file/mod comparing - Page 3

Lemmy · #21 June 17th, 2001, 12:40 PM

oh, i forgot to mention this...
If you open component.txt and search for Tractor beam II, and look at the line that says
"Weapon Display := .. "
there are two of them, and there should be only one.
I already send an e-mail to Aaron about this and it is fixed in the next patch, so the program should work fine then, for now you'll just have to delete the extra line from your component.txt file.

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Q: When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?

A: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot.

Dubious · #22 June 18th, 2001, 05:45 AM

Argh! I should have remembered you mentioning that. Fixed it in my ModPath files but not the originals. Everything works fine now.

In there any possibility of somehow otherwise marking the difference lines in the two files since highlighting isn't possible? Inserting a marker at the beginning of the line display for instance? How about a "save differences" option, based upon the current comparison view of course? Though I can see that getting tricky as you might want to only have SOME of the differences in one comparison view and some from the other. But we have to remember that is the object of the exercise. Would it be possible to allow selection of the component from the current side by side comparison view to be saved? A checkbox would probably do, but you would need to track them in order to write them all out on command. But you should be able to put all the selections from either compared file into the same "diff" file, since that is what they will want to be using. I wouldn't advise writing a selection out immediately as people often change their mind after seeing how they balance against other items.

Good progress.

[This message has been edited by Dubious (edited 18 June 2001).]

Lemmy · #23 June 18th, 2001, 10:57 AM

quote:
In there any possibility of somehow otherwise marking the difference lines in the two files since highlighting isn't possible? Inserting a marker at the beginning of the line display for instance?

It should be possible to insert a marker at the start of a line, i'll try and see how it works.

quote:
How about a "save differences" option, based upon the current comparison view of course? Though I can see that getting tricky as you might want to only have SOME of the differences in one comparison view and some from the other.

It's possible. If this is what you mean:
Two files are selected, and only the weapons have been compared, file 1 has been compared to file 2, now if you choose to save the difference, all of the components from the list are saved, just like in a component.txt file. ?

quote:
Would it be possible to allow selection of the component from the current side by side comparison view to be saved? A checkbox would probably do, but you would need to track them in order to write them all out on command. But you should be able to put all the selections from either compared file into the same "diff" file, since that is what they will want to be using. I wouldn't advise writing a selection out immediately as people often change their mind after seeing how they balance against other items.

It would be possible, it would also take sme time to program it.
But why would you want such a file?
You couldn't use it in a game because of the different tech requirements in a mod, this problem has been mentioned before.

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Q: When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?

A: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot.

[This message has been edited by LemmyM (edited 18 June 2001).]

capnq · #24 June 18th, 2001, 06:43 PM

quote:
Would it be possible to allow selection of the component from the current side by side comparison view to be saved?

Until something like this can be coded, could you work around it by saving a screenshot of the program?

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Dubious · #25 June 19th, 2001, 05:37 AM

capnq:

Nice idea but ...

There are 55 differences between the v1.30 and v1.35 files. There are 118 differences between the TDM Modpack for v1.30 (at in least my minimally modified Version) and the v1.35 components files. As the idea is to incorporate the changes in one set of files into the other, ... I think most of us will stick with our current workarounds over using snapshots.

But it's always heartening to see someone else is interested in this topic.

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"All sources are dubious until their reliabilty has been repeatedly proven. Even then their information should be independently verified." - The unwritten "spooks handbook"

Dubious · #26 June 19th, 2001, 05:39 AM

LemmyM:

Re: "save differences" option. The purpose of the comparison is to see the differences. Once a choice is made as to which one to "keep", repeated as necessary for all the components which are different, the desired end result is a single file containing all the unchanged components and the selected components with "differences" from either file. Compare, select, merge. Save it with a different extension such as ".new" so we can switch back to or compare with the old Version if needed. A more desireable variation would allow selection down to the specific parameter within the component, so only the selected parameter would replace the same parameter (or add or delete it depending upon the choice) to the component in the OTHER file.

Re: why would you want such a file. Such a file is exactly the desired goal, and you are overlooking the fact that normally someone already has a functioning set of files which already incorporate the necessary "additions" in the related files (that is: a mod). What they are typically needing to do is include the changes introduced in the patches, or more precisely to examine and selectively include those changes.

More elaborately, and I acknowledge a much more daunting task, is to be able to merge two or more different MODS together. That would definately require examining each parameter and determining if it required an element from a related file, and then checking within that file to see the element existed and if not to perform a similar comparison of that file. (This might be simpler if performed only after the differences had been identified, as only they would require this checking only if the parameters which differed had such a relationship.) But we get ahead of ourselves. That is for much further down the road (if ever).

(BTW: I like your signature line. I've shot lines like that.)

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"All sources are dubious until their reliabilty has been repeatedly proven. Even then their information should be independently verified." - The unwritten "spooks handbook"

Lemmy · #27 June 19th, 2001, 10:17 AM

ok, this is what i think i am gonna do :

Put in a save diferences option, it saves only the components selected.
For each component, you can choose which one you want to save, either the one from file 1 or the one from file 2, if there is no such component in file 2, and that one is selected, then the component will be not be saved, you could also not select a component to not save it.
There should also be an option to select all of the components from one file.
It will be saved like a normal component.txt file, with begin and end, plus the header, but with a different extension. The user will have to choose where to save the file.

I probably won't start until next week. So it is not late for suggestions.

quote:
(BTW: I like your signature line. I've shot lines like that.)

i got it from this site : http://www.allowe.com/book/Actual%20...0Testimony.htm

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Q: When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?

A: Objection. That question should be taken out and shot.

Dubious · #28 June 20th, 2001, 06:13 AM

Re: select all the components from one file. My turn to ask "why"? We already have that file.

Or did you mean an option to save all components in common along with the selected components into one new "combined" file? That would be usefull.

The diff file is (in my mind anyway) for modders to distribute, which when combined with another (yet to be developed) tool for merging a diff file would eventually allow merging mods. Of course, it might prove to be that this tool could also serve as the "merge" tool. As I think about it, this might be where your two comparision views of a short diff file and a full components file would shine. One comparison showing the components in common but with different parameters, the other the components only present in one file. (Not to belabor the point, but otherwise I don't see how a comparison between file 1 and 2 is somehow different than a comparison between 2 and 1. Same files, same differences. Now an alteration in HOW those differences are displayed, that makes sense. I just haven't seen it so far looking at the two comparison views of 3 different files.)

The "combined" file would be of immediate benefit to both modders and players in allowing them to incorporate patch changes into modded files.

Re: An earlier point about do we need "value specific" comparing. Sorry I overlooked this. Yes we do. If there is a difference in mineral cost or ability or reload rate or whatever, we need to know that to have a complete picture of the differences. Every parameter makes up the "component".

New option suggestion: Can you handle "editing" in some manner? I'm thinking one file (it could always be file 2 for instance, if you don't want to get into designating which file) gets the changes. Select the component and parameter in the "edit" file and then allow us to enter a new value. That way we can compare and update even if we individually don't want or can't yet use the diff file.

I saw that you are doing this in Java (I have no experience with it unfortunately) and the component is actually one long string when displayed in the text area. This probably means you can't edit directly in the display text area. But how about indirectly editing? Some method of indicating which parameter (line number perhaps?) and an input field for the new value, for instance? Then you can parse the string and substitute and redraw.

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"All sources are dubious until their reliabilty has been repeatedly proven. Even then their information should be independently verified." - The unwritten "spooks handbook"

[This message has been edited by Dubious (edited 20 June 2001).]

Lemmy · #29 June 20th, 2001, 11:35 AM

selecting each and every component in a list to save can be a lot of work, an option to select all of the different component from one file could save some work.

quote:
Not to belabor the point, but otherwise I don't see how a comparison between file 1 and 2 is somehow different than a comparison between 2 and 1. Same files, same differences. Now an alteration in HOW those differences are displayed, that makes sense. I just haven't seen it so far looking at the two comparison views of 3 different files

try deleting one component from one of the files, and then compare them, 1 to 2 and 2 to 1, there should be a difference in the result.

about editing :
it's easy to implement, right now i've turned off the ability to edit in the display area, i could easily turn this on, i would still have to write some code to save it all. But right now you could only edit all of the components if you compare a normal component.txt file with an empty component.txt file, cos for now, that is the simplest way to see all the component in a file. I think you would still have to have the begin and end tags in the file.

value specific comparing is a lot of work, not difficult, but just much work. I might add this this when there is nothing else to change.

quote:
Lemmy wrote:
It will be saved like a normal component.txt file, with begin and end, plus the header, but with a different extension. The user will have to choose where to save the file.

now that i think of it, a header like in a normal file is useless. Maybe just the info about what files where compared as a header.

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Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?

Dubious · #30 June 21st, 2001, 03:37 AM

Ah, "an option to select all of the different component from one file could save some work". Now I see what you meant. I agree. Anything to speed the process.

Regarding the belabored point. I think I see now. I have made a few mods to the TDM components file, but they are in the nature of the addition of abilities to existing components. You aren't checking for such differences as yet. But since I have the same components (name and number) as the game files, I'm not seeing any change in the number of "differences" between the two file comparisons. I'll have to make a test Version with additions and deletions for the future.

You should consider including a "readme.txt" file in your ZIP package which points out some of these subtleties. Mention the "Tractor Beam II" problem, even though it's fixed in the latest patch, because someone may use the program against the older files.

Glad to hear editing won't be a problem to implement, but the news on value specific comparing surprises me. I presume you have loop structures, so perhaps the issue is a lack of regular expression parsing? Having to cobble the equivalent of "grep" together would be a lot of work at that. Sure there isn't an add-in available?

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Q: And how many autopsies have you performed on dead bodies Doctor?
A: All of my autopsies were performed on dead bodies.

A lot of chuckles on that site. Thanks for the link. Amazing how many similar poor questions as well.