Expert assistance needed with Winmerge and static ini.... - Guest - 13.01.2009
Hi gents
Some of you may or may not know that i've been having some issues with objects disappearing in my FMB list....
anyways, i've been trying to get to the bottom of it, and i think the problem lies with the way i'm using winmerge...
(I'll post screenies if necessary, but hopefully someone will be able to help just from this post.
)
..i have two different static ini files, one has been renamed to avoid confusion.
When i use static A, i have objects which are not available when using static B, and vice versa...
Thing is, when i open the 2 statics in winmerge, do i just copy a difference from the one to the other?
i would, for example, choose 'find next difference'.......would i just copy the entry that is missing from A, to B?..............
what if it is overwriting another needed line in the other?
so, i'm struggling with 2 statics at the moment, which individually only show me some objects,ie LALs fortifications, flags, and others....basically, both the statics show different objects, and i'm trying to figure out the best way to merge the two without overwriting anything else.
i'll happily mail someone who could help, the 2 static files for checking...
anyways, thanks in advance for any help... :lol:
- EasyRider - 13.01.2009
Hey Man...
Im no expert
I don't understand why you merge your Static's file?
Do you have two Static.ini's in your Mod folder?
If so get rid of the one in the Static_AC folder as you don't need one there.
Only keep one in the STD subfolders.
You could open one and click"edit" and then "select all" right click to copy
then add all that to the bottom of the other.Now you only have one Static.ini to fix.
It may be long(with lots of double showing objects at the front and the rear of the list,
but it will still work
You may then go into the FMB and scroll through the objects writeing down the object numbers
of all objects that don't show.I take it you mean that when scrolling through objects,
some lock the view screen and they become locked so you can't view the object,right?
once all this is done you would then go into the Static.ini and slowly go through it counting the objects and cutting the no-show objects out saving them to notepad for later if theres a hassle.
Slowly you would get rid of those unselectable (hidden)objects out of the FMB Objects list.
Anotherway,and the way I think I would do it.
I keep all info from any download that goes into my game.
I also copy and paste my downloads ,leaving the whole download there for later for BU
Every object you have added comes with a info readme with the info needed to be added to your Static.ini
You could open notepad and then start to open and copy and paste all the Static.ini info from all the ReadMe's from every download that you have added objects to the FMB from.
You could fire the game up and test it and look for messed up objects not showing from each add-on,
as you add them on,to find where the Bad objects list comes from.
Essentially building a new Static.ini from the ground up.
You do not need the 4.09 Static.ini info added to your Static.ini as all those objects are Hardcoded into the game.All youy need in your Static.ini is the info for every object you have added to the FMB.
There really is not a whole lot that get's added there.
Cannon's , Fabian Fred and Lal_Rones Hanger Mods 1 and 2
as well as Lal_Rone Fotification mod ,Flag Packs,MadToc's new farm objects(are they cool objects).
and so on and so forth for what you added.
Everyone of those downloads came with a readme containing the info to add to your Static.ini
Take all there Static.ini info add it to a blank notepad and save it as a text file.
Then copy and paste it away for BU,then rename the Orig. text file you created to Static.ini
You have now created your own Static.ini from scratch that has only the info of your downloads,
and only the info that you added.
There is no real order in a Static.ini
I have cut all winter objects and pasted them to the end>Summer at the front Winter at the Rear
I have re-arrange all my objects for mission bulding,grouped airport objects ,desert objects ete ete
There is no order to the file,you may add anything, anywhere in it.you can change the order od it all ete ete.
Just make sure , you do it in groups
The groups all start like this>
//========================
[***]
Title House
//========================
blah blah blah
you can regroup them as groups ...anywhere in the Static.ini you want that group.
I am not sure on this though>
I believe I have some info in a Static.ini that is for "Map Making"
I am not sure though as I have not studied how to make maps.
I think they are objects for groundplates and things for map making.
and that they are only accessible through "Full Mission Builder"
So if those object were in the normal FMB or the FMB+ ,
they wouldn't show although they would be in the list but unavailable to select.
(I am not sure though,maybe a map maker could enlighten us on this).
I would just build one from scratch,it would take less time and be more accurate I beieve
I am presently going through my Static.ini as we speak,
as I had trouble saving on the Thailand map because of the Static.ini getting messed up.
Thailand now works perfect with ome nly getting my Static.ini in order.
I would look at you Static for you,but I am afraid that I don't know what all you have in your game
as in object's, so it really wouldn't do you any good for me to look at it.
Do like I mentioned and start going over your zip files and build a Static from scrtach
Screenshots would help as you mentioned you were going to take some
Easy
Edited a Kazillion times fro poor spelling 8)
- Guest - 13.01.2009
Soz for the late reply - spring-cleaning at home ...
:roll:
Easyrider Man...let me explain a bit more...
I'm pretty familiar with the static files at this point. Where it all went wrong for me was with Shippack 2...eventually I got shippack 2 working, all on 1 static ini in my STD folder.
The thing is, in my static , there are many objects which don't appear in the list(blank),which i know i have. I then actually took the static ini file you posted, tried that one, and hey presto! the missing objects are there....great.....but......
now i'm missing objects i had previously....!!!
At this point, i take the two ini's into winmerge for comparison, and at this point - i'm not too sure about what to overwrite or not??
Anyways, i'm gonna try it the step by step approach, and see what i can find...
Thanks for the help so far...
:wink:
- EasyRider - 13.01.2009
Hey Man... NP
I just posted this morning having coffee...
The Missing objects that appeared in your FMB with my Satic.ini I posted,
are the objects that are missing and prevent people from saveing missions on the Thailand map.
That's why when you put my Static in your game they then appeared.
You should now be able to save a misison on the Thailand map now!
Ok,I get what your doing with WinMerge
It is a slow painful proccess going through the Static,your Retina's will hate you for it... 8)
I have Shipack 2 as well,I bet our Static.ini's are close as I'm an Object'Aholic and
Map'AHolic.yes it's all clear now what your doing and the problem,I just needed a little more info.
Make a list of all the "Objects" you have added to the FMB.
Post this list,and I will go through my List.If there the same ,I will email my Static.ini to you.
I could even add some objects to mine ,if you have more than I.... 8)
My Static.ini I posted is just the info from the downloads of>
"Cannons map and objects download,FabianFred's objects download from the map installer"and "
Lal_LaRones Hanger objects one and two ReadMe" nothing else!
Carefully added together.
I have added to that static.ini since posting it.
Easy
- asheshouse - 13.01.2009
I've been using SwiftCompare instead of Winmerge
http://www.oorjasoftware.com/
Load up your two files.
They will autoscan for differences.
Click Next Diff or Prev Diff to move to lines which are different.
Click merge difference to right to copy new lines across, one block at a time.
Or Merge Difference to left if your source is on the right side.
Very easy to use, but not impossible to screw up.
Ctrl-z to step back from a change.
You can visually check what's changing as you progress.
What with Hanger Pack, Fortification Pack, Static Aircraft Pack, Ship Pack etc, its becoming essential to know how to merge these files until a Unified Installer version is issued.
- EasyRider - 13.01.2009
asheshouse Wrote:I've been using SwiftCompare instead of Winmerge
http://www.oorjasoftware.com/
Load up your two files.
They will autoscan for differences.
Click Next Diff or Prev Diff to move to lines which are different.
Click merge difference to right to copy new lines across, one block at a time.
Or Merge Difference to left if your source is on the right side.
Very easy to use, but not impossible to screw up.
Ctrl-z to step back from a change.
You can visually check what's changing as you progress.
What with Hanger Pack, Fortification Pack, Static Aircraft Pack, Ship Pack etc, its becoming essential to know how to merge these files until a Unified Installer version is issued.
Very good advice ,thanks for the link
Links on the Static.ini
DEFAULT ALL.INI and STATIC.INI files 4.09b1m
(The link is inoperative)
fly_zo Wrote:stugumby Wrote:I havent found it yet but when i did the search is shows up as the replacement ones i just downloaded. so i will investigate further.. I take it it should be in an Mods subfolder if not in default location?? I will check my maps as well as ive downloaded phillipines/slot/thailand/and normandy 44.
if you don't have any mod which introduces new objects ( map or objects mod ) then you don't have static.ini present anywhere in Mods folder ( at least it shouldn't be) .... game loads default one from .SFS files .
Only if you are installing such mod you need static.ini file .... so get default one from link above and update it as mod author instructs via readme file .
Z
An In-depth look at the .......Static.ini file
viewtopic.php?t=5268&highlight=indepth
- Guest - 13.01.2009
Seems to work quite similar to winmerge...
what's making me unsure, is that i find a difference in the files,i.e one entry is one line of 'text'. the other file is 5 lines of 'text' - now, if i copy the 5 lines over to the other file, i would be overwriting the other line...that's where i'm going wrong...i think... 8)
Well, still sorting through them bit by bit.....i'll keep you updated on progress... :lol: