Field Filters for All Libraries

[Minty23185Fresh]

The Erase Fields menu choice, to the lower right of the popup context menu is available in both Standard and Advanced Modes. In Standard Mode there is a single choice: erase the values that have been chosen for all field filters. A screen shot is provided.
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In Advanced Mode there are two choices, available through a second submenu: (1) erase the values of all field filters (same as in Advanced Mode) and (2) erase all filters, essentially clear everything to start over. Since the one submenu choice performs the same function as in Standard Mode only the clear all is shown in the following screenshot.
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(This series of informational posts detailing new features of FFAL started with post 47 and continues with post 52.)

[Minty23185Fresh]

The Refresh Data option of the FFAL popup radial context menu may be the most esoteric and possibly least used by the average user but it's functionality has been needed time-and-time-again by me. What it does is reload the data from the database and open modules into the dropdown combo boxes. The library dialogs all have persistent data; closing them down doesn't invoke a refresh. If the data gets changed for some reason (for example you're creating a bunch of homebrew spells) then you would have to close down Fantasy Grounds completely for changes to be reflected in the combo boxes. Until now.

An example will surely help. In the following diatribe and illustrations, I have the 5E, Princes of the Apocalypse module loaded. This example is not particular to 5E. I'm working in the NPC library dialog window.

In the left most panel of the following screenshot note the "acid; bludgeoning" damage in the "Resist & Immune" combo box dropdown list. I believe this to be a module documentation error. Here is why it is important. In the middle panel of the screenshot, I've chosen the "acid; bludgeoning" resistance or immunity. Two NPCs have that property, as shown. In the right most panel, I have selected "acid" in the combo box and scrolled down in the Record List. The two NPCs are conspicuously absent. If I were designing my own encounter and wanted a creature that did acid or bludgeoning damage, the two water elementals wouldn't be presented unless I picked the errant value.
UntitledG.png

If one looks at the Damage Resistances field in Water Elemental's details one notes that acid and bludgeoning are separated with a semi-colon, whereas all the other resistances are separated by commas. Again, I believe this to be a documentation error, a typo. One might argue that the two damage types are a "pair" and always go together. I'd buy that for say "thunder; bludgeoning" but "acid; bludgeoning", nope. Sorry.
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One might also argue that this is a short coming of FFAL. That the extension should ignore these little inconsistencies. Possibly. But when I was creating the supplemental Unearthed Arcana Mystic module and extension, I was specifically looking for these types of inconsistencies to ensure I had the best product I could muster. I needed a tool to do that and FFAL was born.

If one edits the Water Elemental and Water Elemental Myrmidon NPCs and changes the semi-colon to a comma, the edits are not immediately reflected in the combo box's dropdown list . One must invoke Refresh Data using the popup radial context menu. To do so, right mouse click anywhere in the filter list and choose the circular double arrows icon on the left side of the menu. The left panel of the following screenshot displays the proper menu choice. Upon refresh the combo box with the selected errant (or changed) value is cleared as shown in the center panel of the screenshot. This of course makes sense since it is no longer a valid choice. The right most panel shows that "acid; bludgeoning" is no longer a choice in the dropdown list, and that if "acid" is picked the two water elementals now appear in the filtered results.
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(This series of informational posts detailing new features of FFAL started with post 47 and continues with post 53....)

[Minty23185Fresh]

Using the Advanced Mode, one might wonder what happens if one does this (is it allowed?):
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Consider this:
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Just what does that group of filters mean?
"Show to me, the NPCs that speak the Common language AND have a flying speed of 40 feet AND have an Armor Class of 15."

AND is the default (and only!) behavior for multiple custom filter choices. The filter values chosen by the user must all be present in the properties for the item to be displayed in the Record List.

Given that understanding of the mechanics behind the filters, the example presented in the first screenshot, makes complete sense.
"Show me the creatures that speak Common AND speak Elvish AND speak Sylvan."

In the next release of FFAL I hope to provide logical operators other than just AND. I hope to bring OR and NOT into the mix.

(This series of informational posts detailing new features of FFAL started with post 47.)

[Minty23185Fresh]

Finally the information details have been addressed (see posts 47 - 53). So, I have just posted a new version, v0.3.0, of the Field Filters for All Libraries (FFAL). The download is, as always, in post #1 of this thread.

While the observable changes seem few, the coding changes were many. I have tried to ensure the code is bug free (two months of trying - aargh!).

If you find a problem, have a suggestion or criticism, please feel free to chime in. Feedback only makes the product stronger.

[Erin Righ]

Hey minty, got the following after update to 3.3.4 today

Script Error: [string "FFAL/scripts/FFAL_data_library_35E.lua"]:81: attempt to index field 'aRecords' (a nil value)
Script Error: [string "FFAL/scripts/FFAL_data_library_PF.lua"]:53: attempt to index field 'aRecords' (a nil value)

[Minty23185Fresh]

Hey minty, got the following after update to 3.3.4 today

Script Error: [string "FFAL/scripts/FFAL_data_library_35E.lua"]:81: attempt to index field 'aRecords' (a nil value)
Script Error: [string "FFAL/scripts/FFAL_data_library_PF.lua"]:53: attempt to index field 'aRecords' (a nil value)

Thanks Erin. I'll get to work on it right away. (I looked for the new release a little earlier this morning, but it hadn't been posted.)

[Erin Righ]

No prob, thanks for all your work

[Baron28]

Error received after the 3.3.4 update.

Script Error: [string "EXT/scripts/SLAFS_data_library_5E.lua"]:18: attempt to index field 'aRecords' (a nil value)

[Minty23185Fresh]

Announcing a new version of the Field Filters for All Libraries extension (FFAL v0.3.1). The updated extension is available in the first post of this thread.

One of the global variables in the masterindex was renamed in the recent release of Fantasy Grounds (v3.3.4). This caused FFAL to catastrophically crash. The old variable name has been replaced with the new one in the extension. I have completed thorough functional and code comparative testing to ensure complete compatibility with FG v3.3.4.

If you find additional problems please let me know. Thanks for your interest in FFAL.

[EDIT: Testing completed on Feb 09, 2018]

[Minty23185Fresh]

Announcing a new version of the Field Filters for All Libraries extension (FFAL v0.3.2). The updated extension will be available as soon as I finish the next post available in the first post of this thread.

Advanced Filtering Mode now supports the "Equality Operators": EQUAL, LESS THAN, and GREATER THAN. The equals operator is not new, it is the default operator in all prior versions of the library editors. The two new operators, less than and greater than, expand the range of matching records for a given criteria. In the following screenshot each of the equality operators is displayed. (Note the other operators, the "Logical Operators", which I'll explain in my next post to this thread.)
EO1 each.png
Using the equal operator, shown in the left most panel, is nothing new, let's move along. The less than and greater than operators are most appropriate when used with numeric data, as shown in the center panel (the less than operator). However the two operators can be used on strings, as shown in the right panel (greater than operator). Typically, the results are based on alphanumeric order, which, again, typically the criteria list is sorted by. But not always, so results can be unpredictable. In the right panel I have purposely captured the screen with the drop down list exposed to indicate the sort order of the selection criteria. If one were to open each of the six filtered records, one would see that all of them have a Damage of either 2d4 or 2d6 which appear after the selected criteria in the drop down list.

One might immediately wonder where are LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO and GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO. They are basically unnecessary since one can just select the next lower or higher criteria in the drop down list. E.g. if you want all records with Weight greater than or equal to 7, just choose the next lower number in the drop down list, say 6. Additionally, if you really must have "OR EQUAL TO" functionality, it is available using the OR logical operator, which I discuss in my next post.

The above operators are not available for use with the text search box. This is because when one enters text into the search box, records are filtered based on that text appearing anywhere in the associated field. So it doesn't make sense to try to perform the equality operations under that mechanic. Instead there is one and only one operator, "CONTAINS", as in the text field "contains" the word such-and-such. The CONTAINS icon looks similar to the greater than icon, but it is more rounded, sort of like a sideways "U", as shown in this screenshot.
EO2 contains.png

Oh yeah, one last thing, to choose the operator you want, cycle through them by mouse clicking the equality operator icon.