Public Release

You can get the latest version here:
http://tenian.eugenez.net/Parser/4EParser_4_0_103.msi

I know it works with the MM3. I also ran tests on the original MM, the compendium updated a mass of data in the original MM. Much of it related to the origin/type/keywords of NPCs...and a lot of it seems wrong. Nothing I can do, WOTC needs to fix it.


Version History:
Note: to use the NPC Database features the Microsoft Office or the ACE drivers are required.
ACE drivers can be downloaded at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7554f536-8c28-4598-9b72-ef94e038c891&displaylang=en

****************************Public Release: 8/6/2010 *****************
4.0.103
* NPCs: Lore parsed into non-formattedtext nodes for easy ruleset access

4.0.102
* NPCs: Changed output of MM3 style auras

4.0.101
* Compendium: Repair original MM data involving changes to the flavor, flavoralt and flavorIndent classes

4.0.100
* Compendium: Remove more of the silly "Update/Revision/Deleted/Addition" history tags in npcs

4.0.99
* Compendium: Fixed problem where Derro "Strength of Mind" was incorrectly detected as the start of the Str stat

4.0.98
* NPCs: Support for the mr power tag (new in MM3)

4.0.97
* Compendium: Fixed missing description data in all npc formats

4.0.96
* Compendium: Fixed missing equipment data in all npc formats

4.0.95
* Powers: Fixed an issue with Granted paragon path powers where the name of the path was in the power. Primal Power Wardens

4.0.94
* Compendium: Fixed Language in MM3 format

4.0.93
* Compendium: Handle some exceptions like the Great Ape

4.0.92
* Compendium: Initial Code to handle new MM3 format data

4.0.91
* Compendium: Remove more of the silly "Update/Revision/Deleted/Addition" history tags in powers/feats

4.0.90
* Compendium: Added code to remove the ", page " data from feats and powers

Radio Silence...

It's been a while since I posted. You might think that means I haven't been doing any work on the parsers. You'd be very wrong.

The most recent round of WoTC releases (Martial Power, Dragonomicon) was a mixed bag. Martial power was very easy to parse. I only had to make a few changes involving the Warlord Tactical and Inspiring Presence tags. Dragonomicon however vexed me.

Dragonomicon is a different type of book. It contains numerous mechanical elements (traps, npcs, rituals, etc) but it also contains adventure elements (maps, story, etc). And there in lies the problem. Look at those mechanicals I listed. Each one of those elements is handled by a different parser. The adveture elements could be created manually within FGII (once the other stuff was parsed) and exported. To get a single module you would then have to manually merge the output of 3 parsers AND an adventure export. Enough was enough.

You have to understand I have a sickness. Just having some of the book in FGII isn't good enough for me. I need to have it all, no matter how insignificant. Some people would be completely satisfied with just the NPCs, traps, and rituals from the Dragonomicon. This is NOT me.

For a while now, having three parsers has annoyed me. Each time WoTC released a new book it got worse. Adventurer's vault is a prime example of this. 95% of the book is pure PHB, but that last 5%? NPCs that need to be stuck into the module. At the time I made a work around where the PHB parser would look at the output of an MM parser and merge it. But even then I knew it was a hack. Factor in some RPGA adventure parsing and being frustrated by traps being in one parser and npcs being in another and you have a recipe for a rewrite.

I decided I need a unified parser. One that handled all the possible options. Since the PHB was the most complex parser, I chose it to be the base. I started by adding in the options which were built using a modular approach, this included everything from textreference onward. The next step was to take all the things the PHB handled (Powers, Armor, Weapons, Equipment, Skills, Conditions, etc) and modularize them all. I did the same for the MM Parser, and then the DMG parser. And thus the unified parser was born. It's shown below with all the old (and some new options displayed).

I tried to make the interface a bit easier this time around. I feel I succeeded....some. I know it may not look like it from that image, but really that's not a practical application. WoTC publications usually only need a small subset of those items.

The PHB is one of the more complex manuals and the layout is shown below:
While the MM uses even fewer items:

These layouts can be saved and loaded, the data saved includes all the options selected/deselected and the file information. They are the replacement for the path file in older parsers. Once you have everything set up all you have to do is click save and select a folder and enter a file name and the parser takes care of the rest. No more manually editing the path file.

What gets parsed is controlled by the data menu. Simply entering this menu and clicking an option on will display the parse frame for that item. The list shown below is for the Monster Manual. Notice how it matches the picture above.

I also made file/directory selection easier. Clicking on any of the items in the parse frame will bring up a selection window. Hopefully this will reduce a lot of the problems caused by invalid paths, typos, etc.

Finally, the more observant among you will notice a few new options (Encounters, Maps, Story). These are the new "adventure" elements. Parsing routines have been designed to handle these. In addtion Magic items, traps, and NPCs all have additional output options (Output to Items, Output to Personalities) which will create "adventure" versions of their parses. I'll post more on that later.

I guess the big question is "when?". Currently I have reparsed all my existing modules and both my Tuesday and my Thursday group should be using them. A few sessions with them should be sufficent to verify their content. I also need to finish parsing the Dragonomicon. Since it's reference/story heavy I expect it will take at least a week to get it input. So maybe an early Christmas present.

Oh and artifacts still aren't parsed. I decided against adding that until I had the parser unified. Plus I keep hoping Smiteworks will enable getValue() and setValue() on formattedtext fields before I try and add it to the ruleset.

4E_JPG 1.3

moon_wizard has released a new version of the ruleset which has my critical hit/brutal/disease/poison changes in place. Along with a few other really nice features.

I've released a new version of my parsers to go along with the new version of the ruleset. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the functional and class templates done in time for the ruleset release. So you can parse them and at some future point they will be accessible. Really they are just displays right now, so you aren't missing much.

You get find my parsers over on FourUglyMonsters in this thread

Karazax's long awaited request...

Diseases parsed and displayed. They are just a display there's no mechanical function to them.

Oh and I finished up the combat tab on both the standard and min character sheet so High Crit and Brutal crits work correctly.

Text and more Text...and some graphics too

Between releases right now, so I worked on adding the text reference and images to my modules for the Monster Manual and the FR: Player's Guide. The MM was very easy since almost everything is already handled by the fluff parser, just sidebars, glossary and the intro needed input.

The FR:PG was a whole other story, the background section was particularly grueling. But it's done, so yay me.

Integration

Instead of looking at the AV I decided to play around with the new encounter's in 4E_JPG 1.1.2 . So I adapted the MM parser to handle the Encounter's Group block. I had to add a few new markup tags to make this happen. The hardest part was creating a matching program that was smart enough to handle the various plural forms of monster names. Oh and the large number of errors on WOTC's part.


Just in case someone from WOTC happens upon this :

runecarved eidolon should just be eidolon
earth gorgon should be iron gorgon
Succubus has encounters but no encounter group
primordial colossus is in an encounter group but does not exist in the MM
flameskull vizier doesn't exist....assumed to be great flameskull
dryad briar witch should be Briar Witch Dryad
rockfire dreadnought(s) should be Rockfire Dreadnought(s)
firebat(s) should be fire bat(s)
marut corcordant should be marut concordant
shadow panther should be spectral panther
bralanis of the autumn winds should be bralanis of autumn winds
Sahuagin encounter group vampire spawn should be vampire spawn fleshripper
hobgoblin guards should be Hobgoblin Soldiers
soulrippers should be sorrowsworn soulrippers
bonecrusher skeleton is in an encounter group but does not exist in the MM
bloodbat swarms is in an encounter group but does not exist in the MM

MM 1.3.0

I just put the latest version of the MM parser up on FUM. It works with both the current (1.0.2) and upcoming release of 4E_JPG. To get full functionality in 1.0.2 there is a minor modification required, I'll post the details in the FUM thread linked above.

This what I have in my changelog since the last release. It's not complete but it covers the highlights:

1.3.0 - Public release version 9/15/2008
* Tokens now dumped into token\ subdirectory. This cuts down on the visual clutter
* Out Name filtered for invalid file characters
* Fixed ZToken overwritting bug.
* ZToken now automatically adds .png to the end of the text if it doesn't end in .png

1.2.12 - Tokens
* Updated to support optional files like the PHB parser
* Added new file for Token Directory. This is the source directory tokens
will be copied from
* Added ZToken tag to fluff parser. Use this to set the token name. If no
name is set it attempt to match the NPC name to an existing token file. Only tokens that
are matched are copied into output\tokens directory.

Note: for ZToken expects just the file name. No path information.


1.2.8 - H3 Parsing
Notes:
Vampire Spawn has a "," in the Claws power where it should be a ";"
Frenzied Werewolf has a role of "(Brute)" it should be Brute
* Description parsed and output on the Other tab.

1.2.7

Fixes / Changes / Enhancements.

* Fixed the Sword Wraith exit tag....but for realz this time

---FRCG stuff----
* Added ability to parse (;;) and (;;)
formatting on powers
(ex: Sharn power Hex Portal)

* Added "sight" as an acceptable range for an aura
(ex: Terpenzi)

* Added "Primordial" as an acceptable role
(ex: Blazing Rorn the Fury )

* Enhanced the lore formatter so that the format DC ##: is converted into
DC ##:
(ex: Luthvaerynn)

* Handled conditional defenses The conditional section gets rolled into the Special defenses
section instead of just being eaten.
(ex: Zairtail Cutter AC 19 (23 against opportunity attacks))

* Allowed powers to appear in more places with in the stat block
(ex: Zairtail Firetongue's Scalding body)

Doesn't make much of a screenshot...

I spent some time in the MM parser recently and added in support for tokens. The user now has the option to specify a token source directory. The Fluff file also now supports a ZToken markup tag. You can pair this with a ZZXBEGIN ZZXEND block and assign a single token to a list of monsters. For any monsters that do not have an explicit token, it looks for one based upon the name of the monster.


During the output of the module it now creates a token subdirectory. In this directory it places any tokens from the token source which are referenced. Any unused tokens are not copied (keeping the module as small as possible).

A very minor modification to the personality drop handler takes care of transferring the tokens from the module into the personality window.

FR Campaign Guide

After wading through LUA it was nice to get back to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. I finished up my first pass at the threats yesterday. Today I tackled the lore. There's some new changes . Several NPCs have a lore that specifies a Skill DC ##: instead of the old DC ##: I adjusted the lore formatting routine to compensate.

Formatted Lore, Conditional Powers

Apparently I missed a format of power. Instead of having name (action;recharge) these powers have name (trigger;recharge). So I modified the parser to handle these. I put their action as "Conditional" and the trigger is placed in the shortdescription of the power (very similar to the Immediate Reaction/Immediate Interrupt).

I also fixed the one case (Sword Wraith) where the Regeneration line is in the wrong place. Or more accurately a different place.

And finally, because it vexxed me, I wrote a much better Lore formatting routine. Instead of bolding when it sees a DC or : it now bolds only when it finds a DC ##: set.
It also draws frames. Frames are drawn from the : to the next DC or paragraph open/close. Unfortunately this means you can not put paragraph markers inside of Lore frames. Oh well...maybe I'll figure out a way to do that some day.

The new version of the parser should go up on FUM tonight.

Dragon Catch up

I decided to catch up with all the dragon/dungeon articles published this week. In addition to adding all the rituals from the core PHB.

Eh...

I removed the ruleset change due to the slowness, plus it really didn't accomplish the sorting goal.

So I generated 2 new top level nodes.
It's okay but still not quite what I wanted, but I'm tired of messing with it for now

Is it worth it?

Someone mentioned doing a MM list by role. Well I've looked at it and there are some problems...
The current db.xml lumps the level role and class (elite,leader etc) into one field called levelrole. I could sort on this, but because it is a string it would go:
Level 1...
Level 10-11...
Level 2...
Level 20-29...
Level 3...
Level 30-40...
etc

So what I tried instead is adding the level/role to the existing displays.

This is a ruleset change, the down side is the lists take a bit longer to load up (it has to get the levelrole for every monster).

What I should probably do is alter the parser to output another set of lists (By Level and Role / By Role and Level) and then remove the field from the list. I'm just not sure it's really worth the effort.

MM 1.0.1.9

Cleaned up some community raised issues with the MM parser. Now it handles Angels and
Azer's strange powers if you just add the correct tags. It also correctly eats the text after the number on the action points line.
I also modified adventure_npc.xml to fix some of the display issues with longer fields. Recharge and keywords were placed on their own lines capable of multiline.

Notes on the MMParser

First off, there have been reports of some path issues. I believe I've corrected it in 1.1.8 . I'm now using the correct syntax to check for a directory and I'm checking that directory names end in the required "\". If you are getting File Not Found when the checker runs, it's probably due to this. If you're running 1.1.8 and still getting incorrect File Not Found errors, drop me a comment. Note this has NOT been fixed in the PHB parser. It's on my list to take care of.

Second, when I moved the close on exit code over to the MM parser, I accidentally included an extra call to the batch file used to automatically compress the archive. This can produce errors after a successful parse (Invalid procedure call, or in the case of my WinRAR batch file, archive corrupted or file in use errors within WinRAR). I've fixed this error but haven't released a corrected executable. I plan on releasing this fix along with some of the fixes I make for the items below.

Third, my personal source data file for the MM parser has been largely unchanged for months. On occasion I go in and apply any errata, fix cut & paste errors, etc. But most of my module builds have been due to changes in the XML structure within the ruleset, not due to the data being incorrect.

However as more people are starting to use the parser, they've encountered some oddities that I manually fixed ages ago. I honestly forgot I made them. I'll take a look at the parser and see if I can't re-adjust it to trap for some of these situations and handle them gracefully.

For now this is a list of what's been reported to give errors and the changes I made to get them to parse successfully. These were all noted by Chesko over on FUM:

Angels' Angelic protection was moved to the resistances line.
Azers' Warding flame should was moved into the power section and tagged (X...ZZX) appropriately.
Atropal Extra text after the action points was removed.

Release

I tossed a version of the Monster Manual parser and some instructions and sample files up on FUM. It is in the D&D 4th Edition FG Development group's forum. Here is a direct link. But it may not work if you are not a member of the board.

I've said before the MM Parser requires more mark up than the other parsers, however it's a HUGE time saver once you get it running.

Dragon 366 - Mithrendain, Citadel of the FeyWild

Parsed all the data from Dragon 366 - Mithrendain, Citadel of the FeyWild
I assumed the weapon and armor go from +1 to +5. The bonus data was missing from the printed stat blocks. I also fixed an issue where the group tag didn't work if defined on the last block of Monster Manual fluff data.

DMG 01.01.02, MM 01.01.03, PHB 01.01.11

All the data from the two Thunderspire articles added.

I also did some prep work for making the MM and DMG usable by others. Depends on how the PHB works out.

DMG 01.01.01 MM 01.01.03

Since my cat, Samson decided 4am was a perfectly acceptable time to wake up and demand food, I had some time to kill before work. So I parsed Dungeon 156 - The Last Breaths of Ashenport monsters and traps. I tried something new with the fluff this time. A lot of the monsters are reused between encounters. So I copied the tactics for each encounter into the fluff. You can see how it worked out on the Mystic Cultist below.

1.01 roll out

JPG dropped 1.01 and with some (LOTS!) of help from Foen I finally got power links working. I managed to get them dropping on the character sheet into the Item group as well.

And because I had a few minutes free I parsed the NPCs from the FR Preview.