SoM Helper Tool

[HwitVlf]

This program is a front end for Sword of Moonlight's command line converter programs, and it also includes a PRT file maker with the same features as the "Map Piece Editor", but with a more convenient (hopefully) layout.

Some of the converter programs (x2mdo etc) require d3drm.dll to function. Since Microsoft removed it from Win7 onward, you'll need copy if you don't already have one.

If you find any bugs, have an idea for an improvement feel free to post.

[Holy_Diver]

That reminds me. Last time I tried x2mdo would not do anything for me on Windows 7 with d3drm.dll. I haven't been able to make it work since (edited: it's entirely possible I just don't know how it works but as I recall the readme file is pretty straightforward. Maybe you could attack a test suite?)

[HwitVlf]

x2mdo usage is just simple "x2mdo.exe xfile.x". If by "test suite" you mean a test x file, a sample is attached. It should work for all three converters (MDO, MSM, MHM)

[Verdite]

John this is fantastic, love the icon - made me laugh. Functionality has improved alot thanks to being able to locate to the files location, rather than having a dropdown menu, not to mention ease of conversion. Great, great work!

[Holy_Diver]

x2mdo usage is just simple "x2mdo.exe xfile.x". If by "test suite" you mean a test x file, a sample is attached. It should work for all three converters (MDO, MSM, MHM)

If that's how it works I can't understand why drag and drop doesn't work. And it means I probably can't make it work on my computer... which is never good. But I will certainly try.

BTW. Does the app let you control where the files are imported from and exported to? That seems like the biggest benefit the tool could possibly offer. It's not obvious that it does that from the screenshot.

Just a suggestion for the name. Usually a tool like this has Visual somewhere in its title. Makes it obvious its a graphical front end of some kind.

[HwitVlf]

I'm not a fan of separate tools to do every little thing since combining them into a single panel usually saves effort (until tings start to get too cluttered), ‎  so the name is just a simple nod to anything I choose to include in the future. ‎  When I started to include other tools in the PRF Editor, the name began to show its 'limitations'.

[Holy_Diver]

I can't tell what "separate tools" is a reply too. But that is how software is maintained. Its design 101. What you have here is something like a Control Panel. Just like on the Starship Enterprise. Its a presentation layer. It would be more useful though if it could be driven from the commandline. Then it could be an import/export tool. More ambitious projects might like to integrate with it.

[HwitVlf]

BTW. Does the app let you control where the files are imported from and exported to? That seems like the biggest benefit the tool could possibly offer. It's not obvious that it does that from the screenshot.

You can choose where to save the PRT to. The MSM,MHM,MDO are saved at the location of the x file they are made from. My desire is for simplicity first. Since you can generate an MSM,MHM and MDO all in a singe run, I didn't want to add three questions asking "where to save file".

I did consider adding an "Install files?" button of some sort that would move MSM,MHM,MDO from where they were generated to SoM's folders, but I was a bit worried about people accidentally overwriting. I'm sure there are plenty of improvements that could be made, but I'll wait for feedback from users before making a to-do list.

[HwitVlf]

It would be more useful though if it could be driven from the commandline. Then it could be an import/export tool. More ambitious projects might like to integrate with it.

Can you give an example of how this would be useful? Do you mean you want SoM Helper to accept command lines and then forward the commands to the appropriate tool (x2mdl etc), so that you don't have to run each tool separately?

[Holy_Diver]

[quote author=Holy Diver link=topic=673.msg8963#msg8963 date=1369161971]
It would be more useful though if it could be driven from the commandline. Then it could be an import/export tool. More ambitious projects might like to integrate with it.

Can you give an example of how this would be useful? Do you mean you want SoM Helper to accept command lines and then forward the commands to the appropriate tool (x2mdl etc), so that you don't have to run each tool separately?[/quote]

No. Basically a program would launch it with command line arguments to request that it import a file. Or in other words convert a file to a SOM file. Then it would pop up and present the end user with familiar options. This way the calling application just has to specify the input and output. It would be even better if the importer could communicate the output location, but that would require an API or interprocess communication. So instead you just agree where the SOM file will end up, most likely in a temporary folder.

[quote author=Holy Diver link=topic=673.msg8959#msg8959 date=1369100422]
BTW. Does the app let you control where the files are imported from and exported to? That seems like the biggest benefit the tool could possibly offer. It's not obvious that it does that from the screenshot.

You can choose where to save the PRT to. The MSM,MHM,MDO are saved at the location of the x file they are made from. My desire is for simplicity first. Since you can generate an MSM,MHM and MDO all in a singe run, I didn't want to add three questions asking "where to save file".

I did consider adding an "Install files?" button of some sort that would move MSM,MHM,MDO from where they were generated to SoM's folders, but I was a bit worried about people accidentally overwriting. I'm sure there are plenty of improvements that could be made, but I'll wait for feedback from users before making a to-do list.
[/quote]

Yeah there is no rush. But control of the inputs and outputs is really a must. It should be the chief feature. You don't have to ask questions, there can just be a details button or something.

Ideally these commandline tools would have output locations options of some kind. But in lieu of that its not a big deal to move things in and out of temporary folders. Make backups of files. That kind of thing. You don't want to accidentally overwrite anything. Even if the user is just doing the same thing repeatedly. Make them check a box to make them understand they are overwriting a file (edited: moving a file from two locations on the same disk is almost always a trivial operation)