them, instead of the various table diagramming tools.
 
Would be awesome if there was an app like the WEI table. Draw the patterns you like, then screenshot it and post it as a picture wherever you like. Simple and effective. Unfortunately I am no programmer.
 
Chalky Sticks'll do that. I find it cumbersome to use though. As far as I can tell the <undo> function only works sequentially and that's if you can figure out how to do it.
 
Cornerman said:
Wei had branded his program as Cuetable. I’ll give him a jingle to see what he’s up to. He had been working on a 3D version back then.
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For such a seemingly simple program, it could even draw curving masse shots!

I sent him a little $ back then -- not a lot, maybe $100 -- if you figure out something that would be great!! We have a ton of old WEI diagrams in the archives of onepocket.org starting when we first went online in 2004. I think it may have started way back in RSB days
 
Bob Jewett said:
As I recall, the character-based position description strings were relatively simple and if a programmer had an interest they could build a translator to some other platform, such as Virtual Pool.
Click to expand...
Things like you describe (a translator) is something I often do in my job (Software Engineer).

If someone could figure out how to extract that info and have a new app format to convert it to, I could give it a go.
 
I had a small part in the creation of the Wei Table.

Originally Posted by Skin:
Curiosity got the best of me because I couldn't find an answer to where the name WEI came from for the WEI table. What did it mean, if anything? So, I emailed the guy at CueTable.com and asked him. Here's part of what he said in reply.

In the very beginning nobody knew how to call This Thing. Then they
just use my name for it to hold me responsible ... Wei Chao

He also gave me a link to the CueTable site that told this story.

It all started in the fall of 1997 when an intermediate player named Wei, encountered Lou, a well-seasoned one pocket player from St. Louis, in a public newsgroup called RSB (rec.sports.billiard.)

Lou was trying to describe a specific shot in a post. Even though he is a true expert in the game with good communication skills, the shot was a bit too complicated to be described without a visual reference. Out of the blue Wei wrote a simple diagram/email tool for Lou to draw it out and to show the shot.

I thought the answer to my question would please me, but it does not.

For one, knowing that the WEI table is named after such a nice man, I can no longer insult it. And two, the thought that Lou from StL might be Lou Figueroa, I can only imagine what eye bulging internet headlock was being applied to my new pal Wei that made his brain squirt out the WEI table.

But there it is and so it goes...for inquiring minds that want to know. Skin

Originally Posted by lfigueroa

Yes, yes. That was me. That would have been about 10 years ago on RSB.

Frankly, I don't recall the shot that generated all of it, but it must have been a good one : -) And now, here we all are having fun and enjoying Wei's brain child. Funny thing is, I've talked to Wei in person at a few events and he's never mentioned how it all came about. He just came on the group one day and said he'd spent a few hours on some code and here it was and knock yourselves out. It all very cool and the group made some suggestions and he continued to refine it. Early on the Wei table even had "RSB" embedded across the cloth : -)

Lou Figueroa
 
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I got it working by running a Windows 7 VM with Internet Explorer. (still supports Flash and Shockwave)
I found the original program somewhere and I can run it and create diagrams etc.
 
Wybrook said:
I got it working by running a Windows 7 VM with Internet Explorer. (still supports Flash and Shockwave)
I found the original program somewhere and I can run it and create diagrams etc.
Click to expand...
Here are some old ones from onepocket.org dated 2004. Can you open these (open the linked page)?

How would you play this shot?

You have the top pocket and your opponent just shot your hanging ball in making it hill hill.How do you play this shot so you don't leave a bank for your opponent? START( %AB5B5%BC1\2%CB5\6%DB7C1%EB9\1%FB2B7%GB8B4%HB9B6%IB5C0%JC0B7 %KL3C9%LB9B8%MB8\0%NC1[6%OB7B6%PD1D3 )END
onepocket.org onepocket.org
 
New programming tools are available and reinventing WEI to incorporate the latest pool simulators could be fun for programmers with time.

Does anyone have source code of WEI?
 
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