Thanks for the suggestions, ZeroNiner. Might want to pass those along to Donner and skwas at
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...ight=commander , too, since they are working on a more overall solution than I had in mind.
My reference to this project not intending to be a "Commander" type app was because that project has gotten underway already. My intention was to write an application to handle one little piece of the puzzle for now, namely fixing the naming problems and rotating the crew. If this app fits into skwas' picture for his application then it can be incorporated (via plugin) when he gets it done.
I also forgot to mention that this application would use the existing files in the game to accomplish its tasks. So, for instance, if you used a mod that changes the makeup of a standard crew for a boat, then that crew makeup would be what is used as a basis by the application. Same goes for the names. If you are using a mod that adds, say, Japanese names, then this app would use those names to make the name assignments (going by the rules that you set up for how the names are used).
As Steve pointed out, sometimes things end up being more than what they started out to be. RSM is a good example for me. It started out as just an idea for solving the "repeating events" problem and ended up being way more. In this case, since skwas is working on the overall picture, I don't see this app growing into a great big project.