Modules questions

[zifnab69_fr]

hello :)

in the export module, what is the "index group" and "merge id" line ?

is somebody can tell me how work the "common shared data" and "client data" module ?

Thank you

[Foen]

Hi

You might want to take a look at this thread (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6446).

Cheers

Stuart
(Foen)

[Ablefish]

Well, that thread doesn't exactly cover the first question...

I'm going to take my stab at the answer, though I've admittedly done very little testing.

Best way to learn what all these options are doing is create a new campaign and fill it with a couple of each item (story, personality, map, and item). Then try running the /export command and doing different things

Module Name: This is the name that will show up in the Module window, and in the Library. It's essentially the name of your 'book'.

File Name: This is the name of the actual xml file that defines your module. It can be found in C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\Fantasy Grounds II\modules. Might as well make it meaningful in case you needed to find it in the folder for some reason (like to delete your test modules).

Author: Just put in "Dr.Seuss", that's what I always do. :)

Index Group: Open up Modules and make sure you have one of the d20 books open. Then open up the Library. You'll notice that on the left hand side there is a header above the d20 books called "d20 Essentials". This is your Index Group. Activate a test module with an Index Group label and you'll see what I mean. The test module will appear on the left hand side underneath your Index Group label. Good times.

Merge ID: I've never used this, but I believe the premise is this. If you exported a whole bunch of modules and had them all loaded, when you go to the Story or Image window, you'll see a bunch of tabs along the bottom. When you click on them, it takes you to a fresh page with each module's content. One tab for each module.

However, if you export two modules and give them both the same Merge ID, then all of the content of those modules will appear under a single tab.

Thumbnail: I haven't used this yet, and the description on the export page is a little painful. Not sure why the modules folder doesn't just have a thumbnails subfolder so you could just provide a filename. Anyways - I really don't know what a path relative to the program directory would look like. Unless it's "..\..\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\Application Data\Fantasy Grounds II\modules\thumbnails\testthumbnail.jpg"

Hopefully someone can step in and cover thumbnails...

[Griogre]

You are right about the Merge ID.

Thumbnails expect a relative path out of the data apps folder (in Vista anyway). Relative means the path to Data Apps is already assumed. So for me, I created a folder called icon in the Fantasy Grounds II Data Applications folder. To associate an icon when I make a module I type in icon\MonMed.png on the export pop up to get the MonMed.png in the icons folder. Note the path name (or at least the filename part) is case sensitive.

[DNH]

For some time now, I have been preparing an adventure for my campaign and have been making story entries, maps, personalities, even some items. Thing is, these are all done in the main "campaign". What I was hoping to do was export the "adventure" as a whole as a module and then use it as reference material within the campaign. Now, I know that this is how modules are supposed to work (in part), and I have even tried exporting the thing already BUT i now don't know whether or not I am safe to go ahead and remove the entries from the main campaign's db (from within FG2, this would be).

Also, I use rh4300's script modification for prepping the combattracker (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7243) which saves the data to the CampaignRegistry file. I see that module exporting does not include this file, so any prep work from the module would have to be done from within the campaign to be used for play, but more importantly, I am a bit concerned that the work I have already done will no longer be valid.

Any thoughts?

[sloejack]

Well, if you've done the export already, you could test it by creating a new campaign, copy over your campaignregistry.lua and then open up your module and verify that all is well. Assuming that it is, then you could safely delete the entries from the original campaign. Though I think my personal preference would be to archive the original as the master source and use the new campaign. Assuming it's something you've been using for your regular game and what not you'd want to bring over any characters and what not into the new campaign.

[Foen]

The campaign registry isn't part of a module, so I should be very surprised if rh4300's scripts (and the data you might already have entered) export successfully. Slowjack's idea of copying the campaign registry file is worth a try, however.

I use modules for adventures within a campaign, partly to allow me to plug/unplug adventure data, and partly in case I want to re-use an adventure in future.

I have found that not all module functionality is available from the wizard: for example personality entries linked to custom tokens don't seem to work; and there is no wizard-based way to create reference data (such as d20 spells etc).

Sloejack's suggestion of creating a new campaign and seeing what is carried over sounds like the best route. Likewise the good advice to keep a back-up if all else fails!

Cheers

Stuart

[DNH]

I created a new campaign and activated the module. No joy. I imagine I am doing something wrong on export. That is, the module appears in the module activation screen but not in the library screen (should it?). More to the point, not all the elements are available: I have all the images and maps (albeit all mixed up; my sections have disappeared), but no personalities, items and, vitally important this one, no story entries.

Not sure how to proceed (which includes giving up on the idea).

[joshuha]

I created a new campaign and activated the module. No joy. I imagine I am doing something wrong on export. That is, the module appears in the module activation screen but not in the library screen (should it?). More to the point, not all the elements are available: I have all the images and maps (albeit all mixed up; my sections have disappeared), but no personalities, items and, vitally important this one, no story entries.

Not sure how to proceed (which includes giving up on the idea).

Just note there are really two kinds of modules.

One that could be considered an "adventure" module and one thats a reference module.

When you are exporting from a campaign it all gets exported to an "adventure" module. This loads the relevent data into a seperate tab in the campaign its loaded to.

The reference module that can contain tables, rules, etc. really has to be built either from hand or copying the format of the XML of a similiar module.

[sloejack]

I created a new campaign and activated the module. No joy. I imagine I am doing something wrong on export. That is, the module appears in the module activation screen but not in the library screen (should it?). More to the point, not all the elements are available: I have all the images and maps (albeit all mixed up; my sections have disappeared), but no personalities, items and, vitally important this one, no story entries.

Not sure how to proceed (which includes giving up on the idea).

In the new campaign, before you open the module, create an entry in the story adventure section, then open your module and see if the appropriate entries appear. If so this is due to a bug with FG, if not then it may be something with the way you created the module.

-andy

[DNH]

Hmm, not sure what was happening before but it appears to be working. That is, the story entries are available, as are the NPCs, items and images. I am a bit annoyed about the unsorted images thing, but it's a minor point really.

One further question though: I would really rather like to implement this modular approach to my campaign without disrupting it any. That is, I would really rather not have to start a fresh campaign, have my players download everything and then have to re-enter their characters too. I was thinking I should be able to cut-and-paste some things (chiefly, the <characters> section of the db.xml) and copy some other things over. In fact, rather than cut-and-paste, I would more than likely be deleting the other elements from the existing campaign. Does this sound feasible/safe/advisable?

Thanks.

[sloejack]

I would still make a backup, just in case, but once you're happy with the module contents you could delete those records from the existing campaign.

[Astinus]

One further question though: I would really rather like to implement this modular approach to my campaign without disrupting it any. That is, I would really rather not have to start a fresh campaign, have my players download everything and then have to re-enter their characters too. I was thinking I should be able to cut-and-paste some things (chiefly, the <characters> section of the db.xml) and copy some other things over. In fact, rather than cut-and-paste, I would more than likely be deleting the other elements from the existing campaign. Does this sound feasible/safe/advisable?


I've adopted the approach recommended by Griogre and others, which is having a main campaign which just has the characters in it - nothing else. Then I create separate modules for adventures and open them as I see fit.

So if you were looking to do something like this, moving the characters to a new campaign is easy, and removes the need for your players to re-create them. Sandeman posted these steps:

- Open up the db.xml file in the campaign you would like to move your characters from.

- Highlight all the text starting from the <charsheet> tag and ending with the </charsheet> tag.

- Open up the new campaign's db.xml file, and paste in the copied text after the <root version="2.1"> tag.

- Double check that you do not have an extra <charsheet> or </charsheet> tag. (You should only have one of each.)

- Save the new db.xml file, and you can now load up FGII and see your characters there.