Character Sheet Phase 4 (Savage) - Revision history

Rob at 06:13, 5 May 2009

2009-05-05T06:13:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:13, 5 May 2009
Line 493:		Line 493:
	The final thing we need to add to the condition tracking section is a place to mark off power points that are spent. All the various character sheets tend to show 30 boxes, so we'll do the same. We'll place a sequence of boxes beneath the health tracking region and allow the user to check boxes as points are spent. Given our limited space, we won't be able to fit 30 boxes, so we'll instead output two rows of 15 boxes each. To make tracking easier for the user, we'll ensure that every fifth box is larger and stands out from the others.		The final thing we need to add to the condition tracking section is a place to mark off power points that are spent. All the various character sheets tend to show 30 boxes, so we'll do the same. We'll place a sequence of boxes beneath the health tracking region and allow the user to check boxes as points are spent. Given our limited space, we won't be able to fit 30 boxes, so we'll instead output two rows of 15 boxes each. To make tracking easier for the user, we'll ensure that every fifth box is larger and stands out from the others.

	Synthesizing output like we need is most easily handled via a script. By using some nested "for/next" loops, we can construct the text for output. However, we need to figure out how we're going to output boxes without having to use bitmaps. The answer is the "Wingdings 2" font that is built into Windows. We can utilize the "Character Map" tool provided by Windows to view the various characters supported by each font. Only a small number of fonts are built into every installation of Windows, and these include the "Webdings" font and the ~~three separate~~ "Wingdings" ~~fonts~~. Scanning through the character map for "Wingdings 2", we spot a suitable box character that we can use (character code "A3" in hex).		Synthesizing output like we need is most easily handled via a script. By using some nested "for/next" loops, we can construct the text for output. However, we need to figure out how we're going to output boxes without having to use bitmaps. The answer is the "Wingdings" font that is built into Windows. We can utilize the "Character Map" tool provided by Windows to view the various characters supported by each font. Only a small number of fonts are built into every installation of Windows, and these include the "Webdings" font and the "Wingdings" font. Scanning through the character map for "Wingdings", we spot a suitable box character that we can use (character code "A8" in hex).

	Let's think through our logic now. We start by switching to the "Wingdings 2" font via the "{font ~~wingdings 2~~}" encoded text sequence. Between each character, we'll need to insert a tiny extra bit of spacing, which can be accomplished via the "{horz 1}" specification. For every fifth character, we need to increase the font size and then shrink it back down, which entails using "{size 52}". After every 15 characters, a line break needs to be inserted.		Let's think through our logic now. We start by switching to the "Wingdings" font via the "{font Wingdings}" encoded text sequence. Between each character, we'll need to insert a tiny extra bit of spacing, which can be accomplished via the "{horz 1}" specification. For every fifth character, we need to increase the font size and then shrink it back down, which entails using "{size 52}". After every 15 characters, a line break needs to be inserted.

	Since the border looks good around the health tracking, we'll use a separate border around the power points tracking region. So we'll need two new portals, with one being generating the text for output and the other providing a border. This yields the two new portals below and the additional code for the Position script given below.		Since the border looks good around the health tracking, we'll use a separate border around the power points tracking region. So we'll need two new portals, with one being generating the text for output and the other providing a border. This yields the two new portals below and the additional code for the Position script given below.
Line 508:		Line 508:
	var j as number		var j as number
	var k as number		var k as number
	@text = "{font ~~wingdings 2~~}"		@text = "{font Wingdings}"
	for i = 1 to 2		for i = 1 to 2
	for j = 1 to 3		for j = 1 to 3
	for k = 1 to 4		for k = 1 to 4
	@text &= chr(~~163~~) & "{horz 1}"		@text &= chr(168) & "{horz 1}"
	next		next
	@text &= "{size 52}" & chr(~~163~~) & "{size 40}"		@text &= "{size 52}" & chr(168) & "{size 40}"
	next		next
	@text &= "{br}"		@text &= "{br}"

Rob at 23:22, 19 February 2009

2009-02-19T23:22:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:22, 19 February 2009
Line 47:		Line 47:
	<layoutref layout="oValidate"/>		<layoutref layout="oValidate"/>
	<position><![CDATA[		<position><![CDATA[
	~set this ~~global~~ variable to 1 if you want the logos to be stacked; a value		~set this scene variable to 1 if you want the logos to be stacked; a value
	~of zero places them side-by-side		~of zero places them side-by-side
	~~global~~[stacklogos] = 0		scenevalue[stacklogos] = 0

	~setup the gap to be used between the various sections of the character sheet		~setup the gap to be used between the various sections of the character sheet
	autogap = 40		autogap = 40
	~~global~~[sectiongap] = autogap		scenevalue[sectiongap] = autogap

	~calculate the width of the two columns of the character sheet, leaving a		~calculate the width of the two columns of the character sheet, leaving a
Line 71:		Line 71:
	perform layout[oValidate].render		perform layout[oValidate].render
	layout[oValidate].top = height - layout[oValidate].height		layout[oValidate].top = height - layout[oValidate].height
	extent = layout[oValidate].top - ~~global~~[sectiongap]		extent = layout[oValidate].top - scenevalue[sectiongap]
	endif		endif

Line 93:		Line 93:
	~position the rightside layout in the remaining space on the right		~position the rightside layout in the remaining space on the right
	layout[oRightSide].width = colwidth		layout[oRightSide].width = colwidth
	layout[oRightSide].top = layout[oLogos].bottom + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		layout[oRightSide].top = layout[oLogos].bottom + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	layout[oRightSide].left = layout[oLogos].left		layout[oRightSide].left = layout[oLogos].left
	layout[oRightSide].height = layout[oAdjust].top - ~~global~~[sectiongap] - layout[oRightSide].top		layout[oRightSide].height = layout[oAdjust].top - scenevalue[sectiongap] - layout[oRightSide].top
	perform layout[oRightSide].render		perform layout[oRightSide].render

	~position the armory layout within the remaining space on the right		~position the armory layout within the remaining space on the right
	layout[oArmory].width = colwidth		layout[oArmory].width = colwidth
	layout[oArmory].top = layout[oRightSide].bottom + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		layout[oArmory].top = layout[oRightSide].bottom + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	layout[oArmory].left = layout[oLogos].left		layout[oArmory].left = layout[oLogos].left

Line 108:		Line 108:
	layout[oArmory].visible = 0		layout[oArmory].visible = 0
	else		else
	layout[oArmory].height = layout[oAdjust].top - ~~global~~[sectiongap] - layout[oArmory].top		layout[oArmory].height = layout[oAdjust].top - scenevalue[sectiongap] - layout[oArmory].top
	perform layout[oArmory].render		perform layout[oArmory].render
	endif		endif
Line 114:		Line 114:
	~position the gear layout in whatever space is left on the right		~position the gear layout in whatever space is left on the right
	layout[oGear].width = colwidth		layout[oGear].width = colwidth
	layout[oGear].top = layout[oArmory].bottom + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		layout[oGear].top = layout[oArmory].bottom + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	layout[oGear].left = layout[oLogos].left		layout[oGear].left = layout[oLogos].left

Line 122:		Line 122:
	layout[oGear].visible = 0		layout[oGear].visible = 0
	else		else
	layout[oGear].height = layout[oAdjust].top - ~~global~~[sectiongap] - layout[oGear].top		layout[oGear].height = layout[oAdjust].top - scenevalue[sectiongap] - layout[oGear].top
	perform layout[oGear].render		perform layout[oGear].render
	endif		endif
Line 199:		Line 199:
	~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden		~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden
	portal[oInjury].left = 0		portal[oInjury].left = 0
	portal[oInjury].top = autotop + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		portal[oInjury].top = autotop + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	portal[oInjury].width = width * .4		portal[oInjury].width = width * .4
	portal[oInjury].height = 5000		portal[oInjury].height = 5000
Line 232:		Line 232:
	~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden		~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden
	portal[oInjury].left = 0		portal[oInjury].left = 0
	portal[oInjury].top = autotop + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		portal[oInjury].top = autotop + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	portal[oInjury].width = width * .4		portal[oInjury].width = width * .4
	portal[oInjury].height = 5000		portal[oInjury].height = 5000
Line 396:		Line 396:
	~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden		~Note: We don't use autoplace, since we never want the table hidden
	portal[oInjury].left = 0		portal[oInjury].left = 0
	portal[oInjury].top = autotop + ~~global~~[sectiongap]		portal[oInjury].top = autotop + scenevalue[sectiongap]
	portal[oInjury].width = width * .4		portal[oInjury].width = width * .4
	portal[oInjury].height = 5000		portal[oInjury].height = 5000

Rob: /* Injuries Table */

2009-01-28T12:36:54Z

Injuries Table

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:36, 28 January 2009
Line 176:		Line 176:

	~size the name to fit the available space		~size the name to fit the available space
			portal[name].width = width
	perform portal[name].sizetofit[36]		perform portal[name].sizetofit[36]
			perform portal[name].autoheight
			perform portal[name].centervert
	]]></position>		]]></position>

Rob at 03:14, 21 January 2009

2009-01-21T03:14:27Z

Show changes

Rob: /* Gear */

2009-01-21T03:08:22Z

Gear

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:08, 21 January 2009
Line 1,009:		Line 1,009:
	perform portal[name].alignedge[bottom,0]		perform portal[name].alignedge[bottom,0]
	</pre>		</pre>

			This looks pretty good, except that there is a variety of gear that has names longer than will fit in the space we've got. The solution is to do for all gear what we've already done for weapons. We can designate the "Gear" component as supporting short names, allowing a shorter name to be defined for every piece of equipment. Then we can change the Label script for the "name" portal to reference the "shortname" field instead of the "name" field. Now we should be in great shape for handling gear in a very compact fashion.

Rob: /* Gear */

2009-01-21T03:05:32Z

Gear

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:05, 21 January 2009
Line 940:		Line 940:

	===Gear===		===Gear===

			The final piece of the character sheet is handling the gear. The Skeleton files provide us with a gear table that lists all the gear in a single column. Since a single column is used, the font is large and bold, plus there is plenty of unused space. We need something compact, using a smaller, non-bold font, and employing at least two columns. In fact, if we can switch to a significantly smaller font, we can probably even squeeze three columns in, which would be ideal. So we'll start by modifying the table portal to use three columns.

			Looking at the existing template, we don't want to keep the quantity in a separate column from the actual gear name. So we'll eliminate the separate "value" portal, but we'll move the logic for generating the quantity into the "name" portal. The template uses a large horizontal margin, which we need to shrink to something that will be just enough to separate our three columns. A value of 5 ought to be about right.

			We need to use a small font to squeeze the gear into three columns, so we'll simply define a style specifically for use with gear. In the file "styles_output.aug", we'll create the "outGear" style and a corresponding font for use with the style. We'll use a small point size for the font and not use bold. This results in the new definition shown below.

			<pre>
			<style
			id="outGear">
			<style_output
			textcolor="000000"
			font="ofntgear"
			alignment="left">
			</style_output>
			<resource
			id="ofntgear">
			<font
			face="Arial"
			size="36">
			</font>
			</resource>
			</style>
			</pre>

			We can now implement the portal appropriately. We'll use the new style and prepend the quantity onto the name, which yields the following portal.

			<pre>
			<portal
			id="name"
			style="outGear">
			<output_label>
			<labeltext><![CDATA[
			if (stackable = 0) then
			@text = ""
			elseif (field[stackQty].value = 1) then
			@text = ""
			else
			@text = field[stackQty].text & "x "
			endif
			@text &= field[name].text
			]]></labeltext>
			</output_label>
			</portal>
			</pre>

			With the portal in place, we need to position it. The name portal is sized based on the text within it, so our first action is the limit the width of the portal to the width of the template. Once we do that, we can try shrinking the font size to better fit longer names into the available space. Some names may still be too long, so we now limit the height to a single line. Lastly, we align the portal at the bottom of the template, which ensures that all gear entries across a row share the same baseline. This yields the following Position script.

			<pre>
			~our height is the height of the tallest portal
			height = portal[name].height
			if (issizing <> 0) then
			done
			endif

			~limit the width of the name to the width of the template
			if (portal[name].width > width) then
			portal[name].width = width
			endif

			~size the name to fit the available space, if needed
			perform portal[name].sizetofit[30]

			~limit the name to a single line based on the updated font size
			portal[name].lineheight = 1

			~align the name at the bottom of the template
			perform portal[name].alignedge[bottom,0]
			</pre>

Rob: /* Adding the Header */

2009-01-21T01:02:33Z

Adding the Header

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:02, 21 January 2009
Line 854:		Line 854:

	====Adding the Header====		====Adding the Header====

			Our table is looking good, so we can now deal get the header working correctly. We already have three header portals that we'll want to retain. These portals are being positioned relative to the portals in the main table, so they are working perfectly. All we need to do is add another header portal for the armor piercing rating. This can be added and then positioned just like the other header portals in the Header script.

			Looking at it all, though, the header labels appear to be a little bit larger than would be optimal. Since we're using a smaller font than the provided Skeleton files, we need to ensure that the header is shrunk a bit, too. We can accomplish this by either switching to a new style or simply changing the font size used for font in the existing style. We'll do the latter and shrink the font a full point (from 36 to 32). Once we shrink the font size, we can also change the column headers to show the proper name instead of an abbreviation.

			Putting it all together, this yields the following portals and Header script for the template.

			<pre>
			<portal
			id="hdrtitle"
			style="outTitle"
			isheader="yes">
			<output_label
			text="Weapons">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="hdrattack"
			style="outHeader"
			isheader="yes">
			<output_label
			text="Attack">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="hdrdamage"
			style="outHeader"
			isheader="yes">
			<output_label
			text="Damage">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="hdrap"
			style="outHeader"
			isheader="yes">
			<output_label
			text="AP">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="hdrrange"
			style="outHeader"
			isheader="yes">
			<output_label
			text="Range">
			</output_label>
			</portal>
			</pre>

			<pre>
			<header><![CDATA[
			~our header height is the title plus a gap plus the header text
			height = portal[hdrtitle].height + 2 + portal[hdrattack].height
			if (issizing <> 0) then
			done
			endif

			~our title spans the entire width of the template
			portal[hdrtitle].width = width

			~each of our header labels has the same width as the corresponding data beneath
			portal[hdrattack].width = portal[attack].width
			portal[hdrdamage].width = portal[damage].width
			portal[hdrap].width = portal[ap].width
			portal[hdrrange].width = portal[range].width

			~center each header label on the corresponding data beneath
			perform portal[hdrattack].centeron[horz,attack]
			perform portal[hdrdamage].centeron[horz,damage]
			perform portal[hdrap].centeron[horz,ap]
			perform portal[hdrrange].centeron[horz,range]

			~align all header labels at the bottom of the header region
			perform portal[hdrattack].alignedge[bottom,0]
			perform portal[hdrdamage].alignedge[bottom,0]
			perform portal[hdrap].alignedge[bottom,0]
			perform portal[hdrrange].alignedge[bottom,0]
			]]></header>
			</pre>

	===Gear===		===Gear===

Rob: /* Weapons */

2009-01-21T00:55:31Z

Weapons

@@ Line 655: / Line 655: @@
 We'll use the same implementation approach as we employed for arcane powers. We first create the table without the header, and then we add the header information.
 For the table itself, we'll first figure out what indicators to use for insufficient strength and special notes. Within the interface, we use the universal "no" symbol and a star symbol, respectively. We should strive to be consistent, so we'll use the same symbols on the character sheet. The star symbol in the interface is a bitmap that is designed for the on-screen use, so it will look poor on the character sheet. If we bring up the "Character Map" tool and scan through the various symbol fonts we discussed earlier, we can quickly find a suitable character in the "Wingdings 2" font.
@@ Line 742: / Line 744: @@
    </portal>
 </pre>
 ===Gear===

Rob: /* Weapons */

2009-01-21T00:32:00Z

Weapons

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:32, 21 January 2009
Line 655:		Line 655:

	We'll use the same implementation approach as we employed for arcane powers. We first create the table without the header, and then we add the header information.		We'll use the same implementation approach as we employed for arcane powers. We first create the table without the header, and then we add the header information.

			For the table itself, we'll first figure out what indicators to use for insufficient strength and special notes. Within the interface, we use the universal "no" symbol and a star symbol, respectively. We should strive to be consistent, so we'll use the same symbols on the character sheet. The star symbol in the interface is a bitmap that is designed for the on-screen use, so it will look poor on the character sheet. If we bring up the "Character Map" tool and scan through the various symbol fonts we discussed earlier, we can quickly find a suitable character in the "Wingdings 2" font.

			Now that we've identified all the pieces we need, we can define the additional portals. We'll add a "special" portal to indicate special details for the weapon. We'll also add an "ap" portal to display the armor piercing rating for the weapon. For the "range" portal, we want to show something other than just blank when there is no range, so we'll revise the Label script accordingly. Lastly, we need to realize that the current portals mostly use the "outNameMed" style, which utilizes a rather large, bold font. This simply won't fit in the space we've got to work with, so we need to switch to an alternate style that will fit. We can create our own or use something that already exists. Probably the best choice is to try the "outPlain" style and see if that works, after which we can change it if there are problems. We'll use this style for all portals except for the name, which we'll leave using the "outNameMed" style.

			Based on the above considerations, we'll define the portals. This yields a collection of portals that looks like the set below.

			<pre>
			<portal
			id="badstr"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label>
			<labeltext><![CDATA[
			@text = "{font Webdings}" & chr(120)
			]]></labeltext>
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="name"
			style="outNameMed">
			<output_label
			field="shortname">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="special"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label>
			<labeltext><![CDATA[
			@text = "{font Wingdings 2}" & chr(234)
			]]></labeltext>
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="attack"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label
			field="wpNetAtk">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="damage"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label
			field="wpDamage">
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="ap"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label>
			<labeltext><![CDATA[
			if (field[wpPiercing].value <> 0) then
			@text = field[wpPiercing].text
			else
			@text = "-"
			endif
			]]></labeltext>
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="range"
			style="outPlain">
			<output_label>
			<labeltext><![CDATA[
			if (tagis[component.WeapRange] <> 0) then
			@text = field[wpRange].text
			else
			@text = "-"
			endif
			]]></labeltext>
			</output_label>
			</portal>

			<portal
			id="dots"
			style="outDots">
			<output_dots>
			</output_dots>
			</portal>
			</pre>

	===Gear===		===Gear===

Rob: /* Armor */

2009-01-21T00:01:39Z

Armor

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:01, 21 January 2009
Line 574:		Line 574:
	name="Output Armor Table"		name="Output Armor Table"
	compset="Equipment"		compset="Equipment"
	marginvert="2">		marginvert="1">

	<portal		<portal