OPERATIONS MANUAL for the DATABASE BUILDER for THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE COPYRIGHT SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE 1993. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 1 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, Monster Manual II, Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook, Monstrous Compendium, Tome of Magic and Dragon Magazine are Trademarks of TSR, Inc. IBM, PC/AT, PS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. 2 Warranty and Disclaimer of Warranty THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. FURTHER, SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS ARE DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE OR HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE, ON THIS SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE PRODUCT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE, HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. NEITHER SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH PRODUCT EVEN IF SPIDERWEBB SOFTWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BY USING THE SHAREWARE OF THE DATABASE BUILDER FOR THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE LIMITED WARRANTY. 3 Index Limited Warranty & Disclaimer .............................. 3 Definition of shareware .................................... 5 Trial Use License & Purchasing this software ............... 6 Contacting the Author & Technical Support .................. 7 What is the Database BUILDER ............................... 8 Distributing Databases Created with the BUILDER ............ 9 Installing the BUILDER ..................................... 10 The VAST.INI file, a cornerstone of the BUILDER ............ 11 Building databases for the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE .......... 18 Batch Import of spells/monsters/magic items ................ 20 Turning BUILDER databases into TOME databases .............. 26 The Files the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE requires to run ....... 27 Macros ..................................................... 28 APPENDIX A - The BUILDER editor ............................ 29 APPENDIX B - Builder Utilities ............................. 32 APPENDIX C - Known Limitations of the BUILDER/TOME ......... 37 4 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Definition of Shareware ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program and a printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and retail software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like retail authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's retail or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is lower, prices are lower also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. Please show your support for shareware by registering the programs you actually use and by passing them on to others. Shareware is kept alive by YOUR support! 5 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Trial Use License: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ You may use the shareware version of Database BUILDER for The Tome of Vast Knowledge for a 30 day trial period. If you would like to continue to use Database BUILDER for The Tome of Vast Knowledge after the 30 day trial period, you are required to purchase the BUILDER. Using this software after the evaluation period has ended without registering is a violation of the terms of this limited license. Licensee shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this license. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by SpiderWebb Software. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Purchasing the Database BUILDER & Why Would you want to: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The $15.00 (Canadian Funds or the equivalent in U.S. Funds) registration fee (plus tax where applicable) licenses one copy of the software for use on one computer at a time. As a registered user, you will: - Receive free technical support. - Receive notification of significant upgrades to the Database BUILDER. - Gain freedom from legal prosecution for copyright infringement arising form illegal use of this product. - Support further development of this product. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Method of Payment ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Preferred method of payment is international or postal money order, (which you should be able to get at your local bank/post office) or a check drawn on a Canadian or U.S. bank (or a foreign bank with branches in Montreal). Sending cash through the mail is risky and not encouraged (although if your bank is gouging you for a money order this might be the cheapest way). The file ORDER.FRM contains an order form which should be printed out and mailed to SpiderWebb Software. Make cheques or Money Orders payable to SpiderWebb Software. 6 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Contacting the Author & Technical Support ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Don't expect miracles, but any problems will be attended to as quickly as possible. Suggestions, bug reports, etc. would be appreciated. Priority will, of course, be given to registered users. Internet: dwebb@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca (until at least Nov/93) Write: SpiderWebb Software 241 Bruton St. Beaconsfield, Quebec CANADA H9W 1N1 7 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ What is The Database Builder for The TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE? ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In March 1993, the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE, a sort of database manager for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was released as Freeware to the hoards on the internet. Sadly, even though databases comprising all the standard AD&D spells, monsters, magic items and many other goodies had been assembled, they could not be released because of copyrights and TSR/SSI's (the copyright holder and the exclusive licensee) unwillingness to sublicense third party developers. Originally the TOME was released with a few public domain databases, and was recieved fairly well. However, everyone agreed that the program would be much more useful if only the standard spell/ monster/magic item databases were available. (For example, all the material in the Players Handbook, Monstrous Compendiums and Dungeon Master's Guide to name a few.) The Database BUILDER is a response to this demand. With this toolkit you can build your own databases and integrate them into the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE. If you don't have the TOME, then this toolkit will probably not be of much practical use to you. Hopefully, wherever you got this toolkit you can also get the TOME. (The file should be called VAST_xxx.ZIP where xxx is the version number.) Unlike the TOME, which can probably be run without ever reading the manual, this toolkit should be used only after carefully reading the manual. An additional word to the wise: KEEP A BACKUP of every database you work on, that way if something bad happens you won't lose much of your work. 8 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Distributing Databases Created with the Database BUILDER for the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Databases which come with either the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE or the Database BUILDER may be distributed as per the instructions in the README file. (They may be distributed only as a part of the whole package, not individually.) These databases are free to any and all, and no one may charge more than distribution costs for them. If you create a new database with the Database BUILDER you may want to distribute it to others. You may do so with the following provisions: 1) The material had better not be copyrighted by someone else or you'll be in BIG legal trouble. SpiderWebb Software will accept no responsibility for any problems incurred thusly. 2) If the material is your own creation, or is public domain, you may distribute the databases to any and all who are interested with no royalty requirement, so long as no fee is charged beyond a small fee to recoup distribution costs. 3) If the material in the database is your own creation, and you want to sell it. Send me a letter or Email and we'll discuss some reasonable royalty arrangement. I created the Database BUILDER, and I want to recoup a small amount of the costs involved in its development. 9 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1. Installation Of the Database Builder for the Tome of Vast Knowledge ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ System Requirements: The Database Builder for the Tome of Vast Knowledge requires that you run it on an IBM PC/XT/AT,PS/2 or 100% compatible with 640K of memory, an MDA/CGA/EGA/VGA/Hercules Monochrome or 100% compatible video card, and one floppy disk drive or a hard disk drive, and DOS version 2.11 or later. Installing the Database Builder The first thing you should do is backup the Builder. This can easily be done using the DISKCOPY program that comes with DOS. The Tome will be unable to run properly and may work improperly if the following line does not appear in your CONFIG.SYS file: Files=30 (For more information on the CONFIG.SYS file consult your DOS manual.) To install the Builder, copy all of the files that come in the builder archive (with the exception of the documentation) into its own directory or onto its own floppy, then type 'BUILDER' at the DOS prompt. NOTE: The Builder and it's various utility programs are very memory intensive. It is recommended that the number of memory resident programs and device drivers in use be reduced to the bare minimum so that the Builder can function to it's fullest potential. 10 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 2. Understanding the VAST.INI File. The First Step towards Building Databases For the TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The key to adding databases to the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE is the VAST.INI file, which the TOME uses to discern what databases are present. Similarly, the database BUILDER looks to the VAST.INI file to see what databases it is allowed to create/edit. The VAST.INI file is a plain ASCII text file and can be edited with any editor or word processor which can store text files as plain ASCII. (Be careful, many word processors will, by default, store edited documents in a format not recognizable by the TOME or BUILDER.) NOTE: There is now a program shipped with the BUILDER that will help you interactively modify your VAST.INI file with a reduced chance of introducing an error in the format of the VAST.INI file: INIEDIT.EXE. The format used in the VAST.INI file is as follows: The VAST.INI file breaks information up into categories. A category could be a type of data, like spells or monsters, or a category can simply be information the TOME needs to function properly, like information about the attached printer. The first line of each category is the category header, which is a single word all in capital letters, surrounded by square brackets. This is common to all categories. The lines that follow depend on the category. User defined categories are not currently supported. For the Spell category, the category header is followed by a list of spell databases, using the format: Group Number|Group Name|4 Letter Abbrev.|Filename|Filename.IDX Terms used (like Group Number, Group Name, etc.) are described below. There must be one entry per database within a category. Example: I have 4 spell databases for my 1st Ed. spells. The category entry in the VAST.INI file will appear as follows: [SPELLS] 1|Magic User|(MU)|MUSER|MUSER.IDX 2|Cleric|(C) |CLERIC|CLERIC.IDX 3|Druid|(D) |DRUID|DRUID.IDX 4|Illusionist|(IL)|ILLUS|ILLUS.IDX 11 A similar format is used for the Monster/Magic item categories. The only difference is that the 4 letter abbreviation is not present. The format for Monster and Magic item categories is as follows: Group Number|Group Name|Filename|Filename.IDX Example: [MITEMS] 1|Potions & Oils|TPO|TPO.IDX 2|Rings|TRNG|TRNG.IDX 3|Rods, Wands, & Staves|TRSW|TRSW.IDX or [MONSTERS] 1|Monster Manual|MM|MM.IDX 2|Fiend Folio|FF|FF.IDX -------------------------------------------------------------- The Specials/Topics categories have a format simliar to the Monster/ Magic item categories, except they have no group numbers associated with the databases. The BUILDER ignores the SPECIALS category. The format of these categories is: Group Name|Filename|Filename.IDX Example: [SPECIALS] Dreamer|DREAM|DREAM.IDX Savant|SAVANT|SAVANT.IDX or [TOPICS] Ecology Of...|ECOLOGY|ECOLOGY.IDX Misc. Tables|TABLE|TABLE.IDX NOTE: [TOPICS] is any database which does not fall into either of the categories of Monster/Magic item/Spell. For example, a database which is a collection of all your favorite traps. 12 [SPECIALS] are [TOPICS] databases which are set up for use exclusively as hot links. For example, suppose we have a topical database which contained NPC's. We might want to have a text listing of the spell lists for each of the spellcasting NPC's, and keep this database present, but not directly accessible. This field need never be used, it is simply an option available for tidiness. SPECIALS databases must be created as TOPICS databases, and their entry in the VAST.INI file moved to the SPECIALS category. -------------------------------------------------------------- The TOME can also be made aware of external programs which it will run from the externals menu. Each such program must have an entry in the VAST.INI file. These entries can and should be made automatically using the Setup program that comes with the TOME. The BUILDER ignores this category. The format for this category is: Program Name|Complete path, program name and optional parameters Example: [EXTERNALS] Shell to DOS| Install/Configuration Utility|INSTALL.EXE External Notepad|C:\EDITORS\NOTEPAD.EXE ADNDNOTE.TXT -------------------------------------------------------------- The next category tells the TOME where the printer is attached. This category is ignored by the BUILDER. Example: [PRINTERPORT] LPT1 Valid printers ports are LPT1, LPT2, LPT3 or FILE -------------------------------------------------------------- The next category tells the TOME what type of printer is attached. This category is ignored by the BUILDER. Legal Printer names are the name of any PRD file accompanying the TOME. Modification of this category can and should be done using the Setup program. Example: [PRINTERS] EPSONMX IMPORTANT NOTE: A Blank line MUST separate each category! 13 The next category tells the TOME (1.04 or higher) what key to use to back out of a menu, list box, etc. The default being the F10 key. This category is ignored by the BUILDER. Example: [BACKKEY] 196 If you put it all together, a sample VAST.INI file might look like this: [SPELLS] 1|Magic User|(MU)|MUSER|MUSER.IDX 2|Cleric|(C) |CLERIC|CLERIC.IDX 3|Druid|(D) |DRUID|DRUID.IDX 4|Illusionist|(IL)|ILLUS|ILLUS.IDX [TOPICS] Ecology Of ...|ECOLOGY|ECOLOGY.IDX Misc. Tables|TABLE|TABLE.IDX [MITEMS] 1|Potions & Oils|TPO|TPO.IDX 2|Rings|TRNG|TRNG.IDX 3|Rods, Wands & Staves|TRSW|TRSW.IDX [MONSTERS] 1|Monster Manual|MM|MM.IDX 2|Fiend Folio|FF|FF.IDX [SPECIALS] Dreamer|DREAM|DREAM.IDX Savant|SAVANT|SAVANT.IDX [EXTERNALS] Shell to DOS| Install/Configuration Utility|INSTALL.EXE [PRINTERPORT] LPT1 [PRINTER] EPSONMX [BACKKEY] 196 14 2.2 Definition of terms in VAST.INI format GROUP NUMBERS: There are 3 database categories that can be searched by keyword: 1) Spells 2) Monsters 3) Magic Items Within each of these 3 categories no two groups may have the same group number. A group number corresponds to a single database file. For example, by convention all 1st. Ed. Magic-User spells are stored in the MUSER group, this collection of files has (again by convention) the group number 1. If you examine the VAST.INI file you will see that the 1st entry on any line for one of these 3 categories contains the group number. Below is a list of group numbers and Group names that I have used, you should consider using the same numbers, as the current version of Auto Spell (which comes with the TOME) for example, depends on the groups numbers. A future version (possibly available by the time you get this) will be independent of group numbers, but why ask for problems? Group numbers MUST appear in the VAST.INI file, and MUST not be changed once defined. Otherwise, the keyword search capability in the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE will not work properly. A Group number must be an integer between 1 and 31 inclusive. NOTE: The Group Number 0 is reserved in each category for internal use. Some Spell Groups by convention use certain group numbers, as follows: Group Number Group Name Contents 1) MUSER Magic-User spells (1st Ed.) 2) CLERIC Cleric spells (1st Ed.) 3) DRUID Druid spells (1st Ed.) 4) ILLUS Illusionist spells (1st Ed.) 5) SHUKENJA Shukenja spells 6) WUJEN Wu Jen spells 7) Unassigned 8) WI2 Wizard spells (2nd Ed.) 9) PR2 Priest spells (2nd Ed.) 10) Unassigned 11) Unassigned 12) Unassigned 13) NWI Net Wizard 14) NPR Net Priest 15 Some Magic Item types by convention use certain group numbers, as follows: Group Number Group Name Contents 1) TPO Potions & Oils 2) TSC Scrolls 3) TRNG Rings 4) TRSW Rods, Staves & Wands 5) TMMA Miscellaneous Magic I 6) TAS Armour & Shields 7) TSWD Swords 8) TMW Miscellaneous Weapons Some Monster types by convention use certain group numbers, as follows: Group Number Group Name Contents 1) MM Monster Manual 2) FF Fiend Folio 3) MMII Monster Manual II 4) Unassigned 5) DRA From Dragon Magazine 6) OAM Oriental Adventures Monsters 7) Unassigned 8) MAT Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium 9) NMC Net Monstrous Compendium 10) MC1 Monstrous Compendium Vol 1 11) MC2 Monstrous Compendium Vol 2 12) MC3 Monstrous Compendium Vol 3 13) OPM Outer Planes Monstrous Compendium 14) AQM Al-Quadim Monstrous Compendium 15) FFM Fiend Folio Monstrous Compendium 16) SJ1 Spell Jammer Monstrous Compendium Vol 1 17) SJ2 Spell Jammer Monstrous Compendium Vol 2 18) RMC Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium 19) FRM Forgotten Realms Monstrous Compendium 20) GHM Greyhawk Monstrous Compendium 21) KTM Kara-Tur Monstrous Compendium NOTE: Databases do not have to appear in the VAST.INI file with sequential group numbers, they do not even have to appear sorted by group number. Each group number within a category MUST be unique. The group numbers/name listed above are merely suggestions, but should be followed to guarantee minimal problems with the operation of the TOME. 16 DEFINITION OF TERMS USED: GROUP NAME - is a short text (say less than 20 characters) describing the contents of the databases. For menu selection based on the 1st capitalized character, be sure each group name has one capitalized character, and that they are different. 4 LETTER ABBRV - actually this is usually 2 letters surrounded by brackets. This is used when a keyword spell search is performed to indicate what spell caster casts the spell found by the search (otherwise it's impossible to tell). This is only used with spell databases, furthermore the abbreviation MUST be exactly 4 characters, no more, no less (pad with a space if necessary). This is just supposed to be informative, so for Wizard spells you might use '(WI)', for example. GROUP NAME - is any legal DOS file name up to 8 characters, with no file extension. Obviously, each Group name MUST be unique. INDEXFILE NAME - this is the full DOS file name where indexes for this database are to be found by the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE. Usually the index file will just be the 8 letter Group name with '.IDX' appended to it. This field is present to allow for the possibility of merged index files in the future. The [SPECIALS], [EXTERNALS], [PRINTERPORT], [PRINTER], and [BACKKEY] category headers are ignored by the Database BUILDER, and used only by the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE. 17 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 3. Building databases for the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1) For any new database to be built using the BUILDER program, a new entry must be made in the VAST.INI file representing this new database. (The format of the VAST.INI file is given above.) So if you want to add a new monster database (say you get a new collection of monsters for a specific campaign), insert a new line for this monster database, specifying a unique group number, a short group description, an 8 letter file name, and the index file associated with the database file. The index file must be the file name with '.IDX' appended to it. 2) Run the BUILDER program and go to the portion of the program which allows you to add data to the category of databases your new one fits into. The default from the main menu is adding new spells, typing 'M' changes to the monster menu, typing 'I' changes to the magic item menu, typing 'T' changes to the topics menu. Continuing with our example above, go to the Monster Menu. a) Then press 'A' to add a monster. You will then be asked for the Name of the monster you want to add, make sure you spell the name correctly as this entry is made into the index file and is the name which will be used by the TOME to search for this data in the future. b) Unless you are entering a spell (in which case you will be asked for a few more pieces of info first,) you will now be presented with a menu of all the databases in this category. Select the one you desire your new entry to be a part of. c) You are now in the BUILDER editor. Type in the text as you want it to appear. (The complete functioning of the BUILDER editor is described in Appendix A, below). d) When the text is all finished and looks the way you want it to, press to save the text. e) You will then be asked for the level of the monster/spell/magic item if it is one of these, otherwise it will be saved automatically. Spells must be levels 0-10 (cantrips being 0 level, Quest spells being level 8 by convention,) Monsters must be levels 1-10, and Magic-Items must have level 1-8 (with 8th level magic items being the most powerful: Vorpal weapons, Armour of Etherealness, etc.) 18 NOTE: Because I've recieved a few requests for this - below is presented a monster experience/level table. This is only a guideline. Many factors affect the level of a monster (which is designed to be used as a guideline when generating encounters), and the user is encouraged to use his/her judgement when assigning the level of a monster. Monster Experience Monster Level Point Value 0-25 1 26-80 2 81-150 3 151-300 4 301-500 5 501-850 6 851-2750 7 2751-5000 8 5001-10000 9 10000+ 10 f) If it is a monster/spell/magic item then you will subsequently be asked for keywords/terrains which describe what the spell/magic item is, or where the monster will be encountered. The first data element in a new database will cause a new keyword index to be created for this database. There will be no keywords to start, so you must add them. Be consistent across databases within the same category so that a single keyword (when used in a keyword search) will find all appropriate texts in the category. If a keyword has no data which refer to it in the database it will automatically be removed, so if you make a typographical error when creating a keyword, just don't use it, and it'll disappear. When you've put in all the keywords describing the spell/magic item/monster, press . NOTE: For ideas about keywords/terrains, look at the keywords/ terrains used by the databases which come with the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE. The keywords used by a database can be printed out with the PRNTKEYS.EXE program which is part of this toolkit. g) If the data is a monster, you'll be asked for the frequency with which the monster is encountered on each of the terrains. If the data is a spell, at the end you'll be asked whether the spell is common/uncommon/rare/very rare. When this is all done the information is saved. h) You're done, now you'll be asked if you want to add more data. If you were to quit the BUILDER now you would find 4 new files each sharing the file name designated for the group. 19 Say we created the database for 1st Ed. Magic User spells, called MUSER: MUSER.PAK - The actual text is stored in this file. MUSER.IDX - Version 5 index file used to locate the various texts in the .PAK file. MUSER.KDX - Contains the keywords used by this group. MUSER.KDT - Contains the actual key search data entires for this group. Except for MUSER.PAK, the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE actually recognizes none of these files, but save these in a safe place because if you want to add any more spells or edit the database, these are the only files that the BUILDER can work with. Another good reason to store a backup copy of these files: suppose, heaven forbid, the power goes, or your computer locks when you're working on these files and they end up damaged, it'd be nice to have a backup - do it every time you add to a database. NOTE: Part 4 explains how to use these new database files with the TOME. ADDITIONAL NOTE: - To get the best possible compression of your databases: 1) Don't put in duplicate hotlinks, each hotlink takes up space. 2) Don't use lots of CAPITAL LETTERS, or rarely used characters like ~#&$=|*+^%@!, etc in your texts. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 3.1 Batch Importing of Texts ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ There is now an alternative to adding texts one at a time. If you have, for example, many spells already compiled in an ASCII text file, you can use the batch import option to reduce the amount of work involved in importing these texts to a TOME/BUILDER Database somewhat. There is a batch import option in each of the spell/monster/magic item menus. Before invoking this option read the description of how to use this capability below. As a minimum, some preprocessing of the ASCII file containing the texts is required. It is possible that you may desire to write a small configuration file for use by this utility if you are importing spells. There are 2 ways to use the batch import - a minimalist default mode (which is easier and recommended for most cases), and a more involved and more sophisticated mode. 20 A) Minimalist batch import. First some minor modifications to the ASCII file containing the texts must be must be made: - Each text in the ASCII file must be separated by a line which contains nothing but and '@' character. This is the text separator so the import can tell where one text ends and the next begins. - The DEFAULT import routines require that the Title or Name of the text (the designation it is to be stored under in the database) appear alone at the beginning of the line on either the first line of the ASCII text file, or the first line of the new text (ie., on the line after the '@' text separator.) - The ASCII file MUST have a file extension of '.TXT'. eg. A text file containing a few new magic items: Torc of Protection . . text describing this item . . @ Amulet of Fealty . . text describing this item . . etc. Once these 3 conditions have been met, invoke the BUILDER, procede to the menu (spell/monster/magic item) you desire, and select 'Mass xxxxx Import' (where 'xxxxx' will be 'spell', 'monster' or 'magic-item'.) You will be asked for the name of the file to be imported - type the name in (without the '.TXT' extension) then press . Then you will be presented with a scrolling menu containing a list of all the databases available in the current category. Move the highlight bar onto the database you desire to add all the texts to, then press . A message will appear indicating that a config file matching your text file could not be found, and asking whether you would like to use the default. Indicate yes, by typing 'Y'. 21 Now each text will, in succession be imported into the Builder editor (described in Appendix A.) The text import is handled exactly as if a single text was being imported - with the same restrictions: - a maximum of 128 characters can appear on any one line in the text file. - successive lines are automatically fitted to the 74 character line the TOME uses unless an end of paragraph is encountered. (NOTE: Be careful or this will surely mess up your tables.) - either a blank line of a blank at the beginning of a line is taken to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph. (For more information about the automatic text import into the editor review Appendix A part 2). In the editor you can make any changes you want to the text, or add hot links as desired. When the text is looking the way you want, press to save it. You will then be asked for level and keywords exactly as described in section 3 above. Once level and keywords are supplied the next text is automatically imported into the editor. This continues until no more texts are found in the file to be imported (or is selected in the editor). B) Advanced Batch Import This capability exist primarily so that if you desire to import a text file containing many spells, and you want the spell header format to automatically appear as those used with the Net Wizard and Net Priest databases. If this is of no interest to you this option may not be of much use to you. First a few modifications must be made to the ASCII text file: - Each text in the ASCII file must be separated by a line which contains nothing but and '@' character (as above). - The ASCII file MUST have a file extension of '.TXT'. - Each and every text header must appear in an identical format (described below). - A config file must be prepared containing information on the file header format used in your ASCII text file. This file must have the same name as your ASCII file, with the extension '.CFG'. 22 Format of the header and the config file: _________________________________________ The batch import for spells (if the default mode is not being used) expects to find values for 10 variables in the config file (some may be left out for manual addition later), but Name and Description MUST appear and Description must be the last variable. These are: 1) Name 2) School (eg. alteration, illusion, etc.) 3) Level 4) Range 5) Components 6) Duration 7) Casting time 8) Area of effect 9) Saving throw 10) Description (ie., the text description of the spell) The config file shows the format of each text (exactly). Anything in the config file between '<' and '>' is a variable, and the rest of each line is a format string that the import routines expect to see when the text file is imported. Anything appearing in the text file in the position of that variable is assigned as the value of that variable for purposes of the automatic import. The last variable must be which signifies the whole rest of the spell description and is handled differently from the other variables. If any of the 8 non-essential variables is not present a blank space will be left in the spell header where it can be filled in manually. For example, if you don't have spell level appearing with the description of every spell you might want to add that manually. A sample config file is shown below: () Lvl: Rng: Comp: Dur: CT: AoE: ST: 23 The previous config file would match a text file of this type: Damian's Mindswap (Enchantment/Charm) Lvl: 9 Rng: 70 yards Comp: V,S,M Dur: Permanent CT: 9 AoE: One creature ST: Neg. When this powerful enchantment is cast, . . . . . body of spell appears here. . . @ Sand Spray (Alteration) Lvl: 1 Rng: 20 feet Comp: V,M Dur: Instantaneous CT: 1 AoE: Special ST: None By means of this spell, . . . etc. This will allow (in the first spell) "Damian's Mindswap" to be automatcially assigned as the spell's Name, and so on. The body of the spell description is assigned to the variable 'Description' and will appear after the spell header in the editor. Given the previous config and text files, the spell would automatically appear as follows in the editor: Damian's Mindswap(Enchantment/Charm) Level: 9 Range: 70 yards Components: V,S,M Duration: Permanent Casting Time: 9 Area of Effect: One creature Saving Throw: Neg. When this powerful enchantment is cast, the spell user attempts to rip the target creatures soul from its body and temporarily place it in a gem of . . . etc. 24 A sample ASCII spell file and associated .CFG file are stored in the SAMP_IMP.ZIP file. (NOTE: These spells already appear in the NWI database.) NOTE: Any line in the config file that starts with a # is a comment, and is ignored by the BUILDER import routine. This batch import capability is available largely throught the efforts of Udo Wagner . Who wrote the vast majority of the batch import routines. 25 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 4. Assembling Databases into a format usable by the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ For the TOME to perform to it's expected potential several post-processing steps must be performed on the index files and the Keyword index and data files which are created by the BUILDER program. a) All index files must be squashed using the LZSIDX.EXE program which accompanies the BUILDER. This program can be run in one of two ways: if no command line parameter is supplied this program squishes all Version 5 index files it finds in the current directory, turning them into version 6 index files which the TOME can use directly. If LZSIDX is supplied with the name of a version 5 index file as a parameter it will squish only that one file. (Help files use Version 2 index files, and therefore SHOULD be ignored by LZSIDX.EXE.) NOTE: The BUILDER does not understand version 6 files, so if you plan to add more data to the database keep a copy of the version 5 index file in a safe place, or you can turn a version 6 index file back into a version 5 index file with UNLZSIDX.EXE b) All monster keyword databases must be merged into a single keyword database MONSTERS.KDX & MONSTERS.KDT. This can be done using the program MERGEKEYS.EXE which accompanies the BUILDER. This program actually merges spell or magic item or monster databases, depending on the command line parameter specified. If MERGKEYS is run with a command line parameter of 'M' then it will look for the VAST.INI file and try to merge the keyword files for all the spell databases, giving an error if one is not found. c) All spell keyword databases must be merged into a single keyword database (MERGED.KDT & MERGED.KDX). This can be done using the program MERGEKEYS.EXE which accompanies the BUILDER. This program actually merges spell or magic item or monster databases, depending on the command line parameter specified. If MERGKEYS is run with a command line parameter of 'S' then it will look for the VAST.INI file and try to merge the keyword files for all the spell databases, giving an error if one is not found. d) All magic item keyword databases must be merged into a single keyword database (MITEM.KDT & MITEM.KDX). This can be done using the program MERGEKEYS.EXE which accompanies the BUILDER. This program actually merges spell or magic item or monster databases, depending on the command line parameter specified. If MERGKEYS is run with a command line parameter of 'I' then it will look for the VAST.INI file and try to merge the keyword files for all the magic item databases into the files MITEMS.KDX & MITEMS.KDT, giving an error if one is not found. NOTE: The keyword database information for the databases that ship with the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE are found in the KEYWORDS.ZIP file which should be unzipped if you intend merge keyword databases. 26 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 5. What the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE needs to run. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ a) The Tome needs the help files VASTHELP.* b) The Tome needs the title page SPELTITL.* c) The Tome needs an up to date VAST.INI file. d) The Tome needs the *.PAK files for each database. e) The Tome needs the *.IDX files for each database. f) The Tome needs the MERGED.* and MITEMS.* and MONSTERS.* files. g) The Tome needs the *.DAT files supplied. h) The Tome (actually VADDCHAR) needs a number of *.TXT files which accompany the Tome - check the FILES.DOC file that comes with the Tome for a list of the text files used by VADDCHAR. i) The Tome needs the *.PRD files (or at least the one supporting your printer.) j) The Tome needs the executable files which make it up: VAST.EXE VNPC.EXE VHOARD.EXE VSPELLS.EXE VSWORDS.EXE VADDCHAR.EXE SETUP.EXE 27 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 6. Macros ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Built into the Database BUILDER is a macro recorder. What the macro recorder does is record keystrokes, and then save them so that they can be played back at the touch of a key. For example, I can create a macro which quickly adds often repeated text to a new magic item by pressing , for example, or almost anything else. 4.1 The Macro Menu The macro menu allows you to view a list of the existing macros, add new macros, delete unused, or unwanted macros, and disable macros if you so desire. You can call up the macro menu by pressing (the key and the 'M' key at the same time). 4.2 How to build a Macro To build a macro you must first call up the macro menu then type 'A' to add a macro, you will then be asked to select a key which will run the macro you wish to record. Press the key combination you want to activate your macro. (Legal macro keys are the pressed at the same time as the .. keys, ie., you can have up to 10 user defined macros.) You will then be asked to select a name/description for the macro. Type in the name you want, then press . The macro menu will now disappear and you can start typing the macro you want recorded. You will hear a click each time you press a key to remind you that the macro recorder is operating. NOTE: Macros must be 40 keystrokes or less. This should be fine for most circumstances. When you have finished typing the macro you want recorded, you again press and a window will pop up asking you whether you want to keep the macro or not. After you have made a useful macro you will want to save it to disk, this can be accomplished from the macro menu by typing 'S'. NOTE: You will only be able to save the macros if the disk the BUILDER is running on is NOT write protected. 28 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ APPENDIX A. - The BUILDER Editor ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ This editor is limited, but should be robust enough to get the job done. A single text cannot be more than 400 lines (which is usually about 20K). You can however link together texts that are longer than this using hypertext hot-links. There are three ways to input data into the editor: 1) Type it in. 2) Import a prepared ASCII text file. 3) Batch import a specially prepared ASCII text file (described above in Section 3.1). 1) Typing in data: If you elect to type data in it is worth noting that the editor is always in what might be called 'Insert Mode'. When you type, if text appears after the cursor, it will be pushed along as required to make space for new text. There is even a rudimentary word-wrap so if you push a word past the end of a line it will automatically be wrapped to the beginning of the next line. There is no reverse word-wrap (nor can there be). 2) Importing text files: If you have the text you want in an ASCII text file, it can be imported using the key and automatically placed in the editor. There's a limit to how big a file can be imported. 400 lines, (or about 20K). No single line in the text file to be imported should exceed 128 characters in length. The import program does not recognize ASCII characters with decimal values outside the range 32-127 and will automatically convert them to spaces (it mangles TABS). The import mechanism tries to fit as many words onto each line as possible. This may have the undesirable effect of ruining your tables. This problem can be overcome by putting a blank line between each row in the table, because the import routine thinks a blank line signifies the end of a paragraph. Then after the data is imported you can remove the blank lines in your table. MORAL: Put a blank line between your paragraphs if you want to use the import routine, or they'll be merged together. A space as the first character of a line is also taken to indicate the beginning of a new paragraph. IMPORTANT NOTE: When you import text, it is placed immediately below the cursor, overwriting anything that was there. 29 Additional Useful Functions supported: The various cursor keys are supported for browsing the text/moving the cursor. Additionally, moves to the previous word, while moves to the next word. Saves the text when you are finished editing it. Deletes the line the cursor is on (irreversibly). Inserts a line at the cursor position. When the cursor is on highlighted text, this will cause the text to become a hotlink. You will be prompted for the name of the file which contains the text whose index is spelled EXACTLY (capitalization is not important) the same as the highlighted block. (Watch out for highlighted blanks before and after the text of interest). If the hotlink refers to a text in the same database simply press enter, otherwise type in the group's file name. For example, if I want a hotlink to 'Fireball' from my new monster I highlight the text 'Fireball' in my text, move the cursor onto the text then press , when the query box pops up, type in 'MUSER' (assuming this is the database where I have the 'Fireball' spell located) with no file extension. The hotlink should now be green. Moving the cursor onto a green hotlink and pressing will unlink the hotlink. NOTES: 1)Hotlinks obviously take up space in the *.PAK file, (proportional to the length of the datafile name which the hotlink must call, so don't put in unnecessary hotlinks or your *.PAK file will end up larger than it should be. 2) There is a limit of 50 hotlinks per text, this should not normally be a problem. 3) Obviously hotlinks are position sensitive. Therefore if you move a line with a hotlink on it there will be trouble. The editor is not currently smart enough to keep track of moving hot links. If the editor thinks that the position of a hotlink is about to be changed, it will automatically be unlinked. So set up all your text and put in the hot links last. 30 Hot Links to 'Hidden' Texts: If you examine the 'Net Classes/Kits' database shipped with the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE you will see that most of the classes have a hot link to a text called 'Class Description', yet these texts are all different. Furthermore none of these texts appear in the menu when the database is being browsed. This is a trick used for tidiness. Any text which starts with a '*' will not be displayed in any browser menu in the TOME. "Hey", I hear you say, "Those hotlinks in the 'Net Classes/Kits' database don't have a '*' in front of them!" When you are queried as to what file the hotlink text will be found in type '*'. This will cause the TOME to look (in the same database) for a text whose title is exactly the same as the current text, preceeded by a '*', and followed by a ', ' (that's a comma and a space) then the text highlighted in the hotlink. For example, suppose we were creating a hidden 'Class Desciption' hotlink for our new class the 'Monitor'. We would create a hotlink in the 'Monitor' text with the text 'Class Desciption', then when we hotlink it we type in '*' as the hotlink file. The text this hotlink would try to find would be called: '*Monitor, Class Description'. NOTE: Remember no text can have a title longer than 50 characters. As described above, after pressing this key you will be prompted for the name of the ASCII text file you wish to import. Put the current text into an ASCII text file. You will be prompted for the name of the file you want to store the text in. NOTE: The complete text is stored in the file, 74 characters/line, including trailing blanks. Is used to change the highlighting of a region. It marks the start of a block to be highlighted/unhighlighted (signaled by turning the character red). Pressing again will highlight/unhighlight everything between the red start character and the cursor. If you are editing an existing text (rather than putting in a new one), pressing should pop up a list of the keywords associated with this text. Turns the highlight mode on. This means that every character typed after the highlight mode is turned on will be highlighted. NOTE: A special character has to be stored for every switch between highlighted and unhighlighted characters in the text, these take up space in the *.PAK file. So make sure adjacent highlighted words do not contain a non-highlighted space between them or the *.PAK file will not be as small as it could be. Turns highlight mode off. If you made a mistake in the spell/magic item/monster name or some other non-repairable error, press to abort the text input. 31 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ APPENDIX B. Utility programs accompanying the BUILDER for the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ LZSIDX.EXE - Turns the version 5 index files that the Database BUILDER works with, into version 6 index files that the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE works with. By default this program converts every .IDX file in the current directory into a version 6 index file, except help index files which SHOULD be ignored because they are not the correct format. Alternately LZSIDX will act on only a single index file if one is specified as a command line parameter. Syntax: LZSIDX [Database Name] Example: a) LZSIDX b) LZSIDX MUSER Result: a) Converts every version 5 index file in the current directory into a version 6 index file. b) Converts just the MUSER index file from version 5 to version 6 format. UNLZSIDX.EXE - This program lets you revert an index file from version 6 back to version 5 format. Syntax: UNLZSIDX Example: UNLZSIDX muser Result: Will turn the version 6 index file MUSER.IDX into the version 5 index file of the same name. 32 MERGKEYS.EXE - This program creates the merged keyword files required by the TOME to do keyword searches. This program accepts one of three possible command line parameters: either 'S', 'I', 'M' for creating the merged spell/magic item/monster keyword files. The program examines the VAST.INI file for a list of what keyword files it should merge. All the appropriate .KDX and .KDT files should be in the current directory. An error message probably means the new merged keyword database file was NOT created correctly. Syntax: MERGKEYS S|I|M Example: MERGKEYS S Result: Will create the MERGED.KD* files used by the TOME. CLEANS.EXE - Allows you to examine and change the spell frequency in a spell database without using the BUILDER. This program only recognizes version 5 index files. CLEANM.EXE - Allows you to examine and change the monster frequency in a monster database without using the BUILDER. This program only recognizes version 5 index files. NOTE: Both these programs should be run on a RAMDISK if at all possible, as they are both VERY disk intensive. Syntax: CLEANS or CLEANM Example: CLEANS MUSER Result: An interactive session to change/review the various spell frequencies. 33 PRESSTAT.EXE - Gives compression statistics for a database. This program only works with version 5 index files. Syntax: PRESSTAT Example: PRESSTAT MUSER Result: The compression ratio of this database will be printed out on screen. PRNTKEYS.EXE - Lets you print out a list of the keywords in a database. This program dumps to standard output so it can be redirected to a file or the printer. Syntax: PRNTKEYS [/P] Example: a) PRNTKEYS MUSER b) PRNTKEYS MUSER > LPT1 c) PRNTKEYS MUSER > KEYS.TXT d) PRNTKEYS /P MUSER Result: a) The keywords used in the magic user database will be printed out on the screen. b) The keywords used in the magic user database will be printed out on the printer attached to LPT1. c) The keywords used in the magic user database will be stored in the ASCII text file called KEYS.TXT. d) The keywords used in the magic user database will be printed out to the screen, with the program waiting for a key to be pressed between each screenful of keywords 34 COMBINE.EXE - Lets you merge two databases. Suppose two people decided to each assemble databases of different wizard spells. They could then be combined into a single database with this utility. The Group Number is optional, if it is not included, it is assumed that the Databases being merged have no keywords associated. NOTE: This could break any hotlinks which refer to the names of one or the other original databases by name. Care must be taken to ensure that this does not occur. Syntax: COMBINE [Group Number] [/q|/d] Example: a) COMBINE MUSERA MUSERB MUSER 1 b) COMBINE MUSERA MUSERB MUSER 1 /d c) COMBINE MUSERA MUSERB MUSER /q Result: a) The two spell databases MUSERA and MUSERB are combined into the database MUSER, which is assign the Group Number 1. Duplicate spells in database MUSERB are automatically renamed. b) The two spell databases MUSERA and MUSERB are combined into the database MUSER, which is assign the Group Number 1. Duplicate spells in database MUSERB are automatically deleted. c) The two spell databases MUSERA and MUSERB are combined into the database MUSER. Keyword files (if they exist) are not merged, duplicate spells will cause the user to be queried as to how the duplicate should be handled. USEBUILD.EXE - This utility was designed as a tool to help integrate the other programs which are a part of this toolkit. When run you are presented with a menu of all the databases which are listed in the VAST.INI file. Using the arrow keys the highlight bar can be moved to the database which you desire to work on. Pressing the spacebar will mark the currently highlighted database (pressing the spacebar again will unmark it.) 35 Once a database has been marked, the currently selected toolkit program can then be run on it by pressing (the default is the BUILDER, but typing 'O' will present a menu allowing you to select alternatives.) Because none of the programs in the Toolkit (except UNLZSIDX) can operate on the Version 6 index files used by the TOME, USEBUILD will call UNLZSIDX to try an decompress the marked database's index file before calling the selected toolkit program (it will then recompress the index file upon completion.) If 'MergKeys' is the currently selected option when the key is pressed, USEBUILD will try to build all the Keyword Database files needed by the TOME (MERGED.KD*, MITEM.KD*, MONSTERS.KD*). It should be noted that this program currently consumes about 30K when shelling out to run the other tools. If your system is tight for memory, there may not be enough free RAM to run the BUILDER from within this program. Credit for this wonderful tool goes entirely to Erik Beauvais. INIEDIT.EXE - This utility allows you to add to/delete from/modify the databases listed in the VAST.INI file under the Spell/ Monster/Magic Item/Topic/Special categories in an easy to use interactive fashion. When you run this program you will be presented with a menu which lists the 5 categories under which databases can be listed. By pressing the appropriate letter you will be presented with a list of all the databases currently listed under that category in the VAST.INI file. From within each of these category specific sub-menus you will be given the opportunity to add to the list of databases in the category, remove a database, or modify the Description of the database. By using the left and right arrow keys you can highlight the option you desire to use. Then press to select the option you desire. If you are adding a database you will be asked for a description for the database and the filename to be used by the database (this may be up to 8 characters and cannot include a file extension), and a group number and group abbreviation where appropriate. If you are deleteing a database you will be presented with a scrolling menu of all the databases present. Selecting a database will delete it. IMPORTANT NOTE: No changes are made to the VAST.INI file until the program is exited, at which point you will be asked whether you want to save the changes you have made to disk. 36 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ APPENDIX C. Known Limitations of the BUILDER and TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE Version 1.X ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1) There may be no more than 255 different keywords in any category. 2) No single database may contain more than 1050 texts (this is a 64K limitation, if the Version 5 index file exceeds 64K in size the program will not work properly.) 3) No merged keyword file (MERGED.KDT, MITEMS.KDT, MONSTERS.KDT) may exceed 64K in size. 4) No more than 31 databases can exist for any one category. 5) No single text can exceed 400 lines (usually about 20K). 6) No Keyword or Textname can exceed 50 characters. 7) No single text can have more than 50 hotlinks. 8) USEBUILD can only handle up to 100 Databases in the VAST.INI file. 9) No spellbook created by VSPELLS can contain more than 300 spells. 10)No Monster/Spell/Magic item level may exceed 15. (More an advisory here than a limitation, as the software shouldn't let you put this in anyway, and won't understand it if you try.) 37