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Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 15:53
I have a problem creating a section of a project I am working on and unfortunately I lack even the language to describe it correctly. I will do my best below.

I have a list of character concepts (not archetypes, these are narrative concepts rather than mechanical) which is included to help the player select a "role" within the world of the game. If I include them as a list the page swells to be very large and difficult to read as it becomes a giant wall of text. If I create it as a linklist then I have a separate stub in the main tree for every single concept which are little 1 paragraph blurbs and nothing more. This bloats the library with a ton of stubs that are not necessary. There is also sw_referenceinlineindex which does exactly what I want but does not allow me to put plain formatted text on the page with the list either before or after it. I'm wondering if there is another class or method that allows me to have formatted text alongside inline index entries? This would clean up the section as when it's opened it would be a small 2 paragraph blurb, 12 inline expandable and collapsible entries followed by a paragraph.

Sorry for my lack of referential knowledge to be more succinct with this question.

Moon Wizard
January 10th, 2017, 20:01
You could use referenceindex or referenceindexsorted window classes. I believe they both have a formatted text header followed by a list of linked items.

Cheers,
JPG

Ikael
January 10th, 2017, 20:17
When sw_referenceinlineindex windowclass you could force any blocks open by adding expand-named element to it (the element doesn't need to have type or value, just it's existence). This block will appear as normal text area and suits your needs.

However, if I have understood correctly these windowclasses are going to be deprecated and replaced with CoreRPG versions. Unfortunately CoreRPG version doesn't support this feature so be warned

Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 20:32
Well the project won't be for sale, it's for personal use only as I will never get the Star Wars license.. that said I would prefer not to code it in a manner that I can't use it in the future. I'll play with the suggestions from Moon Wizard and post up the results. I'm sure part of this is just my over reliance in the past on Ikael's Enhanced Library Extension which kept me from learning all the different window classes available as I could use the GUI to do the editing. Trying to force myself to learn more by doing this project purely in XML.

Ikael
January 10th, 2017, 20:45
You could use referenceindex or referenceindexsorted window classes. I believe they both have a formatted text header followed by a list of linked items.

Cheers,
JPG

Those windowclasses does not have header text area. Such header text area is in sw_referenceindex windowclass (which is why CoreRPG and SavageWorlds versions are not compatible)

The suggestion MoonWizard posted doesn't provide solution to your cause since it falls into this category: "If I create it as a linklist then I have a separate stub in the main tree for every single concept which are little 1 paragraph blurbs and nothing more." ~ this would be the same if in SW Enhanced Library you would create page "List: Other".

Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 20:57
Hmm, So in short there isn't a windowclass that has a header/footer text area along with the in line index entry and no markup for an in line list that can be used in a standard <text> area? Thus what I'm actually trying to achieve is not possible with the current tools. As a work around I guess I could simply create an archive library stub that is pushed to the bottom of the tree that is the in line index class and link it within a standard reference window which still forces the user to have two windows open (the original stub as well as the list stub) but at least prevents having a stub for each entry as well as a wall of text. I don't like it, and I hope that perhaps for the upcoming version we will have an in line index that either has a header area or a markup tag for collapsible lists in formatted text.

Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 21:03
Next question, is there an entry I can use to create a "section header" inside the Library list? This would be an non-interactive label that would appear in the Library to separate stubs into sections?

Ikael
January 10th, 2017, 21:17
Such a demanding person! The answer is unfortunately no.

However the more I hear your requirements, the more I would recommend creating "reference manual" in your library.

Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 21:24
I saw the stub in the wiki about them but it didn't really cover how they are used and I feel like I'm spinning my tires and asking very stupid questions constantly. It's so infuriating because I know I don't know enough to even ask the right question, but I'm getting there the more I dig deeper into the XML on my own. Since the documentation that does exist isn't answering my questions, is there a current Savage Worlds product that uses the "reference manual" that I can tear apart to reverse engineer? If not what system has one that is used in a similar way to how I would need to implement it in Savage Worlds?

Talyn
January 10th, 2017, 21:29
Currently, Lankhmar and Shaintar are the only two Savage Worlds products with reference manuals. However, all DLC starting from mid-2016 or a little earlier is encrypted so that won't do ya much good either. Reference manuals themselves are a CoreRPG feature, so they function identically in every CoreRPG-layered ruleset such as Savage Worlds.

Feel free to ask in the forums, post code samples and those of us who know our way around the XML can help. Or since you're using Savage Worlds anyway, I'd highly recommend using Ikael's tool to create them and not even worry about the underlying markup. :)

Ikael
January 10th, 2017, 21:30
You could do reverse engineering based on these: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?35958-5e-reference-manual&p=312649&viewfull=1#post312649

And
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16814&d=1481114907


Export the output as XML and you have trails to follow cresting your own reference manual

Coanunn
January 10th, 2017, 21:58
Currently, Lankhmar and Shaintar are the only two Savage Worlds products with reference manuals. However, all DLC starting from mid-2016 or a little earlier is encrypted so that won't do ya much good either. Reference manuals themselves are a CoreRPG feature, so they function identically in every CoreRPG-layered ruleset such as Savage Worlds.

Feel free to ask in the forums, post code samples and those of us who know our way around the XML can help. Or since you're using Savage Worlds anyway, I'd highly recommend using Ikael's tool to create them and not even worry about the underlying markup. :)

Mostly because I do work on projects for the store and feel the need to understand the underlying XML and markup that goes into the modules themselves. It's pretty hard to fix a broken link when you don't understand why or how it's broken, etc. I appreciate the suggestion but again while this project isn't going to be for sale it is still a module I'm using to hone my skills so my next project will be even better than the last.

As always Ikael, you are a life saver! I will dig into that this evening and likely modify who I go forward with this project.

Coanunn
January 11th, 2017, 00:17
You could do reverse engineering based on these: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?35958-5e-reference-manual&p=312649&viewfull=1#post312649

And
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=16814&d=1481114907


Export the output as XML and you have trails to follow cresting your own reference manual

Ikael,

No joke, I could kiss you right now! I spent the last two days in XML trying to get the look I wanted.. I spent the last 2 hours and achieved 99% of the look I wanted using the Reference Manual and was able to integrate it directly into my existing library with predefined races, edges and hindrances! You sir have no idea how much having that to reverse engineer made it all come into focus for me! Thank you!
17352

damned
January 11th, 2017, 00:23
Well done guys!