New Tool - XTabED

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New Tool - XTabED

Darkblue
Cadet 2nd Class
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 12:01 am

Post by Darkblue » Thu Mar 24, 2016 9:32 pm

Hello,

I wanted to share a tool that I have been developing for the last weeks. It allows to edit the .TAB files that keep the language translations in the localized versions.

They keep also some information about the missions, and here comes the problem, as I exposed in the topic: http://www.xwaupgrade.com/phpBB3008/vie ... 10&t=11555

In that topic I fixed the problem of flat illumination by modifying the mission .TIE files. Then, later I realized that it could be fixed -in a cleaner way- by updating the TAB files with the correct data for each mission.

The TAB files are text files but have also, among other mission related informations, the flight groups listed, which included the backdrop ones too. The fix consists in adding the flight group entries used for the starfield, in the correct order (and update the other flight group entries to reflect the same order number than in the TIE file).

Of course it could be done with a text editor (TAB files are text ones), but as the flight groups have ordinal number, if we insert the starfield ones in the middle (just as they are in the related TIE file) then we would need to shift all the flight group indexes of the items that are below the starfield ones.

So I have done this little tool to help do it in a semi-automatic way, or at least a not so tedious work.

About the tool. It is called XTabED (ok, you can guess from which tool I took inspiration :D ).
Banner XTabED Splash SMALL rev0.jpg
First I have to say, that I am NOT a programmer, and it has been my first C# program, so this little tool is not really optimized and it is not so fast as I would like. Anyway I have ran out of free time to develop it further, so I have left it as it is.

You can get the program here (v1.02): https://www.dropbox.com/s/xu44fboyq0e9l ... 2.zip?dl=0
(I liked to upload here, but it is limited to 512 Kb and the zip is around 1.4 Mb)

The main UI looks like:
Main UI.jpg
The TAB file format is a text file structured in lines. Each line begins with a key, plus a tab char (guess from where the developers got the file extension name?), plus the content of that key. But the logic behind the key construction and the order in the file is in someway, a mess, IMO.

Nevertheless I have tried to identify each part of the key and IMO I have relatively succeed for most of them. Although maybe I have arrived to wrong conclusions. Corrections are welcome, of course.

In brief, some of the characteristics:
- it allows to do the classic stuff like open, close, save, save as TAB files.
- It parses the TAB entries in different fields, yielding nodes and subnodes, to organize, help and compact the editing job.
- You can insert nodes, sub nodes, delete, move up/down and these basic editing functions.
- There are more advanced options: you can sort only a node's subnodes or all the tree, or shift the nodes indexes after inserting new ones in the middle. See user guide.
- Keep file keys original order, sort automatically or by hand.
- Library function to import / export sets of keys/nodes to help insert them into the other files. (It is a kind of clipboard).
- Advanced search
- Undo/Redo (only for main tree).

I have done a pdf User Guide (please excuse my english) which explains the functions and how they work, it includes an example of how to modify the XWA.TAB file (only 1 mission, as an example) in order to make it compatible with the new starfield/backdrops.
XTabED User guide revA_Página_03-50%.jpg
Well, I built it mainly thinking on the modifications to avoid the flat illumination "bug", but it can be useful to create new translations (except voices of course!), re-write messages, change the in-game emails, correct gramatical errors, adapt new created missions to other languages, etc.

The program doesn't need to be installed. Inside the zip comes:
- XTabED.exe
- XTabED User guide revA.pdf
- Starfield.tab

The starfield.tab is a Library file with the six entries needed to adapt the missions for the new starfield. See example in user guide to know how it works.

It is possible that I have not explained, here or/and in the user guide, correctly. Maybe I have missed something to make things clear (why to modifiy the TAB file in that way, etc, for example). If so, please excuse me, and if you want, ask here.

I have tried to catch all the bugs, but it is likely (almost sure) that some (I hope few!) bugs will remain. If you report them here I'll try to fix them, although I don't have too many time to work on it right now. In any case I think it is a good idea to keep comments/reports in a single topic.

Thanks to everybody here. Seeing your work done here is what have encouraged me to build this modest tool.

EDIT: NEW Version 1.02 (bug fixes)
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Atruejedi
Cadet 2nd Class
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2001 11:01 pm

Post by Atruejedi » Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:40 pm

I'm a bit out of the editing game... I only this week reinstalled XWA after 15 years. What are the practical uses for this as a mission creator? Am I to understand this would make the implementation of custom missions easier? Sorry for my ignorance!

Darkblue
Cadet 2nd Class
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2003 12:01 am

Post by Darkblue » Tue Apr 19, 2016 6:24 am

Hey, in fact if you are going to to do your missions with english edition in mind ONLY, or if you don't matter if they will work in a non-english edition, then there is no need to use it.

But, if you want to take into account the localized version's users, then XTabED will help you to translate the messages and dialogues (text only) of your mission, (you have to create the nodes for your mission).

At side of that it will make easier the edition of XWA.TAB file in order to reflect all the Flight Groups of your mission, which, among other things, will assure that your mission will look fine, as it will reflect the backdrops types and order (new starfield, for example) for localized version's users (see example in user guide).

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