Read-Me File for Army Builder (tm) Construction Kit V2.

2b
---------------------------------------------------------
This document outlines important details that were not able to be incorporated
into the manual, plus a few that simply warrant repeating. For full information
on the Army Builder product, its requirements, and how to use it, please refer
to the manual, which will be found in the file "constkit.rtf".
System Requirements
-------------------
In order to use the Construction Kit, your system will need to meet the
following minimum requirements:
1. PC running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, or Windows 2000
2. 16MB RAM memory
3. 3MB free hard disk space. This is over and above the requirements for the
Army Builder product.
4. Mouse or other pointing device
5. Army Builder must already be installed on your system.
Product Installation
--------------------
Installing the Construction Kit entails running the installation program and
following the instructions is presents. Please note that the Army Builder
product must be installed PRIOR to installing the Construction Kit. To launch
the installer, please follow these instructions:
1. Click on the Start menu in the lower left corner of the display.
2. Select "Run..."
3. Click on the "Browse..." button.
4. Navigate to the location where the installation program is located. If
you are installing from a floppy, this will likely be the "a:" drive. If
you downloaded the program, this will be the location that you saved the
file into.
5. Double-click on the "kit22.exe" file containing the Army Builder
installer (this should be the file that you downloaded).
6. Follow the instructions presented by the installation program.
Once the toolset has been installed, you can use the programs within it as
described in the manual.
Enhancements and Changes in V2.2b
---------------------------------
1. Added "OK" and "Cancel" buttons to the Author Information form within
ABCreator, replacing the single "Finished" button that always saved changes.
2. In ABCreator, when a new data file was created, it was marked as UNchanged,
so attempts to immediately save the file to a new name failed to do
anything. A newly created data file is now marked as changed so it can be
saved immediately.
3. In ABCreator, it is now possible to resequence the attributes for a record.
There are new up-arrow and down-arrow buttons beneath the New/Edit/Delete
buttons for a group of attributes. Using these buttons will move the
currently selected attribute either upward or downward one position in the
list.
Enhancements and Changes in V2.2a
---------------------------------
NONE
Enhancements and Changes in V2.2
--------------------------------
1. Increased the maximum unit name length to 50 characters (from 40).
2. Increased the maximum notes length to 2000 characters (from 1000). However,
the notes region still doesn't scroll, so the practical limit is around 1700
characters.
3. Added a "release notes" mechanism to the importing of data files. If a text
file with a ".txt" file extension is included within an import file, that
file is automatically assumed to contain release notes. The contents of the
file are displayed to the user as release notes when the user imports the
data files. Note that this mechanism will simply use the FIRST such file it
finds within an import file, so including multiple text files will result in
only the first one being displayed to the user (whichever one AB happens to
select first - no order is guaranteed).
4. If a value of '0' is specified for the Option Scale field within the
definition file, no Options Column will be displayed within the roster
region on the main window. A value of zero indicates that no option
abbreviations are to be shown for the game system. This behavior only
applies to definition files created with V2.2 and later. Previous data files
use the value zero to indicate the default scale of 100.
5. Increased the maximum value for the Option Scale field within the definition
file to 250. This should be all that anyone could ever want for the Options
Column width.
6. Extended the "smap" attribute to support up to 25 mapping entries (from 10).
7. Added a "note" and "comm" attribute to units, options, items, and tweaks.
These two attributes allow the notes and comments fields to be augmented
with additional information. They also allow the extra information to be
conditional on a standard "-legal=" qualifier. The added comments and notes
text is simply appended to the existing text in the order that the
attributes are processed. Using the "-legal" qualifier, comments/notes for
a record can be tailored depending on the current race, mode, or whatever.
8. All attributes now allow the use of a ';' within literal strings that are
defined within double-quotes. In the case of "comm" and "note", this allows
multiple comment/note segments to be strung together in a single attribute.
9. Modified the "rmdr" attribute so that it can be assigned up to 3 times to
a single unit. Each "rmdr" attribute on a unit must reference completely
distinct option categories, else the results are undefined. Each attribute
must also reference a distinct option to receive the remainder amount.
10. Added the "inhi" attribute that provides full inheritance of attributes
for special items. This attribute does NOT inherit any tweaks on the item.
11. Added the "zcln" attribute to items that provides cloning of tweaks just
like the "clon" attribute for units. The cloning of tweaks only inherits
tweaks that are directly assigned to the cloned item. If a cloned item
uses the "zcln" attribute itself to inherit tweaks, those tweaks are NOT
cloned.
12. Modified the "tabl" and "ztbl" attributes to allow a "-noname" and
"-nobrackets" qualifier. If "-noname" is specified, only the table entry
name is displayed within the Options Panel, with the name of the table
option itself being suppressed. If "-nobrackets" is specified, no brackets
are displayed around the table entry name within the Options Panel.
13. Extended the "boun" attribute (unit local) to support the "-legal"
qualifier.
14. Added support for the "itst" attribute to elements in addition to items. All
particulars about the attribute are identical.
15. Modified the "accu" attribute to allow a calculated expression to be given.
The explicit stat to accumulate is still specified, but the expression can
manipulate the accumulated value before it is displayed. To reference the
accumulated value in the expression, simply reference the same stat that is
being accumulated. Referencing any other stat value will generate an error.
If the model count is referenced, the total number of models in the roster
is used. If the item count is referenced, the total number of items in the
roster is used.
Note! It IS possible to specify BOTH a base value and an expression. If so,
then the base value is accumulated into the value that is fed into the
calculated expression.
16. Modified the "lead" attribute to allow a calculated expression to be given
for each accumulated stat of the leader. Immediately after specifying the
stat pair to be used, an expression can be given in parentheses. The result
of the expression is used as the final result of the accumulation. Within
the expression, the leader's stat that is accumulated into can be referenced
to access the initial accumulated stat value. Referencing any other stat
will generate an error. Both the model count and item count are zero when
this expression is evaluated.
17. Modified the "acst" attribute to allow for some units to be exempt from the
effects. There is now an "-exempt=" qualifier that specifies a boolean type
expression (similar to "utyp"). If a unit matches the type expression, then
it is considered exempt from the "acst" multipliers and recruited at
standard cost (unless there is another "acst" attribute that the unit is not
exempt from).
18. Modified the "ulmt" attribute to allow multiple composition groups to be
specified. To enforce a limit upon the combined presence of multiple
composition groups, specify a comma-separated list of the groups to include.
This enables rules of the form "Heros+Warriors<15models".
19. The maximum number of inheritance links that are allowed is 100. If you are
inheriting through more than 100 unique records within your data files, it
will be assumed that you have an infinite recursion problem. If you have
this many inheritance links chained together, you probably also have a data
file design problem. :-)
20. Modified the "bcst" attribute for units to accept a new "-exempt" qualifier.
By default, cost bounding is enforced on all points associated with the
unit, excluding points due to special items. All points associated with
"cost:single" options are included within the bounding. Normally, this is
the desired behavior, but sometimes it isn't. If the "-exempt" qualifier is
given, all points due to "cost:single" options are excluded from the cost
bounding. This means that the bounding is performed on the unit and THEN the
points for the appropriate options are added to the total unit cost.
21. Modified the "bcst" unit attribute documentation to clarify that the bounded
cost specified is PER MODEL for the unit. If the unit has multiple models,
the bounded cost represents the minimum/maximum cost of each model in the
unit.
22. Added a new option attribute "ucmp" that allows the option to be conditional
on the composition group of the parent unit. The functionality is similar to
"utyp", except that a list of composition groups is specified.
23. Added a new option attribute "usta" that allows the option to be conditional
on a stat expression of the parent unit. The functionality is similar to
"usiz", except that a stat value is compared against the evaluated result of
a stat expression. The expression can contain up to 4 terms and may also
contain references to the model count and item count.
IMPORTANT: The conditional test is performed within the standard sequence of
option evaluation. If an option changes the value of a stat AFTER the
conditional test is performed, that change is NOT factored into the
comparison. This is good and bad, since it can allow for intermediate stat
values to tested, but it can also lead to confusing debugging situations if
you aren't careful about your option sequencing.
24. Added a "tcst" attribute to options, tweaks, items, and elements. This
attribute allows the data file writer to specify the cost that is displayed
to the user as a text value, with the text cost being displayed in place of
any normal cost value. This is useful for situations where the cost is
calculated and not a fixed value. For options and tweaks, this attribute
overrides the displayed cost when the user right-clicks in the Options
Panel. For items and elements, the cost displayed in the Special Items
dialog is overridden. Once something is added to the roster in any way, its
properly calculated cost is displayed. This ONLY applies to the cost
displayed to the user PRIOR to selection.
25. Eliminated the restriction that multiples of the same item could not be
assigned to a unit via multiple instances of "take". The same item can now
be added as many times as desired to a single unit.
26. Added standardized support for custom XML extensions. The extensions are
implemented as standalone executables. The first command line parameter to
these extensions must be a filename of a standard AB XML file. Additional
command line parameters can be supported if desired. When AB invokes a
standardized extension, an appropriate XML file will have been properly
generated and that filename is specified to the extension. And additional
command line parameters that are desired will be passed to the extension as
literal strings on the command line. The key advantage of supporting these
extra command line parameters is that the same extension can be re-used for
different purposes. Multiple user-selectable menu items can be defined that
invoke the same extension with different command line parameters. This
eliminates the need for the extension to present its own UI to the user to
obtain basic customization details (e.g. one per page).
27. Added a new race attribute named "xmlx". If a custom XML extension program
is written for a particular game system, that extension can be integrated
into AB via this attribute. The attribute specifies the menu item name to be
displayed to the user, the name of the executable file to be invoked, and
any additional command line parameters that need to be passed to the
extension. The executable file is assumed to reside in the "Data" directory,
just like all normal data files. This enables the custom extension to be
included into a standard import file without any difficulty. The only
requirement is that the name of the executable should reflect the name of
the game system in some way so that multiple extensions for different game
systems don't use duplicate names (e.g. name the file "b5_print.exe" instead
of "print.exe"). This attribute should only be defined as a global
augmentation, since it must be defined on the first race in the data files
and augmentation is the only way to guarantee this. A maximum of 10 custom
extensions can be added for a given game system. If more are defined, any
excess are simply ignored.
28. Added a new option attribute "uexp" that allows the option to be conditional
on a boolean expression that combines one or more stat comparisons. Each
stat comparison is of the form "[stat|value][<|<=|=|>=|>][stat|value]",
allowing the comparison of a stat against a literal value or two stats. The
current adjusted value of each stat is always used in the comparison. The
stat comparisons can be combined into a standard boolean expression to allow
complex expressions to be defined. There is no need to place each comparison
within parentheses, although it might make the attribute more readable.
IMPORTANT: The conditional test is performed within the standard sequence of
option evaluation. If an option changes the value of a stat AFTER the
conditional test is performed, that change is NOT factored into the
comparison. This is good and bad, since it can allow for intermediate stat
values to tested, but it can also lead to confusing debugging situations if
you aren't careful about your option sequencing.
29. The process of eliminating duplicate footnotes now removes those with the
same unique id AND those with the same option name. The base name of the
option is used to determine equivalence, and case is ignored in the
comparison.
30. Updated the documentation of the "uadd" attribute to specifically mention
that units added via "uadd" are NOT treated normally by AB and much of the
standard unit/option functionality offered by AB will NOT propogate upward
to parent units. Use of any attributes on the unit (either directly or via
options) that have scope beyond that specific unit is undefined and can even
result in a program crash, so it should be avoided.
Bugs Fixed in V2.2b
-------------------
1. If there were data files in the "data" directory for 30 or more game
systems, ABCreator would generate an exception when trying to create a new
data file for a game system.
Bugs Fixed in V2.2a
-------------------
1. Selecting "Definition Info" under the "View" menu within ABCreator would
generate an error and not display the definition information for any game
system with no special item groups defined.
2. In the DTD for the public XML file format, the "reference" element was
specified as having an attribute named "file_extension". The correct
attribute name is "extension".
3. Clarified the behavior of the "type" attribute when attached directly to a
unit. The documentation for the "type" attribute stipulated that the
"-child" qualifier would not assign the type to the current unit. This is
true for the option and item versions of the attribute, but it is NOT true
for the unit form. When an attribute such as "type:foo-child" is assigned
directly to the unit as a local attribute, the type "foo" *IS* assigned to
the unit (in addition to all child units). This was a mistake in the
documentation and is now corrected within ABCreator. If you need to ensure
that a type is assigned ONLY to the child units, either follow the
"type:foo-child" attribute with a "dtyp:foo" attribute to remove the type OR
assign the type via an option attribute instead of directly upon the unit.
4. Clarified the behavior of the "scale" field within the definition file.
Bugs Fixed in V2.2
------------------
1. The "allw" attribute was only working properly when attached to a top-level
regiment. When attached to child regiments, it had no effect.
2. The "disc" attribute was causing a blanket reduction in price for ALL
instances of the discounted unit when only a single dependent unit was
selected.
3. The sample XML utility didn't bother to output any child units of special
items.
4. If an augment to a non-existent Tweak was specified, the product would crash
on startup instead of displaying an appropriate error message.
5. If multiple "list" attributes were assigned to a single option, AB would
crash when the user deselected a unit. While the documentation stated that
this was an illegal thing to do, the product still should not have crashed.
The situation should now be handled gracefully.
6. Items, options, and tweaks which used the "-parrace=" qualifier were
applying the cost override for all units instead of just for the specific
race.
7. If an option was assigned the "apnd" attribute WITHOUT the ":foot"
qualifier, then the XML output never included the notes for the option
anywhere. When generating XML, the notes for the option are now always
included with the option under this condition (i.e. as if the "apnd"
attribute isn't given).
8. If a definition file contained no stat sets, then the stat set information
for the previously loaded file was still displayed within ABCreator when
View->Definition Info was selected by the user.
9. If the "rmdr" attribute was assigned to a unit and the specified option was
subsequently deleted from the unit (e.g. "over:xxx-delete"), program
behavior could become inconsistent.
10. If a child unit mirrored the options of its parent (via "mirr") and those
same options were overridden via other options that relied on compliance
tests (e.g. "utyp"), the initial display state of the mirrored options
could be incorrect.
11. Corrected the documentation of "xcmp" to explicitly state that any
conditional qualifiers (e.g. "-race", "-mode", or "-legal") will be
allowed but completely ignored when used on this attribute with an option.
12. Infinite recursion is now detected for inheritance when data files are
loaded by AB. If a record inherits from another record and that record
ultimately inherits back from the original record, the loop is infinite. If
this occurs, an appropriate error will be issued when the data files are
loaded.
13. When a unit was assigned a model count of 0, certain facets of cost
calculation were yielding a 0 result due to the model count (i.e.
multiplier) being zero. These circumstances now assume a model count of 1 to
ensure that proper calculations are achieved.
14. Completely reworked how cost bounding operated for units. The "bcst"
attribute on units was very problematic, but it now is working properly.
15. Fixed the behavior of the "bcst" attribute for items, which was bounding the
cost prior to applying any percentage adjustments due to special tweaks.
16. Fixed a bug with the "icst:each" attribute. The points for the unit would be
totalled up correctly, but the roster-wide total points spent on items would
only be incremented by a single instance of the item, regardless of the
model count of the unit.
17. The "prnt" attribute for items was calculating the stat adjustment based on
the stat values of the parent unit instead of the unit possessing the item.
18. If ABExport was invoked from the directory where the data files reside, then
it would fail to properly identify the definition file and default to having
no version number information (or a version of 0.0).
New Bugs Found That Haven't Been Fixed
--------------------------------------
1. On the form that summarizes the contents of the definition file, clicking
and dragging to the right within the grids will cause them to scroll off to
the right and there is no way to scroll back. Simply close the form and
re-display it to reset the display properly.
2. ABCreator isn't dealing with Large Fonts properly on all computers.
3. The "lcmp" and "scmp" attributes only operate on a unit's original stats. If
a unit with the "lead" attribute accumulates the stat values of its
followers, the basic value is used for comparison instead of the accumulated
stat value.
Known Problems
--------------
At the time of this release, the following problems are known to still exist.
Problems identified above are not repeated in this list.
Functional Problems:
1. If you start ABCreator while running in 1204x768 resolution, then minimise
the prgram window, then switch to 800x600 resolution, and finally restore
ABCreator to normal size, the bottom of the buttons are cut off, even if you
change the resolution back again.
2. In ABCreator, renaming a link record needs to trigger a reload of the list
of links for the current unit that is selected. This would ensure that the
changed link name is properly reflected in the list of links for the unit.
Unfortunately, if the user has edited any links from the Units tab and has
not saved the unit record, such an update could overwrite those changes. So,
it is up to the user to be careful and only edit links for the currently
chosen unit record from within the unit record. If changes are made to the
currently chosen unit record from the Links tab, then it is possible that
data inconsistencies could result, and there is nothing that ABCreator can
do to prevent it.
3. ABExport retrieves all files matching "*.xxx*" when a filespec of "*.xxx" is
specified. This is true of other Windows programs and appears to be a
"feature" of the Windows API function FindFirstFile.
4. Within ABCreator, if you have a unit, then modify it, then delete it before
you save it, you are asked if you want to delete it. If you then say yes,
you get a message saying that the record has changed and asking if you want
to save it. If you say yes to this dialog, ABCreator gets confused and
starts generating all sorts of errors.
Documentation Problems:
NONE
Known Limitations
-----------------
The following list of items are known to exist as limitations, but they are
currently not considered to be bugs. The nature of these issues goes beyond the
designed intent of the Construction Kit, and there are no current plans to
address these issues. They are all minor items that can be managed easily enough
by the user, as well.
1. ABCreator is currently limited to 800x600 resolution. It is not possible to
resize any of the windows.
2. Although a unit may possess up to 50 stats, only the first 20 of those stats
can be edited directly within ABCreator. All other stats always begin with
an initial value of 0 and can only be adjusted via options linked to the
unit.
Support Options
---------------
User support for the Construction Kit is the same as for Army Builder. For
information, please refer to the Army Builder documentation.
Accessing the Manual
--------------------
The manual for the Construction Kit will be found in the file "constkit.rtf".
This file is in the Rich Text Format, which is a standard format that can be
read by nearly all word processors. You can also read the file into WordPad,
which ships with Windows, although some of the formatting will not be preserved
successfully by WordPad.
A copy of the manual in Adobe's PDF format is also available (the file is
"constkit.pdf"). If you downloaded Army Builder from the web-site, then this
file can also be downloaded from the web-site. You can also obtain the Adobe
Acrobat Reader software which is needed to view the file via the web-site.
However, if you purchased the CD-ROM version of the product, this file is
included on the CD. The Acrobat Reader software is also included on the CD - for
installation instructions, please see the Army Builder manual.
Legal Stuff
-----------
This software product is the property of Lone Wolf Development, Inc. and is
protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties. The software
is NOT sold, it is licensed. This license grants the licensee to use the
software on a single computer workstation and to make a single copy of the
software for archival purposes only.
This software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or
implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The user assumes the full risk
of using the software.
While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the correct operation of this
software, Lone Wolf Development does not warrant the accuracy, performance, or
results you may encounter by using this software. In no event will Lone Wolf
Development be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or
consequential damages resulting from the use of this software or any defect
within the software, even if Lone Wolf Development has been advised of the
possibility of such damages. Any liability of Lone Wolf Development will be
limited to the refund of the purchase price.
Army Builder is Copyright (C) 1998-2001 by Lone Wolf Development, Inc. All
rights reserved. Army Builder is a trademark of Lone Wolf Development, Inc.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other brand or
product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
holders.
Acrobat(R) Reader copyright (C) 1987-1999 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights
reserved. Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.