ok sinners, here is the first concept screenie for the sins stringer. it is intended to be able to find missing strings and orphan strings and help translators to translate the string files without having to edit the actual str files as the program when fininshed will take the identification info from the entities and the entered info and create the str files for you

I don't get it, why not get a IDE, turn on the line numbering option, and then look at the (last line number - 2)/3 that would give you the number of string line there are. BTW, the link to you image doesn't work.

just anothe little teaser update

the program is now able to read in the string files for ALL languages present in the mod  and  expansions and of course sins, and I have written the code that will output the final strings, I just have to write the read the entity's, then compare the entity's to strings  and the code for the error correcting ui.

this looks like it might be a bit slower to create than the previous utilities, but I want to finish it to help ALL modders and translators of sins & mods

oh and mooster the program will find each error in the strings like missing values & ids AND orpan id's and values A LOT QUICKER than by hand as you suggest which is the way at present for ALL people working on sins , expansions and mods ( I am stateing this as I have heard from blair that they even use the developer to find missing strings and he sounds interested in this utility)

harpo

just another teaser,

I have the program now reading in the entitys and skipping the ones that are NOT in TXT.

the next section is the compare the entity id's & values against the language.strs id's & strings and the editing interface.

so there are two major modules to finish before I can start testing actual mods, and when that is working properly then I will offer it as a beta & would then want modders to help with the beta of a modding and translation tool

harpo

just another status report.

I have reduced the number of languages displayed to 8 so that the names AND descriptions for each of the entity files is displayed in each language

harpo

folks I am pauseing the development of sins stringer for another utility to copy mods to a new version mods folder & update entity files in the mods with the changes in the entity files.

when the mod updater is working I will get back to the stringer

harpo

folks, I am going to re-write the entire design of the string editor to just work in the strings file WITHOUT accessing the entity files to simplify the design and debugging, and I might eventually add back in the cross-referencing of strings & entities.

the redesign will include adding planet names,ship names, and starbase names up to the actual limit of 511 of each and also editing/adding of other string entries

harpo

here are the assumptions that I have based the string editor upon

1 all language files for a mod are in the SAME sequence (might not be true)

2 the entries do not have to be in any particular sequence ( confirmed by blair fraser)

3 new strings can be added to the end of the list without effecting performance ( confirmed by blair fraser)

4 altering the text in the display boxes before using the save or add functions is acceptable for entry of information to the program

5 NOT changing the string data (stored in a string array) until told to either add or save the data is acceptable

6 all button labels should be OBVIOUS(ie suggest what the button does) and with tool tips telling how to use the function

7 having the text for all(up to 6 at current size) of the language files for a mod on screen at the same time will help translators

8 no more than six languages(at curren t screen size in the program) will be worked upon at the same time(if more are wanted the program will want to have a higher resolution than 800 X 600. if you want a larger screen in this program please post stating the prefered screen resoution & I can re-design the program to fit with extra languages

9 stars & planets names have a limit of 511 ( 3 digit name counter in string file might actually be larger)confirmed by blair

10 caps & starbases names have a limit of 511 (2 digit counter in string file might actually be larger) confirmed by blair

11 users do not want to have to create all spacing and labels for each entry eg the stringinfo,id " & value " line headers.

if there are any comments please post.

personally number 11,2,3 are in my opinion are good ideas, 4& 5 are simple to program, 1 might be a significant problem, but do not know yet & could be altered in the program with indexes for each language(more fiddle in the program), 9 & 10 might not be real limits but could be,7 & 8 are more for translating mods between languages, but as I only speak english I do not know if this idea helps

harpo

another update

the program now adds planet names, star names, capital ship names, starbase names, and other strings and can change and delete existing strings.

also have added one more language at a time so it can work with 7(seven) language files at a time

the next feature to be added is a search of strings for text ( intention is to search through all open language files to find wanted text and display the relevent entry in all the language files.

harpo

yes  yes yes !!!!!!!  you are the man !!!

ok jtaylor & mooster I WILL add the names count table to the display, the program needed the information for the add star name,planet name, race capship name and race starbase name functions, & I thought it might be nice to see the counts on screen, which is why I asked

harpo

I am thinking of releasing to beta the sins string editor as it is at present, ie load strings for mods & reference files,add planet, star names, cap names & starbase names for EACH race, add & delete strings, search for text in strings and string id's and write strings back to the str files, and can open up to 7 language files for a single mod and allow editing of the string entries for EACH of the languages and saving back to the original language names, and also indicating the total numbers of names for stars,planets, the number of races, and the number of names for caps & starbases for EACH race.

the extra features might be released it a future version when I can figure out a means of doing them in a time effecient method.

harpo

sent u a email!