[WIP] Radio Station Manager

THE_MASK · 08-05-07, 04:58 PM

Keep the mods comin baby. Awesome stuff

Von Manteuffel · 08-05-07, 05:29 PM

Lookin' Good!!!

How difficult would it be to include ( I think as part of "8" and/or"10" ) a setting which would allow the user to specify the period between dates ( e.g. from "previous + 1 day", to "previous + x days") This would greatly speed-up the creation of events.ini files.

Keep up the good work.

Digital_Trucker · 08-05-07, 07:11 PM

Thanks, sober.

VM, what I had in mind was what JScones suggested in the other thread, that is commenting out (putting a semicolon in front of) all the entries prior to the date/time of the saved game that is about to be loaded. That way, the entire events.ini file doesn't have to be recreated each time, just modified a little. That also leaves room for manual editing of the file without messing anything up.

If I'm not mistaken, when the game starts, it reads the events.ini file for each station until it reaches an entry that is at or past the date/time that it is looking for and it doesn't read the next entry in the file until the game time is past the time in the events.ini record. If this is the case, then there wouldn't be any advantage to leaving out any entries at the end of the file. I could be wrong about that. I'll make it a point to time how long it takes my dilapidated Socket A system to set up the events files. If mine can do it in a reasonable amount of time, then anyone's should be able to

ReallyDedPoet · 08-05-07, 07:33 PM

Look forward to this one

RDP

Misfit138 · 08-05-07, 07:43 PM

This tool I've been working on looks so pitiful compared to yours :rotfl:

But are you gonna continue from this on? Just asking so that I know should I drop this project of mine. Been making slow but steady progress ever since I got that one problem solved

Digital_Trucker · 08-05-07, 08:20 PM

I didn't mean to make it a one or the other proposition, Misfit. There's no reason for you to stop working on yours. Just like most mods, some people like one over the other and vice versa. I imagine that my app is going to appeal more to the folks that like to create radio stations than just the folks who use them. Mine is kind of overkill for just the one problem.

Keep on truckin', dude. You'll probably be done with yours before I get this one done anyway, 'cause you've got a head start. I'm just in the planning stages.

Misfit138 · 08-05-07, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digital_Trucker

Keep on truckin', dude. You'll probably be done with yours before I get this one done anyway, 'cause you've got a head start. I'm just in the planning stages.

Isn't much of a head start if you're still learning to code... :p

Anyways, I'll probable continue on this. At least for learning purposes. Don't know am I going to release it. Probable not but just have to wait and see

JScones · 08-05-07, 09:22 PM

Looks good.

This won't be a .NET app will it? 'Cause if there ends up being choices, the non-.NET version will always win it for me.

Anyway, a suggestion on layout. Atm it's not overly clear to me what the save button refers to - just the stations? Or the events as well?

I'd apply some grouping to distinguish the different functionality, and to keep the buttons together and more structured. Here's a quick mockup using your model...

Having the "Prepare" button separated means that under normal operation, players can ignore the two groupings altogether and go straight for the Prepare button (which is unrelated to your editing functions anyway). Some tooltips would help with the buttons, but keep in mind this is just a quick mockup to demonstrate an alternate layout.

I have assumed that clicking on a station will automagically populate the events view. I have also assumed that you want to apply changes to each aspect separately.

Now, ordinarily, if you have a "Save" or "Apply" button, you should also have a "Discard" or "Cancel" button, otherwise how will users get back to what they started with without closing and reloading your app?

Sorry, but I just can't help but provide suggestions on programming when asked to do so, LOL! I won't be offended if you discard everything I've said.

Digital_Trucker · 08-05-07, 09:46 PM

JScones, thanks for all the great input. I'll definitely take your advice to heart when I'm working on this. You make excellent points regarding the grouping of buttons and the separation of functions. All of your assumptions were correct except that I really hadn't thought through the save function yet and probably would have saved everything instead of separating the two saves. I definitely wouldn't have thought of the "take me back to square one" button.

Unfortunately, for me (at the moment, anyway), the only thing I have that I'm comfortable working with is Visual Basic, so this would be a nasty .NET app. I spent 16 years (from '76 to '92) programming IBM mainframes and midranges in Fortran, COBOL and Assembler, but VB is the one "semi-current" language that I'm even close to being proficient in. I probably could learn just about any language I felt like using, but I'm also old enough that I don't want to waste too much time finding a new way to "skin the cat" so to speak.

Thanks again for the great input.

I'll have a revised layout ready soon and will get going on the project just as soon as my monthly supply of Geritol gets here:rotfl: .

08-05-07, 07:33 PM	#4
ReallyDedPoet Canadian Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canada. The one and only, East Coast Posts: 10,890 Downloads: 946 Uploads: 5	Look forward to this one RDP __________________ Back in the Day

08-05-07, 04:58 PM	#1
THE_MASK Ace of the deep . Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 9,226 Downloads: 901 Uploads: 73	Keep the mods comin baby. Awesome stuff

08-05-07, 05:29 PM	#2
Von Manteuffel Commander Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Posts: 473 Downloads: 411 Uploads: 0	Lookin' Good!!! How difficult would it be to include ( I think as part of "8" and/or"10" ) a setting which would allow the user to specify the period between dates ( e.g. from "previous + 1 day", to "previous + x days") This would greatly speed-up the creation of events.ini files. Keep up the good work.

08-05-07, 07:11 PM	#3
Digital_Trucker Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Peach State Posts: 4,171 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 10	Thanks, sober. VM, what I had in mind was what JScones suggested in the other thread, that is commenting out (putting a semicolon in front of) all the entries prior to the date/time of the saved game that is about to be loaded. That way, the entire events.ini file doesn't have to be recreated each time, just modified a little. That also leaves room for manual editing of the file without messing anything up. If I'm not mistaken, when the game starts, it reads the events.ini file for each station until it reaches an entry that is at or past the date/time that it is looking for and it doesn't read the next entry in the file until the game time is past the time in the events.ini record. If this is the case, then there wouldn't be any advantage to leaving out any entries at the end of the file. I could be wrong about that. I'll make it a point to time how long it takes my dilapidated Socket A system to set up the events files. If mine can do it in a reasonable amount of time, then anyone's should be able to

08-05-07, 07:43 PM	#5
Misfit138 Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 267 Downloads: 80 Uploads: 0	This tool I've been working on looks so pitiful compared to yours :rotfl: But are you gonna continue from this on? Just asking so that I know should I drop this project of mine. Been making slow but steady progress ever since I got that one problem solved

08-05-07, 08:20 PM	#6
Digital_Trucker Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Peach State Posts: 4,171 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 10	I didn't mean to make it a one or the other proposition, Misfit. There's no reason for you to stop working on yours. Just like most mods, some people like one over the other and vice versa. I imagine that my app is going to appeal more to the folks that like to create radio stations than just the folks who use them. Mine is kind of overkill for just the one problem. Keep on truckin', dude. You'll probably be done with yours before I get this one done anyway, 'cause you've got a head start. I'm just in the planning stages.

08-05-07, 09:22 PM	#8
JScones Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 5,501 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	Looks good. This won't be a .NET app will it? 'Cause if there ends up being choices, the non-.NET version will always win it for me. Anyway, a suggestion on layout. Atm it's not overly clear to me what the save button refers to - just the stations? Or the events as well? I'd apply some grouping to distinguish the different functionality, and to keep the buttons together and more structured. Here's a quick mockup using your model... Having the "Prepare" button separated means that under normal operation, players can ignore the two groupings altogether and go straight for the Prepare button (which is unrelated to your editing functions anyway). Some tooltips would help with the buttons, but keep in mind this is just a quick mockup to demonstrate an alternate layout. I have assumed that clicking on a station will automagically populate the events view. I have also assumed that you want to apply changes to each aspect separately. Now, ordinarily, if you have a "Save" or "Apply" button, you should also have a "Discard" or "Cancel" button, otherwise how will users get back to what they started with without closing and reloading your app? Sorry, but I just can't help but provide suggestions on programming when asked to do so, LOL! I won't be offended if you discard everything I've said.

08-05-07, 09:46 PM	#9
Digital_Trucker Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Peach State Posts: 4,171 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 10	JScones, thanks for all the great input. I'll definitely take your advice to heart when I'm working on this. You make excellent points regarding the grouping of buttons and the separation of functions. All of your assumptions were correct except that I really hadn't thought through the save function yet and probably would have saved everything instead of separating the two saves. I definitely wouldn't have thought of the "take me back to square one" button. Unfortunately, for me (at the moment, anyway), the only thing I have that I'm comfortable working with is Visual Basic, so this would be a nasty .NET app. I spent 16 years (from '76 to '92) programming IBM mainframes and midranges in Fortran, COBOL and Assembler, but VB is the one "semi-current" language that I'm even close to being proficient in. I probably could learn just about any language I felt like using, but I'm also old enough that I don't want to waste too much time finding a new way to "skin the cat" so to speak. Thanks again for the great input. I'll have a revised layout ready soon and will get going on the project just as soon as my monthly supply of Geritol gets here:rotfl: .