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Sim City 4 Devotion Tools => Tools - General Discussion => Ilives Reader => Topic started by: ilive on March 16, 2010, 08:37:56 AM

Title: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 16, 2010, 08:37:56 AM
Note as of 6 January 2015: Version 1.4 is no longer the most recent version of the Reader.  Work on Version 1.5 and later can be found on the later pages of this thread. -Alex (Tarkus), Admin

Note as of 18 December 2017: The most recent version, after further development by Tropod, is Version 1.5.4, which can be downloaded here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g06tdc313xmkxx/Ilives%20Reader_v154_Release.zip?dl=0). The source code is also available here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/vma0l3c5lev9rrc/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v154.zip?dl=0) instead of at the older SourceForge depository.  -Alex (Tarkus), Admin

Thanks to use "Ilives Reader : requests" for ... requests ?


So...After 6 years without updates, the « iLive Reader » comes back.


This project is compiled under Visual 2008 and so it requires some extra dll (Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package) to be run even if you are using Windows 7. This package can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=A5C84275-3B97-4AB7-A40D-3802B2AF5FC2&displaylang=en

iLive Reader can be downloaded at http://sourceforge.net/projects/ilive-reader/
From version 1.4, the Reader uses a setup file (thanks to swamp_ig). Sources are available through SVN on sourceforge.net.

The latest version is 1.4.

Don't hesitate to report any troubles and thanks to report bugs in this thead.

Reader v1.4.
Welcome to swamp_ig as a new developer on the Reader  :thumbsup:




Reader v1.3a



Reader v1.3


Here is the new UI preview pane
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg337.imageshack.us%2Fimg337%2F8063%2Freaderui0.png&hash=92e7195f667124e4122917f67dd41e2d069073a8) (http://img337.imageshack.us/i/readerui0.png/)

the toolbar includes following functions:
-save, undo, redo, show code, import UI, copy, paste, cut
-select, delete selected items, change level (up) the selected item, change level (down) the selected item, up the selected item , down the selected item
-align lefts, align rights, align top, align bottom, make same width, make same heigth, make same size
You can select multiple items by pressing the CTRL button and click on items

the "items" pane displays UI items in a tree
the "property" pane displays properties of the selected item. You can change values of the selected property in the pane or use the property dialog box
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg192.imageshack.us%2Fimg192%2F8986%2Freaderui1.png&hash=cde62b426d60c7c2a26fa51f950ef52e3bdd1f80) (http://img192.imageshack.us/i/readerui1.png/)

Reader v1.2

Thanks to use new_properties.xml instead of other xml properties files.


The clipboard pane is showed when you click on the small button located in the clipboard ribbon
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg135.imageshack.us%2Fimg135%2F362%2Freaderclip.th.jpg&hash=1840aa8828fe825463a75476ed33b0d031466c7b) (http://img135.imageshack.us/i/readerclip.jpg/)
When you click on an entry, it is copied in the entries list
When you click on a property, it is copied in the opened property preview form

The language can be changed in the option panel.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg52.imageshack.us%2Fimg52%2F8100%2Freaderlang.th.jpg&hash=8d2a56efc4007a7a312bae24d69f863834f6568c) (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/readerlang.jpg/)
English language uses res.dll ; french language uses resFR.dll

The convert ribbon is available in the Exemplar analyser
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg709.imageshack.us%2Fimg709%2F3181%2Freaderconvert1.th.jpg&hash=bc98fdf666fc8b256bf253e6e785f7b6447c66f7) (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/readerconvert1.jpg/)

this feature uses new_properties.xml file and settings.ini file delivered with sc4pim. These files are available in the the reader_1.2.rar (sc4pim subdirectory) but may not be up-to-dated.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg220.imageshack.us%2Fimg220%2F1480%2Freaderconvert2.th.jpg&hash=8eb56e7558cf62ac30d5a8ac49fa6448a14648f9) (http://img220.imageshack.us/i/readerconvert2.jpg/)

To use the convert feature, you have to select an item in the convert list, then select an exemplar and click on one of the 2 first buttons : the first one modifies the selected exemplar, the second creates a new exemplar (using data coming from the selected exemplar).
Warning : the convert feature is only to help you to modify properties of an exemplar. There is no guarantee that the exemplar is valid ( instead of SC4PIM, you can convert any exemplar even one that should not be modified !)
A  0x27812812 property may also be created. It contains the selected item of the convert list.

The TGI group allows to modify Type/Group/Instance of the selected exemplar
The Filling degree allows you to modify the filling degree property of an already converted exemplars and to recompute dependencies.  To be able to use it, the exemplar must have filling degree property and 0x27812812 property.





Reader v1.1

Reader v1.0.1b

the 'b' subversion fixes the link to a debug dll
the 'a' subversion fixes the 'no tab' bug


Reader v1.0.0 Beta

What's new on this version?

a new user interface

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg402.imageshack.us%2Fimg402%2F2838%2Freader1.th.jpg&hash=dc2a0fab56968adfee3bd21ef257dc9a7ce818b0) (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/reader1.jpg/)

This UI allows more customization than the previous versions. You can reach customization screen through the first toolbar and choosing "more commands".
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg32.imageshack.us%2Fimg32%2F5494%2Freader3.th.jpg&hash=46e632b79780b6fb7feb87f1ba0dd1a79c376533) (http://img32.imageshack.us/i/reader3.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg689.imageshack.us%2Fimg689%2F4567%2Freader4.th.jpg&hash=85329863612716063c2aff33cf17d7fbae5d42f6) (http://img689.imageshack.us/i/reader4.jpg/)
This dialog box allows you to insert and remove shortcuts in the toolbar. It also allows you to set your keyboard shortcuts to quickly use internal commands.

a MDI support

MDI allows you to open multiple DAT file (and even multiple views of the same DAT file). At the moment, multiple views are not handled and should not be used. The previous version allowed opening multiple DAT but you had to switch between files. In this version, different DAT can be viewed at the same time
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg97.imageshack.us%2Fimg97%2F9653%2Freader2g.th.jpg&hash=db7a4cb1754bfd8ab6183d287512675e132a5829) (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/reader2g.jpg/)

a tabbed view
Entries in a DAT file are opened in their respective tab.

What else?
You should use the new_properties.xml file coming from PIM-X tools. This xml file enables the extended filter of the Exemplar Analyser. This file can is located at : http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2265 (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2265)

How to reset my settings?
Most of UI settings are stored in the registry under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\iLive\Reader. So delete this key and everything comes back to default settings.



A special thanks for all SC4 users , modders and staff members from SC4Devotion board and Simtropolis board.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Travis on March 16, 2010, 08:55:21 AM
This is excellent news, iLive! ;D The reader is IMO the base tool for anyone interested in modding. What this community has done since the reader's original release could not have been accomplished without it. Hats are off to you. :)

I'm eager to try this new version- downloading now. ;)

Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ScottFTL on March 16, 2010, 09:25:02 AM
I am running the 64-bit version of Windows 7, but I still had to install the Visual C++ 2008 package.  I don't think the runtime is installed on Windows 7 by default.  Prior to that, I received the following error at startup:

Reader.exe - Ordinal Not Found
The ordinal 9340 could not be located in the dynamic link library mfc90.dll.

I just wanted to post this in case anyone else sees the same error.  The new version of Reader starts fine once the Visual C++ 2008 package is installed.

Now I'm off to play...  :thumbsup:

EDIT:  Another quick report... I had to Run as Administrator in order to save the reader.ini file.  I have installed to \Program Files (x86)\iLive, which is a protected area under Vista and Windows 7.  I did not see a UAC prompt - the process of saving reader.ini just failed.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 16, 2010, 09:54:04 AM
Very nice  :thumbsup:, especially the MDI thing.

But While I think the ribbon is good, I would hardly ever use the DAT tab, I think that the more commonly used features is the Entries, and then second would be the Tools.
So could you allow for customization of the ribbon?

Jonathan
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 16, 2010, 12:37:56 PM
@ScottFTL : thanks for your report. I will modify the code to fully use registry instead of ini file in the next release

@Jonathan : I will try to add extra customization (at least tab order)
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Andreas on March 16, 2010, 04:56:51 PM
I had a very quick look at the new version, and it has some nice features indeed. :) It loads SimCity_1.dat a whole lot faster, and it's easier to switch between various files. The tabs for the individual file are a nice idea, however, the labeling isn't that useful - maybe you could try to label at least the exemplar files, according to their type (lot exemplar, building exemplar, ...). Also, you misspelled it as "Examplar". ;) But maybe there's a way to turn off this feature, or make it optional/configurable, as it could get a bit confusing with many subfiles open (if you'd click on a row of them for checking stuff, you might end up with loads of tabs that you have to close manually if you want to reduce the number of tabs to the ones you actually need)?

I agree with Jonathan that the ribbon should be configurable as well, as it is not really useful right now (really, I hate the design of this kind of interface that Microsoft invented...). You don't need half of the options in there anyway, as you'd use the right-click menu for copying or inserting files most of the time anyway (at least I do), and switching back and forth between several "ribbon tabs" is somewhat inconvenient, esp. if you only need half of the options from one tab and another half from the other one. I do love the interface that was originally introduced by Macromedia - context-sensitive toolbars that change with the type of element you're editing (i. e. providing text-formatting tools when editing text, and color pickers etc. when you edit graphical stuff). The ribbon interface tries to provide a similar approach, but I think it doesn't work as smoothly as the Macromedia approach.

Anyway, bach to the Reader itself. I can confirm what ScottFTL says, you need to install the Visual C++ redistributable even on Win7 (64 Bit), otherwise you'll get an error message when trying to start the program. Personally, I switched off UAC, as it is constantly interfering with things I am well aware of (what to do and what not in the Program Files folder etc.), so it created the reader.ini without any problem. I still got a strange error message (can't remember the content, unfortuantely) while editing the options), but it turned out to work as intended. I didn't have a chance to edit a file, so I cannot tell if that's working properly.

One other thing I noticed: Whenever you open another file, the column with the TGI etc. is opened in a default width. You can adjust that width and the program remembers it for the session, but for each new file, you get the default width again, which is very annoying, since you cannot see the important stuff (I set mine to show the TGI first, and the file size etc. only when scrolling to the right). Also, when opening exemplars and such in the tabs on the right, the view often seems to "jump" a bit, this is probably because some files need a scrollbar (I need to check this again).

When I have more time, I will have another look at the interface, there are a few things that should be changed from the old Reader as well. Esp. properties with many REPs are displayed pretty inconveniently, so you need a lot of scrolling to see everything. Also, I would like to see an option to switch between HEX and decimal view for the properties, making it easier to edit values. Another example would be the transit switch properties, which as displayed as plain text in the exemplar file view, but only as HEX values in the edit dialogue - pretty inconvenient to change those that way, esp. since you have to scroll around a lot (that's one of the reasons why SC4Tool contains a TE Editor).

And the final question for now: Is it possible to offer a multilingual UI? I'd certainly volunteer for a German translation. :)
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Bobbi on March 16, 2010, 10:49:55 PM
Bonjour ilive,
I think Reader need to support Unicode.

When I open a ltext entry which is in Chinese, it doesn't show that characters correctly.
And the customize menu doesn't show French characters correctly either.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pMtuRNJMYyuH066u8VnhFL9XN73fb5JRwutGaB7qJ6XSoekojCOPbWVdWTVUhGCVK0Wvmrexdzd17iaCOMUHJ7xHq8pXwLUUn%2FSc4d.003.jpg&hash=23516dd67850f5d271ece00f24c2f336099f8480)

And the option dialog can be merged in the option dialog of ribbon menu. ;)
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 17, 2010, 12:51:18 AM
thanks for your report...

About the ribbon, don't forget you can add commands in the toolbar ; once done, you can minimize the ribbon (there is an option in the customization screen)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg138.imageshack.us%2Fimg138%2F6818%2Freaderribbon.th.jpg&hash=904bf45707485c0e074f90048fec69b4dca545cc) (http://img138.imageshack.us/i/readerribbon.jpg/)
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Rayden on March 17, 2010, 01:12:23 AM
Quote from: Andreas on March 16, 2010, 04:56:51 PM
And the final question for now: Is it possible to offer a multilingual UI? I'd certainly volunteer for a German translation. :)
Quote from: Bobbi on March 16, 2010, 10:49:55 PM
Bonjour ilive,
I think Reader need to support Unicode.

When I open a ltext entry which is in Chinese, it doesn't show that characters correctly.
And the customize menu doesn't show French characters correctly either.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pMtuRNJMYyuH066u8VnhFL9XN73fb5JRwutGaB7qJ6XSoekojCOPbWVdWTVUhGCVK0Wvmrexdzd17iaCOMUHJ7xHq8pXwLUUn%2FSc4d.003.jpg&hash=23516dd67850f5d271ece00f24c2f336099f8480)

And the option dialog can be merged in the option dialog of ribbon menu. ;)

Me too, I would like to have a nice UI Editor on the Reader, and compatibility with other languages characters. I've tested last night and apart from what have been said, I didn't find any problems. It run at first, but I think I had the VS runtime installed previously, and no odd messages.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 17, 2010, 09:00:56 AM
@ScottFTL : using the registry instead of ini file is done
@Bobbi : I put the option screen in the customize part. I also removed the options button, the outlook bar check box and the disabled preview button (I put them in the option screen).
@Andreas : I added code to remember the width of main list columns. so no need to change them when you open a new file or if you launch again the Reader.
About property with a lot a REP do you have an exemple (just to avoid to check all simcity properties :) ) ?
About tab for entries, I need to find a more intuitive way to use it...
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ScottFTL on March 17, 2010, 09:14:03 AM
I did notice one annoyance when using the new version of the Reader.  In the previous version, I would open the file then scroll through the list in the left pane to find the specific one that I would like to work with.  In the new version, pressing the arrow down button does not move down the list in the left pane - rather it moves to the right pane.  The only way to move down the list is to click these items, but every click opens that particular file as a new tab in the right pane.

I'd want to hear what others think, but perhaps a highlight or single click would display the contents in the right pane, but a double click would open as a new tab.  I do like the tab feature for working with different parts of a dat file, but the default behavior makes it difficult for me to work as it is right now.

I hope my explanation makes sense.  Please let me know if I need to clarify.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: RippleJet on March 17, 2010, 09:18:41 AM
Quote from: ilive on March 17, 2010, 09:00:56 AM
About property with a lot a REP do you have an exemple (just to avoid to check all simcity properties :) ) ?

Any prop with a Resource Key Type 4,
eg. 0x6534284a, 0xc977c536, 0x2a590000 (Streetlight1x1x11_$$$Streetlight_2B29),
or  0x6534284a, 0xc977c536, 0x69ae0000 (Streetlight_GoldenGate_69ae0000)

Worst case would probably be the Flora property kSC4FloraPreferencesProperty, having 256 reps...
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: nerdly_dood on March 17, 2010, 02:25:41 PM
I'm personally quite content with version 0.93, so I'll probably upgrade to 1.x when all the bugs with 1.0.0β are worked out.

My main reason is that I know how to use 0.93 pretty well and, for the most part, it does what I need it to do.

What I'd really like to do is have a batch thing to reskin multiple automata at once, possibly saving each one with its own IID within my range (0xE44-----) so multiple instances of the same model but with different skins could be used. It would involve modifying multiple sub-files within the DAT as well as changing the sub-file IIDs due to the way the exemplars and S3D models work.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Blue Lightning on March 17, 2010, 03:30:47 PM
Mine seems to crash upon startup, after I had set the options for the first time. I have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package. Seems like the INI is causing the problem.

EDIT: Fixed the issue, apparently it inserted 2 \ marks instead of 1 in a directory.

Also I liked the 0.93 look better, but I can handle the new one.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: gizmo28 on March 18, 2010, 09:00:34 AM
Hi, Im trying out this beta version, but i seem to be having a issue when try to make a new dat, when i click the new icon, it doesnt seem to do anything for me, is this feature is diabled or am I doing something wrong. In the older version it created a blank.dat in the loaded dat section, doesnt seem to do this in new version.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: dedgren on March 18, 2010, 01:47:41 PM
I'm using Windows 7 (64 bit) on a solid, but nothing special HP laptop and the performance has been flawless.  The new layout takes some getting used to, but it is intuitive after using it for a bit, and I haven't yet found anything that I could do with 0.93 that I can't do just fine with the new beta.  No crashes or freezes yet- but I had a pretty hard time doing that with 0.93- maybe I'm just not pushing the envelope hard enough.

Scott (ScottFTL) does have a good point about scrolling- it does slow down an "eyeball" search to have to do all that clicking.

I'd still like to see an easy way to find, say, all the exemplars containing a particular property- for instance, RKT4.  A routine that would insert a blank (i.e. empty) LTEXT file that could be then immediately edited would be great, too.  Other than that, I just can't wait to see what coming down the pike in terms of added functionality.

An incredible job, and done so quickly.  Hat's off to you, ilive!


David
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 18, 2010, 02:08:24 PM
David,
Quote] A routine that would insert a blank (i.e. empty) LTEXT file that could be then immediately edited would be great, too. 
This can already be done by using the Insert Template feature, atm only Exemplar and Cohort templates come with reader, but I "made" templates for SC4Path and LTexts, and they are attached to one of my posts on SC4D, which one I'm not sure, so that's not really useful.

Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: Shadow Assassin on March 21, 2010, 07:08:14 AM
Very nice!

One request though: middle-clicking on a tab should close an opened tab in the document view, like what happens in many other programs. It would save a lot of effort. :p

And that request about the 'preview' is seconded... I don't want a new tab opening every time I want to check an exemplar, I'd like to just preview that if possible. Double-clicking could allow it to be edited in a new tab or something.


Alternatively...

Middle-clicking on the exemplar would open it in a new tab. Simply clicking on it would just open it in the current tab. How about that? Perhaps that's a simpler way of doing it.
Title: Re: iLive Reader Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 21, 2010, 09:26:09 AM
@Shadow Assassin : I changed the way to use the tab in the DAT... by default, the Reader doesn't open a new tab when an entry is selected ; it displays the content in the first tab (the preview tab). But if you click an entry and you press Alt at the same time, it opens the entry in a new tab (I will try the middle click open/close things).
Tabs are also saved in registry ; so if you open again the same Dat file, tabs are restored.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: ScottFTL on March 21, 2010, 01:54:13 PM
I've installed version 1.0.1, and I can confirm that the initial configuration works properly now.  However, I'm having another problem.

When I open a file, I see the entries but nothing appears in the preview when I highlight any particular entry.  I also tried double-clicking on an entry, but that crashed the program.  I receive the error "Application MFC Reader has stopped working."  I know that probably doesn't tell you much, so I also tracked down the error recorded in the Windows Application log:

Event 1000, Application Error
Faulting application name: Reader.exe, version: 1.0.0.1, time stamp: 0x4ba66b0c
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bdb3b
Exception code: 0xc015000f
Fault offset: 0x00084401
Faulting process id: 0x6c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cac9363848ccd5
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\iLive\Reader 1.0\Reader.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
Report Id: e75746db-3529-11df-95b5-001d092da580

Please let me know if there is any other information I can provide to assist you with troubleshooting.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: Shadow Assassin on March 21, 2010, 10:34:19 PM
The alt+click function acts a little strange sometimes, sometimes it opens up the Exemplar Analyser (which, by the way, offers no option to close that window... can this be fixed?).

The preview function doesn't work properly if there isn't a tab already open - it might be a good idea to add a tab in there with some text or whatever, with the file's properties, or whatever.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 22, 2010, 12:54:07 AM
@ScottFTL : do you have the problem on any DAT file ?
@Shadow Assassin: preview tab should be always present. When you open a new tab, it displays the welcome message. Do you have this screen when you open a DAT file ? How do you close all tabs ?

thanks for your help
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: ScottFTL on March 22, 2010, 04:32:37 AM
Quote from: ilive on March 22, 2010, 12:54:07 AM
@ScottFTL : do you have the problem on any DAT file ?

Yes, I tried many DAT files and have the problem on all of them.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: Xyloxadoria on March 22, 2010, 10:20:29 PM
For me reader isnt even starting at all. Im getting a error that says
"Application failed to start becsue the application cofiguration is incorrect"

I have created no reader.ini yet. I am on windows XP Professional with Service pack 3. and i have the extra dll installed.

I do not know what is casuing the error prehaps you might have a clue?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: Shadow Assassin on March 23, 2010, 12:35:01 AM
Quote from: ilive on March 22, 2010, 12:54:07 AM
@Shadow Assassin: preview tab should be always present. When you open a new tab, it displays the welcome message. Do you have this screen when you open a DAT file ? How do you close all tabs ?

thanks for your help

No text appears, it's just a blank window. No text, nothing. It's a little bit strange and I'm not sure if there's a setting in the Reader that actually affects that.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 23, 2010, 12:41:18 AM
Quote from: Shadow Assassin on March 23, 2010, 12:35:01 AM
No text appears, it's just a blank window. No text, nothing. It's a little bit strange and I'm not sure if there's a setting in the Reader that actually affects that.

argghhhhhh..... I remove my settings in the registry and I got the same error...
I'm fixing right now

EDIT : a new version is uploaded (1.0.1a) that should fix the problem

@Xyloxadoria : are you sure you have downloaded Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 and not Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 ?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1a Official support thread
Post by: Jack_wilds on March 23, 2010, 03:53:10 PM
Hello iLive, Jack wilds here...

Wish to extend a hearty welcome back and the launch of a new 'reader'...

However, I am also experiencing a few hang-ups... getting an error dialog:

c:\Program Files\Ilives\Reader093\Reader.exe

"The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see application event log for more detail"

Note:

The latest Reader vr 1.01a is in the folder Reader093 as I had removed that version prior to latest version placement...

Also I have the latest C++ 2008 sp1 needed... installed properly according to vista...

There isn't an event log to be found...

The previous version worked good for the most part, opening and closing and functioning ok without any apparent trouble... hoping that the new version would have made a few things simpler -wishes expressed in the Reader request thread,

Thank-you for new reader and any help that maybe found

Jack


Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1a Official support thread
Post by: Pat on March 23, 2010, 04:18:14 PM
HI Ilive its great to see you around also working on the reader again... I will have to give the new reader a go for sure....
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1a Official support thread
Post by: gizmo28 on March 24, 2010, 01:52:58 AM
I've downloaded the latest version and now i can't get it to run at all. All i get is error box saying its side by side configuration is incorrect, and this message in the event viewer:

Activation context generation failed for "C:\Users\GIZMO\Desktop\New folder\Reader.exe". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

I've attached a image of the installed Redistibutable packages i have on my pc, runiing windows 7, 32 bit.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg710.imageshack.us%2Fimg710%2F5320%2Finstalledy.png&hash=a43f0e680c36a91f4acf33b0feda504cc3af39c1)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1b Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 24, 2010, 03:51:32 AM
I'm really sorry... I linked the executable to a debug library and that's why you were not able to run the Reader.

I'm uploaded the 1.0.1b version that fixes this problem
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1b Official support thread
Post by: Jack_wilds on March 24, 2010, 03:45:48 PM
Hello Ilive, Jack wilds here...

Reader 1.0.1b works to opening the reader and able to access most of the menus... it appears to be working ok so far  &apls  :thumbsup:

Thank-you  :) ... is there an 'owners manual' that someone maybe making or has made?

Jack
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.0.1b Official support thread
Post by: superhands on March 24, 2010, 11:47:25 PM
I'm not sure if it's been mentioned or it's in the pipeline already, but just a small request.

when applying textures onto models in the s3d window, is it possible to make reader search the plugins folder for the required custom texture? in the same way it loads the maxis textures in which it doesn't require them to be in the same dat?    maybe make it optional so that override textures (that are the same TGI) in plug-ins aren't confused with maxis's.

thanks
-dave

Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on March 28, 2010, 08:15:18 PM
Will you be releasing the source code?   
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 11:33:01 AM

QuoteAdd option to define the search order (current dat/simcity dat/plugins dat) when looking for entry by T/G/I
What does the search order do exactly?

Another bug I found, if you right click on a file and use one of the options there (such as Save file) it will save the file and close the right click menu but after the right click menu has closed then another menu pops up with docking, auto hide and hide options for the Entries panel.

Also the reader crashes when using the texture viewer, eg clicking on road will make it crash.
If this means anything to you this is what it says:
QuoteUnhandled exception at 0x00414a90 in Reader.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0x00000054.

Also would there be any chance of being able to search FSH files by a TGI range and seeing the results like the texture viewer shows them. Kind of like a custom view in the texture viewer.

Thanks so much for all the development so far and I'm looking forward to looking at the Reader scripts when I get on holiday later this week.

Jonathan
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 29, 2010, 12:04:02 PM
Quote from: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 11:33:01 AM
What does the search order do exactly?


it defines the order of the search when looking for an entry using TGI. By default, it searches in the opened dat, then simcity dat (simcity1.dat ...) then plugins dat. So you can change the order to search in plugins dat before simcity dats for example.
About the popup menu, I also have the same bug... and I don't know why ;) I didn't spend a lot of time to find the reason... I will take a look on the crash
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 12:26:13 PM
So it will now let you have a S3D in one file and it's texture in another and the S3D will find it and display it, like it does for the textures in the Maxis dats?

Jonathan
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: mtg on March 29, 2010, 12:41:21 PM
QuoteSo it will now let you have a S3D in one file and it's texture in another and the S3D will find it and display it, like it does for the textures in the Maxis dats?

That would be nice!
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: RippleJet on March 29, 2010, 01:01:02 PM
I hope it doesn't look for any matching IID,
but only for those having either of the two Group ID's, which would appear in the game...

Quote from: RippleJet on March 08, 2010, 02:40:15 PM
In the game, SC4 is looking for S3D Materials (FSH files) having only either of two Group ID's:

   1. A material having a Group ID of 0x1ABE787D
   2. A material having the same Group ID as the S3D file
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 01:15:25 PM
Tage is there are 2 textures with the same IID but different possible GIDs which texture will actually show up? What is the preference/order I mean?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: RippleJet on March 29, 2010, 01:22:09 PM
Quote from: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 01:15:25 PM
What is the preference/order I mean?

In the order listed above... 1 and 2.

That is why ingame textures (having a GID of 0x1ABE787D) can intefere with custom bats, unless you're using the modelnames.ms script while rendering.


EDIT:
This reply of mine wasn't very coherent... ::)

The order of preference is that any texture found with GID = 0x1ABE787D would take preference.
Even if a texture with the same GID as the S3D model would exist, that one is superseded by one with GID = 0x1ABE787D.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on March 29, 2010, 01:33:13 PM
Annoying, if only it was the other way round...
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on March 29, 2010, 01:44:16 PM
Quote from: RippleJet on March 29, 2010, 01:01:02 PM
I hope it doesn't look for any matching IID,
but only for those having either of the two Group ID's, which would appear in the game...


I fixed this bug for S3D and FSH and it will be available in the next release
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Blue Lightning on April 06, 2010, 01:01:00 PM
I seem to have an issue, about 2/3 of the time when I save a file containing exemplars the exemplars get emptied of all properties. Anyone else get this?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: k808j on April 07, 2010, 06:24:40 PM
I have run into an install problem that says application configuration is incorrect. Would it be possible to create a install program for 1.1 as was done for 093?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on April 07, 2010, 11:28:20 PM
@Blue Lightning : I'm unable to reproduce your problem. Do you have any hints to help to reproduce it ?
@k808j : do you have installed the vc 2008 SP1 redistribution package ? if yes, are you sure you have not downloaded the v1.0.1a version of the Reader (it is bugged as it is linked to a debug version of a dll)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: JoeST on April 08, 2010, 05:22:47 AM
Quote from: null45 on March 28, 2010, 08:15:18 PM
Will you be releasing the source code?   
would be nice to hear your stance on this, ilive :)

Joe
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on April 08, 2010, 07:27:25 AM
Quote from: JoeST on April 08, 2010, 05:22:47 AM
would be nice to hear your stance on this, ilive :)

Joe

I will upload the source code of the next release on sourceforge  ;)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: k808j on April 08, 2010, 09:51:24 AM
I've followed the links on the top of your thread for the downloads.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Girafe on April 08, 2010, 09:59:01 AM
Thanks for developping this fabulous tool which is reader  :thumbsup:

Sorry for this maybe riddiculous question, I am not expert wich concerns reader : In french it's more simple for us

"Sur les anciennes versions du reader les propriétés avaient un nom et donc étaient simple à comprendre mais maintenant je n'ai plus les noms avec la nouvelle version, y a t'il moyen de les récupérer, quelle manip dois-je faire ?)"

Thank you
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on April 08, 2010, 01:00:12 PM
Quote from: Girafe on April 08, 2010, 09:59:01 AM
Thanks for developping this fabulous tool which is reader  :thumbsup:

Sorry for this maybe riddiculous question, I am not expert wich concerns reader : In french it's more simple for us

"Sur les anciennes versions du reader les propriétés avaient un nom et donc étaient simple à comprendre mais maintenant je n'ai plus les noms avec la nouvelle version, y a t'il moyen de les récupérer, quelle manip dois-je faire ?)"

Thank you

Les noms des propriétés proviennent du fichier properties.xml ou new_properties.xml (celui fourni avec le logiciel pimx) ou tropod_Properties.xml ou sc4exemplar.xml. Normalement le logiciel devrait charger au demarrage sc4exemplar.xml .
Le plus simple est d'aller dans le panneau d'option (cliquer sur le gros bouton en haut à gauche, puis sur le bouton options et choisir option) puis remplir la liste XML properties file en indiquant l'emplacement du fichier new_properties.xml. C'est le fichier le plus à jour je pense. une fois fait, il faut redemarrer le logiciel et ca devrait être bon. Je vais en profiter pour modifier le code et charger new_properties.xml par défaut s'il n'y a rien dans la liste XML properties file.
Voila, dis moi si ca résoud ton probleme ?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: Girafe on April 08, 2010, 01:41:38 PM
At first thank you for you help, I am not so good with this kind of software so sorry for this.

Each time I open Ilive_reader I obtain this page, I put the path to new_properties (C:\Program Files\SC4PIM\new_properties.xml ) as you said but I have no result more each time I have to re put the path to this folder  &mmm
I put a picture, I am sure I have forgotten something  &Thk/(

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa14.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F04%2F08%2Fmini_10040810420014219.jpg&hash=c198dad3be87be86406608bb14e595b475d64b6c) (http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=10040810420014219.jpg)

Another question why I have this page each time I open reader ?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnsa14.casimages.com%2Fimg%2F2010%2F04%2F08%2Fmini_100408105139663082.jpg&hash=52726d0b8ac6051e7387ae370325a76326354375) (http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=100408105139663082.jpg)

;)

Edit

Il faut décocher l'option auto fills et c'est bon

thanks a lot for you help  ;)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on April 08, 2010, 02:16:56 PM
The "no ini reader detected" message is a bug. When Reader is launched, it tests a key on registry but this is an old key no more used on this version (so if you haven't used a previous version (1.0), this message appears each time)

When the option dialog box opens, is the "xml properties file" filled or not ?
If not, do you have the right to write in registry ?
Could you check that the following key exists in registry :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\iLive\Reader\Settings\PROPERTIES
the values should be "c:\program files\sc4pim\bla bla"

could you also open the "properties manager" (tab tools/Properties) ? do you have values in the list ?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.1 Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on April 15, 2010, 07:58:19 PM
In the main entries box (where all the files in the opened file are shown), clicking the column headers doesn't sort them. Is it just me or does everyone have this issue?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on April 28, 2010, 04:10:32 AM
version 1.2 is available  :)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on April 28, 2010, 07:59:01 AM
Great another version :)
Btw the alpha threshold textbox you put in is always 0 even if you change it to something and save the S3D then become back it is still 0.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: cogeo on April 28, 2010, 08:27:09 AM
Really a great one!!  :thumbsup:

Ehmm, would it be too much to ask for a... menu (or menu bar)? I think it's the only thing missing. Now that the application is MDI, a Window-> 1, 2, 3... command is quite needed.

Also when you first open a datfile the columns' width is set to some fixed value (or not set at all). And if you set them yourself the program won't remember them. It would be nice to set them to a width based on the items' length? (it's really easy, but I could help if you want). "Remembering" them wouldn't be needed then, I think.

Is there some document with the changed, fixed or added features?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: Indisguise on April 28, 2010, 09:26:01 AM
ilive is back yea.  :thumbsup:   

                                         lots of  Doozer hugs    ;D
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 04, 2010, 10:16:36 PM
Quote from: Jonathan on April 28, 2010, 07:59:01 AM
Great another version :)
Btw the alpha threshold textbox you put in is always 0 even if you change it to something and save the S3D then become back it is still 0.


sorry
I did a mistake... it will be fixed in the next release (available around the next week).

@cogeo : there is a file named ilive_reader.txt in the package that contains what has been modified. I will take a look on column width.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: SimFox on May 07, 2010, 02:14:26 AM
great to see you back in the community iLive!
I have a somewhat unrelated question, hope you don't mind. It is about DATCMD.I'm not too familiar with the way programs like this run . I know that they, as well as the "environment"- (DOS/Command Promt can't parse paths with empty spaces and those have to be enclosed in Quote Marks.  But when I do that - enclose both program location path as well as locations of source file (could get past this stage) in quotes program wouldn't accept any commands/parameters (like -src etc). I know it loads, or at least attempts to load source file. But after that nothing happens...
Could you shed little light on this matter. It is important in order to let people install 3ds Max in the default location in Program Files folder.
I actually have found a way around it by setting bat file and it's works, but am still curious of "proper" solution.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: SeanSC4 on May 07, 2010, 05:51:54 AM
Wow! I just noticed I have been using version 0.93 this whole time. I really like the improvements I've seen in the newest version.  &apls
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: Girafe on May 07, 2010, 04:18:05 PM
Thanks for french language in version 1.2  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on May 08, 2010, 06:29:48 AM
Sorting still isn't working in the new version. That's really the only thing preventing me from using the new version full time. And I'd still like to confirm if it's only me that has the sorting issue since if it's just me I can fix it somehow.

ou si c'est plus facile en francais: je ne peux pas trier les fichiers par les colonnes. Je voudrais savoir si c'est le logiciel, ou moi... peut-etre un probleme avec un DLL systeme ou quelque chose.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on May 08, 2010, 09:53:20 AM
Yes the column sorting does not work.  :(
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 09, 2010, 12:53:34 AM
hhmmm... do you speak about these columns ?

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg688.imageshack.us%2Fimg688%2F4603%2Fcol.png&hash=dcbbd39b84237be0a50f9055dfd137cd1dbed082) (http://img688.imageshack.us/i/col.png/)

If yes, do you have the problem on all columns ?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: SimFox on May 09, 2010, 05:43:40 AM
I can confirm that, yes, there is a problem on ALL columns. Sorting doesn't work period.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 09, 2010, 11:50:23 PM
Ok...
I don't have the bug on 7 but the problem appears on XP (perhaps Vista).
could you confirm that you use XP or Vista ?
Thanks

Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on May 10, 2010, 12:13:13 AM
XP here, and yes it's all those columns.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 10, 2010, 12:20:36 AM
Quote from: fafalone on May 10, 2010, 12:13:13 AM
XP here, and yes it's all those columns.

thanks
I found the problem... a variable was not initialized...so the problem may appear on 7 too...
fix will be available on next release
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: SimFox on May 11, 2010, 03:25:35 AM
Quote from: ilive on May 09, 2010, 11:50:23 PM
Ok...
I don't have the bug on 7 but the problem appears on XP (perhaps Vista).
could you confirm that you use XP or Vista ?
Thanks



Nope not XP nor Vista. Bug (sorting not working) occurs on Windows 7 x64.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: lea.xyz on May 13, 2010, 09:36:33 AM
Hi

i found a minor display bug on the tweaker building for the landmark effect and Park effect the same value is displayed : The amount effect is displayed on the radius too.

But it's works for edit : The edited value is really changed

bye
Lea
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: RebaLynnTS on May 14, 2010, 07:39:50 PM
I noticed you used the Ribbon in the new reader, however, I can't find it in VS2008. Can you tell me where you got the component from?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on May 15, 2010, 12:24:24 AM
Well you can't use the official microsoft ribbon with .net languages (Well you can't add a ribbon with VS straight out of the box), and you can only use it with C++.

However there are ribbon librarys made for .net available on the internet
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: RebaLynnTS on May 15, 2010, 07:03:21 PM
When I link the reader to the new_properties.xml I start having all kinds of problems. I was trying to make a propfamily, and reader kept setting Exemplar Category to 0000000A, Building/Prop ID to 0000000A, the resourcekey to 00000000, I was getting no where.

And when I went to add a new property, it listed all of them twice.

I got rid of the line linking to the xml, and everything worked fine.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 16, 2010, 04:19:08 AM
@RebaLynnTS : The ribbon is included in the VS2008 Feature Pack and is only for MFC. Microsoft buy it from BCGSoft company...
It is a standard component in VS2010 but I don't know if MS extends it to other langage (C#...).
About your problem, where do you set the new_properties.xml file ? Could you check in regedit under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ilive\reader\settings that you have only PROPERTIES key (and not PROPERTIES0, PROPERTIES1...) and the value of that key is the path + filename of new_properties.xml ?

Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: RebaLynnTS on May 16, 2010, 06:44:04 AM
Quote from: ilive on May 16, 2010, 04:19:08 AM
About your problem, where do you set the new_properties.xml file ? Could you check in regedit under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ilive\reader\settings that you have only PROPERTIES key (and not PROPERTIES0, PROPERTIES1...) and the value of that key is the path + filename of new_properties.xml ?

The ilive section is not even in my registry at all.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 16, 2010, 09:45:57 AM
sorry the right path is :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\ilive\reader\setting

Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: RebaLynnTS on May 16, 2010, 02:09:55 PM
No properties key at all.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 16, 2010, 11:37:06 PM
what version of the reader do you use ?
do you have the right to write in registry ?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.2 Official support thread
Post by: RebaLynnTS on May 17, 2010, 02:20:36 PM
Quote from: ilive on May 16, 2010, 11:37:06 PM
what version of the reader do you use ?
do you have the right to write in registry ?

I actually have .93, 1.1, and 1.2

I was using 1.2 when I was having the problems. Right now I am back to .93.
Once I am finished with my current project, I'll be happy to reinstall 1.2 for more testing, and trouble shooting.

I have all admin rights. After all, I built the dang thing :)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 23, 2010, 06:31:02 AM
@RebaLynnTS : could you try the 1.3 version ?
If yes, create a debug key under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\ilive\reader\settings (key has to be DWORD) and set the value to 1.
Once done, launch the reader and click on colums. A file called trace.txt should be generated. Could you send me this file by PM ?
thanks
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: Jonathan on May 23, 2010, 06:35:40 AM
QuoteIntegrate UI editor

That's great  :thumbsup:

did you fix the alpha threshold bug?
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: Neofita on May 23, 2010, 06:40:16 AM
I know that it may be hard to do but whether it is possible to translate the Ilives Reader Polish language ???
A lot of players are in Poland, and not everyone speaks English at a level to use it without trouble or use the google translator.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on May 23, 2010, 07:16:52 AM
@Jonathan : alpha threshold bugshould also be fixed
@Neofita : check this thread http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10619.0. In the attachment, there is a file which includes english sentences to be translated (there are some more sentences in version 1.3 ...)
the only problem is there are so many sentences to translate that it is a bit boring  ;)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: Travis on June 10, 2010, 10:56:05 PM
Hello ilive! Good to see progress being made here on the reader, keep it up. :)

However, in 1.3 I've encountered a strange bug, one that causes reader to crash upon startup. Now, via some patience and a little ingenuity ( ::) ) I managed to not only fix it, but narrow it down to a specific cause. ;)

Now, running reader for the first time, it works fine. It was only after setting up the configuration that it began crashing. So, I tried removing the registry keys, one at a time, until one particular setting made the difference. Sure enough, it was the setting for the default SC4 folder that was the root of the issue. Not sure if anyone else has experienced it yet, but thought I would let you know. :)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: superhands on June 14, 2010, 05:36:13 AM
Hi Ilive.    One small request (yet to use the new reader :P)

would it be possible to have a rotate/flip function for .fsh files? maybe on the image preview window ect.

this would help by cutting the time down it takes atm to import/export files just to rotate, especially when Network textures are involved. The Nam LHD plug-in for example  :)

thanks in advance,

-Dave
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on June 15, 2010, 01:31:11 AM
Hi

@Travis : I will take a look on your trouble
@superhands : no pb, I'll do this on the next release
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: jamiechi on June 15, 2010, 10:15:55 AM
I am having trouble editing a .dat file. The file is named "CP_PropPack_Vol02.dat" . I was trying to add some properties to the two building exemplars in the file. (To find the two files, sort by Entry column and the two files I am trying to edit are in the bottom of the group of exemplar files.)

After trying to insert and edit 'item name' and 'item description' properties, some LTEXT files get scrambled. Also I get errors when clicking on the LD files and a couple times crashed the program.
I have successfully edited the propPack .dat file with the SC4Tool, (renaming one of the exemplar names and some of the LTEXT entries) without any problems. (But I can't add any properties with that tool.)

I have successfully used the Reader to edit smaller files. The .dat file is about 2.5 megabytes in size.

I am running on WinXP sp3, with dual AMD processors, and 2 gigs of ram. I am using version 1.3 of Ilive Reader.

Thanks in advance.

Additional Bug: Clicking on Navigator causes the program to crash.  Edit: This item fixed in version 1.3a.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: swamp_ig on June 18, 2010, 07:38:40 PM
I have the same bug as Travis.

It's odd, because it was working fine but then sudenly started not working...
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: swamp_ig on June 18, 2010, 07:43:53 PM
Ok figured out the bug.

If you have an empty .dat file in your plugins folder, plus have the sc4 path set, then the editor crashes on startup.

Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on June 20, 2010, 11:26:09 PM
thanks for your help swamp_ig  ;)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: ilive on June 22, 2010, 06:30:33 AM
version 1.3a has been uploaded :)

v1.3a : Bug fixed
   - Crash in an empty dat is in plugins directory
   - Crash when clicking on Navigator button in some cases

   Features added or improved
   - Add Flip Vert. and Flip Horz. options for FSH preview files
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: swamp_ig on June 23, 2010, 03:57:03 AM
That was fast!

Are you still publishing the source for the reader? I'm thinking of making a plugin for it / using some of the sources for something I'm working on, so if you could publish that would be awesome.



Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: ilive on June 24, 2010, 05:03:02 AM
Quote from: swamp_ig on June 23, 2010, 03:57:03 AM
That was fast!

Are you still publishing the source for the reader? I'm thinking of making a plugin for it / using some of the sources for something I'm working on, so if you could publish that would be awesome.



Sourcecode of the 1.3a version is now available on sourceforge.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: swamp_ig on June 24, 2010, 06:18:21 AM

Thanks!!
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: superhands on June 25, 2010, 01:11:51 AM
thanks for the implementation :thumbsup:
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: jamiechi on June 26, 2010, 10:42:08 PM
New minor install bug. The files new_properties.xml and settings.ini, are in a subfolder called SC4pim. By default, Reader is looking for these folders in the same directory as reader.exe. Instead of changing the directory in the options menu, I just moved the two files to the same directory as reader.exe. Changing the directory in the options menu to point to the subdirectory works for the new_properties.xml file, but not for the settings.ini file.   
P.S. Thanks for fixing the 'clicking the Navigator button' bug.

Edit: Another bug. This one not so minor. Enabling the 'Reload the last file' option caused Reader to lock up and display the 'Failed to open ...' pop-up error window. Clicking ok results in the same error window displayed in an infinite loop. You need to use Task Manager to kill the program. Repro steps: 1. Install program, run and open any SC4 file. 2. Open the options menu and select the 'Reload the last file' option. 3. Close Reader and restart. 4. Note that no file is automatically opened. 5. Open the last file in the file menu. (Round Icon in upper left of Reader.) Note: to fix this I had to run Regedit and set the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\iLive\Reader\Settings\autoload key to 0.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: ilive on June 30, 2010, 07:19:40 AM
@jamiechi : thanks for your reports. I fixed the 'reload last file' bug.
For the install bug, I have no right on new_properties.xml and settings.ini and it's why I put them in another directory. These files were created for sc4pim tool and so all honors go to the developper and contributors of this project.  If I put these files in the reader directory, someone could think that I created these both files.


For information, sourcecode of the Reader is available through SVN on SourceForge
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: Teddy on July 03, 2010, 08:27:48 PM
How do I run this program? I downloaded it and there is no "Click here to make it go" button.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: Teddy on July 03, 2010, 09:30:53 PM
Okay, the problem is the link provided leads to a small file without the EXE. After some digging, I found the EXE.
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: superhands on July 04, 2010, 12:24:22 AM
the Fsh flip option is really quite useful ilive :thumbsup:

one issue that i know that comes up now and again in conversation is the 1 pixel clipping of the preview image when viewed at normal res.

maybe in the the entries window, files like fsh's could have a background colour that would identify groups of 0-4. so say you click on the instance column, it returns as a alphabetical list, with the first 0-4 with say a dark grey background, then the next 0-4 with off white, and so on down the page. 


bug report: Reader crashes when flipping textures H or V, for zooms 0-1.

-Dave
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: Bobbi on July 07, 2010, 03:33:07 AM
Bonjour, ilive,
Today I show you how to THORW an unhandled exception in UI Editor "$Deal"$ :D

First, resize an element.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pssNqtTiMzWVYNyAyUjz2qfnhz6dyglHx5VHXI8oJK8NI2W6twKF0kQ-1IYYRwYdU5F8mP-JVKB8o6Kjh1J4Nb1RnWqSMNyBr%2FSC4D.004.png%3Fpsid%3D1&hash=6fc4d7ef84175b7134d25b47493a0db7568fd632) (http://mrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pssNqtTiMzWVYNyAyUjz2qfnhz6dyglHx5eNDGmUJFbcLGazTRZ10IyFMGTh4-3vyiiOsHqrpZpbyZ2WDlljM0szIqMC7hf8h/SC4D.004.png?psid=1)

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pC5VKG5Qu9TdUQQzq9iZluyCF_WERM5sGinG_5Vv7SmcDALEMWfYwDgQkikZ1C6dIWPX79iKIHTxgP2HHpOVNkEa7l3ujHofg%2FSC4D.005.png%3Fpsid%3D1&hash=248ca06b0a0a951ddacf7e6bcd08a0bc2fdafc89) (http://mrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pC5VKG5Qu9TdUQQzq9iZluyCF_WERM5sGX98snsRiZ_yuZN7wEZJQdEzTiAKNZTsesRF-JTz-USIPqKRRC3_XU1jFdC5GuR_7/SC4D.005.png?psid=1)

Second, when the width or height value is 0, release.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pC5VKG5Qu9Tf8aVj3XCtYS1XwT_QYjJ_8crr1UEsmxZ_DYBJpjc1rXTOQvd680J6U7Bwtt4pgPZaE_Ey2H2io8PtXJnsBXKbj%2FSC4D.006.png%3Fpsid%3D1&hash=dc86480c9bca11e44af29bb2f00d43cf0a2c50ac) (http://mrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pC5VKG5Qu9Tf8aVj3XCtYS1XwT_QYjJ_84IekUIUn5XM74UJSOjn6QRrrWF-y4PgnEUbOPsC97QkF7SFyfIJdt8xgL24nKf_f/SC4D.006.png?psid=1)

Now, Reader throw an unhandled exception.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pc-dmMjrejyeWPkC6mX118i7dvEA9gO_Nd6ExqAzorQtdheo35cHHoTLNCZenK-i2-uVCD-YwZbJ86EgFIKfN2xjVBUCl6ZbU%2FSC4D.007.png%3Fpsid%3D1&hash=17940cf54d03e488c591f4ec272924c0d3cc9848) (http://mrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pny8tXwMhvUpvAcUJWIeNEl9nHkhBnNm-RKc35ROIRsISWaBTtaOZI32VxnM7NgcHxA_84A0jezNiVsap9W8w1C6HaGn_wZZc/SC4D.007.png?psid=1)

After I click "Close the program", Reader throw an unknown unhandled exception AGAIN ()what()
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com%2Fy1pc-dmMjrejycqVNryvM7tjsx1SuDj62G-c8tWT-RkPTwEYxJxPfW0o_HrNSri8GtWPaPRFnmDdzT7FFaCBieJm2AYKO_w1NPv%2FSC4D.008.png%3Fpsid%3D1&hash=5127cbdcc7a44b05f53bac40ec06e9d7020005ab) (http://mrqolg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pc-dmMjrejycqVNryvM7tjsx1SuDj62G-VyhcDG9rjLe72oiyKZc9FLS_Q5Fh5lnWPdhMGLY0WQq1aSKQc-zszjdmr_r6LlIM/SC4D.008.png?psid=1)

Maybe the following text isn't right. ::)
I guess the first exception was threw at OnSizeChanging() event.
Emmm, if the Rectangle->Width or Rectangle->Height is 0, when you resizing an element, the program will draw an invalid image, so it'll crash. &mmm

The second exception was maybe threw at OnClose() event or destructor statement. &Thk/(

Renne :thumbsup:
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: ilive on July 07, 2010, 11:52:35 PM
@Bobbi ; thanks for your explanation... I'm going to try to find the bug :)
Title: Re: iLive Reader 1.3a Official support thread
Post by: Sorengaard on July 20, 2010, 01:02:18 AM
Hi, I am having a problem with Reader 1.3a.  When I want to copy and paste I can only copy 3 or less properties at a time or the tool crashes. 4 or more and I am done.  I can then do this for 3 or 4 times (just copying 3 properties or less at a time) and the tool crashes again.  After I do this 3 or 4 times the tool crashes and won't reload until I reboot my computer.  I have Windows XP.  Is there a patch that I might have missed or some other way I can handle this problem?  Thanks, Steve
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on July 21, 2010, 04:00:51 AM
version 1.4 has been uploaded
From this version, the Reader uses a setup file (thanks to swamp_ig). Sources are available through SVN on sourceforge.net.


Welcome to swamp_ig as a new developer on the Reader  :thumbsup:

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Sorengaard on July 21, 2010, 02:24:31 PM
Sure.  I left click once on the top property in a list of properties to be copied, which highlights it.  Then I hold the shift key in and using the arrows scroll up or down and highlight the rest of the properties that I want to copy.  After the list is all highlighted I right click on the list and the menu pops up.  I scroll down to copy files and left click on it. The properties are now copied.  Now I open the file that I want to copy the properties to.  There I highlight the same kind of properties as before and delete them.  Now I can paste the properties to the new file.  I right click in the empty space in the right window and the pop up menu appears.  Then I left click on the paste key and the properties copy to the new file.  I left click on the save Icon and I am done.  That is of course if the tool hasn't crashed by then.

If I highlight more than 3 properties the tool will crash as soon as I left click on the copy files tab in the pop up menu.  I hope I wrote this so it makes sense to you.  If not let me know and I will try another go around with it.  Thanks for your response.  Steve
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: meister1235 on July 26, 2010, 09:17:46 AM
hi,
i want to report an bug.
if i open a dat file and don't select an entry and click "Recorded exemplars" the reader shut down.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi825.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fzz180%2Fmeister1235%2Freaderbug.png&hash=3a38755fa5ab644f0abb3279a5f79a13148f708d)

i think you can solve it with enable this button after the first entry is selected

meister
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on July 29, 2010, 06:34:27 PM
Good Evening,

I am having similar trouble as RebaLynnTS (page 4).  I noticed I had this problem on ver 1.3, but as I started to blame myself less I downloaded 1.4 and the problem persists.  I am running xp

I have followed the advise/questions you gave to RebaLynnTS.  My registry seems to be okay, however, I set the Debug-Dword to 1 (0x00000001) and ran Reader.  Where does the log go?  I dont know much about this stuff, but I did some looking and the registry makes it appear that the log would go to The Ilives folder.

I also noticed that the default shortcut does not have "find target" abilities.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: ilive on July 30, 2010, 04:54:34 AM
thanks for reporting bugs...

I'm in holiday so I haven't time to look for bugs but once being back I will take a look
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: MutantPlatypus on August 09, 2010, 03:52:13 PM
I have another bug for you.  You should probably extend your vacation  :D

The script engine doesn't seem to like when you write to its console too much (it makes the whole Reader explode), so I'm trying to write strings to an output exemplar that I will export after the script runs.  Here's what I've got:


function reader.main (this)

    pos = reader:entries_GetHeadPosition()
    stop = 0
    while stop~=1 do

        outentry,pos = reader:entries_GetNext(pos)
        flag = reader:entry_GetFlag(outentry)

        if (flag == 7) then

            outexemplar = reader:ex_Decode(outentry)
            proppos = reader:exprop_GetHeadPosition(outexemplar)

            while proppos~=0 do

                outprop,proppos = reader:exprop_GetNext(outexemplar,proppos)
                desc,descname = reader:exprop_GetDesc(outprop)

                if (desc == 0x00000000) then
                    stop = 1
                    break
                end
            end

            if (stop == 0) then
                reader:ex_Release(outexemplar)
            end
        end
    end

    pos = reader:entries_GetHeadPosition()

    outval = ""
    outexemplar = reader:ex_Decode(outentry)

    while pos~=0 do

        entry,pos = reader:entries_GetNext(pos)
        flag = reader:entry_GetFlag(entry)

        if (flag == 7) then

            exemplar = reader:ex_Decode(entry)

            proppos = reader:exprop_GetHeadPosition(exemplar)

            while proppos~=0 do

                property,proppos = reader:exprop_GetNext(exemplar,proppos)
                desc,descname = reader:exprop_GetDesc(property)

                if (desc == 0x00000020) then
               
                    val = reader:exprop_GetValueStr(property)
                    outprop = reader:exprop_Add(outexemplar)
                    reader:exprop_SetDesc(outprop, 0x00000000)
                    reader:exprop_SetRep(outprop, 0)
                    reader:exprop_SetType(outprop, 0xC00)
   
                    reader:exprop_SetValue(outprop, val)

                elseif (desc == 0x083DC487) then

                    val = reader:exprop_GetValueStr(property)
                    outprop = reader:exprop_Add(outexemplar)
                    reader:exprop_SetDesc(outprop, 0x00000000)
                    reader:exprop_SetRep(outprop, 0)
                    reader:exprop_SetType(outprop, 0xC00)

--------------------------This line causes the Reader to crash------------------------------------------
                    reader:exprop_SetValue(outprop, val)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               
                end
            end
        end
    end

    reader:ex_Encode(outentry,outexemplar)

    reader:refresh()

end


The Lua code between the dashes causes the reader to crash when the script is run.  I suspect it may be because the string is too long- over 700 characters.  In fact, the reader crashes whenever I try to write the string to the console.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Chrisim on September 25, 2010, 03:58:00 PM
Ilive, thanks a lot for your updates. Your Reader is an excellent software tool. :thumbsup:
I am using version 0.9.3 almost daily and started test-using version 1.4 two weeks ago. Larger files load much faster than before.
I also appreciate the improvements to the 3DS window. The old version had several bugs, although you could find ways around it. This version is improved (e.g., "remove texture" does work now), but still has a problem. As an example, load the S3D file 0x0c820700 from SimCity1.dat.

The number of groups displayed on the left (0-12) differs from right-mouse-click / groups (0-13). Unselecting group 13 does not work in this case.
The Anim-Tab shows 14 groups. The Mats-Tab also shows 14 textures and there is a 1-1 relation between Anim-groups and Mats-textures in this case, but the UV map shows 13 textures only.

Two useful improvements for the 3DS window would be:
For the Indx-Tab on right-mouse-click: to add the option "Remove (n) Triangles", in the same way as it is implemented for adding.
For the Vert-Tab on right-mouse-click: to add the option "Remove (n) Points", in the same way as it is implemented for adding.
When changing models, sometimes we have to remove many triangles and points ...

In the Mats-Tab, after "Add texture", the defaults for flags and the other parameters are not meaningful for SC4. The 3DS window disregards these parameters and the model will look fine, but SC4 will not display the texture properly with the present default parameters. I would suggest the following parameters as default:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg33.imageshack.us%2Fimg33%2F4716%2Filivereader1.th.jpg&hash=da305f88d4139ab91cb6969355fa6a9fd4db5842) (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/ilivereader1.jpg/)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: senotrius on January 13, 2011, 04:09:47 AM
i only got a file gl.rar from the link..where is the exe file???or can someone upload the1.4 file on lex or stex please..?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: vester on January 13, 2011, 08:45:39 AM
If you click on the right link in the post at top of the pages, you will get to download the file: ILives Reader.msi
It works for me.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Shadow Assassin on January 16, 2011, 11:02:19 PM
Quite a nasty little crash for me on the latest version of the Reader.

I tried to copy some S3Ds from a DAT to another DAT, Reader suddenly crashed, and when I attempted to restart it, it simply crashed again. On a related note, can you get rid of the dock/undock pop-up that comes up every time one right-clicks on a exemplar item?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on January 17, 2011, 12:21:17 AM
I can confirm that one SA, however it happens whenever I'm copying any kind of file in any kind of quantity.

Also, the effect seems to build up over time. Copying one file after another doesn't work around the problem.

I also find that dock/undock thing really annoying. Can we have a dropdown box that that can be hidden under?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on February 10, 2011, 12:14:04 AM
One bug I'd like to see fixed is Reader's treatment of DXT1 compressed FSH files.  There are quite a lot of FSH files in the Maxis dats that are DXT1 compressed and which are supposed to contain alpha, but which Reader is unable to correctly process when viewing the FSH files.

DXT1 does support 1-bit alpha masks per the specification: http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/registry/EXT/texture_compression_s3tc.txt (http://oss.sgi.com/projects/ogl-sample/registry/EXT/texture_compression_s3tc.txt) (Scroll down roughly 3/5 of the way).  It does appear that Reader correctly decodes these files otherwise, but without any marker specifying between the alpha and non-alpha versions of DXT1 that SimCity 4 defaults to the alpha version.  I would like to see this fixed so that transparent PNGs can be correctly exported directly from the Reader.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on February 10, 2011, 12:38:38 AM
I think I figured out what was causing the crashes.

It's related to the amount of data on the clipboard. I've had large bodies of text in the clipboard and Reader crashes on boot, and copying a lot of entries can crash it too.

A short-term solution is to copy something simple when nearing the limit. I usually copy a full stop ( . ) when nearing the limit. It's really cut down my number of crashes.


Also, the built-in FSH mirroring tools have the wrong icons (they're the wrong way around, the Vertical flip button has the Horizontal flip icon) and they crash when operating on small FSHes. Zoom 1 and 2 FSHes are small enough to trigger this bug. It also occurs no matter how long I've been using Reader.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Heides on February 11, 2011, 04:23:09 PM
Having an issue with Reader.

Setup:
OS: WinXP Pro
Reader ver1.4 (uninstalled and redownloaded today from link at top of this thread)
Plugins: Paeng Security Fence Set (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=21927) and Security Fence Set Addon1 (http://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=21930)


I am just learning to mod and chose Paeng's security fence sets as inspiration to learn about textures, props, exemplars, transit enabling, MMLs, etc.  I made several lots using different fence props and textures than Paeng's, using his lots as templates in LE.  Saved them, modified in SC4Tool, and so on.  I needed to add properties which weren't present and SC4Tool doesn't allow that, so I opened in reader.  I found a problem in my lots, and it's because they existed in Paeng's lots.  Looks like I need to scrap all the lots I made and start over.  But I thought I should document the issue here.

Problem description:
Duplicate and triplicate entries in building exemplar.   They do not show up in SC4Tool (only the first occurance does).  Both the first entry and its duplicates have the same Name, Name Value, Data Type, and Rep, but different Value.  There are other properties that do not have duplicates but only show in Reader and not SC4Tool.

These 'ghost' properties are all together at the end of the list, after the real properties.
Here is a screenshot of the affected properties.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1229.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee467%2FHeides666%2FGame%2520Stuff%2Fth_ReaderPaengBug.png&hash=56235d081a2d0a96660d53922a49958a95cdf3c5) (http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee467/Heides666/Game%20Stuff/?action=view&current=ReaderPaengBug.png)

I can double-click and edit the real properties.  But the ghost properties only open the edit window and all the buttons, drop-downs, input fields, etc are grayed out (except "Display as: Default, Hex, Int, Float).  I can click the "?" button which opens the properties selection with their descriptions, and I can choose one and click "Select it !".  If I do so, the Name in the property edit window will change to that, but is still grayed out.  If I click Apply, then window closes but nothing at all changes in the building exemplar.

I can right-click and Delete Property on the real ones.  But if I try to do this on one of the ghost properties, after I click YES to the "Do you want to delete this property" msgbox, the Reader application goes to 100% CPU use and hangs unresponsive until killed in Win task manager.


There is also another thing I noticed, but I don't think it's related in any way to the first issue (which seems to be the way Paeng edited/saved his files and how Reader reads them).  This second issue exists with all exemplars I open.  When I double-click a property to edit, the edit window appears.  When I click on the drop-down list for Name, all the different options for properties are listed... twice, all the way down the list.  It doesn't matter which I click on, the first or the second, it always sets the Value correctly for that property.  And if I select either one, when I reopen the drop-down the first one will always be selected before I click on the other.  This causes no problems that I can tell, other than making scrolling through the list twice as long.  It looks like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1229.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee467%2FHeides666%2FGame%2520Stuff%2Fth_ReaderDblPropertyList.png&hash=4fd6fc5674cf30ada02487dac007bde0f1faccdc) (http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee467/Heides666/Game%20Stuff/?action=view&current=ReaderDblPropertyList.png)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on February 11, 2011, 04:26:34 PM
Those properties are inherited from what's called the Parent Cohort. It fills up all the possible empty fields that you haven't filled yourself. If you have entered something in that file, then what you entered will override the Parent Cohort entry.
They aren't actually contained in the building exemplar to my knowledge.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on February 11, 2011, 04:54:06 PM
The double property list is because you set rearder to have two xml files. 

I would use the LEX version unless I was beta testing 1.4.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Heides on February 12, 2011, 03:29:16 AM
Quote from: jdenm8 on February 11, 2011, 04:26:34 PM
Those properties are inherited from what's called the Parent Cohort.
I understand. Reader is just looking them up in the parent cohort and displaying them.  When I try to delete them, I'm trying to delete a reflection of the PC that's not really in this file.  But I find it strange these are the only lots I've found with these so far.  And I still think if Reader is going to display these as if they were part of the building exemplar for whatever mysterious reason it should label them and not cause a crash.  But I know it's there now and will work around it.

Quote from: Lowkee33 on February 11, 2011, 04:54:06 PM
The double property list is because you set rearder to have two xml files.
That's what I thought.  But I never set anything in Reader myself (knowingly) except the first time I installed it.  It was actually the original reader which I promptly replaced with the Chris Wood version.  Since I noticed these issues, I've uninstalled reader, deleted its directory, reDLed, and installed it in a different directory twice now.  I've had it in the default directory too, but I don't remember checking for this problem then.

I have Reader in ProgramFiles\SC4Utilities\ now. Reader, SC4Tool, SC4PIM, Mapper, etc are all in there, each in its own separate folder.  I never changed any settings though.  This is in fact the first time I've opened Reader Options.  It's set up like this:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1229.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fee467%2FHeides666%2FGame%2520Stuff%2Fth_Readeroptions.jpg&hash=0a8bc9f4e837b99726846f2abb85380f8c89637d) (http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee467/Heides666/Game%20Stuff/?action=view&current=Readeroptions.jpg)
&Thk/(   hmmm
\MyDocuments\ILives\ doesn't exist on my HD.  But also, since it doesn't specify a path for the XML it must use a program path.  The default install path for Reader is Programs\ILives\ILives Reader\.  What if instead of searching for "%workingDir%\new_properties.xml" it's actually searching "..\*\new_properties.xml".  That would bring it up one level to my SC4Utilities folder, then search from there. In an NFTS file system a file parse loop should get results in alphabetical order, but that's not necessarily the case depending on the language and code.  It might be finding the new_properties.xml in \SC4PIM\ as well as \ILives Reader\.  But then it would be a recursive search (subfolders) and wouldn't stop at the first match, and would find the xml in \SC4Tools\system\ as well and give a tripled list.  Edit: This is not the issue.  I removed the PIM and Tool xml files and Reader still doubles up.

But it's probably all very much simpler than that.  If you see a problem with my options, please enlighten me!   &idea
It's not a big deal though.  I just like puzzles.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on February 12, 2011, 10:20:39 AM
QuoteAnd I still think if Reader is going to display these as if they were part of the building exemplar for whatever mysterious reason it should label them and not cause a crash.  But I know it's there now and will work around it.

Looking at the entries list for the picture you posted I am not seeing any Cohorts in that file.  I can only guess that the Cohorts (there are 2) are in SimCity_1.dat, and thus not only is deleting it a bad idea, but could cause a crash.  This might relate to Shadow Assassin's crash, which I get most every time I use 1.4.

The way to "remove" these properties is to change the "Parent Cohort" Property to 0,0,0.  If you copy/pasted the properties from the cohorts into the exemplar (making sure not to take the duplicate properties) then you could have something that is separate from SimCity_1.dat.

Cohorts are used when you have many exemplars that share the same properties (such as Building: Civic).  It saves space, and also makes it easier to mod all of the exemplars at once.  

QuoteBut it's probably all very much simpler than that.  If you see a problem with my options, please enlighten me!  

I checked this out and I also have two of each property listed.  I did what I told you to do, but the problem persists. &mmm  I don't know...

In the SimCity 4 Apps folder (where the .exe is) there is a file called ingred.ini.  Open this with notepad, and you will see where Reader got much of the exemplar info.  Understanding this file will also enlighten you as to how to make a proper exemplar.

Also, I believe SC4PIM (and PIMX) use a different type of XML.  These programs are made to create .descs.  The XMLs say things like "give a building these properties" where the Reader XML says things like "This property is this hex and is that entry type".  Could be wrong, but I don't think they translate
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on February 13, 2011, 11:22:46 PM
Another bug I found concerns ATC animations.

In game, ATC files can share a source image (animation link in the reader) without issues, and cannot share common AVP files (brown boxes occur).

However, in the Reader, ATCs with common AVPs and different images play correctly (which is not a huge issue, but it's something that people have to keep in mind), and ATCs with unique AVPs but sharing a common image source (animation link) all display the same animation (corresponding to whichever ATC is first in the file).

It would be nice to see at least the second inconsistency resolved as well as adding the ability to edit ATC/AVP files in the table view without resorting to the hex editor.

Thanks!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on February 28, 2011, 07:19:50 PM
I was about to ask what all of these "trace" files were, but then I see this is what you were asking RebaLynnTS to give you, and what I was trying to make when I turned De-Bug on.  Do you still want one, I can make a lot.  :P
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on March 25, 2011, 01:16:26 PM
The scripting command "entry_SetTGI(entry,T,G,I)" sets the TGI as "IGT".

Working with the scripts made me forget the trouble I have been having with Exemplars.  For me, changing a property in an exemplar causes PIMX to come up with a series of errors (mostly pertaining to properties with multiple reps).  This didn't happen with any of the flora I made, and wondered why.  I happen to have had the flora in a cohort tree, and various basic properties were untouched by Reader.  I believe Exemplar Type is the issue.  I replicated the problem with a building .desc, opened it in the LEX reader, removed the ET property, and added back in.  This seems to have solved the problem (at least, PIMX didn't come up with anything).

Last night I had a building grow even with the PIMX errors, so still not really sure.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Kergelen on June 12, 2011, 02:39:50 PM
I'm having problems with Ilive Reader. :(
The program does not open. I'm using Reader for some month and this evening I was using them and works perfectly. The problems started when I try to copy and paste some properties and the program stopped. Get a window from Microsoft Windows that said: Application MFC Reader stopped worked.
Then I open it again and run well but every time I wanted to copy propeties the program stopped. I uninstall Reader and instal again. Finally the program don't open and said again: Application MFC Reader stopped worked.

Maybe someone knows what could be the problem.

Thanks in advance

I'm using version 1.4
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: tamorr on July 21, 2011, 11:33:08 AM
I have a different problem with this 1.4 version that does not give any windows error.

My problem involves persistent value changes.

I am trying to modify a file for personal use to reduce the cost in budget, plop, and bulldoze.
Sure all those properties save correctly, however when I open the file the 2 pollution effect properties change to 0x0000000A, the Pollution Radii to 0, and the mayor rating effect to 0 values.

I did not change those values before and that is the problem. I am trying to modify a pollution reducing custom lot. Does it have something to do with the fact that 0xFFFFFF9C is used for center and 0xFFFFFFE7 for the outer in the Air value?

It is persistent even if saved as a new file or replacing old one. I never had this persistence with the .93 version, the original reader. Figured I would mention something... &mmm
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: toja on September 09, 2011, 05:11:44 AM
I've to report another problem with the LUA-scripting in the reader: It uses signed integers instead of unsigned integers as return values for its functions, which could lead to unexpected behavior (in 32bit-systems?).

Imagine you write a script, that lists all the properties and their corresponding IDs (desc, descname) of a T21-exemplar. This is how the output would look like:


16 Exemplar Type
32 Exemplar Name
33 Exemplar ID
1238718801 kPropertyID_NetworkPlacementPattern
-1997682807 LotConfigPropertyVersion
-1997682797 LotConfigPropertyZoneTypes
-1997682795 LotConfigPropertyWealthTypes
-1997682432 LotConfigPropertyLotObject
-1997682431 Unknown
-1441658510 NetworkLotConfigPropertyMaxSlopeAllowed
-1441658509 NetworkLotConfigPropertyMinSlopeAllowed
-911892034 kPropertyID_LotConfigNetworkTileId
-897468204 Unknown
-868333739 kPropertyID_FlipsAllowed
-331623312 kPropertyID_RotationsAllowed


As you can see, most of the property-IDs are negative. Let's see what's happening here.

The binary representation of 0x7FFFFFFF in a 32bit-system is

0111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111

Now we're going to add 1: 0x7FFFFFFF + 1 = 0x80000000 or in binary

1000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000

And that is where the tricky part begins. The leftmost 1 (the most significant bit) is often used, to represent a number's sign: set that bit to 0 for a positive number, and set to 1 for a negative number. Obviously that is what happend to the prop-IDs in the example above, they are interpreted as signed integers.

The bad news is that LUA interprets the numbers above 0x7FFFFFFF as unsigned intgers. Now imagine you want to read out the LotConfigPropertyLotObject-properties (ID: 0x88EDC900) from an exemplar file. The LUA script will not find the properties - or even worther find another one...

A first workaround would be to add a small function:


function chkHex(num)
return (num < 0x7FFFFFFF) and num or (num - 0xFFFFFFFF - 1)
end

function reader.main (this) 

MyProp = chkHex(0x88EDC900)

pos = reader:entries_GetHeadPosition()   
while pos~=0 do
entry,pos = reader:entries_GetNext(pos)
      flag = reader:entry_GetFlag(entry)
if (flag == 7) then
exemplar = reader:ex_Decode(entry)
proppos = reader:exprop_GetHeadPosition(exemplar)
while proppos~=0 do
            exprop, proppos = reader:exprop_GetNext(exemplar,proppos)
            desc,descname = reader:exprop_GetDesc(exprop)
if (MyProp == desc) then
print(descname)
end   
end
end
end
end


Anyway, you should be careful and always backup your files, since we don't know what other sideeffects the signed/unsigned problem may have.

toja


P.S.: Could anyone test if 64bit-systems are affected, too? Thank you!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on September 09, 2011, 09:55:43 AM
Nicely done  :thumbsup:.
Also:

...
desc,descname = reader:exprop_GetDesc(exprop)
if (desc < 0) then
  desc= desc+4294967296
end
if (desc == 0x88EDC900) then
  print (descname)
end
...


I came across this with "ValueStr= reader:exprop_GetValueStr(exprop)" as well.  For this function, a Hex value will be taken literally, and not as a number.  The Lua code:
ValueStr= tonumber(ValueStr, 16)

will return an unsigned number (right?), in base 16, so you would have to do the process in reverse to get an integer that is significant to Reader finding that Hex value.

Can't speak on the 64-bit issue.

Btw, this property is a tough one for me.  Is there a way to only get the 13th (or any other) rep, and not the entire string?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: toja on September 09, 2011, 12:10:04 PM
Quote from: Lowkee33 on September 09, 2011, 09:55:43 AM
The Lua code:
ValueStr= tonumber(ValueStr, 16)

will return an unsigned number (right?), in base 16, so you would have to do the process in reverse to get an integer that is significant to Reader finding that Hex value.

Technically spoken LUA will interpret ValueStr as an unsigned integer and return a number...  ::)

Quote
Btw, this property is a tough one for me.  Is there a way to only get the 13th (or any other) rep, and not the entire string?

I think something like this should work:


....
str = reader:exprop_GetValueStr(exprop)
if (MyProp == desc) then
PropValues ={}
for val in string.gmatch(str, "0x%x+") do
             table.insert(PropValues, val)
      end
print(PropValues[13])
print(tonumber(PropValues[13], 16))
end
...


Hope that helps!

toja
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on September 20, 2011, 03:18:09 PM
Quote from: toja on September 09, 2011, 12:10:04 PM
Hope that helps!

Sure does, thanks.  :thumbsup:

I have another issue for you. :) I'm having a toubles with the Vert section of an S3D (in a script).  I don't have enough specifics on hand to get into it.  I can say that I have a hard time reading all of the verts, as well as setting the ones that I can read (u0 just doesn't seem to work).  Have you experienced anything like this?  Should I copy my script over?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: toja on September 21, 2011, 10:41:08 AM
Quote from: Lowkee33 on September 20, 2011, 03:18:09 PM
Have you experienced anything like this? Should I copy my script over?

No, I haven't tried to manipulate S3Ds until now, so I can't give any advice on that issue. But when I take a look at the function list I can imagine that it might be tricky to change vertex or UV-coordinates. And yes, please copy your script over and I'll see if I can give some advice. But maybe we should continue our conversation in the Script in Reader-topic?


To come back to the signed/unsigned-integer-problem (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg395029#msg395029) once again: I think the best solution is to use the BitOp-module (http://bitop.luajit.org/), that adds bitwise operations and other useful functions to the LUA core. Just read a little bit about the API functions and semantics and you'll see what I mean.

If you don't know (like me) how to compile source code you could take the following steps:

1. Download an install luaforwindows (http://code.google.com/p/luaforwindows/)

2. In the program directory you'll find a folder clibs and inside this folder a file called bit.dll. Copy the file to your reader installation directory

3. Change the variable dir in the following code to your reader installation directory and run it in reader.


--template.lua

dir = "path/to/ILives/ILives Reader/" -- change this to your reader installation dir

package.cpath = dir.."?.dll"
require("bit")

function reader.main (this)

-- simple filter example with bitwise AND
    local t = {0x045ABACD, 0x5cafe04, 0x5EBCA4B0}
    local search = bit.tobit(0x5EB00000)
    for i, val in ipairs(t) do
        print (search == bit.band(val, 0xFFF00000))
    end
end


If everything went well you should get the following output:

false
false
true

... very useful when you search for IDs etc.  ;)

toja





Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lior on September 23, 2011, 12:39:05 PM
Well, after a fast look at the new reader I really enjoyed it. It's more organized and simple. But I didn't like one thing at first. I can't access the navigator unless I have an exemplar selcted at the main list.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on October 15, 2011, 01:07:15 PM
Back to an earlier issue of CTDs:

If I try to copy/paste a fair amount of entries I get a CTD.  Reader will then CTD upon re-opening.  Until today, my fix was to restart the computer.

However, if after Reader crashes, I copy a whole bunch of stuff, (my plugin folder works) I can then re-open Reader.  No need to paste anything, just clear out the RAM I guess...

Hope this helps others with the same issue :) 
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on November 08, 2011, 10:34:20 PM
Now that more is known about the format of FSH images (specifically those with embedded mipmaps), it would be nice to see them decoded correctly, at least the main image, if not the mipmaps as well.

There seems to be partial support for transit sized textures (128x128) with 6 embedded mipmaps, though whether that is by accident or design is unknown.  Updated FSH format information can be found here: http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=FSH/format (http://www.wiki.sc4devotion.com/index.php?title=FSH/format)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on November 09, 2011, 12:48:10 AM
The FSH files from the Need For Speed series use embedded mipmaps, so it would make sense if the game could read them. 

Do any of Maxis's files use embedded mipmaps?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: cronodevir on November 09, 2011, 10:22:11 AM
I am Using Reader 1.4 and I am trying to modify the text in game by editing LText files, but it seems I am unable to search for in game text in Reader, is there another alternative to manually clicking 5,900+ LText files looking for that one or two entries I want to change?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on November 09, 2011, 07:06:54 PM
Quote from: null45 on November 09, 2011, 12:48:10 AM
The FSH files from the Need For Speed series use embedded mipmaps, so it would make sense if the game could read them. 

Do any of Maxis's files use embedded mipmaps?

I can confirm that the zoom 5 and zoom 4 ELR concrete textures (0x2B855E44 and 0x2B855E43) contain embedded mipmaps, and that there are S3D texture settings that can utilize them.

This may also help: Toja posted a link to one of EA's FSH tools (http://forums.nba-live.com/downloads.php?view=detail&df_id=66) that can read and write FSH files and contains some useful data that we did not previously have.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on November 09, 2011, 11:27:49 PM
The Reader's fsh decoding code is based on the code from FSHTool which contains code to read the embedded mipmaps so it should be relatively easy to allow the Reader to decode them.

Unlike reading the DXT1 alpha channel which FSHTool and other tools based on it's DXT decompression code such as FSHLib cannot decode (I use the Squish (http://code.google.com/p/libsquish/) library to decode the DXT1 and DXT3 data with the proper alpha instead).

I have used FSHEd in the past to test the code in my Photoshop FSH plugin that throws an error message if QFS compression or embedded mipmaps are used, and have also used both FSHEd's documentation and FSHTool's source code as a guide to many of the details of the fsh format. 

Now that it is known that SC4 uses embedded mipmaps I may have to rewrite that code to preserve that data for recreation on save, which still should be easier than trying to write code for decompressing the QFS compression which the Reader can do for me anyway.  :D 
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on November 10, 2011, 12:42:04 AM
What I find particularly odd is that it works in some cases, but not in others right now.  If I had much in the way of C++ skills, I'd take a look at the source code myself, but I got on the Java bandwagon instead.

In any case, here's a test case you may find useful.  It's one of my test textures from the Java FSH tool I'm working on.  The dat contains the FSH file as generated straight from my tool with 4 embedded mipmaps (which the Reader chokes on), and the same file with 20 bytes of padding (equivalent to two more mips) which the Reader parses just fine.  FSHEd can read both of them with no problems and they both work correctly in game.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Silur on November 10, 2011, 05:09:13 AM
Well, I can work only with ILive Reader 0.9.3 2007-04  today ...
Another versions give me tremendous problems...
We can work with Windows XP or Windows 7 - my favorite is XP ..
Sorry ...
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on November 11, 2011, 10:58:35 PM
Quote from: jondor on November 10, 2011, 12:42:04 AM
What I find particularly odd is that it works in some cases, but not in others right now.  If I had much in the way of C++ skills, I'd take a look at the source code myself, but I got on the Java bandwagon instead.

In any case, here's a test case you may find useful.  It's one of my test textures from the Java FSH tool I'm working on.  The dat contains the FSH file as generated straight from my tool with 4 embedded mipmaps (which the Reader chokes on), and the same file with 20 bytes of padding (equivalent to two more mips) which the Reader parses just fine.  FSHEd can read both of them with no problems and they both work correctly in game.

The reason the file without padding fails to load is FSHTool expects an attachment to be present after the images because you wrote the length of the section and it crashes when it reads past the end of the file.  :thumbsup:

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on November 13, 2011, 11:04:12 PM
Quote from: null45 on November 11, 2011, 10:58:35 PM
Quote from: jondor on November 10, 2011, 12:42:04 AM
What I find particularly odd is that it works in some cases, but not in others right now.  If I had much in the way of C++ skills, I'd take a look at the source code myself, but I got on the Java bandwagon instead.

In any case, here's a test case you may find useful.  It's one of my test textures from the Java FSH tool I'm working on.  The dat contains the FSH file as generated straight from my tool with 4 embedded mipmaps (which the Reader chokes on), and the same file with 20 bytes of padding (equivalent to two more mips) which the Reader parses just fine.  FSHEd can read both of them with no problems and they both work correctly in game.

The reason the file without padding fails to load is FSHTool expects an attachment to be present after the images because you wrote the length of the section and it crashes when it reads past the end of the file.  :thumbsup:

Run that one by me again?  The section length doesn't extend past the end of the file and it's consistent with the output of FSHEd.

A 128x128 DXT3 compressed image with 4 mipmaps encoded as a minimal FSH has a total file size of 21864 bytes (5568h) and a section length of 21840 bytes (5550h). The section starts at byte 24 (18h), which mathematically makes the address of the last byte of the section equal to the address of the last byte of the file.

Both my tool and FSHEd output identical headers (both the FSH header and the section header), but the Reader cannot decode either of them.  Perhaps the FSHTool code is buggy?

And in any case, the length fields of the padded file are similarly 557Ch and 5564h (each exactly 20 bytes more).  If it's trying to seek past the end of the file in one case, it should also try to do so in the other, unless something else is actually causing the problem.  And I should also point out that if I generate the file with 6 mipmaps instead of 4 (which has the same filesize as the padded file), the Reader can decode it properly without trying to seek for a non-existent attachment past the end of the file.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: null45 on November 14, 2011, 12:06:01 AM
To fix it all you would have to do is replace this code in the attachment handling loop:
        auxoffs+=(auxhdr->code>>8);

        if (curoffs<auxoffs) {
          fprintf(log,"!PAD %d ",auxoffs-curoffs);
          hexify(inbuf+curoffs,auxoffs-curoffs,pad);
          fprintf(log,"%s\n",pad);
        }


with the following code which will abort if it is at the end of the file:
        auxoffs+=(auxhdr->code>>8);

if (auxoffs >= inlen) {
   break;
}

        if (curoffs<auxoffs) {
          fprintf(log,"!PAD %d ",auxoffs-curoffs);
          hexify(inbuf+curoffs,auxoffs-curoffs,pad);
          fprintf(log,"%s\n",pad);
        }

       
I hope it helps.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on November 14, 2011, 10:23:47 AM
I hope the fix makes it into the next version.  I don't have any tools capable of compiling Windoze programs, and as I said, I don't have much C++ experience, this all came from observing test cases.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: cogeo on November 23, 2011, 10:43:11 AM
Hi,

I would like to ask a question:
Have you updated the S3D.dll? Are there any updates? I use its code in the Model Tweaker, however it doesn't compile with the newer versions of Visual Studio. I used typecasts where the compiler complains, however this is not a proper solution. Furthermore, the program suffers a heap corruption under Windows 7, causing crashes. Therefore I need to fix this library, esp its old-style copy-constructors (I think this causes duplicate references to memory blocks, which resullt in the heap corruption when released). However this is a considerable amount of work, which I would wish to avoid, if possible. Any suggestion?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Snivets on February 21, 2012, 04:06:25 PM
This is hardly a technical/usage question, but when I attempt to run the program, I get a side-by-side/manifest error. After googling this I found the recommended fix was deleting the registry key, but when I do so, attempting to start the program yields a demand for the original MSI package. When provided with this, the setup replaces the registry key and the problem repeats itself. Is there a simple solution, or is this a bug? I'm on x64 Win7.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Cougar2004 on February 28, 2012, 05:31:54 PM
Anyone have a link to the iLive 1.4 User Manual? Thx.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Gui on April 03, 2012, 04:15:36 AM
Hello;
I have been looking for but I couldn't find it.

Sometimes I want to change some values as the students capacity, etc..
And the value is sth like 4E20 (numbers and letters)

Is there a table to know wich this values minds?
I want to increase some of them but I don't know wich number to put.

Thanks
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jmyers2043 on April 03, 2012, 05:11:28 AM
Use the calculator that comes with windows. The numbers are in hex. Change your calculator to display scientific. You'll find that 4E20 in hex is 2,000 in decimal.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on April 03, 2012, 06:17:37 AM
Also, you can input many of the properties as decimal and reader will convert them to hex automatically for you.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Gui on April 03, 2012, 07:35:04 AM
Thank you very much!!
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: sithlrd98 on June 25, 2012, 04:55:51 PM
Been searching for a fix to my problem to no avail. I get the same errors from both my Win7 64 and WinXP machines with reader 1.4. First I get the "Cannot locate Simcity4 locale dat" message,then after the RAM takes a huge hit, I get the Visual C error, followed by the following error reporting info:

AppName: reader.exe AppVer: 1.4.0.0 ModName: msvcr90.dll
ModVer: 9.0.30729.6161 Offset: 0005beae


This is the Temp .txt file created

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<DATABASE>
<EXE NAME="Reader.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="OR_DAT.dll" SIZE="254464" CHECKSUM="0x7376B4B9" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" PRODUCT_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" FILE_DESCRIPTION="OR_DAT DLL" COMPANY_NAME="" PRODUCT_NAME="Bibliothèque de liaison dynamique OR_DAT" FILE_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="OR_DAT.DLL" INTERNAL_NAME="OR_DAT" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x4BACB" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:30:15" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:30:15" VER_LANGUAGE="French (France) [0x40c]" />
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="Reader.exe" SIZE="1752064" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.4.0.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.4.0.0" PRODUCT_VERSION="1.4.0.0" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Application MFC Reader" PRODUCT_NAME="Application Reader" FILE_VERSION="1.4.0.0" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="Reader.EXE" INTERNAL_NAME="Reader" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.4.0.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.4.0.0" VER_LANGUAGE="French (France) [0x40c]" />
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="res.dll" SIZE="644608" CHECKSUM="0x731AE8DB" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" PRODUCT_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Application MFC Reader" PRODUCT_NAME="Application Reader" FILE_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="Reader.EXE" INTERNAL_NAME="Reader" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xA7C48" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:29:41" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:29:41" VER_LANGUAGE="French (France) [0x40c]" />
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="resFR.dll" SIZE="650752" CHECKSUM="0x8F8EC139" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" PRODUCT_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Application MFC Reader" PRODUCT_NAME="Application Reader" FILE_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="Reader.EXE" INTERNAL_NAME="Reader" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2003" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xA20B5" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 12:41:33" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 12:41:33" VER_LANGUAGE="French (France) [0x40c]" />
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="s3d.dll" SIZE="116736" CHECKSUM="0x2DB7F7C4" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" PRODUCT_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" FILE_DESCRIPTION="s3d DLL" COMPANY_NAME="" PRODUCT_NAME="Bibliothèque de liaison dynamique s3d" FILE_VERSION="1, 0, 0, 1" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="s3d.DLL" INTERNAL_NAME="s3d" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright (C) 2004" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x4" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x2A99C" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.0.0.1" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.0.0.1" LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:29:29" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/20/2010 13:29:29" VER_LANGUAGE="French (France) [0x40c]" />
</EXE>
<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">
    <MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="989696" CHECKSUM="0x2D998938" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Windows NT BASE API Client DLL" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Microsoft® Windows® Operating System" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.090321-1317)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xFE572" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.5781" LINK_DATE="03/21/2009 14:06:58" UPTO_LINK_DATE="03/21/2009 14:06:58" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />
</EXE>
</DATABASE>


This is how my registry is showing

Key Name:          HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ILive
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   6/25/2012 - 1:24 PM
Key Name:          HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ILive\Reader
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   6/25/2012 - 1:24 PM

Key Name:          HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ILive\Reader\Recent File List
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   6/25/2012 - 1:24 PM

Key Name:          HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ILive\Reader\Settings
Class Name:        <NO CLASS>
Last Write Time:   6/25/2012 - 7:36 PM
Value 0
  Name:            lua_folder
  Type:            REG_SZ
  Data:           

Value 1
  Name:            def_folder
  Type:            REG_SZ
  Data:           


This info was all pulled from my XP machine..both Machines do have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package file installed from link on first page of this thread.

Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks
Jayson
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: metarvo on July 24, 2012, 07:12:23 AM
I recently upgraded to 1.4 from 0.93, mostly to take advantage of a script but also because it was about time.  However, right out of the gate, I started encountering an error that is severe enough to put any BAT/LOT projects on hold.  Normally, if I want to make an overhanging building fit onto a smaller lot (such as a power pole with a base smaller than 16m × 16m but upper supporting arms that would extend an additional tile on either side), I create the initial lot in PIM-X.  Then, I switch to Reader to adjust the Occupant Size for the building to 1,1,1 to facilitate the placement of the building on a 1×1 lot and to make MMP placement in the vicinity more possible.

Unfortunately, this strategy, which worked fine in Reader 0.93, is causing havoc in 1.4.  >:(  This is what PIM-X gives me when I run the program with the edited file in my Plugins folder (with [file] being a placeholder for the actual file name):


********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x5B959A2CL 0x5D93D00EL
located in C:\Users\Metarvo\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\[file].SC4Lot
0x27812810:{"Occupant Size"}=Float32:3:{Width: 1, Height: 1, Depth: 1}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x5B959A2CL 0x5D93D00EL
located in C:\Users\Metarvo\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\[file].SC4Lot
0x2781284F:{"Landmark Effect"}=Sint32:2:{Magnitude: 0x00000000}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x5B959A2CL 0x5D93D00EL
located in C:\Users\Metarvo\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\[file].SC4Lot
0x27812851:{"Pollution at center"}=Sint32:4:{Air: 0x0000000A}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x5B959A2CL 0x5D93D00EL
located in C:\Users\Metarvo\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\[file].SC4Lot
0x68EE9764:{"Pollution radii"}=Float32:4:{Air: 0}
*************************************************
********************* ERROR *********************
in examplar 0x6534284AL 0x5B959A2CL 0x5D93D00EL
located in C:\Users\Metarvo\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\[file].SC4Lot
0xCA5B9305:{"Mayor Rating Effect"}=Sint32:2:{Magnitude: 0x00000000}
*************************************************


I don't want to go back to 0.93, but I haven't ruled it out.  Does anyone know what may be causing this problem?  I'm running Vista 32 SP1.  Thanks in advance.  ;)


EDIT: After following the advice I was given and going back to 0.93, the files load perfectly.  Thank you for the help.  This Vista can be a pain sometimes!  ::)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: vortext on July 24, 2012, 09:14:55 AM
I run Vista 32 as well and I guess it's no good a combition with Reader 1.4. It gave me heaps and heaps of trouble, the problem you describe being one among many. I switched back to 0.93 pretty soon after and had no problems since  ()stsfd().
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on July 24, 2012, 02:00:25 PM
1.4 has quite a few issues. I'd check those entries in Reader 0.93 and see if it opens.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: noahclem on October 23, 2012, 01:07:58 AM
First, I'm using v0.93 but this is the only support thread I saw so sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

Reader worked great on my old machine but the new one with Win7 is having an annoying problem: the names of all the properties in the exemplar files show up as "unknown", which makes using Reader a lot like fumbling around in the dark. Does anyone know what causes this and how to fix it? I've tried opening Reader first and then opening the file I want to edit but it's not working either.

Thanks in advance!
-Noah
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tarkus on October 23, 2012, 01:18:54 AM
In my experience, that's due to the Reader somehow not finding the .xml file with the properties.  The one you generally want to use is the tropod_Properties.xml file that's included in the Reader's install directory.  You can get this to show up by going under Option > Options, and adding a reference to your Reader install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Ilives\Reader093 in my case, on Win8 Preview x64) by clicking the "Add" button.

-Alex
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: noahclem on October 23, 2012, 01:52:34 AM
Thanks a lot Alex, that did the trick!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on December 10, 2012, 02:35:12 PM
So many "Out of memory" and "Insufficient Storage" errors with 1.4 :(

Anyone else have this trouble on Win7 x64? I have 8GB RAM (>50% free) and over 200gb free storage so I don't see how that's not enough?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on December 10, 2012, 07:46:15 PM
I haven't seen any errors like that myself.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Yild on December 10, 2012, 10:48:45 PM
It's not windows related, it's ilive vs plugin files ;)

When I was translating ilive sources (operations on dbpf files) I have found some errors (a few) in the source code, there is a problem with exemplars entries saved as text files - ilivie crash if property elements array size is different than array real contents, ie exemplar counter store info that there are 3 elements in an array but there are only 2 elements -> at third element buffer overload -> crash.

IIRC there is an error with some compressed dbpf entries that are not correctly decompressed -> crash again.

...and few others...

My mistake was that I didn't saved any info where this errors occured... I just moddifed my source code and moved along  &mmm
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on December 11, 2012, 12:27:41 AM
The Decompressed file corruption is also a known issue, any decompressed files placed after the first compressed file but before the last one (I think) will be corrupted by reader if they're opened.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: NCGAIO on December 11, 2012, 06:22:06 AM

This had already been cited and it seems that would be solved with a new fix.


Hope that one day she appears ..


If anyone has free time the source code can be found at the link


http://ilive-reader.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ilive-reader/branches/v1.4/ (http://ilive-reader.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/ilive-reader/branches/v1.4/)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: cogeo on December 11, 2012, 08:55:08 AM
I could take a look.
Can you provide some more detail about the problem? For example when it occurs (on opening, saving, sorting, previewing, recalculating the DIR file or what). Is it the same in the old version and the new one?

Also do you have any contact with iLive? Could we ask him to rebuild the new reader (provided that we find and fix the bug)?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jondor on December 11, 2012, 09:05:33 AM
I have not run into it in 0.93 (which is one reason I stick to the old version).  In at least 1.2 and on, it can occur when a compressed file changes size and you access an uncompressed file without (and occasionally after) manually reindexing from the context menu.  I believe in this state it also corrupts them upon saving, but I have not tested that thoroughly.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: NCGAIO on December 11, 2012, 11:26:18 AM
Cogeo

()meeting()  Easy to see that it is not easy, with reasons ... but if he still continues to receive updates from sourceforge ...


This is an open source project ... to contact him and also make improvements.

maybe:  https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Abandoned%20Project%20Takeovers (https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/sourceforge/wiki/Abandoned%20Project%20Takeovers)


..
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Lowkee33 on December 11, 2012, 09:26:14 PM
I don't know much about the technical side of it (I got 1.4 to compile, but that's as far as that went), but I would say that the way that memory is used is messed up.

This pops up for me upon trying to copy/paste.  Copy too many things and CTD.  Copy/paste a few things, close reader (1.4), copy/paste a few more things, and eventually CTD.  Reader will also crash upon running the exe at this point.  I can get reader to run again by copying a large amount of data outside of reader (no need to do the paste).

The odd thing is that I've sometimes have had reader closed for hours, then do a copy/paste with something unrelated, and I get the message box that reader has crashed.

Better to use the "add-to-patch" feature if trying to do something like copy/paste, which also seems to cause crashing around the area of 50mb (10? 100? I forget).

The compression bug will possibly corrupt the file as far as working in SC4.  However, I have been able to fix the issue using DatPacker to compress files that I have broken in reader.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on January 20, 2013, 01:04:29 AM
Lowkee33, could you help me to get it to compile? (or anyone that's managed to compile the source)

Getting errors can't find 3dsftk.lib and or_dat.lib

(it was not finding 3dsftk.h but I was able to find that online)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: ky72x on April 12, 2013, 03:50:01 PM
I've been trying to figure out this problem myself, to no avail. For about a year now, anytime I try to paste something, it has no effect at all. I was using an older version for a long time without any problems with pasting, but after the issue came up I installed the current version, and the problem persists. I'm fairly sure that it isn't a computer specific problem, since pasting works fine otherwise.

Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: vester on April 12, 2013, 03:54:20 PM
Pasting what, where ?

Just copied some numbers (s3d - vert), both single cell and an area with no problems.

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: ky72x on April 12, 2013, 04:03:02 PM
Exemplar values for props on a lot (probably not worded correctly, but I'm not very technical)

Basically, anytime I try to paste into the "Values as text" box while editing a property, it has no effect.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: memo on April 12, 2013, 11:12:56 PM
Make sure to hit the Apply button to the right of the "values as text" field, before closing the window. Just hitting the Enter key does not save the changes, but Tab+Return will do the trick.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: runamuck on October 25, 2013, 04:41:26 AM
Has anyone looked into version 1.4 of iLives Reader lately to try and fix these crashes during copy/paste operations? They seem to have something to do with the "COMCTL32.dll and NTDLL.dll" files in Windows XP-SP3. I find that version 1.4 crashes during use and will crash upon startup right after using version 0.9.3. Could this have something to do with clearing out memory after use or after certain operations? Seems like something is hanging around somewhere to crash the 1.4 version. I like the new version, I hope it can be fixed!..................................Runamuck
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on October 25, 2014, 09:33:49 PM
Quote from: runamuck on October 25, 2013, 04:41:26 AM
Has anyone looked into version 1.4 of iLives Reader lately to try and fix these crashes during copy/paste operations............

Yep  ;D......

I know it's been a year now, so...........

Firstly I don't want to get anyones hopes up with the following, however, I'm posting an update to ilives Reader to try & fix some of the issues with his last release. So without further ado......

Firstly though; please don't use this unless you plan on being a guinea pig. I'm happy to try & fix bugs, but I don't plan on implementing any new features. Additionally, the sourcecode is quite complex so bug fixes may have other (unintended) side effects.


Following link contains installer "ILives Reader.msi", click & install. It also contains "setup.exe" for Visual C++ 2010 Runtime Libraries (x86) if you need it.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wsepblabcf4t1d/ILives%20Reader_v151_Release.zip?dl=0

v1.5.1 release & notes;
   - FSH flip vert/horz fixed.
   - FSH crash if FSH to small. If image is to small it will still get flipped it just won't save.
   - Delete Exemplar->ParentCohort line item infinite loop/crash fix.
   - Crash if selecting many files/properties & copy is clicked.
   - Crash on exit due to themes, even if no file is loaded.
   - "entry_SetTGI(entry,T,G,I)" sets the TGI as "IGT" fixed; should now be TGI.
   - LUA scripting; functions return unsigned int.
   - shortcut docking popup removed.


In the first instance if you have any issues (ie crashing or whatever else), I ask that you do the following before posting any problems;
1. uninstall program.
2. delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\iLive\
3. reinstall program (don't start program until step 4).
4. Reboot your PC.

If/when posting a problem please be as specific as possible, including full system specs. If crash generates an error report, please upload here as zip file so I can investigate.

cheers  :)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: memo on October 26, 2014, 12:24:55 AM
You are officially awesome! :thumbsup: +1

Having dug through the sources of the Reader myself, I can tell how complex it is, and your efforts are definitely appreciated.

There is also a bug that corrupts dat files if you add uncompressed files, if I recall correctly, but unfortunately I can't describe it in more depth as I am not that familiar with the 1.4 version.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on October 27, 2014, 02:24:06 PM
Thanks, thought it was about time I had a crack at this  :D.

I've gone through the last several pages here to try & pick up & address any issues. I've probably missed some. So if anyone wants stuff fixed, please (re)post them. Already have a couple more bug fixes for next release  &idea.


It's my intent to eventually try & port the code to unicode, if possible, or least get it to fully compile under unicode; and from there there'll probably be list of things to fix. First crack at it wasn't successful, there's at least ~5000+ bits of code to change :'(. And I do plan on uploading sourcecode (changes) when I find time.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: vester on October 27, 2014, 04:03:05 PM
Got one point from me as well :thumbsup: Reputation +1.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: AKPSV on November 09, 2014, 09:06:16 AM
Hallo,

i have a question.
Is there a way to save the data in an Excel spreadsheet?
If not, would that be possible?

thanks
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: memo on November 09, 2014, 09:43:23 AM
Which data do you want to export?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: AKPSV on November 09, 2014, 11:16:11 AM
All Data for my Database,

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=15173.msg436171#msg436171

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: memo on November 10, 2014, 02:28:36 PM
In my understanding, you are primarily interested in the data of Exemplar files. This can be done easily using the Exemplar Analyser tool of the Reader. Simply filter for the Exemplars you are interested in and then click "Exemplar > Save All Data To File". This will save the data as a tab-separated text file. Excel should be able to import that easily.

By the way, if I recall correctly, SC4 Tool is able to generate a nice HTML database from your plugins.

If none of this is sufficient, you'd need to be a bit more specific.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on November 17, 2014, 01:58:36 PM
v1.5.2 update summary & notes;
   - crash on main list file change, due to WAV/XA files.
   - uint16 data type (in Exemplars) now parsed; there's only 1 file in SC#.dats that contains this. I haven't fully tested it for saving however it should now least display it & the properties that follow.
   - Type 0x2026960B files identified properly ie LEV/XA etc; files should also get parsed properly as a result.
   - TGI filter added to context menu on main list.
   - LotData display/crash fix.
   - Properties folder crash on exit fix.
   - UI crash on delete fix.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ngzkvekpr0tebht/Ilives%20Reader_v152_Release.zip?dl=0
Above link contains "ILives Reader.msi" installer and "setup.exe" for MS2010 runtime libraries.

source code: those of you familiar with the source code note the following only includes the trunk folder contents;
Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hxgy8110ps64bwz/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v152.zip?dl=0

It's not sourceforge as I've had some issues mucking around trying to get that to work  ()testing().

On side note this will probably be last update for quite some time (ie no plans for another any time soon). I think ilive may of fixed some of the other issues that were mentioned earlier in the thread, as I haven't been able to replicate many of them.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 13, 2014, 08:11:36 PM
The "decompression file corruption" issue is still present in version 1.52. I can reproduced it in every version since 0.93, as Jondor stated. Some files are not affected, but I've yet to identify a common link. In most cases you need only save or "reindex lotconfig" for erroneous values to appear in several properties of the building exemplar. It has dodged every troubleshooting trick I've acquired from a decade in software support, and persists across all modern windows platforms and settings available therein. The bug clearly lies deep in the source code which is beyond by immediate technical reach or willingness to pursue. I am keenly aware of the tremendous personal sacrifice needed to produce such a complex and game changing ??? tool. However, unless this anomaly is squashed, the decade old Beta version remains its most viable release.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 13, 2014, 08:55:53 PM
Update:

The "decompression file corruption" issue mentioned above may have more to do with the properties file than the Reader itself. I replaced new_properties.xml with tropod_properties.xml (from version 0.93) in the "Filter File" and "XML Properties File" fields on the Options screen in Reader 1.52 and to my astonishment, I could no longer reproduce the problem! However, the expanded information contained in new_properties.xml contributes much of the value in upgrading so I don't consider this a total solution. Aside from significant formatting differences, there are no immediately discernible errors in either file. Accordingly, it seems most likely the problem stems from how the Reader interprets them. If so, one could hypothetically reconstruct the latter using the format of the former &mmm and effectively eliminate the error entirely. I'm going to sleep on it...
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 14, 2014, 12:36:26 PM
Update:

I realize this probably isn't the proper place to continue this dialogue, so I'll wrap it up with this post.  Since substituting tropod_properties.xml for new_properties.xml, I have yet to identify any consequences.  However, the Reader asks for the original installation media if I delete new_properties.xml altogether. Additionally, data from this file still appears in combo boxes among other places even after removing it from the options screen. Since I actually use PIMX to populate the fields, I'm confident the exemplar data is solid. I really want to believe I've found a valid workaround, but I can't get past the notion of referencing a deprecated properties file. &Thk/( Nevertheless, I will continue down this path until I see or hear otherwise.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on December 14, 2014, 01:52:18 PM
Quote from: keepmada on December 13, 2014, 08:11:36 PM
The "decompression file corruption" issue is still present in version 1.52......


I'm sure many users here would appreciate your comments/findings. I've read Jondor comments & other posts (awhile ago admittedly) but don't really understand the problem entirely to be honest. So if you/someone could clarify the following (along with detailed examples ;D) it would help immensely.....

-are decompressed files only affected or is it a case of saving a decompressed file causing the problem (ie & stemming to non-decompressed files).
-is only (certain types of) Exemplar/Cohort files affected or any type of file.
-Does editing/saving a *.dat without Exemplars/cohorts still present the problem.
-Regarding *_properties.xml file; does the issue still exist if you don't use any *_properties.xml file.
-lastly; formatting differences between *_properties.xml; could you please elaborate.

This info will help me try & track this sucker down  ()flamdev().

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on December 14, 2014, 08:24:38 PM
I can answer some of that.

Quote from: Tropod on December 14, 2014, 01:52:18 PM
-is only (certain types of) Exemplar/Cohort files affected or any type of file.

Any type of file can be corrupted. Of the top of my head, I've had it eat Path files, S3Ds, PNGs and LTEXT.

Quote from: Tropod on December 14, 2014, 01:52:18 PM
-Does editing/saving a *.dat without Exemplars/cohorts still present the problem.

I've had it eat the contents of a file completely comprised of LTEXTs. So yes.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on December 15, 2014, 01:44:18 AM
I'm thinking if anyone has a before & after *dat file, regarding corruption issue, that'll probably help even better.

@jdenm8
Thanks for clarifying those items, it does help  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 23, 2014, 10:43:17 AM
First, thanks Tropod and Jdenm8 for your zeal to finally crush this bug. Its broad scope combined with the Reader's indispensable nature means a potential solution could hold immense value. I called it the "decompression file corruption problem" because what Jondor described was consistent with what I experienced and unlikely to be a coincidence. The "formatting differences" I mentioned referred to the stark visual contrast between the two properties files when viewed in notepad, which is most likely inconsequential. Both files checked out when I ran them through an XML validator.

I've attached "before and after" copies of my most recent example, "Pearson High School" by Justanothersim. You'll easily notice several properties with faulty or truncated values in the building exemplar. They appeared after right-clicking in the preview pane, selecting "Reindex Lotconfig," and refreshing the view (selecting another file in the Entries pane and returning to the building exemplar). For a complete error report, open the "After" file in PIMX.

Please excuse the lack of technical detail. I still consider myself a novice and hold tremendous respect for the dizzying amount and complexity of content bequeathed to the SC4 community by your elite group. That said, I'll do whatever I can to aid the investigation.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 24, 2014, 06:11:59 AM
The following additional information, which may or may not be relevant, is an excerpt from Page 16 of the documentation packaged with Rivit's SC4DataNode:

"Reader is susceptible to the incorrect editing of Text Exemplars. Versions 1.3 and 1.4 of this tool will incorrectly insert formatting into the exemplars. These versions should be avoided."

"$Deal"$ Please note that version 1.4 was the most recent release of Reader at the time of this publication.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on December 24, 2014, 08:47:58 AM
Arguably, you should be using User-Visible Name Keys and Description Keys to link to LTEXT files containing the text rather than hardcoding them in the exemplar. The descriptions even have their own dedicated LTEXT Group IDs.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: HappyDays on December 24, 2014, 12:13:01 PM
I've encountered the same bug Keepmada has, with certain values being emptied from exemplars.

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=13000.0

This thread details exactly how to reproduce the issue.

I've additionally encountered .dat corruption bugs of all sorts when using iLives 1.4. My favorite are the ones where UI files are emptied at random. This particularly sucks because 1.4 has a good interface for editing UI files, whereas 0.9.3 doesn't.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on December 24, 2014, 05:40:35 PM
Quote from: keepmada on December 23, 2014, 10:43:17 AM
....I've attached "before and after" copies of my most recent example.......

Thanks for uploading these  :thumbsup:. If you/anyone have any others like this, particularly/especially if they don't involve Exemplar/Cohort files, please upload them too (& steps taken) as it will further help narrow down the problem. Sometimes half the trouble with addressing these bugs is trying to replicate them.
I've had a (very) quick look at these files & can see there's clearly some sort of issue. Whether that's got to do with the properties/xml file or reader source code I'm not sure yet & may take (quite) some time to pinpoint the cause (& fix it).



@HappyDays
Thanks for posting this. I'll have a read through that as well as it looks like it'll help ;).
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: memo on December 25, 2014, 02:12:24 AM
Quote from: jdenm8 on December 24, 2014, 08:47:58 AM
Arguably, you should be using User-Visible Name Keys and Description Keys to link to LTEXT files containing the text rather than hardcoding them in the exemplar. The descriptions even have their own dedicated LTEXT Group IDs.

I think Rivit refers to text formatted exemplar files (as opposed to binary format), rather than exemplars holding properties of text. If I recall correctly, Yild recently mentioned a problem directly related to text formatted exemplars, the code for which was taken from the Reader.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on December 25, 2014, 03:08:26 AM
Ah, right. My bad.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on December 27, 2014, 03:35:47 AM
v1.5.2b update summary/notes;
   - Text Exemplar corruption fix; otherwise known as Occupant Size (OS) bug.
   - Crash on Counter fix.
   - Compare *dat; Open file dlg & pathfile name display improvements.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ormit2ptuzqn1uv/Ilives%20Reader_v152b_Release.zip?dl=0
Contains "ILives Reader.msi" installer and "setup.exe" for MS2010 runtime libraries.
source code: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ivl3zlw7tvmsjrv/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v152b.zip?dl=0.

-OS bug; Not sure if the above fix will resolve the "decompression file corruption" issue or if it is related to something else entirely. I can only suggest users try this most recent version, ensuring you backup your work, reporting back (& steps taken & sample files etc) if it continues to be a problem.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on December 31, 2014, 09:16:28 AM
As a fellow programmer, I've learned not to celebrate prematurely.  However, I'm struggling to contain the grin on my face right now.  A dozen or so attempts to replicate the "OS Bug" have each been unsuccessful.  It seems the scope of this issue extended much further than Rivit or anyone else could have anticipated.  If and when it proves why so many seasoned users are loyal to version 0.93, perhaps we should bring them up to speed with a more public release.  Much of the community is oblivious to Tropod's recent work because the LEX post is long overdue for an update. 

Tropod - Many, many thanks for the blood, sweat, tears, and what must have been countless late nights developing The Reader ;)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on January 05, 2015, 03:35:10 PM
Quote from: keepmada on December 31, 2014, 09:16:28 AM
As a fellow programmer, I've learned not to celebrate prematurely.  However, I'm struggling to contain the grin on my face right now.  A dozen or so attempts to replicate the "OS Bug" have each been unsuccessful.  It seems the scope of this issue extended much further than Rivit or anyone else could have anticipated.  If and when it proves why so many seasoned users are loyal to version 0.93, perhaps we should bring them up to speed with a more public release.  Much of the community is oblivious to Tropod's recent work because the LEX post is long overdue for an update. 

Tropod - Many, many thanks for the blood, sweat, tears, and what must have been countless late nights developing The Reader ;)


This is good to hear. Feel free to spread the word  :thumbsup:. I too am a little cautious though the fix has addressed more than just the OS bug. Even though the program is old, if users do have issues the only way they'll possibly get fixed is with the help of recent posts by yourself & others, which really helped me track down & narrow the bug  :thumbsup:. So pat on back for you too  &apls.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Markhoz on January 10, 2015, 07:53:27 AM
Help, please.

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffotos.subefotos.com%2Fbb33c919e7b7bdfc54320dd38bb60ae7o.jpg&hash=74c7d0faa607ad29050643b8c58caa53004c1d40)

What´s the problem?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on January 10, 2015, 08:28:08 AM
This message will appear whenever the following conditions exist:

1 - Sim City is running in the background - therefore the file is in use.
2 - You have not configured the Reader to find it in the correct location on your hard drive.

You can still use the Reader with SC4 running, it just can't read any data from open files, probably best avoided.

If you need to configure the reader, open it, click on the Application Menu Icon (Top Left), select Options and look for the line "SimCityLocale.dat file". Click the folder to browse for the file, it should be located at:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Spanish\SimCityLocale.DAT".

If you are using another language, just follow the same folder structure, except select the language you are using for the folder in red.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Markhoz on January 10, 2015, 09:54:15 AM
Doesn´t work  ???
I haven´t the folder "spanish" I found "SimCityLocale.Dat" at the Steam folder, I downloaded SC4 from Steam,       I did everything rigth, but the IReader doesn´t work :(

Thank´s for all ;)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on January 10, 2015, 05:23:41 PM
Well it does work, I use it all the time, there is no error here as such, for the most part you can happily use the reader without ever loading the SimCity Locale file, it just won't be able to reference the data within it.

Your folders may indeed differ from mine, Program Files (x86) is the default install location for all programs, if Steam decide to install it somewhere else you will have to find the file manually. Once you've told the Reader where it is, the error message will stop appearing. Do bear in mind there is more than one SimCity Locale file, and the normal CD install has a number of language folders in the root of the SimCity 4 Deluxe folder. You will want to select the relivant one for the language you are using normally, if there is no Spanish folder I've no idea what Steam might have changed here, but a simple Windows search would find all the SimCity Locale files in seconds so it shouldn't be too hard.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on January 10, 2015, 08:15:08 PM
Steam stores the locale files weirdly, it only downloads the language you've selected and it doesn't store it in a language folder.

All you have to do is point Reader at where Steam has put the file. The path is SteamApps/Common/SimCity 4 Deluxe/SimCityLocale.dat. The path is the same for every language.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Markhoz on January 11, 2015, 01:15:34 PM
Yes, I found the file...I followed the configuration instructions, but when I restart the program, it doesn,t run :bomb:
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: HappyDays on January 11, 2015, 03:00:01 PM
Define "doesn't run".

When you click the executable to run the program, does it:

A: Do literally nothing. No pop-ups, no error message, no warnings, no program process in task manager.

B: Give an error message.

C: Do something else.

If B, give us the exact language of the message. If C, describe exactly what occurs.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: keepmada on January 21, 2015, 07:10:02 PM
Quote from: Tropod on January 05, 2015, 03:35:10 PM
... Even though the program is old, if users do have issues the only way they'll possibly get fixed is with the help of recent posts by yourself & others...
What is required, beyond standard procedure, to update the LEX download (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=656) to version 1.52b? Equipping enthusiasts with an enhanced toolset will encourage development and increase complexity of custom content.
&idea
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.4 Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on January 23, 2015, 12:57:42 AM
I think having v0.93 around, much like this thread, still is useful for historical reasons. It's also a good base from which to start modding & many functions in v1.52b, though not all, can be found in 0.93. The LEX version is 0.93 which is actually quite a good version & one I still use some times (ssshhhh don't tell anyone :-X). Updating LEX probably just need to have one of the admins update it or add a note to it.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: null45 on March 14, 2015, 04:31:57 AM
v1.5.3b update summary/notes:

   - The DXT1 1-bit alpha channel is now loaded correctly.
   - Fixed the display bug with files containing embedded mipmaps.
   - Fixed a UI glitch with the Flip Horz and Flip Vert buttons.

Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ps1zunwyvvsj1r/Ilives_Reader_v153b_Release.zip?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ps1zunwyvvsj1r/Ilives_Reader_v153b_Release.zip?dl=0)
Contains "ILives Reader.msi" installer and "setup.exe" for MS2010 runtime libraries.
source: https://www.dropbox.com/s/g6xylclhdyojez5/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v153b.zip?dl=0 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/g6xylclhdyojez5/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v153b.zip?dl=0)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: medit84truth on July 25, 2015, 06:26:06 PM
The iLives installer gives me this message:

"Unable to install because a newer version of this product is already installed."


This is the message I get when trying to setup the MS2010 runtime libraries:

Setup has detected that this computer does not meet the requirements to install this software. The following blocking issue must be resolved before you can install Microsoft visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistribution Setup software package.

Please Resolve the following:
A newer version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 redistribution has been detected on the machine
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on July 30, 2015, 01:01:44 AM
Quote from: medit84truth on July 25, 2015, 06:26:06 PM
The iLives installer gives me this message:

"Unable to install because a newer version of this product is already installed."

This is the message I get when trying to setup the MS2010 runtime libraries:

Setup has detected that this computer does not meet the requirements to install this software. The following blocking issue must be resolved before you can install Microsoft visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistribution Setup software package.

Please Resolve the following:
A newer version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 redistribution has been detected on the machine

Are you able to uninstall & then reinstall both the reader and MSVC? Otherwise someone would need to look at source code to see if that can be updated.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on September 25, 2015, 03:48:50 PM
Just wanted to relay a bug I was able to reproduce discussed here (http://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/69032-reader-advice/#comment-1592311) on SimTropolis recently.

If you open a buildings exemplar and the property Budget Item: Cost. When trying to enter data in the Integer format the entered amount is changed to something else. In this example the Maxis Power plant from 250-->300 which changes to 768 when setting the new figure.

I've just tried another one with a random building exemplar from my plugins folder and the property Building Value, once more the integer entry seems to result in a much higher number than entered. Selecting Default at this point gives you 0x0...#. Where # equals the actual figure entered in the first place, but not the correct Hex conversion.

I'm using version 1.53b which I believe to be the latest.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on September 26, 2015, 04:13:08 PM
Thanks for referencing & posting that here ;).

Should be an easy fix (hopefully) & probably has to do with data type. Will have a look over the next few days & see if I can fix it. Stay tuned  ()testing().

cheers :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on October 02, 2015, 03:59:03 AM
v1.5.4 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g06tdc313xmkxx/Ilives%20Reader_v154_Release.zip?dl=0) update;
-Exemplar Property "INT" Editing fixed.
Should fix the above mentioned issue, for most editing purposes. In saying this ilive designed the Exemplar editing though so "0x" treats the input as hex, input without 0x gets treated as not hex. And this will be regardless of whether hex or int being selected as input.

v1.5.4 source code (https://www.dropbox.com/s/vma0l3c5lev9rrc/Ilives_Reader_source_vs2010_v154.zip?dl=0)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on October 02, 2015, 09:35:32 AM
Small issue here, I can't install the new version, because the old version is already installed.

I can't uninstall the old version, I get this error:

"Error opening installation log file. Verify
that the specified log file location exists
and is writable"

Could you tell me where this should be, it isn't with the originally installed folders so far as I can tell?

:edit: - Sorted now, I tracked down the original installer from the registry entries and managed to run the uninstaller successfully from there. No idea why the link was broken?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on October 08, 2015, 03:29:25 AM
Quote from: mgb204 on October 02, 2015, 09:35:32 AM
Small issue here, I can't install the new version, because the old version is already installed.

I can't uninstall the old version, I get this error:

"Error opening installation log file. Verify
that the specified log file location exists
and is writable"

Could you tell me where this should be, it isn't with the originally installed folders so far as I can tell?

:edit: - Sorted now, I tracked down the original installer from the registry entries and managed to run the uninstaller successfully from there. No idea why the link was broken?


TBH no idea &mmm. Would have to have a look & even then may still have no idea. I think the installer was done by someone else & not ilive himself if I recall. For future reference/release I could possibly upload a non-installer version, which personally I prefer myself anyways, it may just have some subtle differences (again off-hand not sure).
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: marbour on January 24, 2016, 11:27:54 AM
I have a little question here. Every-time i try to attach an xa file with description to my lot, it makes the game crashes. Now i know this works because i already did this on another file. I'm probably missing something here but can't find out what. I'm just trying to change the description in the menu. This is a modified fire station by the way.
Can anybody help? Ty
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: marbour on January 24, 2016, 12:09:31 PM
Quote from: marbour on January 24, 2016, 11:27:54 AM
I have a little question here. Every-time i try to attach an xa file with description to my lot, it makes the game crashes. Now i know this works because i already did this on another file. I'm probably missing something here but can't find out what. I'm just trying to change the description in the menu. This is a modified fire station by the way.
Can anybody help? Ty
I just found out that its because i added the symbol (§) in the description file, so just be careful what you write in your description.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on January 24, 2016, 07:39:41 PM
The game doesn't use the § symbol. All instances you see in the game are actually the $ sign. You see § because the game's fonts have the § glyph in the $ position.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: speeder on February 16, 2016, 07:17:19 PM
I am thinking of updating this.

If I end actually updating it, can I just add it to GitLab instead of all this source attachment thing?

Also, anyone know the license?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on February 24, 2016, 01:10:36 PM
Quote from: speeder on February 16, 2016, 07:17:19 PM
I am thinking of updating this.

If I end actually updating it, can I just add it to GitLab instead of all this source attachment thing?

Also, anyone know the license?


Feel free to update &/or use the source code :thumbsup: & upload wherever. I only used dropbox as it was convenient for me & I couldn't update or upload to ilives Sourceforge project (to many roadblocks). ilive himself years ago assisted me personally with getting his code up & running to program on & he had no problem with this. Plus he's nowhere to be found anymore it seems :'(. Any licenses that are applicable should be in the source code itself in their relevant area (ie with header etc).

Personally, I will most likely not be making anymore updates. My files for this project sits on an old XP hard drive that I think is finally stuffed :'(, plus my time is currently focused on other things at the moment.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: speeder on February 24, 2016, 02:15:59 PM
Yeah... I take back my last post :P

Just attempting to do a extremely simple fix made me understand why you decided to write a new reader from scratch.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 28, 2016, 05:56:09 PM
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1085.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fj424%2Fcmdp123789%2FiLive%2520issue01_zpstyln1uju.png&hash=c9af1659557887c389d8d1e18ed65928752cba16)

What is going on? I dont understand what is happening, everything is showing up as unknown.. help?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: twalsh102 on March 28, 2016, 06:53:12 PM
I'll admit that I'm not an expert on this program, but some simple troubleshooting steps come immediately to mind.
1.  When you say "everything is showing up as unknown," are you talking only this one file, or every file you open?
2.  What version of the reader are you using?  What your screenshot shows isn't anything like what I see when I open v. 1.5.3b (which I think is the latest version).  If your version is much older, you might consider upgrading to the latest version.
3.  To make sure you aren't just looking at corrupted files, you might open the file in some other tool that shows the file contents (SC4Tool or SC4PIM come to mind).
4.  If the version of Reader that you are using has worked for you recently, you might consider reinstalling what you have.  What you're seeing might be a result of corrupted Reader program files.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on March 28, 2016, 08:47:55 PM
If it's just this file, I'd assume there is something wrong with it.

You could try taking another lot exemplar (copy), open it in another reader window (instance) then adjusting all the simple properties to match the file in question.

All the long lines are the textures, props etc on the lot. With luck, if you only copy/paste these into the new modified exemplar (removing any from the template first), it may just keep the lot and fix the problem. Usually all but one of the LotConfigPropertyObject lines shown unknown anyway. With some more copy/pasting, you could probably restore the top line manually too if you needed to. Don't forget to ID the new lot file correctly afterwards and Reindex the LotConfig.

I hope that makes sense.

BTW, the image shows reader .093. I have to admit, like many, I use it in preference to the newer version.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: c.p. on March 28, 2016, 10:15:54 PM
There should be a file called tropod_Properties.xml in the same folder as the reader.exe program.  Perhaps if that got moved or deleted it could cause a problem like you are having(?)  (Just a guess.)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: cmdp123789 on March 29, 2016, 08:03:20 AM
Thanks for the quick replies guys! Honestly, I don't know what it was, but I simply took the 0.93 version, and went back to the 1st page, and I believe I have now the 1.4 version? where do I get the latest one?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: vester on March 29, 2016, 09:06:46 AM
You got it.

The 1.5 version is the latest. You find a download link in this post (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg498883#msg498883).
(See the top of the first post in this thread.)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Wournos on April 01, 2016, 11:34:26 PM
Quote from: Tropod on July 30, 2015, 01:01:44 AM
Quote from: medit84truth on July 25, 2015, 06:26:06 PM
The iLives installer gives me this message:

"Unable to install because a newer version of this product is already installed."

This is the message I get when trying to setup the MS2010 runtime libraries:

Setup has detected that this computer does not meet the requirements to install this software. The following blocking issue must be resolved before you can install Microsoft visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistribution Setup software package.

Please Resolve the following:
A newer version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 redistribution has been detected on the machine

Are you able to uninstall & then reinstall both the reader and MSVC? Otherwise someone would need to look at source code to see if that can be updated.
I have the same issue trying to install v152. The program cannot be installed due to this message.

Version 151 works though and I have been trying to change the Rep value on some train stations I have downloaded because they have the wrong capacity on Mac, but when I locate the exemplar file, double-click it to edit, the Rep field is greyed out and I cannot change the value to 0 (as suggested over at Simtropolis).
What do I do?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: InvisiChem on April 02, 2016, 12:16:56 AM
I run version 1.54 on windows 10 64 bit with no issues. Was running it on 7 64 bit and 8.1 64bit without issues. Here is the post with the link http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg498883#msg498883 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg498883#msg498883).

If I remember right, have to reread the posts to be sure, but 1.52 had this issue and was fixed by 1.53. Don't quote me, been awhile, including a nickname change, since I read that.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Wournos on April 02, 2016, 03:16:25 AM
Quote from: InvisiChem on April 02, 2016, 12:16:56 AM
I run version 1.54 on windows 10 64 bit with no issues. Was running it on 7 64 bit and 8.1 64bit without issues. Here is the post with the link http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg498883#msg498883 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10417.msg498883#msg498883).

If I remember right, have to reread the posts to be sure, but 1.52 had this issue and was fixed by 1.53. Don't quote me, been awhile, including a nickname change, since I read that.
Tried to install this. I get a bunch of files and an Installer folder with several sub folders (32, 32d, 32v90, 32v90d), all but one (32) containing setup files. Which one do I pick?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on April 02, 2016, 05:48:36 AM
If you get the error re: Microsoft Visual C++ 2010, there is one important thing you should check. On a 64-Bit OS, you may have the 64-Bit version installed. In which case also install the 32-Bit version.

I had problems because I failed to install the 32-Bit runtime, thinking the 64-Bit runtime would be sufficient.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: InvisiChem on April 02, 2016, 08:47:23 AM
You clicked the source code link. Try the one above that. lol.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Edvarz on April 29, 2016, 03:07:57 PM
Hi, just a little question. I installed version 1.54 without uninstalling version 0.93, in fact I couldn't uninstall it didn't find an uninstal.exe and I also couldn't do it from the Windows Control Panel (I'm guessing some program messed with the registry). I'm using a 64bit Windows7. The weird thing is that both versions seem to work. So can I have them both installed on my computer?
Sorry if it's a stupid question. I just know the basics about computers. Thanks!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: NCGAIO on April 29, 2016, 03:54:21 PM

Unless  has made one manual registry the reader vs 0.93 will not show up for uninstallation  why this version is just to unzip in paste..


For remember ... in  64Bit  windows environments all 32bit process is run on emulation (wow64) and do not share.


  DLLs and other characteristics can be observed in

- -WOW64 Implementation Details (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384274(v=vs.85).aspx)


- -Running 32-bit Applications (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384249(v=vs.85).aspx)


Nc
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on April 29, 2016, 06:54:06 PM
Quote from: Edvarz on April 29, 2016, 03:07:57 PM
Hi, just a little question. I installed version 1.54 without uninstalling version 0.93, in fact I couldn't uninstall it didn't find an uninstal.exe and I also couldn't do it from the Windows Control Panel (I'm guessing some program messed with the registry). I'm using a 64bit Windows7. The weird thing is that both versions seem to work. So can I have them both installed on my computer?
Sorry if it's a stupid question. I just know the basics about computers. Thanks!

Yes, you can use both. v0.93 doesn't actually do an install, whereas v1.54 does.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Edvarz on April 29, 2016, 10:02:54 PM
Quote from: Tropod on April 29, 2016, 06:54:06 PM
Quote from: Edvarz on April 29, 2016, 03:07:57 PM
Hi, just a little question. I installed version 1.54 without uninstalling version 0.93, in fact I couldn't uninstall it didn't find an uninstal.exe and I also couldn't do it from the Windows Control Panel (I'm guessing some program messed with the registry). I'm using a 64bit Windows7. The weird thing is that both versions seem to work. So can I have them both installed on my computer?
Sorry if it's a stupid question. I just know the basics about computers. Thanks!

Yes, you can use both. v0.93 doesn't actually do an install, whereas v1.54 does.

Oh, I see now. Thanks a bunch!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: woodb3kmaster on July 25, 2016, 12:18:32 AM
Following my recent issues with custom lot icons, I thought it best to point out that Reader tends to corrupt files inserted into DATs. I've seen it happen with both PNGs and LTEXTs, but not always. Often the corruption occurs when I save the DAT, though I wouldn't rule out the possibility that it happens immediately on insertion as well. (For the record, I've been using v1.52, though I have the v1.54 installer on my hard drive.)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: jdenm8 on July 25, 2016, 03:00:31 AM
I don't recall if the non-compressed file corruption bug was ever fixed. If I recall correctly, it would corrupt any uncompressed files after a compressed file (When sorted by the NUM). This happens regardless of subfile type; I've had it happen to PNGs, LTEXTs, Exemplars, Effect Dirs, etc.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on July 25, 2016, 03:47:05 AM
I think you should update to the latest version, because I think this bug was finally squashed. I didn't realise you were using one of the older revisions. I've quickly done some tests importing both compressed and uncompressed icons, neither operation caused any issues with the file. This is using reader 1.5.4.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: twalsh102 on July 25, 2016, 11:39:21 AM
The iLives installer gives me this message:

In reference to the issue of receiving the following error when trying to install v1.54:

"Setup has detected that this computer does not meet the requirements to install this software. The following blocking issue must be resolved before you can install Microsoft visual C++ 2010 x86 Redistribution Setup software package.

Please Resolve the following:
A newer version of Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 redistribution has been detected on the machine"

I've discovered the following:  This is a Microsoft error and has nothing to do with iReader.  The following link explains in some detail:

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vsnetsetup/2014/07/17/installation-failing-with-a-newer-version-of-microsoft-visual-c-2010-redistributable-has-been-detected-on-this-machine/

I found the easiest thing to do is to uninstall any existing versions of the 2010 redistributable per the above link.  Then you have a choice of downloading the package(s) directly from Microsoft, or letting the iReader setup program install it.  If you download from Microsoft and install separately, the iReader setup program will recognize the correct version of the redistributable, and immediately launch the setup of iReader.

Make sure you uninstall the x64 version if you had it installed, as it apparently suffered the same problem.  Just download the x64 package from Microsoft and reinstall separately.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: dlo§rhuj on August 23, 2016, 11:47:06 AM
I tried editing the SimCity_1.dat in the latest iLive Reader (1.54) and I think it corrupted it. At least, SimCity 4 now doesn't start up anymore and just fails silently. I think it's got nothing to do with the edit itself, it must be a bug in the iLive Reader.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Andreas on August 23, 2016, 12:47:09 PM
The Reader was never designed to edit the SimCity_1.dat itself, but it was always advised to copy the modified data into a new *.dat file. You can "collect" the properties that you want to change with the "Add to patch" feature, and then save them into a new file in one go. This is basically the way how all mods for SC4 were created.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on January 02, 2017, 06:54:46 PM
So if anyone is updating things still, would it be possible to take a look at the LUA script exprop_SetValue function? Still has the bug where only strings are properly set.

Would start in ReaderLua.cpp,

i've been trying to set UInt32 (type 0x300) properties, so it appears it's done here,

                case (0x700):
        case (0x300):
                case (0xB00):
        case (0x100):
dwVal  = (int)lua_tonumber  (state, 2);
iPos   = (int)lua_tonumber  (state, 3);
if (iPos < pProp->dwValue.GetSize())
pProp->dwValue.SetAt(iPos,dwVal);

                    break;   


Now the exprop_SetDesc is able to set its UInt32 value with
unsigned int exprop_SetDesc (lua_State *state)
   {    
_examplar_prop* pProp = (_examplar_prop*)(int) lua_tonumber (state, -2);
if (pProp)
{
pProp->dwDesc = (int) lua_tonumber (state, -1);                
}   
        return 0;
   }


So maybe that way?

I'd try it myself but after installing a couple different VS versions and 3 different SDKs, my VS2008 compiler is so thoroughly messed up I can't even compile hello world after countless hours trying to fix paths (no, running vcvarsall.bat didn't help), much less something as complex as reader.                 
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on March 18, 2017, 12:34:51 AM
Quote from: fafalone on January 02, 2017, 06:54:46 PM
So if anyone is updating things still, would it be possible to take a look at the LUA script exprop_SetValue function? Still has the bug where only strings are properly set.
...

Not sure I properly understand this issue &mmm. So if you (or anyone?) would care to elaborate on this issue including providing a sample that highlights the issue, & possible fix, I'd be more than happy to take a look & see about fixing source code & updating it  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: fafalone on April 22, 2017, 11:17:40 PM
When you're adding/setting a property, there's name value, data type, rep, and value...
         exprop = reader:exprop_Add(exemplar)
         reader:exprop_SetType(exprop,0x300)
         reader:exprop_SetDesc(exprop,0x8A2602B9)
         reader:exprop_SetRep(exprop,1)
         reader:exprop_SetValue(exprop,"0x0000097A")

That SHOULD add an item order, which is type UInt32, set to 97A. Instead it sets it to a random value, or 0 (random if value quoted like above, zero if unquoted, have tried rep=0 also)

But when it's used on a string value. e.g.
         exprop = reader:exprop_Add(exemplar)
         reader:exprop_SetType(exprop,0xC00)
         reader:exprop_SetDesc(exprop,0xEA296F8F)
         reader:exprop_SetRep(exprop,0)
         reader:exprop_SetValue(exprop,"Test3")


It works fine.

this is the LUA scripting feature, the above is part of a script I wrote myself to automate editing lots. the code in my last post is from the reader source code that is behind that script's function call.

Any fix would really be a guess on my part.. can't really be more specific beyond looking at how the strings and other things like the UInt3 Desc are set without the ability to run the compiler. I did recently install VS2013, maybe I'll try compiling with that if it can load VS2010 projects..
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on April 23, 2017, 01:49:46 PM
Quote from: fafalone on April 22, 2017, 11:17:40 PM
...
this is the LUA scripting feature, the above is part of a script I wrote myself to automate editing lots. the code in my last post is from the reader source code that is behind that script's function call.

Any fix would really be a guess on my part.. can't really be more specific beyond looking at how the strings and other things like the UInt3 Desc are set without the ability to run the compiler. I did recently install VS2013, maybe I'll try compiling with that if it can load VS2010 projects..

I've never actually used script functionality myself to be honest. You able to upload copy of the script?
VS2013 you'll probably have to disable/surpress unicode warnings otherwise it won't compile, or alternatively change all code multi-byte->unicode.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: jeffryfisher on December 18, 2017, 06:36:28 PM
Request to moderators: Tarkus's warning helps, but... If you have access to the OP on page 1, please nullify obsolete links and add (near the top) a "Find most recent download here" link that points to the latest version (or post in this thread that does so). This thread is now long enough that hunting for the latest is both tedious and prone to error.

Also, for anyone who hadn't already cottoned to the fact: There's an SC4 Reader out there that is NOT the iLives Reader! It should have been obvious except that they are (or were recently) simultaneously and unfortunately both most-current at v1.54. Adding to the confusion, there's at least one not-quite-helpful forum post out there on a site that shall remain nameless that touted iLives v1.54 but linked to the download for SC4 Reader v1.54 (the one I followed a few months ago but can no longer find).

I have now downloaded iLives v1.54 from Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g06tdc313xmkxx/Ilives%20Reader_v154_Release.zip?dl=0) and can now use your superior app. Please alert me if I missed a more recent version.

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: tomvsotis on December 18, 2017, 07:13:59 PM
wait, really? Where's the Fries? (next time we'll wash your mouth out with soap) is SC4 Reader?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tarkus on December 18, 2017, 08:21:40 PM
Thanks for the heads up on the need for further clarification, Jeff--I've gone ahead and made an addendum to my initial edit, with a link to ilive's Reader 1.5.4 and its source code.

Quote from: tomvsotis on December 18, 2017, 07:13:59 PM
wait, really? Where's the Fries? (next time we'll wash your mouth out with soap) is SC4 Reader?

SC4 Reader is another tool that does a lot of the same things as ilive's Reader, and was also developed by Tropod--who, coincidentally enough, also did the Version 1.5.x work on ilive's Reader.  The most recent version of SC4 Reader is actually Version 1.5.6 now, after an update in September 2017.

-Alex

-Alex
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: tomvsotis on December 18, 2017, 11:53:58 PM
Huh, cool. Good to know. (And point taken on the whereabouts of the fries.)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Kitsune on May 30, 2018, 06:30:00 PM
1.5.3 and 1.5.4 keep corrupting exemplars - as in 0'ing all but the one I'm working on out after I do 3-4 saves in a row on a file. Is there any solution to this ?

Edit: To add... its also zero-ing out all the exemplars if I delete a property in one exemplar.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: twalsh102 on June 01, 2018, 09:58:27 AM
Although we have all been taught that you always save after making changes, what I've found with the newer versions of Reader (specifically 1.5.3 and 1.5.4) is that if one saves more than once when a file is open, something is going to get corrupted.  I've experienced PNGs getting blanked or turned into apparent text files, LText files getting scrambled, and like you, exemplars getting corrupted.

To get around this, I've adopted the simple expedient of either waiting until after I've made all my modifications before saving, or having saved the first time and then discovering another change to make, closing the file and reopening it before making further changes.

I haven't experienced any corruption when following these guidelines.  But every once in a while, I won't pay attention to what I'm doing, save more than once, and end up with corruption.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tyberius06 on June 01, 2018, 11:15:55 AM
Hi!
I already explained this to Kitsume via discord. You can save as many time as you want. You can have opened even more than one file, but BEFORE you would save any of the opened and modified files, you HAVE TO  hit the "reindex" and the "rebuilding DIR file" commands. Right click in the middle panel on any of the examplars etc. and there you find in the menu the above mentioned commands.

- Tyberius
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: twalsh102 on June 01, 2018, 03:05:49 PM
Thanks for the info!  Is this in any documentation anyplace where I might have missed it, or is this just one of those many things that is learned accidentally?
I'll have to remember to give this a try the next time I run into this phenomenon.  Not exactly the most intuitive process.  I knew about using those commands when adding or removing subfiles, but re-indexing when one isn't doing anything to affect the index is definitely counter-intuitive.  Rebuilding the DIR file might make sense if whatever you are doing changes a compressed file to an uncompressed file.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Kitsune on June 03, 2018, 11:25:24 AM
Yep it is bizzare that changing a value in exempler A > then saving > will zero out exemplers b to d. Frustrating too as I've had instances that reindexing will crash the program. Also, I thought DIR's are only for compressed files? As the exemplars getting 0'ed out are not compressed, and hence not listed in the DIR.

Edit: Upon further thought.... the only files that are getting corrupted are the ones not in the DIR. That is including uncompressed PNG, LTEXT, and Exemplars. So it seems reader is doing some kind of check involving the DIR when saving and corrupting uncompressed files; its not doing the check if you reindex first.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on June 03, 2018, 03:59:20 PM
Have you tried simply moving all files into a new DAT. As you state, DIR files are necessary to index the entries of compressed content/properties. But if the file has no such compressed content, no DIR file should be present in the first place. I suspect you may have a file where compressed content did exist but was removed somehow. But if you use the Patch function of Reader, you shouldn't ever have DIR files unless you need them.

I'd try removing the DIR file from any such DATs where no compressed files reside. However, that's potentially going to go wrong (even with 0.93), if you simply remove the DIR file itself. So the best method would be to copy/paste all contents into a new reader session, then saving a new DAT and work from there.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Kitsune on June 03, 2018, 06:07:33 PM
Quote from: mgb204 on June 03, 2018, 03:59:20 PM
Have you tried simply moving all files into a new DAT. As you state, DIR files are necessary to index the entries of compressed content/properties. But if the file has no such compressed content, no DIR file should be present in the first place. I suspect you may have a file where compressed content did exist but was removed somehow. But if you use the Patch function of Reader, you shouldn't ever have DIR files unless you need them.

I'd try removing the DIR file from any such DATs where no compressed files reside. However, that's potentially going to go wrong (even with 0.93), if you simply remove the DIR file itself. So the best method would be to copy/paste all contents into a new reader session, then saving a new DAT and work from there.

So this particular file has 212 compressed files, and 18 uncompressed. I'm thinking the better way to go might just be to compress everything. As much I know ... I know there is still a lot unknown.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: eagle74 on June 13, 2018, 09:37:54 AM
Well I managed to corrupt a few files with V1.54 yesterday, & spent the afternoon getting the game working again.  I knew better from past reading of these threads & usually only use 1.54 when absolutely necessary.  0.93 works fine for most of my tweaking.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: briansgenius on November 27, 2018, 05:17:55 PM
So I must be an uber newb cuz my issue isn't addressed here. Upon opening .exe I receive error message "Failed to open C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sim City 4 Deluxe\English US\SimCityLocale.DAT" Which I rectified by creating the subfolder "English US" and copying the dat file to it. In either case I was still presented with a Microsoft Visual C++ error "Program C: etc etc Reader.exe This application has requested the Runtime to terminate in an unusual way. Please contact useguys 4 halp" and that's where I'm stuck now. I already had Visual 2015 but installed 2008 and the SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) on Windows 10.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Glaive on March 04, 2019, 05:47:06 AM
I too must be a complete noob!  I am having the same issues as the last poster (brainsgenius)  Same original error "Failed to open C:\Program Files(x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sim City 4 Deluxe\English US\SimCityLocale.DAT"  I created the sub folder, but was not sure how to add the DAT file and I couldn't find it.  I am running Windows 10 and have typical installations.  Any help would be great!

Thank you!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on March 04, 2019, 09:42:24 AM
Every copy of SimCity 4 must have a SimCityLocale.DAT file as part of it's installation. Look in the root of the installation folder for a subfolder named after a language, typically just "English". You shouldn't need to move/copy any files, just make a note of the location, then tell iLives Reader where it is. Do this in the Options/Options menu.

If all else fails, get Windows to search for the file name for you.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on September 25, 2019, 03:08:23 AM
For anyone interested, posting update to ilive's reader.

Before downloading this please understand following & notes;
-This should be considered an Alpha/Beta release because;
-Lot of code has been adjusted to move towards Unicode, which is still incomplete, & build on vs2019 on Windows10, so many things may be broken.
-Consider use of this at your own risk & possible risk of file corruption/loss.
-Bugs/Issues will exist & items may be broken that I have no idea about.
-Right now main focus is on getting this stable. This version does not address/fix any bugs since last version & in fact may introduce new ones.

If you're happy being crash test dummy, then please continue;
-Make sure you back up any work.
-Currently there is no installer as it's been removed, just download & run application.
-You may need to install other MS items.
-Windows XP will no longer be supported.
-For now it will continue to be 32bit version.
-For reference this was compiled with visual studio 2019, toolset v142, Windows SDK 10.0.17134.0.

Happy to post source code & provide instructions to build if anyone's interested, as it was a real pain to get it to compile.

version 1.5.5 Unzip & run (you may need to click Open with & "download");
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qxatcsp416emn39/Ilives%20Reader_v155_Release.zip?dl=0
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Barroco Hispano on September 25, 2019, 04:54:24 AM
@tropod Do you know if it is possible to make simcity 4 read gray pixels as transparency without generating graphic problems?

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592334613830172674/alphablend.png)

I found a solution to partially solve the problem:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592347929893928970/beforemaxis.png)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592346143976062996/befotbl.png)

- Actually it is not necessary to disable backface culling

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592348561656512543/Nicebut.png)

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592344110275362816/aftbl.png)

But...

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/592346152133722123/blend_problem.png)

Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on September 27, 2019, 12:43:44 PM
My first thoughts are that there should be a way to fix this. Problem is knowing how, as I've been out of the game for quite some time.

Apart from mats settings 2 main things come to mind that may be causing this;
LOD.
Index/Vertices/UV being inverted. I recall regularly having to flip UV values as they were often backwards for things I'd be doing.
The mats settings are only part of the equation.

If you'd like to upload that somewhere (with dependencies) & I can have a look, can't make any promises though  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Barroco Hispano on September 29, 2019, 07:17:28 AM
I was doing several tests and did not get any errors  ???

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/627867777041956864/Test_blend.png)

This is how it looks in the lot editor:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/627870221557956620/lod_errors.png)

But:

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393834822696697866/627869645835075595/emden_testtt.png)

You can download the files here (They have no dependencies):

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AizKPlOWj9nmgTXT0cd3IBSNUOyi?e=alhmP2 (https://1drv.ms/u/s!AizKPlOWj9nmgTXT0cd3IBSNUOyi?e=alhmP2)




Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tropod on September 30, 2019, 05:29:44 AM
How were these made? Because it's most definitely issue with model settings, not the textures. Many games often use an obscure color for transparency, like magenta for example, as it's not actually used in game.

After having a look & fiddle with this the settings are not uniformed with the different models, which explains why there's inconsistencies.
Before & after & settings. I haven't checked for every zoom & rotation, but you can see the difference.

(https://i.imgur.com/oImnRHp.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/qtSjsIj.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/jWJg7Wt.jpg)

Land ahoy  :laugh:.

Don't use Profile or Apply Profile settings on SC4Reader (as pictured), as I've just discovered another bug whilst doing this :'( which I'll fix & post updated version soon.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Kitsune on October 13, 2019, 07:40:02 AM
Is there a way to edit the name value field? As you can see

(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fglidingeagle.com%2Fimages%2Fsc4%2Freader.jpg&hash=e3d2f6422162c9cb9a0380164504038b75b6fb57)

I need to re-sequential the name value for the unknown field after removing some props. I normally will load the file into PIM to do it, however when its a T21 it gets to be bit tortuous.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on October 13, 2019, 12:07:02 PM
Quote from: Kitsune on October 13, 2019, 07:40:02 AM
I need to re-sequential the name value for the unknown field after removing some props. I normally will load the file into PIM to do it, however when its a T21 it gets to be bit tortuous.

Right click in the T21 (or LotConfig) Exemplar and select "Reindex LotConfig", which should set the IDs straight.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Kitsune on October 13, 2019, 03:24:40 PM
Quote from: mgb204 on October 13, 2019, 12:07:02 PM
Quote from: Kitsune on October 13, 2019, 07:40:02 AM
I need to re-sequential the name value for the unknown field after removing some props. I normally will load the file into PIM to do it, however when its a T21 it gets to be bit tortuous.

Right click in the T21 (or LotConfig) Exemplar and select "Reindex LotConfig", which should set the IDs straight.

Thank You ... you learn something new everyday :)
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Tyberius06 on January 19, 2020, 09:03:38 AM
Hi Tropod!

I would like to report a bug with the latest v1.55 version of the iLive Reader. The Export as PNG option on the texture FSHs doesn't seem to work anymore.

- Tyberius
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: xxdita on April 09, 2020, 07:00:36 AM
Both versions of Reader have crapped out on me in the last few days.

(https://i.imgur.com/L1SUkwd.jpg)

Not sure how to fix it. I'm on Win10 if that matters.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: callagrafx on April 09, 2020, 10:10:02 AM
Quote from: xxdita on April 09, 2020, 07:00:36 AM
Both versions of Reader have crapped out on me in the last few days.

(https://i.imgur.com/L1SUkwd.jpg)

Not sure how to fix it. I'm on Win10 if that matters.

Did you run it in compatibility mode, set for Windows 7 or XP?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: xxdita on April 09, 2020, 10:41:46 AM
It was working like 3 days ago, then blooey. I'm fairly useless without Reader.

I've tried compatibility mode for Win8, 7, XP SP2 and 3... uninstalled and reinstalled C++2010... uninstalled and reinstalled both versions of Reader... no difference.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: crimadella on April 22, 2020, 07:33:26 PM
Hello, I'm new here, or talking at least. I need some help if you don't mind, have a rather strange issue. I just started trying to Mod, I have iLives Reader 1.5.4, everything seems to work fine except for this one issue, I was browsing ScimCity_2.dat, trying to learn about water mods and managed to stumble upon the maxis water Fsh files, TGI = 7ab50e44  891b0e1a  09187300. When i first found it, the water was blue, i went to export as *.png then canceled, now all the water files, 09187300 through 09187304 all turned brown, even when i export them as *.png files, they remain brown. It's not affecting the game though, water is still original maxis blue. I had backups of all the SC4 *.dat files, I replaced SimCity_1.dat, SimCity_2.dat and SimCityLocale.dat with my backup copies, yet the water *.fsh files in SimCity_2.dat are still brown and the export brown. It seems to be some kind of bug, while I haven't checked every single fsh file, they seem to be the only ones affected.

I'm not sure why happend, it seems that they aren't actually brown because in game they are blue and replacing the *.dat files does nothing, exporting them they are just as brown as they display in the preview window in iLive. I figured that if I uninstalled iLives Reader then reinstall to reset everything back to default then that would fix the issue but the problem I'm encountering is something isn't getting completely removed when I uninstall the reader. While the contents of the iLives reader are all removed, some how when I reinstall it, even after a CPU restart, the iLives Reader has the same custom settings that I had setup, the black style & my 'Customized Quick Tool Access Toolbar'.

How is it managing to have the same customized settings after a complete removal and reinstall? is there a settings file that is being placed elsewhere? I need to get the settings completely removed to hopefully fix the issue. I know nothing about editing windows registry keys so I hope that is not where the settings are being preserved. What can I do? I had a project in mind and because my water files only appear brown, and can only be exported as brown, I can't achieve my goal. I'm completely new to Mods and Modding though I have had SC4 for a long time, possibly over 10 years, I just discovered Mods about a year ago. I made a nice slope mod, a rather unique one, so I want to keep the reader but need to get this issue resolved, it's a rather irritating issue that just bugs the hell out of me.

I'm not sure if I can open SimCity_2.dat with Go Fsh, I may try, I need to use another program to check and see if the files have been converted to brown for real or there is just a bug in iLive that is somehow saved in some settings. I didn't save over the SimCity *.dat files and even replacing them with my backups does not fix the issue. Wish I could check on them with another program but i'm not sure what I could use to do so, or if someone could send me a link to the 5 Maxis Water Textures, preferably in the compressed fsh file, I tried to find them on the internet but had no luck. Anyway, hopefully someone can help me with this issue.  Anyway, Any idea for the issue I'm having with iLives Reader turning my water brown, even on exports to png? Or how I can get all the setting changed, the setting information wiped to restore to default settings? And, if you happen to know, will the latest version of Go Fsh be able to handle opening SimCity_2.dat or will it lock my computer up?

EDIT: Ok, I nailed it down, it is the reader that is bugging out for just those 5 water files, and somehow it is remembering to display and export them as brown rather than blue. So I do need to know where I can delete all of my memory/settings so I can do a restore to default. I opened SimCity_2.Dat with Go Fsh, it took a minute to load it all up, or two, then they were also numbered differently so I had to find them by the TGI, extracted the 5 water *.Fsh and converted them into Alpha Bitmap and Bitmap's and confirmed that they are still in fact blue. So there is a bug in the iLives Reader that is making them 5 files brown, even when exporting to *.png, when I open them with MS Paint, the ones exported from iLives, they are brown, when I extract the same *.Fsh files with Go Fsh then convert them to Alpha *.bmp and Colored *.bmp, they are white (alpha) and blue (colored). So, I just need to know what I need to delete to wipe iLives and all associated settings files off my CPU and do a fresh install to get the default settings/memory, whatever, reset to default.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: crimadella on April 22, 2020, 08:08:50 PM
As for installing iLives Reader 1.5.4, there are two files with the download I got, setup.exe and iLives_Reader_Installer.exe (something like that), when running the setup.exe, I received the same error about the VB compatibility, I'm not going to downgrade my VB files, so after I canceled that one, I just clicked the iLives_Reader_Installer and it installed iLives without issue, none that I can find anyway, though I had to fix something to get it to work. My copy of SC4, Disc version, from 10 to 12 years ago, Deluxe version, the iLives Reader was failing to open SimCityLocal.Dat because the path was wrong, mine is in a .../English/SimCityLocal.dat, yet the path default setting for iLives Reader was set to .../English US/SimCityLocal.dat. Until i added that path i could not get the reader to open, i just got an error message when i tried to open it, "Cannot locate .../English US/SimCityLocal.dat then the program would close out. It took a few tries just to get to see that message, it was just flashing the error message, for a fraction of a second. So i added the path (.../English US/SimCityLocal.dat) and was finally able to open the Reader then change the location of SimCityLocal.dat in the options. Other than this one brown water issue, oddly on only those 5 *.fsh files, everything seems to work just fine. I never did anything with my VB version. I have Windows 7 but it is up to date and my VB version is newer. So, I don't think you have to do anything with your VB version, just run the installer, iLives_Reader_Installer.exe and leave the Setup.exe alone.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on April 23, 2020, 11:09:29 AM
Honestly, I've never personally had problems extracting files this way, but it doesn't sound like it's simple to fix. I'd therefore recommend using GoFSH (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/23407-gofsh-fsh-texture-editor/), which is a dedicated tool for all your texturing needs. It's going to make it way easier for example to get the resulting images back as FSH inside a DAT with the correct IDs.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: crimadella on April 23, 2020, 01:03:12 PM
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've already just started using Go Fsh and have already successfully extracted the 5 water files from SimCity_2.dat, converted them to bitmap from Fsh, edited them and converted them back to Fsh and packed them back into a dat. Just making little changes and trying things out, I was trying to make more see through water at deeper depths but it seems impossible, the water Fsh, fresh out of SimCity_2.dat files don't actually have an alpha channel so I'm assuming the actual game engine extracts the white out of the water *.Fsh files to get that small percentage of depth, 25(meters?) digit depth before you can no longer see through the water(By the in-game TerrainQuery cheat). I've got one more attempt after this, going to make my own bit map with speckled water colored pixels in it to see if the game is actually extracting the white from the files itself. If that fails I imagine nothing can be done to make the water more transparent, so I'll just make it a custom color. It would be nice to know how to completely remove all settings files from iLives Reader so I have the option to restore it to default incase I run into anymore problems and need a reset to default. I uninstalled it like 5 times and every time I reinstall it and open it back up, I still have all the custom setup options, and it's in that file that's not getting removed that has saved the bug somehow. Those are the only files, the water Fsh files, that are displayed differently than they actually are. Before I selected 'export as *.png' then cancled, only on one of them, they all changed from blue to brown and from that point they will only display as brown and export as brown. Being able to remove all the stored settings files for the Reader would allow me to restore the settings to default by doing a complete removal and fresh install. There has to be a settings file or saved settings in something else that is not getting removed with a 'complete uninstall' for the reader to be able to remember my custom settings after a uninstall and reinstall. If someone knows where these settings are stored, please inform me. I will be using the Go Fsh program to edit textures and not try to export *.png files from iLive, I can just do that with Go Fsh. Thanks for trying to help, mostly, now, I just need to know how to wipe out all saved settings in the Reader, especially if I encounter future problem that managed to get saved somehow.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on April 24, 2020, 05:56:26 AM
Settings left behind when uninstalling applications is nothing new, for example SimCity 4 itself does this. The idea being, if you ever reinstall the app, this data won't have been totally lost. Of course, if you need that data gone, it's just a headache.

I suspect it's simply leaving config files or the like in the folder where iLives Reader is installed. If the install folder still resides after uninstalling, that's a pretty good sign this is where that data is held. The other options would be the AppData folder, which is where such apps should store such data, but I think Reader is too old to use this system folder. The last option is the Windows Registry, it's possible entries remain there pertaining to the settings.

Lastly, in case you never saw it, a thread where the whole water texture set was unravelled exists here (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/74255-water-mods-an-side-cut-on-the-map/?tab=comments#comment-1680366). Also, Rivit (author of GoFSH), has been looking into how all the water textures interact (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/72204-gone-fshin/?do=findComment&comment=1729017).
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: crimadella on April 24, 2020, 07:49:01 PM
Quote from: mgb204 on April 23, 2020, 11:09:29 AM
Honestly, I've never personally had problems extracting files this way, but it doesn't sound like it's simple to fix. I'd therefore recommend using GoFSH (http://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/23407-gofsh-fsh-texture-editor/), which is a dedicated tool for all your texturing needs. It's going to make it way easier for example to get the resulting images back as FSH inside a DAT with the correct IDs.

Never mind, sorry, the bug ended up being me. The 5 brown water fsh files are 400 through 404, not 300 through 304. They are actually water pictures(or they look just like water but brown, same pattern when I zoom in, though when I change them to solid red, there is no effect that can be seen so I'm not sure what they do). The mix up came from me identifying them by the "num" rather than the TGI, I just didn't think hard enough and they are identical to the water fsh files, numbered almost identical, the 4 is the only different number. Maybe they are Alpha Channels? Their not black so probably not. Anyway, I'll find out what they do, just wanted to retract my reported bug. Though I did find one real bug, I'm sure you already know about it, I've seen it reported. Corrupt file from saving multiple times over one dat in one session.

Thanks for your help though!
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: crimadella on April 24, 2020, 08:02:51 PM
Quote from: mgb204 on April 24, 2020, 05:56:26 AM

Lastly, in case you never saw it, a thread where the whole water texture set was unravelled exists here (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/74255-water-mods-an-side-cut-on-the-map/?tab=comments#comment-1680366). Also, Rivit (author of GoFSH), has beenlooking into how all the water textures interact (https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/72204-gone-fshin/?do=findComment&comment=1729017).

Ha, yes, actually I have read that, and something else that further expands upon that on simtropolis: Corina's Side Water.... down in its comment section.. I've got one more question, I've noticed from tutorials that the previous version(s) of iLives Reader had an option in the file menu, 'export all files decoded' for the current dat you have brought up, it's no longer there and I'm curious, is that the same as "save all files" in the menu that drops down when you right click on the file list within a dat?
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: scoty on June 27, 2020, 09:51:30 AM
Hello,
How does the "search in file" function work?
As shown in the image I entered the string "Terrain" for a search in the Exemplars. And it produces nothing! However, exemplars contain this chain, don't they! ;-). Is there a specific syntax for searching?
Thank you !
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Fin44850 on November 24, 2021, 11:37:07 AM
Cool. So how do I make a new park file that has no maintenance costs. God I wish I had 6 months to figure this out but I don't and there's nothing about how to actually use this.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on November 25, 2021, 07:08:54 AM
Reader is one of those tools that either you understand or probably shouldn't be using. The data structure of SC4 files is not all that complex once you understand what the Properties all do, but you aren't going to have a lot of luck just opening files and trying to work it out. There is a manual somewhere, I must confess I never read it myself and it probably doesn't cover what to do with it as much how the application works.

My recommendation would be to try a tool that is far more user-friendly to edit such properties. SC4 Tool (by SFBT) (https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/21368-sc4tool-english/) would be far easier, although it needs a few tweaks to setup on modern Windows in the compatibility settings.

However if you want to make new lots, you'll need to use the Lot Editor, either the one from Maxis or SC4-PIM (recommended) (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2260). I've a tutorial on making new lots using the Maxis Tools (https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/30788-mgbs-my-first-mod-tutorial/), SC4-PIM has a comprehensive manual (separate download (http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2257)).
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: Fin44850 on November 27, 2021, 12:38:38 PM
Thanks, MGB. I am muddling my way through, have figured out how to add new properties using IReader, coupled with the Lot Editor and the SC4 Tool ( one oddity is, if I use the Lot Editor, it overwrites my icon, so I have to go into the SC4 Tool to replace the weird, zoomed in screen-capture icon the Lot Editor automatically overwrites my icon file with).
Anyway, I'm getting there.
Thanks!
Fin
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: mgb204 on November 28, 2021, 02:28:30 AM
The Maxis LE (and Plug-In Manager) tools have a lot of quirks and the icon thing is just one such annoyance. PIM-X won't mess with your Icons, will allow you to modify/save files within .DAT files and subfolders and was designed from the ground up with community needs in mind. Honestly, I struggle to understand why anyone still wastes their time with the Maxis tools, they aren't really fit for purpose.

Just one single feature of PIM-X, it's ability to give you a visual list/preview of Props and Textures, makes it indispensable for me. But there is so much more to it, for example you can start with a new lot, rather than having to copy and existing one and modifying it. If nothing else, I highly recommend you take a look at the PDF manual I linked to, it gives step-by-step guides for the most common tasks like making new lots.
Title: Re: iLives Reader 1.x Official support thread
Post by: sdc16064 on May 22, 2022, 08:18:26 AM
In a script, how do you make a sequential array of TGIs. For example say the Instance Id is: 0x20010100, I would like to make the ID go up by 0x00000100 each--(0x20010200, 0x20010300, etc.) but leave the Type/Group IDs the same?

I'm new to LUA scripts.