[MP-Ryan]

OK, I read karajorma's FAQ, I've searched the forums...

Is there actually a VP tool out there that allows you to easily edit the VP?  I tried that VP Constructor Suite, but I need to edit VPs contents, not build them from scratch.  VPView is great, but you can't import files into the VP.  And VPMage, much as it's nice Coolmon coded and released it, is the process-hogger from hell.  That, and the edit function is borked (it won't save changes).  I have to delete and import new files evey time.

So... is there anything ELSE out there (for the Windows platform) or should I just suffer with what I've tried already?

[Turey]

I've never had any problems with VPMage.

Why are you trying to edit the VP?

[MP-Ryan]

I've never had any problems with VPMage.

Why are you trying to edit the VP?

Homesick.  The crashes were making me sick

VPMage leaves itself in memory when you quit (if you look in TaskManager).  That's not a big deal, but the edit function is giving me trouble too.  Whenever I edit the file, then save it, then click yes to include it, the file appears as 0 kb - it erases all the data.  I can work around that by extracting, modifying, deleting, and re-adding the file; I was just wondering if there are any other VP tools lurking around "out there."  VPView 2 has a great interface, but it's missing an add function =(

[Turey]

I've never had any problems with VPMage.

Why are you trying to edit the VP?

Homesick.  The crashes were making me sick

You know that placing the files in the corrosponding folder will override the VP files?

For instance, a fighter.pof in freespace2\transcend\data\models\ will override the fighter.pof in freespace2\transcend\transcend.vp\data\models\ ?

[MP-Ryan]

You know that placing the files in the corrosponding folder will override the VP files?

For instance, a fighter.pof in freespace2\transcend\data\models\ will override the fighter.pof in freespace2\transcend\transcend.vp\data\models\ ?

Yeah, I know.  I just figured that I'll re-pack the edits into the VP and share the corrected version when I finish.

OH, and I modified my other reply to you.

[Dark Hunter]

The way I've always done it is to extract all files in the VP I want to edit, add the new ones, then turn on VPMage and build a new one.

Maybe it's a bit sloppy, but it does work, and it allows me more precise control over each individual file, too.

[WMCoolmon]

Yeah, VPMage does keep itself in memory. I never was able to figure that out.

I don't know what the deal with the edit thing is; last I recall, I was able to get it working. You do need to build the VP again for the changes to take effect; but it sounds like instead of reading the file it's opening and truncating it, then trying to read it. Which would be problematic, for obvious reasons.

You can also try QuickVP, and VPCS2. Those may or may not be more conductive to a nonlinear work process. I think I also made a Win32 build of Polonius, which was a program in its alpha stages that was meant to be a VP management tool in the style of VPViewer, but crossplatform as well. I don't recall if I ever actually released the build.

I'll spend an hour or so this weekend to try and fix VPM's bugs, or get Polonius to a usable state.

[neoterran]

I've never had any problems with VPMage.

Why are you trying to edit the VP?

Homesick.  The crashes were making me sick

VPMage leaves itself in memory when you quit (if you look in TaskManager).  That's not a big deal, but the edit function is giving me trouble too.  Whenever I edit the file, then save it, then click yes to include it, the file appears as 0 kb - it erases all the data.  I can work around that by extracting, modifying, deleting, and re-adding the file; I was just wondering if there are any other VP tools lurking around "out there."  VPView 2 has a great interface, but it's missing an add function =(

VPMage sucks atm. It needs to be bugfixed or rewritten, and i've had it corrupt vp files. I refuse to use it. Sorry if you take offense, but it's got at least a couple major problems (the memory thing is another huge issue) and since it's such a delicate and sensitive thing (having your custom mediavps get corrupted after working on them for hours blows) it really needs to be rock solid.

[Mars]

OK, I read karajorma's FAQ, I've searched the forums...

Is there actually a VP tool out there that allows you to easily edit the VP?  I tried that VP Constructor Suite, but I need to edit VPs contents, not build them from scratch.  VPView is great, but you can't import files into the VP.  And VPMage, much as it's nice Coolmon coded and released it, is the process-hogger from hell.  That, and the edit function is borked (it won't save changes).  I have to delete and import new files evey time.

So... is there anything ELSE out there (for the Windows platform) or should I just suffer with what I've tried already?

polonius works quite well... if you have the correct libraries and are willing to compile something.

[MP-Ryan]

Coolmon, you get a chance to tackle this?

[WMCoolmon]

Yeah. I'm taking a look at it right now, the problem is that to really make myself happy with the core library, I'd have to basically rewrite it. The way at which I coded it would've been proper for several years ago, or on some kind of integrated solution...there are places where I didn't bother to define a new variable for the sake of speed. So you get things like this:

Code: [Select]

int num_items = sources.size();

//...

num_items = dirs.size();

//....
In addition, VP files have a maximum size of approximately 2 GB, but I don't have any kind of checks to ensure that this doesn't get hit. In fact, the lib looks like it will happily continue on its way, and start writing corrupt entries in the VP file. I could also do a lot to make it much more object-oriented, expandable...etc etc.

I've spent the last couple of hours just trying to get the signed/unsigned warnings under control and I've concluded that it just isn't worth it. I'm just as liable to mess something up in the process of fixing it as I am to actually fix something; especially considering that I rewrote parts of the lib to work under Linux as well as Windows. I'd rather rewrite something designed with safety & programmer sanity in mind.