Help Creating Library Modules

Oh, so that's where I went wrong...

Thanks again man, you guys really rock it out!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrZeuss

almeidafreak, the 4EParser works very much like a batch processor. Each input file is designed to hold multiple entries as opposed to just one.

For NPCs/monsters, simply list each stat block one after the other in the input file. Separate each stat block by one empty line so the Parser doesn't get confused as to where an entry starts and finishes and you should be good to go.

Also, if you get yourself a D&D Insider account, you can use the Parser's scrape feature to automatically download and create the NPC/monsters file for you. You just point the Parser at the MM or MM2 rulebooks, click scrape and go make a cup of tea. By the time your done drinking your nice cuppa, the NPC/monsters should have been downloaded into the scraped file.

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Hello Dr. Zeus,

i tryed to download the MM and i was succesfull. Now i have the problem to parse this files. I' dont know what options i muss select :(

EDIT: Now it Works!

Anyone know how to get the "fluff" into the Monster Manual module. I just used DDI and that contains no fluff. I also have the MM PDF, but I'm not really sure where to start.

Is there some transform file so I can cut and paste from the PDF, and transform it into the format thats readable by the parser? I tried looking at my cut/past job in notepad++ an gvim. I thought maybe I could write regular expression to take out the "relevant" bits from the rest, but gave up.

The simplest way is to cut n paste the material from a PDF version of the MM, if you have one. WotC have since discontinued distributing PDFs so more recent rulebooks have to be hand scanned and turned into a PDF.

Assuming you do have one, here's how to get started:

• Create a new text file in your module input folder (see 1st post) and call it npcfluff.txt.
  
• Open npcfluff.txt in a text editor, I use notepad++ but any one will do.
  
• To start a new entry we enter the following on a new line:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZZXBEGIN

  ---

• next we enter the names of the NPCs that are associated with the Fluff we are about to enter. Each NPC name must be entered on a new line and must match (case sensitive) the name of an NPC in the npcdata.txt file thats produced by the scrape function.
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  WotC Warrior
WotC Theurge
WotC Minion

  ---

• Now we close the entry using:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZZXEND

  ---

• Now when the Parser is parsing the file any following content it encounters will be associated with the above three NPCs. The Parser will continue to try and associate content until the next ZZXBEGIN tag is encountered.
  
• So, a quick recap, you should now have something like:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZZXBEGIN
WotC Warrior
WotC Theurge
WotC Minion
ZZXEND

  ---

• OK. The following tags can follow in any order and can be ommited if no relevant text is available. First is Fluff text, so add the following tag on a new line:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZFluff

  ---

• and underneath paste the introduction text for the npc family. e.g.
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZFluff
WoTC are creatures of the earth, as hardy and cold as stone. Industrious
and inventive, spiteful yet remarkable they live in the deepest bowls of the Nine Hells.

  ---

• Next is Lore, so add the following tag on a new line:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZLore

  ---

• and as before with the fluff text, underneath paste the Lore text
  
• Next is Tactics, so add the following tag on a new line:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZTactics

  ---

• and again as before with the fluff and lore text, paste the Tactics text underneath.
  
• Encounter groups are split between the text part and the encounter tables. For the text part we use:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZEncounter Groups

  ---

• pasting the text underneath. For the encounter tables we use the following syntax for each table:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZENCX
<Level> # Encounter (XP #)
? # <name of npc> (level # <role>)

  ---

• e.g.
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZENCX
? 4 dwarf mongrels (level 2 soldier)
? 2 dwarf striker (level 3 lurker)
? 1 wotc theurge (level 4 artillery)

  ---

• Finally we add any images and a token:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZImage
<name of image file>

  ---

  Code:

  ---

  ZToken
<name of token file>

  ---

• So you should now have something like:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZZXBEGIN
WotC Warrior
WotC Theurge
WotC Minion
ZZXEND
ZFluff
WoTC are creatures of the earth, as hardy and cold as stone. Industrious
and inventive, spiteful yet remarkable they live in the deepest bowls of the Nine Hells.
ZLore
Blah Blah Blah
ZTactics
Blah Blah Blah
ZEncounter Groups
Blah Blah Blah
ZENCX
? 4 dwarf mongrels (level 2 soldier)
? 2 dwarf striker (level 3 lurker)
? 1 wotc theurge (level 4 artillery)
ZImage
WoTC creatures.jpg
ZToken
wotc warrior.png

  ---

• Now if you want to assign text or a token to only one of the above NPCs you can add subsequent entries using the same approach. Underneath the previous example add the following:
  
  
  Code:

  ---

  ZZXBEGIN
WotC Theurge
ZZXEND
ZFluff
Some different Blah Blah Blah
ZToken
wotc theurge.png

  ---

• Now repeat for all NPCs you want in your module.

To Parse:

• Open your module config in the Parser if your adding to an existing module or create a new one following the instructions in the 1st post.
  
• Click the NPCs tree and then click the Monster Stats tree:
  
• Populate the subnodes as follows:
  
  Data file -> point to your module/input/npcdata.txt file
  Fluff file -> point to your module/input/npcfluff.txt file we just created
  Token Dir -> point to your module/token folder
  Image Dir -> point to your module/images folder
  
• If your making an adventure module, select Yes for Output to Personalities.
• If your making a rulebook module or you also want the NPCs to be listed in the Library, select Yes to Output to Library.

That should be it, hit Parse and sit back and wait for the module to be compiled. If you hit any errors during compilation, check the tag notation is correct in your fluff file is correct.

Any problems, let us know.

Simple question, but something that's irritating me not being able to fix...

In the main library index, I have several modules that have chapter titles with the text of sub-sections of that chapter indented by a few spaces. My XML editor doesn't read spaces in front of the string, and I have been unable to replicate this look.

Suggestions?

I'm not sure which editor you are using, but XML as a format doesn't support leading or trailing whitespace, not does it support consecutive space (so two spaces, a tab and a space, two newlines etc are all treated as a single space). You might be able to insert spaces using the XML non-breaking space character & 1 6 0 ; (remove the spaces between the characters to get ampersand-one-six-zero-semicolon).

Foen

This might be a dumb question.. so please excuse me - but does all this parsing work for 3.5/OGL?

I have been creating all my adventure modules in a word document and then hand-pasting them and editing them in FG2... this seems like a length process if there's a way to type them up in a document and then parse them in.

Any ideas?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ProfMarks

Simple question, but something that's irritating me not being able to fix...

In the main library index, I have several modules that have chapter titles with the text of sub-sections of that chapter indented by a few spaces. My XML editor doesn't read spaces in front of the string, and I have been unable to replicate this look.

Suggestions?

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Are your referring to reference manual content from 4E modules? The index in the 4E Library is built using a windowlist structure I believe, if what your asking is how to produce this indented style within FGII?

However rather than handcrafting this in XML, I would suggest you take a look at the 4E Parser and specifically how to produce reference manual content as it's much easier using the tool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sarya

This might be a dumb question.. so please excuse me - but does all this parsing work for 3.5/OGL?

I have been creating all my adventure modules in a word document and then hand-pasting them and editing them in FG2... this seems like a length process if there's a way to type them up in a document and then parse them in.

Any ideas?

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The 4E Parser tool by Tenian was written to support the 4E ruleset, the modules it produces are keyed to that ruleset only.

I am not aware of a Parser or similar tool that will support any of the D20, D20_JPG or 3.5E rulesets.

Does anyone know if there is a xml checker to find bad closing headers, etc?

I am trying to create a mod but nothing shows up in my library and I can't spot where in the xml file, the problem is occurring. Would be great if Fantasy Grounds gave feedback on why a file is failing (line number, etc.)

I'm not sure, but this should work: https://validator.w3.org/