[ENG] Modding Tool Collection

1. General
1.1 About this tutorial collection
1.2 Introduction
1.3 Getting started
1.4 Modding-Tools
1.4.1 ALA Converter
1.4.2 ALO Exporter
1.4.3 ALO Importer
1.4.4 ALO Viewer
1.4.5 DAT/String Editor
1.4.6 DDS/TGA Editor and Plugins
1.4.7 LUA Tools
1.4.8 Map Editor
1.4.9 Map Preview Extractor
1.4.10 MEG Extractor
1.4.11 Mod Launcher
1.4.12 MTD Editor
1.4.13 Particle Editor
1.4.14 Planet Position Plotter
1.4.15 RAD video tools (BIK Creator)
1.4.16 SFX Map Generator
1.4.17 Story Creator
1.4.18 Unit Calculator
1.4.19 WAV/MP3 Editor
1.4.20 XML/LUA/HEX-Editor
1.4.21 Misc. Utilities
1.4.21.1 Defreezer Tool
1.4.21.2 Game Cleaner
1.4.21.3 Generic Lander
1.4.21.4 Mapping XMLs
1.4.21.5 XML search engine
[url=]1.5 Creating your first mod[/url]
1.6 Useful links

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So, you want to mod a Petroglyph game, do you? Fortunately, this is very easy.

Changing files:
All of Petroglyph's games are data-driven. This means that it will read data files from the disk, which contain references to other data files, so it will load those, and so on until it has all the information it needs. Initially, all those data files are packed into Mega Files. Think of them as ZIP files, but without the compression. You can extract the files in them with any Meg Extractor.
However, after editing a file you do not have to put them back in its MegaFile, because the game looks at the files in its directory first! This means that you can just put the modified file into the game directory (with the same subpath as found in the Mega File) and the game will use it instead.

For example, consider that you want to change Data\XML\Audio.xml for Universe at War: Earth Assault. This file is found in Config.meg (C:\Program Files\Sega\Universe at War Earth Assault\Data\Config.meg), so you extract it somewhere and edit it as desired. Then you can save it as C:\Program Files\Sega\Universe at War Earth Assault\Data\XML\Audio.xml and the game will use it instead.


MODPATHs:
Unfortunately, this changes the game anytime you want to play it. This also means you cannot connect to players unless they are running with the same modified files. And maybe you'd like to have multiple mods. Or maybe you'd like to play the unmodded game once in a while. Moving or renaming files and directories all the time is a bit of a hassle, isn't it?

Fortunately, there's a better way. The game executable accepts an argument that allows you specify a path where it should also look for files. This path is called the MODPATH. By convention, mods go into the Mods directory in the game directory.

Using the example above, your modified Audio.xml would go into C:\Program Files\Sega\Universe at War Earth Assault\Mods\My_Mod\Data\XML\Audio.xml, where you can name your mod whatever you like (My_Mod in this case). Now all that's left is starting the game with the correct MODPATH argument. You'll want the command line to be (for Universe at War, for instance): "LaunchUAW.exe MODPATH=Mods\My_Mod" (without the quotes). I recommend creating a shortcut to the game executable (e.g., LaunchUAW.exe) and then editing the shortcut to add "MODPATH=Mods\My_Mod" to it. That shortcut will then start your mod.


Conclusion:
To summarize, if the game wants to load file X, it will look for X in the following places, in this order:
1. The MODPATH directory, if specified.
2. The directory where the game executable resides.
3. All Mega Files specified in Data\MegaFiles.xml

The following table shows what types of files are used in Petroglyph's games and how they can be created or edited:

Extension:	Directory:	Contents:	Note:
ALA	Data\Art\Models	Animations	Use the Alo Exporter to create ALO and ALA files from 3D Studio Max. Use the Alo Importer to import ALO and ALA files back into 3D Studio Max. Each ALA file is a single animation, it's filename prefixed with the object name.
ALO	Data\Art\Models	Objects	Use the Alo Exporter to create ALO and ALA files from 3D Studio Max. Use the Alo Importer to import ALO and ALA files back into 3D Studio Max. Each ALA file is a single animation, it's filename prefixed with the object name.
ALO	Data\Art\Models	Particles	Use the Particle Editor to create or edit particles.
BIK	Data\Video	Videos	Bik files contain the movies that will be played when the games starts or at the end of a victorious campaign. Use RAD Video Tools to create them.
DAT	Data\Text	String files	DAT files contain all strings used in the game. Edit with the String Editor.
DDS	Data\Art\Textures	Textures	These files contain the textures used by everything in the game from objects to terrain. The game will try both extension when looking for these files.
FX	Data\Art\Shaders	DirectX Shaders	FX files can be edited with any plain text editor such as notepad.
FXO	Data\Art\Shaders	DirectX Shaders	FXO files are compiled FX files and should not be edited.
H	Data\Resourcres\GUIDialogs	XML files	Defines the symbol names and their values used in GUIDIALOGS.RC. Open with any text editor.
LUA	Data\Scripts	Lua Scripts	Lua Scripts control a lot of the gameplay logic, including AI and even the GUI. The Lua files that come with the game are compiled and should not be edited. The mod tools have the Lua sources which should be used instead.
MP3	Data\Audio\Music	Music	These are standard MP3 files for game music. Edit with any MP3 editor.
MTD	Data\Art\Textures	Mega Texture Directory	This file, combined with its similary-named TGA file form a Mega-Texture and contains the units icons. They can be edited with the MTD Editor.
RC	Data\Resourcres\GUIDialogs	XML files	Defines all the dialogs/windows/buttons in the game. Prefferably editable in Microsoft Visaul C++ but can be opened in any text editor.
TED	Data\Art\Maps	Maps	Use the Map Editor to create or edit maps.
TEC	Data\Art\Cinematics	TEC file	These have somthing to do with cinematics, as they came out of cinematics.meg. No editors have been released as of yet.
TXT	Data	Unit names	Defines alternate names for some space units. Editable in any text editor.
TXT	Data/Scripts/Story	Story Dialog	Used for dialog scripting in Galactic Conquest. Editable in any text editor.
TXT	Data\XML	Text	Used for assigning sound effects to specific frames of animation. Editable in any text editor.
TGA	Data\Art\Textures	Textures	These files contain the textures used by everything in the game from objects to terrain. The game will try both extension when looking for these files.
WAV	Data\Audio\Speech	Speech	These are standard WAV files for Speech events. There are localized version for several languages. Edit with any WAV editor.
WAV	Data\Audio\SFX	Sound effects	These are standard mono WAV files for sound effects events. Edit with any WAV editor.
XML	Data\XML	XML files	The XML files contain most description of units, objects, effects, rules and other gameplay basics. Edit them with a simple text editor or specialized XML editor.

When starting with modding Empire at War you probably don't need all of them.
Think about what you want to edit and then grab the tools you need. If you are not sure on where to get started skip the Modding Tools section for now and continue with [url=-TODO]Creating your first mod[/url].

About:
The Animation Converter lets you convert animations between Empire at War's and Forces of Corruption's formats.


Download:
Animation Converter 1.2 for 32-bit Windows XP/Vista (65 kB)
Languages: English, German


Installation:
To run, just unzip the archive to a location of your choice and start ala2ala.exe.


Usage:
Use the "Add Files" and "Remove files" button to create a list of files you want to convert. Then select a destination directory where the resulting files are to be written.

Important: The converter will NOT overwrite existing files. Make sure no files with the same name are present in the destination directory.

Then press the convert button corresponding with your desired conversion:
- Convert to EaW: Converts every file to EaW's format.
- Convert to opposite: Converts every file to the opposite of its format.
- Convert to FoC: Converts every file to FoC's format.


Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.2:	Fixed the bug where it wouldn't load files.	(2008/07/12)
v1.1:	Added german language version.	((2008/06/04)
v1.0:	Initial release.	(2006/10/08)

About:
The Alamo Object Exporter, made by Petroglyph, lets you export 3D Studio Max objects and animations to .ALO and .ALA files.


Download:
Alamo Object Exporter for 3D Studio Max 6, 8 and 9 (735 kB)
Languages: English


Installation:
Prerequisites:
To ensure that the exporter works properly, please make ensure the following prerequisites are met before installing and using the exporter:
If you're using 3ds Max 6, install Service Pack 1. If you've already installed SP1, it should say so in the window title when 3ds Max is started.
If you're using 3ds Max 8, install Service Pack 3. If you've already installed SP3, it should say so in the window title when 3ds Max is started.
If you're using 3ds Max 9, install Service Pack 2. If you've already installed SP2, it should say so in the window title when 3ds Max is started.

Sources:
This download is a compilation of exporter from various sources, for your convencience. The sources, and in what formats they export, is as follows:

File	Models	Animations	Source
EaW\3dsmax6\max2alamo.dle	v1	v1	Mod Tools for EaW
EaW\3dsmax8\max2alamo.dle	v1	v1	Seperate download [LINK DEAD]
FoC\3dsmax8\max2alamo.dle	v1	v2	Mod Tools for FoC
UaW\3dsmax9\max2alamo.dle	v2	v2	Mod Tools for UaW

Installing:
The exporter consists of a single file, max2alamo.dle, which should be placed in the "plugins" directory in your 3ds Max installation.


Usage:
To export the objects in a scene, use File > Export and select the "Alamo Object" file format.
The objects and animations in a scene have special properties, meaningful to the game engine, that can be set through the Alamo Utility panel. To open this panel, go to the Utilities panel, click "More" and double-click "Alamo Utility". You might want to use the "Configure Button Sets" button to place the Alamo Utility in the list for easy access. The panel is shown to the right.

Node Export Options
These options are object-specific. This sub-panel always affects the currently selected object(s) only. - "Export Transform", when enabled, exports the selected object's gizmo as a bone. This is the default and a prerequisite to billboarding the selected object. - The eight billboarding options control how the selected object is billboarded in-game. Read the [url=]Understanding Billboarding[/url] article to find out what this does. - When "Export Geometry" is enabled, the actual vertices and faces of the object are exported. This can be disabled for objects whose only importance is its location (i.e., it's bone) - When exporting the selected object, collision information can be stored for it by selecting "Enable Collision". Without, any in-game objects will pass through it. - To initially hide the object, select "Hidden". This is useful for dedicated collision meshes. Hidden objects can be shown and hidden again in-game through Lua scripts. - "Alt Dec Stay Hidden", or, in full, "Alt Decrease? Stay Hidden!" only applies to exported Alamo Proxy objects and prevents them from otherwise becoming visible if the ALT level decreases. This is most often used in damage explosion proxies; when the ALT level increases (i.e., the building becomes more damaged), the proxy should become visible. On the other hand, when the ALT level decreases (i.e., the building is being repaired), the proxy should stay hidden. [u]Quick Selection Utility[/u] These buttons select all object in the scene that match the various properties. So clicking "Export Transform" will select all object with the "Export Transform" flag set, and so on. [u]Animation Settings[/u] All animations that should be exported have to be stored in this list. Each animation has a name and a start and end frame. Use the "<<", ">>", "Add" and "Del" buttons to change the current animation, add a new animation to the list or delete the current animation from the list. To make the current 'active', i.e., shown in 3ds Max' time frame, click the "Display Current" button. To display a list of all animations, use the "Display All" button. [color=#439BE6][b]Changelog:[/b][/color] [table][tr][th]Version[/th][th]Changed Content[/th][th]Date[/th][/tr] [tr][td]v1.1:[/td][td]Added Universe at War: Earth Assault exporter[/td][td](2008/12/01)[/td][/tr] [tr][td]v1.0:[/td][td]Initial release[/td][td](2008/06/06)[/td][/tr] [/table][img]
- "Export Transform", when enabled, exports the selected object's gizmo as a bone. This is the default and a prerequisite to billboarding the selected object.
- The eight billboarding options control how the selected object is billboarded in-game. Read the [url=]Understanding Billboarding[/url] article to find out what this does.
- When "Export Geometry" is enabled, the actual vertices and faces of the object are exported. This can be disabled for objects whose only importance is its location (i.e., it's bone)
- When exporting the selected object, collision information can be stored for it by selecting "Enable Collision". Without, any in-game objects will pass through it.
- To initially hide the object, select "Hidden". This is useful for dedicated collision meshes. Hidden objects can be shown and hidden again in-game through Lua scripts.
- "Alt Dec Stay Hidden", or, in full, "Alt Decrease? Stay Hidden!" only applies to exported Alamo Proxy objects and prevents them from otherwise becoming visible if the ALT level decreases. This is most often used in damage explosion proxies; when the ALT level increases (i.e., the building becomes more damaged), the proxy should become visible. On the other hand, when the ALT level decreases (i.e., the building is being repaired), the proxy should stay hidden.

Quick Selection Utility
These buttons select all object in the scene that match the various properties. So clicking "Export Transform" will select all object with the "Export Transform" flag set, and so on.

Animation Settings
All animations that should be exported have to be stored in this list. Each animation has a name and a start and end frame. Use the "<<", ">>", "Add" and "Del" buttons to change the current animation, add a new animation to the list or delete the current animation from the list.

To make the current 'active', i.e., shown in 3ds Max' time frame, click the "Display Current" button. To display a list of all animations, use the "Display All" button.


Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.1:	Added Universe at War: Earth Assault exporter	(2008/12/01)
v1.0:	Initial release	(2008/06/06)

About:
The Alamo Object Importer lets you import .ALO and .ALA files into 3D Studio Max.

Note that imported models that have dazzles cannot be exported from 3dsmax6 and 8, because Petroglyph's exporter for those version does not support dazzles.

Respect!
With this importer comes great responsibility. Do NOT rip off other people's work and try to pass it off as your own. Let's all work towards a friendly community!


Download:
Alamo Object Importer 1.1 for 3D Studio Max 6, 8 and 9 (247 kB)
Languages: English


Installation:
Prerequisites:
To ensure that the importer works properly, please make ensure the following prerequisites are met before installing and using the importer:
Install Petroglyph's Alamo Exporter for 3D Studio Max. As described, make sure you install the correct Service Pack as well.

Installing:
The importer consists of two files, a utility plugin (alamo2max.dlu) and the actual importer script (alamo2max.ms).
Copy alamo2max.dlu to the "Plugins" directory in your 3ds Max installation.
Copy alamo2max.ms to the "Scripts" directory in your 3ds Max installation.
Start 3ds Max
Open Customize > Preferences and go to the MAXScript tab. Set the initial heap allocation to a more comfortable amount, say, 150 MBytes. Close the preferences window.


Usage:
Step 1: Setup
To import a model, go to the Utilities Panel (with the hamer icon), open the MAXScript sub-panel, and click "Run Script". Select "alamo2max.ms" from the Scripts folder. Now select "Alamo Object Importer 1.0" from the Utilities list (you may need to explicitly click it again). If all went well, the Importer panel should now be open.

Use the + and - buttons to add/remove texture and shader paths before importing. The importer will look in these folders for the tga/dds files when loading textures and fx files when creating DirectX9 materials.

For EaW and FoC it is recommended to extract both Textures.meg into different folders and then add those folders to the list (FoC first, since that overrides EaW textures). Add a single shader folder, identifying the shader sources in Mods\Source\Data\Art\Shaders in the FoC installation folder.

If the paths are set incorrectly, the importer will complain during import when it cannot find textures or shaders.

Note: these paths are remembered when 3dsmax is shut down.

With the paths set, you can now import models.

Step 2: Importing
Click the "Import Alamo Object" button and select an ALO file to import. The importer will also look for all .ALA files that share the same base name in the same folder and load those as animations.
If there are already objects in the scene, the importer will ask where to connect the imported model to. Use this to import hardpoints at their correct spot.

The importer will read the model and animation files, create the various bones, meshes, lights, proxies and dazzles, set their Alamo properties, connect everything together, create materials, find textures, skin the meshes, animate the bones and add the animations to the Alamo Utility.
If all went well, no error will be displayed. Otherwise, common errors include having an animation which is invalid for the model file, or you did not attempt to load a model.

The model is imported completely ready for export.


Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.1:	Fixed a small issue with visibility tracks	(2008/07/06)
v1.0:	Initial release	(2008/06/18)

About:
The Alamo Object (ALO) Viewer lets you view models and animations for Petroglyph's games.


Download:
Alamo Object Viewer 1.2 for 32-bit Windows XP/Vista/7/8 (435 kB)
Languages: English, German


Installation:
To run, just unzip the archive to a location of your choice and start AloViewer.exe.

If you have trouble running the program, in particular when getting a "Missing d3dx9_??.dll" error, please download and install the latest DirectX runtime .


Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.2:	The viewer now properly loads MegaFiles in selected Mods.	(2008/10/05)
v1.1:	Fixed a bug with particle system orientation and timing for EaW/FoC.	(2008/06/15)
v1.0:	Added Universe of War support, Mod support, particles, sounds, more selection options, better rendering, shadow mesh debugging and a german version.	(2008/06/09)
v0.7:	Added Forces of Corruption path support, nature settings, shadows, improved render order, billboarding, bone coordinate systems and a ground plane.	(2006/11/22)
v0.6:	(At special request) Added drag & drop support and added the "hidden" and "collision" fields to the models dialog.	(2006/10/12)
v0.5:	Added support for the Forces of Corruption demo's animations.	(2006/10/06)
v0.4:	Added the wireframe option and fixed some bugs (thanks to swgbex's beta testing).	(2006/08/16)
v0.3:	Added support for animations, colorization and bones. Also added a detailed model dialog box.	(2006/05/14)
v0.2:	Made it search the registry and use shell functions in order to find the Empire at War directory.	(2006/03/15)
v0.1:	Initial release	(2006/03/12)

About:
The dat files contain all text that is used in the game.
This section provides two editors to edit the dat files: The DAT Editor and the String Editor.
The former is a simplistic and easy tool to view, change and insert strings, the latter a slightly more complex but much more powerful tool to do this.


DAT Editor:

Download:
Dat Editor 1.0 for 32-bit Windows XP/Vista (34 kB)
Languages: English


Installation:
To run, just unzip the archive to a location of your choice and start DatEditor.exe.

Usage:
Click on File->Open to select a dat file. Double-click on one of the displayed text entries to change it. Scroll down to add a new entry.

Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.0:	Initial release	(2006/11/19)

String Editor:

Download:
String Editor 1.4 for 32-bit Windows XP/Vista (184 kB)
Languages: English, German


Installation:
To run, just unzip the archive to a location of your choice and start StringEditor.exe.


Usage:
1. Introduction
The Empire at War String Editor came to be because of a demand for a more powerful editor than Dante's relatively simple DAT editor.

The String Editor is more than just an editor for Empire at War's DAT files. It's main features are:
- Versioning: All changes you have made to the document are remembered, allowing you to check what a string looked like several versions ago.
- Multiple languages: The editor maintains the values for all strings for all languages in a single document with easy access and comparison. This will benefit translators and prevent cluttering of the disk.
- Powerful copy, paste, import and export: You can copy and paste strings, even into and from applications such as Excel. Pasting and importing have set manipulation options such as union, difference and intersection allowing you to quickly and easily compare different .DAT files or clipboard fragments.

The String Editor is not meant for people simply looking to change one or two strings in existing DAT files, although that is possible. The String Editor is meant for big mods that have the need for powerful string comparison, translation and management.


2. Versioned DAT files
The editor works on files called Versioned DAT Files (VDF). This is an custom, extended DAT format, which includes the extended options of the editor such as versioning and multiple languages. Conceptually, you should think of these files as follows:
- A VDF file contains one or more versions.
- Each version contains one or more strings in one or more languages.
- Each string contains a name field, a comment field and one value field for each language in the version.

It is important to realize that no matter what language is currently shown in the UI (see next section), the number of strings and their names and comments are the same across all languages.

3. Name versus Index files
When you start a new VDF document, the editor will ask if you want to create a Name-indexed or Index-indexed document. The difference, while subtle, is not trivial.
Consider all strings in the current version as <name, valueen, valuede, ..., comment> rows in a big table, just like shown in the editor. In what order does one store those rows in the file? Any order? Alphabetically? User-determined? Well, depends on what you want to use the exported DAT file for.

Name-Indexed:
In one case you want to access strings by name (i.e., you want the string named "LANGUAGE_ENGLISH" and don't care where exactly it is in the file). If this is the case, you'll want to work with a Name-Indexed document. The strings will be sorted before storing to optimize for this kind of search. Empire at War's MasterTextFile_LANGUAGE.dat files are an example of such files.

Index-Indexed:
If, however, you want to iterator over all stored strings in some predetermined order, then the strings cannot be sorted before storing as this would break the predetermined order. To indicate this to the editor, you need to create a Index-Indexed document. The strings will be stored in the exported DAT file in exactly the same order as they are shown in the list. Empire at War's CreditsText_LANGUAGE.dat files are an example of such files.
Summary of differences

To summarize, here are the major differences between both document types:

	Name	Index
Duplicate names	Disallowed	Allowed
Positioning	Implicit	Explicit
Exported strings	Sorted on name	Unsorted
Name-based lookup	Possible	Not possible
Index-based lookup	Possible, but not recommended	Possible

4. The interface
Above you can see an example of the editor's UI with an opened file.
- The language drop-down box in the top-right corner allows you to select a language to view. As explained above, changing the language will only change the values, not the names and comments.
- The version drop-down box next to it allows you to select a version to view.
- The main list shows all strings in the currently selected version. The columns display, respectively, the string's name, (current language) value, comment and last modified date.
- The properties group at the bottom of the window displays the name, value and comment for the currently selected string. This is where you edit the strings.
- The history list shows all changes to this string from the moment of its creation. Select a version in here to see the string's properties in that version.
All versions other than the last one are read-only.

5. Using the editor
To start, you either create a new VDF document or open an existing one via the File menu or the toolbar at the top. The new dialog (shown to the right) will ask you for the initial language of the document as well as the type of the document.

Adding strings:
After choosing the appropriate values and accepting, you will be presented with an empty list, save for the single entry that reads "(New string here...)". Select it and fill out the values in the properties window below and notice how the string is immediately inserted in the list. This way you can create as many strings as you'd like.

Languages:
To add another language, go to the "Language" menu and select "Add Language". A dialog will ask you to select a language to add. The added language automatically becomes the active language and the values in the list will be cleared.
You can switch to another language by selecting the language in the drop-down box in the upper-right corner of the window, or by using the "Previous Language" and "Next Language" commands in the "Language" menu.
To change (effectively rename) the active language, use the "Change language" command in the "Language" menu.
To delete the active language, and all of its values, use "Delete language" in the "Language" menu.

Editing strings:
In the "Edit" menu are, besides the usual commands of "Copy", "Cut", "Paste", "Delete", "Select All", "Find" and "Find Next", also several other commands:
- Insert String: If the document type is Name-Indexed, this will simply select the "(New String Here...)" item. If the document type is Index-Indexed, this command will insert a new string before the currently selected string in the list. In both cases, it will automatically focus the Name field in the properties window so you can start typing immediately.
- Paste Special: Pastes using one of the available set operators. For more information, see the section "Importing and exporting DAT files". These commands are only available for Name-Indexed documents.
- Find Next Invalid: Selects the next string below the currently selected string that is marked as "Invalid". To know what constitutes an invalid string, see the next section.
- Move Strings Up & Move Strings Down:: Swaps the selected strings with the strings above or below them, respectively. These commands are only available for Index-Indexed documents.
- Move Values Up & Move Values Down: : Swaps the values of the selected strings with the values of the strings above or below them, respectively. These commands are only available for Index-Indexed documents.

Finding strings:
When using the "Find" command in the "Edit" menu, the Find dialog will show up. Here you can enter the search term, whether to perform a case-insensitive or case-sensitive search, whether to match whole words only, which columns to look in, and which strings to consider for the search.
The Find and Find All buttons differ in that the Find button simply finds the next matching string and selects and focus that one. The Find All button selects all matching strings at once, which can then be copied, deleted, etc.
The "Find Next" command in the "Edit" menu simply repeats the last Find operation. Note that for some Find operations, this won't actually change the results.

6. Invalid names
In the "Edit" menu is the "Find Next Invalid" command. This will select the first string below the currently focused string whose name is invalid. But what is an invalid name, exactly?

An name is valid when it passes the following tests:
- It is not empty.
- It consists only of the digits 0-9, the characters A-Z, and the characters: space, underscore, hyphen and period.
- When used in a Name-Indexed document, it must be unique in the entire document.

If any of these rules are violated, the warning icon will be displayed besides the name to indicate it is invalid. In the example to the right, the presence of the extended ASCII character 'ö' causes the name to be invalid.
When exporting a document, the editor will issue an error if the document contains any invalid strings. These must be fixed before exporting.

7. Importing DAT files
When importing a DAT file, the editor reads the contents of the specified DAT file and adds it to the open document, using the selected language.

There are however, several methods by which to add the strings to the open document:

Import methods for Name-Indexed documents:
1. Union
For every string in the imported file it will check if a string with the same exists in the document. If not, it will add it. If so, it will either skip the string, or overwrite the existing string, depending on the "Overwrite" checkbox.
2. Intersection
This will delete all strings in the current version that does not have a similarly named string in the imported file.
3. Difference
This will delete all strings in the current version except those do not have a similarly named string in the imported file.

Import methods for Index-Indexed documents:
1. Overwrite
This will overwrite as many strings as possible in the current document from the start based on matching names. When, during the overwrite, the name of the current string and the imported string do not match, it will resume overwriting at the first string in the document that matches the imported string's name again.
2. Append
This will add the strings in the imported file to the back of the strings in the document.

8. Exporting DAT files
Exporting a document to DAT files means that all <name, value> pairs will be written to the specified DAT file, ordered based on the document type.

When you select the "Export" option in the "File" menu, the editor first checks if the document contains no invalid names. If this is not the case, the "Export .DAT files" dialog will be presented. Here you can enter a base filename and a per-language postfix.

Use the checkboxes in front of the languages to select which languages will be exported.
In the example to the right, the base name is "MasterTextFile.dat". With the postfixes shown, this will mean that the current version's german strings will be written to "MasterTextFile_GERMAN.dat", the english strings to "MasterTextFile_ENGLISH.DAT", etc.

9. The console version
The console version of the application can be reached by starting the application from the command line, with arguments.
Unless you use a correct sequence of commands, the help text will be shown. This will explain how to use it and what the commands are.
The console version is intend to automate deployment of a VDF file into DAT files. It is not meant as a complete replacement of the GUI version, and the selection of available commands reflect this.

10. Tutorial
Fynbos has written a [url=]tutorial[/url] for the editor.

Changelog:

Version	Changed Content	Date
v1.4:	Added german language version.	(2008/06/05)
v1.3:	Fixed a bug that occured when cutting text (thanks, Phoenix Rising).	(2007/07/05)
v1.2:	Added scroll bars to the version and language dropdown boxes.	(2007/03/21)
v1.1:	Three bugfixes: When exporting after saving, the editor wouldn't export string values. When saving after starting a new file, it would overwrite the previously opened file. In the export dialog, the names of the languages were cut off. Thanks to Phoenix Rising for discovering the first one.	(2006/11/07)
v1.0:	Initial release	(2006/09/13)