Staredit Network

I kinda missed that post by Xenon at Star Alliance. Will fix it shortly =)

#####0.94 Development news######

I'm sorry to tell you about this, but most probably the drop-down hotkey glitch won't be fixed in 0.94.

The reason for this is that the hotkeying in the drop-down lists is encoded in the component itself (component = dropdown list). It is possible to allow custom code (i.e. my code) to control what happens with the component after certain user activities (like, for example, pressing a key), but - to my great surprise - the program does not respond to my handling like it should, but it performs it's own actions...:/

Now, I may have an alternative, but it is a high cost thing. There is a different component (a different sort of drop-down list) that I DID manage to make work quite my way, but:
1)It doesn't fit into the layout (which I would have to redo significantly)
2)It's drop-down area is bigger than this of the standard drop-down list
3)There are problems with 'going back' to the beginning of the list after it is finished (for example: you have 4 options that start with a 'T', hotkeying works fine until you reach the last one, where it does not go back and start from the beginning)

While the last of these could 'possibly' be fixed somehow, the other odds are a fact, and thus the price that would need to be paid for getting the hotkeying work (which is not a promise, given reason #3 above) may just be too much.

You probably already learnt to live with it, but anyways, I'm telling you this so that you know the situation. What do you think? (I personally would leave it like it is now)


As for other (good this time) news:
-Icon Preview has been implemented succesfully
-Copy/Paste Tab works all nice'n'fine

Stay tuned, we're almost there...

Yeah ive learned to deal with it, and to find what im looking for i just compare how far the scroll bar is down then look around there, yes its a bit anoying but its fine.

And regards to problem #3 i dont care about that, alot of lists work like that so no worries, if you use that, but the changing format hmmmmm and looks hmmmm.

err...when i add sprites.dat edited with datedit to my mpq and lauch it starcaft says that it was unable to load sprites.dat

I used to have that problem... do you have the latest version? One of the later releases fixed it, I think.

Yeah the newer version should of fixed that, unless something is conflicting on your computer. Cause it works for me now but didnt before. So try that then tell what happened.

Thanks for that DoA - it fixed the problem

As for the splash screen thingy, hte latest idea is to make it 400x400, like all professional splash screens are. Feel free to post up your ideas. Btw, that Zergish one by Ermac looked cool

well i just change the unit selection circle and Hp bar on sprites.dat and SC says that the command has some wrong number

Go get the latest release. My testing said that it writes out sprites.dat correctly.

http://www.staredit.net/index.php?download=4668

ADDITION:
One more thing - you people spoke about an alternate method of listing the entries, namely: a one similar to Arse3's. My question is, what should this listing be controlled by? I can see 3 options:

!)Sort by Origin - the entries will ALWAYS be located under the category the original SC entries are. Stimpack will ALWAYS be a Terran tech, and Zergling will always be a Zerg ground unit

@)Sort by TBL Category - the category will be loaded from the tbl (default or a custom one)

#)Sort by data - the program will first read the data, and then sort the entries accordingly. With techs, fore example, it will read the "Race" property, and then sort the entries according to what it says.

So, which of these you see to be the best? Or maybe I should try and go fro all of them (I think it's doable)?

I'd defenitely like to see importing and sorting by custom TBLs. It'd help me keep track of what everything is. (Although the Jump To feature helps ALOT. )

I'd want that Tech Tree that ar3 has for units.dat. Would help me a lot.

i think Sort by data is better idea
many modders already known about each category properties
so Probably, most modders want just sorting they own *.dat informations
even starting time be slower

When I'm modding, whether I use custom or original scripts, I just find it easier to sort everything by the race. Lemme just throw this out there, but I really liked the way AR3 sorted out all the data by Terran, Zerg, and Protoss. I liked that interface; it was clean, simple to understand, and usable.

However, I'm a rather practical person, and I don't believe in narrowing down options to just this or that if it can be avoided. So, instead of limiting the interface to just one type, how about an options menu which lets you choose either or? Kinda like how, in your first release, you had the option to resize the menu or leave it that way set as a menu item.

I do say this with some hesitancy, as when I added more and more features to things I programmed in Visual Basic or Java (ESPECIALLY Java) it slowed down noticeably. I'm willing to suffer a few extra seconds for the screen to load up, but I don't know about everyone else. And let's not forget that code that has to be written up won't do itself.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts, although I do like what you've done with something old and made it all spiffin like that. An assest to the modding community, indeed. I wouldn't go so far as to call the greatest thing, but it is a damn excellent improvement over its predecessors.

Hmm...once I think about it, I become more and more convinced that Darius DO has a point in what he's saying. I imagine that beginner modders would like to have it all in the same one place and would keep to the "Sort by Origin" option. The more advanced would choose from the other two options, dependently to their actual needs.

Now, if we speak about speed and execution time, then I can say that the major, but also the ONLY worry that I have is related to the Units Editor. The other editors that may need this feature (Weapons, Tech, Upgrade) use significantly shorter listings, and sorting even the over-100-items-big Weapons listing should be of little problem.
The Units Editor listing is over 200 items big, what DO may pose a problem, but without trying it out I can't really say how serious would it be...

Another thing are the sorting methods themselves. "Sort by Origin" is a piece of cake, "Sort by data" also should be of little to nil problem, but the "Sort by TBL" option may probably eat up some processor time, because of the possible custom subcategories. Again, without trying it out I can't be sure, but I'm just speaking out the 'possible' problems.

Another question poeple: Should I press up the DatEdit 0.94 release without the Sorting or are you fine with me completing peacefully this Sorting functionality and putting it into a hence-delayed release?

PS:No new ideas for Splash Screens? If so, then I'll choose from what has already been posted.

Just take your time. Unless there is a bug with saving or loading something, then you dont need to rush.

yeah~! he is Right~!
or make that all event possible and give to options for user choice things that

Of course, it is probably be bothersome work

Ok, I've got it almost done as of now. "Sort by ID" and "Sort by Origin" works fine everywhere, and "Sort by Data" has been succesfully implemented in the Upgrades and Tech Editors.
I still have to do the hardcore "Sort by TBL" thing, but I think I am able to do this.

Stay tuned, DatEdit 0.94 is almost ready

DatEdit,DatLoader,FireGraft....omg....*drool*

So... would this program be able to alter tech trees and add units? I know there were programs that could do that, (stargraft, memgraft), but I'm a little fuzzy on just where that kind of editing lies. I thought I heard mention that it was one of the more obscure .dat files. If so, it would be really nice to see that kind of functionality here.

That type of editing is in the exe itself and cannot be edited through the dat files

no that's is not more funtion that is just sort list categories name in list frame
stargraft, memgraft is different work way things that make by hex offset editing starcraft.exe files

Are you planing to add preview for icons,sound etc. ?

as far as I know, he said like "no any grp preview, sounds, other preview functions"
but i think adding to some prievew function (such as wepons effect ) is will be very serviceable faculty

You guys really should read more of the topic before asking questions

oh i missed that and my opinion about other preview things is just my hope