SH4 Stopped Saving "SaveData.map" Data For Stellarium

10-05-20, 09:27 PM

Hello,

The title tells it all. I have no idea why, but it is impossible to use the "SHtoStellarium" script to copy my SH4 time and position to Stellarium.

The below spoiler contains some extensive information which may help.

Thank you in advance for the assistance.

propbeanie · 10-06-20, 06:48 AM

With some of the older SH tools, you had to have the utility in the Save folder for it to properly find and gather the needed data. I'm sure a custom script could point the app to the proper location, but is it using your script still?

Pisces · 10-06-20, 12:11 PM

For debugging purpose I would add statements (or let the debugger show the contents of variables) that show what "content[longst+4:longnd]" or just longst and longnd contain. Something in this expression does not allow it to become a float. I'm too unfamiliar with Python to know what that could be, just familiar enough in general with such languages that it always helps to check the intermediate conversion steps.

10-07-20, 12:42 AM

@propbeanie - My laptop crashed several hours ago, so I am having to start from scratch. I was using the script and it produced as file, but since the correct numerical data was not produced the script threw errors because the data it did read was alphanumeric which the script could not digest.

@Pisces - That is a good idea. Thanks.

The problem is not the script. It works well if I feed it valid data manually. The culprit is SH4 itself. The SaveData.map files is not being populated. The framework is there, but no data, like my position is saved.

I will report back.

propbeanie · 10-07-20, 09:17 AM

I have a SaveData.map in some of my "more involved" saves, and this is all it has:

[Mark]
PointsNb=0

[Ruler]
PointsNb=0

[Range]
PointsNb=0

[Angle]
PointsNb=0

[Waypoint]
PointsNb=2
Pt0=14383529.11,1699511.52,-2.97
Pt1=13184944.00,1465757.00,0.00

[KGSelector]
PointsNb=0

Near as I can tell, there is no "CurrentLocation", or whatever the game would call it. It does record the Waypoint locations, beginning the numbering at "zero". I'm not certain if that is long, lat, heading, or what for the Waypoints. Now, some of the Saves I have that do not have Waypoints or marks, etc., the SaveData.map is not present. I wonder if the py script has error catching for if the file does not exist yet? Also, since SH4 saves a lot of its data in txt files, the numerical characters would be string. Python does have a type-cast, doesn't it? Such that you can do a "string-to-float"?

Pisces · 10-07-20, 11:04 AM

In that case, place a waypoint and save.

Pt0 should be the location of the sub at time of the save.

propbeanie · 10-07-20, 12:17 PM

I would say that you are 99.999999% correct Pisces (catch the SH4 6-digit joke??). I do not understand why that failed to register with me to begin with

- Most of my test Saves for FotRSU have one waypoint set, just to be certain the Load of Saves actually function correctly...

Pisces · 10-07-20, 01:39 PM

Sorry, unfamiliar with 6 digits in the context of SH4.

I always set a waypoint as a stopgap for the helmsman that goes out for coffee when he figures he is close enough to the commanded course, but doesn't maintain it. At high timecompressio he will wander off course.

propbeanie · 10-07-20, 07:30 PM

The "joke" part is that SH4 saves almost ~everything~ with six decimal places, whether it needs that much "resolution" or not. The Save folders are named with eight digits... ah well.

The bad helming was mentioned years ago by someone as a "simulation" of how difficult it is to navigate the boat. I don't know what that has to be so inaccurate, when you can shoot a torpedo with auto-targeting from 3500 yards, and it doesn't wander a whit away from the point of aim...

- Again, ah well... it is a game...

- and it is still fun, over 13 years later!

10-07-20, 08:16 PM

@propbeanie
The sub's location is in there...

[Waypoint]
PointsNb=2
Pt0=14383529.11,1699511.52,-2.97
Pt1=13184944.00,1465757.00,0.00

The script points to "Pt0" and sends it to Stellarium. What I see in my SaveData.map is...

[Waypoint]
PointsNb=1
Pt0=0

...which is not a long enough string of numbers, so the script picks up all the structure which is garbage.

propbeanie · 10-08-20, 12:13 AM

If you don't have a course set, the game seemingly assumes you are flying by the seat of your pants, and does not track waypoints. I do not know why it would NOT track where you are at the time, but... apparently it doesn't.

10-08-20, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

If you don't have a course set, the game seemingly assumes you are flying by the seat of your pants, and does not track waypoints. I do not know why it would NOT track where you are at the time, but... apparently it doesn't.

Are you saying you got the same...

[Waypoint]
PointsNb=1
Pt0=0

...if you saved a game without plotting a course? That is what it sounds like you mean, but I don't want to be presumptuous.

I think I will test a few scenarios.

Pisces · 10-08-20, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

The "joke" part is that SH4 saves almost ~everything~ with six decimal places, whether it needs that much "resolution" or not. The Save folders are named with eight digits... ah well.

I see, yes. I don't consider that a big deal. They better keep it simple and just write down the coordinates to the significant digits the float/decimal value can represent. No need for fancy code to cull insignificant digits not really important that could be the cause of more bugs. It's fine, you weren't supposed to see it anyway as a player.

Quote:

The bad helming was mentioned years ago by someone as a "simulation" of how difficult it is to navigate the boat. I don't know what that has to be so inaccurate, when you can shoot a torpedo with auto-targeting from 3500 yards, and it doesn't wander a whit away from the point of aim...

- Again, ah well... it is a game...

- and it is still fun, over 13 years later!

3500 yards at practically real time is a big difference from careening your boat over 350nm in time compression.

10-09-20, 02:40 AM

Okay, I can't figure this out. Sometimes SH4 will produce usable "Pt0=" lat/lon and most of the time it doesn't. I have not yet figured out why sometimes

and sometimes

. I am going to think through different controlled procedures and methodically try them one by one.

10-10-20, 02:52 AM

UPDATE:

SH4 does produce last saved lat/lon of the sub. I do not know why this does not work in testing, but in sailing the sub not only can one save the last position, but overwriting a previous save works without a hitch.

The script works flawlessly if the script is initiated via a Python icon either as a direct saved icon or as a shortcut. For whatever reason, executing the script from the PyScripter IDE is unreliable. I do not know why.

The only item left to narrow down is the actual plotting of the marks on on the SH4 map from the sight reductions from Stellarium. The incongruity of the longitudes is proving to be causing niggles.

We press on!

10-05-20, 09:27 PM	#1
Capt Codetrucker Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	SH4 Stopped Saving "SaveData.map" Data For Stellarium Hello, The title tells it all. I have no idea why, but it is impossible to use the "SHtoStellarium" script to copy my SH4 time and position to Stellarium. The below spoiler contains some extensive information which may help. Capt Codetrucker (Bullhide009)Yesterday at 8:47 PM Well, I'm not sure what happened, but the script stopped working. I am getting this error... Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\cjw\Desktop\SH4toStellarium.py", line 37, in <module> longitude = float(content[longst+4:longnd])/120000 ValueError: could not convert string to float: 'ark]\nPointsNb=0\n\n[Ruler]\nPointsNb=0\n\n[Range]\nPointsNb=0\n\n[Angle]\nPointsNb=0\n\n[Waypoint]\nPointsNb=0\n\n[KGSelector]\nPointsNb=0' This happened when I performed a fresh install of SH3 and SH4. Does this look familiar? Any ideas? Capt Codetrucker (Bullhide009)Yesterday at 9:45 PM FMI - Am I supposed to post technical requests here or on the Subsim forum? October 5, 2020 Capt Codetrucker (Bullhide009)Today at 7:10 AM SUCCESS! I have overcome the fails, but only by going back to the raw script in the doc. I never was able to ferret out the culprit code, but since my present customized script works I am going to enjoy it for awhile. Thanks for all the help. Capt Codetrucker (Bullhide009)Today at 7:31 PM FAILURE! After getting a number of successful SH4 to Stellarium exports, I am now having the same error as the 3rd post above this one. The error Traceback is the same, "ValueError: could not convert string to float:" I have determined the error comes from the fact SH4 is not producing a good "SaveData.map" file, but I have no idea why? Any ideas? UPDATE: Verified the failure is due to SH4 producing an erroneous SaveData.map file. There is no data in the sections of the file, so the script is attempting to read in only the structure of the file and not the data which should be there. For some reason I have been able to get SH4 to produce the needed data and then it fails. No rhyme or reason yet. Thank you in advance for the assistance.

10-06-20, 06:48 AM	#2
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,735 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	With some of the older SH tools, you had to have the utility in the Save folder for it to properly find and gather the needed data. I'm sure a custom script could point the app to the proper location, but is it using your script still? __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

10-06-20, 12:11 PM	#3
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,892 Downloads: 300 Uploads: 0	For debugging purpose I would add statements (or let the debugger show the contents of variables) that show what "content[longst+4:longnd]" or just longst and longnd contain. Something in this expression does not allow it to become a float. I'm too unfamiliar with Python to know what that could be, just familiar enough in general with such languages that it always helps to check the intermediate conversion steps. __________________ My site downloads: https://ricojansen.nl/downloads

10-07-20, 09:17 AM	#5
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,735 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	I have a SaveData.map in some of my "more involved" saves, and this is all it has: [Mark] PointsNb=0 [Ruler] PointsNb=0 [Range] PointsNb=0 [Angle] PointsNb=0 [Waypoint] PointsNb=2 Pt0=14383529.11,1699511.52,-2.97 Pt1=13184944.00,1465757.00,0.00 [KGSelector] PointsNb=0 Near as I can tell, there is no "CurrentLocation", or whatever the game would call it. It does record the Waypoint locations, beginning the numbering at "zero". I'm not certain if that is long, lat, heading, or what for the Waypoints. Now, some of the Saves I have that do not have Waypoints or marks, etc., the SaveData.map is not present. I wonder if the py script has error catching for if the file does not exist yet? Also, since SH4 saves a lot of its data in txt files, the numerical characters would be string. Python does have a type-cast, doesn't it? Such that you can do a "string-to-float"? __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

10-07-20, 11:04 AM	#6
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,892 Downloads: 300 Uploads: 0	In that case, place a waypoint and save. Pt0 should be the location of the sub at time of the save. __________________ My site downloads: https://ricojansen.nl/downloads

10-07-20, 12:42 AM	#4
Capt Codetrucker Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	@propbeanie - My laptop crashed several hours ago, so I am having to start from scratch. I was using the script and it produced as file, but since the correct numerical data was not produced the script threw errors because the data it did read was alphanumeric which the script could not digest. @Pisces - That is a good idea. Thanks. The problem is not the script. It works well if I feed it valid data manually. The culprit is SH4 itself. The SaveData.map files is not being populated. The framework is there, but no data, like my position is saved. I will report back.

10-07-20, 12:17 PM	#7
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,735 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	I would say that you are 99.999999% correct Pisces (catch the SH4 6-digit joke??). I do not understand why that failed to register with me to begin with - Most of my test Saves for FotRSU have one waypoint set, just to be certain the Load of Saves actually function correctly... __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

10-07-20, 01:39 PM	#8
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,892 Downloads: 300 Uploads: 0	Sorry, unfamiliar with 6 digits in the context of SH4. I always set a waypoint as a stopgap for the helmsman that goes out for coffee when he figures he is close enough to the commanded course, but doesn't maintain it. At high timecompressio he will wander off course. __________________ My site downloads: https://ricojansen.nl/downloads

10-07-20, 07:30 PM	#9
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,735 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	The "joke" part is that SH4 saves almost ~everything~ with six decimal places, whether it needs that much "resolution" or not. The Save folders are named with eight digits... ah well. The bad helming was mentioned years ago by someone as a "simulation" of how difficult it is to navigate the boat. I don't know what that has to be so inaccurate, when you can shoot a torpedo with auto-targeting from 3500 yards, and it doesn't wander a whit away from the point of aim... - Again, ah well... it is a game... - and it is still fun, over 13 years later! __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

10-07-20, 08:16 PM	#10
Capt Codetrucker Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	@propbeanie The sub's location is in there... [Waypoint] PointsNb=2 Pt0=14383529.11,1699511.52,-2.97 Pt1=13184944.00,1465757.00,0.00 The script points to "Pt0" and sends it to Stellarium. What I see in my SaveData.map is... [Waypoint] PointsNb=1 Pt0=0 ...which is not a long enough string of numbers, so the script picks up all the structure which is garbage.

10-08-20, 12:13 AM	#11
propbeanie CTD - it's not just a job Join Date: May 2016 Location: One hour from Music City USA! Posts: 9,735 Downloads: 439 Uploads: 2	If you don't have a course set, the game seemingly assumes you are flying by the seat of your pants, and does not track waypoints. I do not know why it would NOT track where you are at the time, but... apparently it doesn't. __________________ "...and bollocks to the naysayer/s" - Jimbuna

10-09-20, 02:40 AM	#14
Capt Codetrucker Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Okay, I can't figure this out. Sometimes SH4 will produce usable "Pt0=" lat/lon and most of the time it doesn't. I have not yet figured out why sometimes and sometimes . I am going to think through different controlled procedures and methodically try them one by one.

10-10-20, 02:52 AM	#15
Capt Codetrucker Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	UPDATE: SH4 does produce last saved lat/lon of the sub. I do not know why this does not work in testing, but in sailing the sub not only can one save the last position, but overwriting a previous save works without a hitch. The script works flawlessly if the script is initiated via a Python icon either as a direct saved icon or as a shortcut. For whatever reason, executing the script from the PyScripter IDE is unreliable. I do not know why. The only item left to narrow down is the actual plotting of the marks on on the SH4 map from the sight reductions from Stellarium. The incongruity of the longitudes is proving to be causing niggles. We press on!