Character Template adjustment

[RPMiller]

Dan,

As you know I'm converting around 140 characters to 5th for publication. I'm doing everything per the Writer's Guidelines. I've run into a couple things I was hoping would be easy to change/add.

Language: Per the WG the language degree is supposed to be in parentheses and in lower case. I was able to change it in the template, but it won't "take" on existing characters. How do I make them use the change? I tried changing the current template and then changing back, but it didn't work. Also, can the templates be changed to follow the WG for display, but in the drop-down show the way it was? I'm not sure how to do that if it is even possible.

Martial Arts: I know this one is a biggy. I'm currently using lists for my martial art names. How do you tell HD that it should use it for the MA_DISPLAY or MA_ALIAS (not sure which one I should be using)?

As usual thanks for a great program, and your prompt assistance.

[RPMiller]

Dan,
This is the topic I mentioned in the "NOT A RANT" Topic.
I have no idea how to get the tags you have added for Export to work with MAs.
The language thing is also confusing.

[Simon]

I'm not sure I follow what you need for the MA display....can you give me some examples?

[RPMiller]

Let's see...
Ok I want the export to display the name of the martial art. You created an MA_ALIAS and MA_DISPLAY tag (I think they were called) I'm assuming for this purpose.
I don't know how to tell HD to use this Tag for the export. Here is what I am doing currently:
On the MA tab:
I start by creating a list. The text of the list is the name of the Martial Art.
I enter a Manuever and then move it down so that it doesn't have the 1) in front of it since MAs aren't supposed to have the 1).
I enter the rest of the maneuvers.
During Export I would like to use the above mentioned tags so that the export displays the name of the MA.
I guess I'm looking for something akin to a MP, EC or VPP, but for MAs and without the numbering.
Does that make sense?

[Simon]

MA_ALIAS and MA_DISPLAY will display the alias (which is the user-defined name of the maneuver) and the display (which is the template-defined name of the maneuver) respectively.

The name of a list will be determined in the same way (within the IFMARTIAL_ARTS container). Also remember that you have available an IF_LIST container that allows you to highlight lists separately from their contents.....it's described in the release notes on the update page.

You can get rid of the number in front of the list items by defining the IFLIST container in your template....if the LISTPREFIX tag is present, the list "prefix" (in this case, the number) will be inserted....if it's not, it should not be.

Hope this helps!

[RPMiller]

Thank you Dan!! I'll see if I can make that happen. I'm still struggling with XML, but I'm starting to make head way.

[Simon]

hehehe...before you go too far off the deep-end on XML, please note that the export templates (at least in their current incarnation) are not XML. They're just a tag-based system that I worked out on the fly. The character save files and the character templates are the main parts of the app that use XML.

I'm toying with the idea of implementing XSL for v2....but I'm still undecided on that (I'd need to learn all the ins and outs of it first).

I suspect that I'll just keep on refining the abilities of the current export.....especially since folks seem to be getting familiar with it.