Megatraveller Trade: Cargo Generator?

[Lapthorn]

I'm looking for a cargo auto-generator to get my computer to take the hard work out of running up lot after lot. As I lack the programming skills myself, I thought I would ask if anyone else knows of one? Thanks

 

[Gadrin]

I have a file called

CargoSetup.msi

and it's a: LBB2 Cargo generator

Sorry not MegaTraveller.

I'm pretty sure I got it off this site.

Ah yes...

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Di...searchinfo=1&photoplog_searchquery=cargosetup

Haven't tried it yet.

>

 

[coliver988]

the LBB2 cargo generator is actually 1 I wrote. not MT, but (and hopefully not treading toes) is LBB2 & T5, and the T5 seems very similar to the MT one in at least some aspects. There is an option to switch between LBB2 & T5. The most recent (a couple of months old) download is available in the file section of this site.

It is not very good - started as a test bed for XML I had to do for work, and sort of progressed to where it is now (mixes XML, CSV, flat files) and there ARE issues with it. I keep wanting to get around to rewriting it (pure T5 probably) but never get around to it. It is fairly flexible: most of the data files it uses are straight text, some even have notes for modifying built in. The interface is pretty bad, but my programming background is punch cards, the old green-bar teletype terminals, and then all this new-fangled GUI stuff comes out...

 

[Gadrin]

[FONT=arial,helvetica]coliver988:[/FONT]

Well I'm getting a little better with PHP using the XAMPP free package.

I've turned my laptop into an Apache Webserver (standalone) and I've
built a few utilities with it getting to know PHP and MYSQL.

I previously built a phpBBS and vBulletin board topic downloader where
you place the URL for the multi-page topic (ever wanted one that's 20+
pages but don't want to do SAVEAS 20+ times?) and it goes out and
downloads all the pages, saves them as local files and reformats each
page to use the navigation bars for the locals -- that way you can view
the topic offline.

I finished prototypes for both the Palladium BBS (phpBBS) and Steve
Jackson Games (vBulletin). It takes about 1 minute to download, format
and store a 100-page whopper on my laptop. The SJG site is very similar to this one.

XAMPP & PHP has HTMLTidy built into it so it can turn HTML into XML
and work with it very nicely.

Last night I started a customization, by having the downloader take
the first page and then add all the posts from the other pages to it
one right after the other (much easier for searching). So now you've
got the individual files + a single file with all the posts in one place.

So far so good. I'm just fine-tuning the features such as being able to
hide/show posts only by certain people you want.

So depending on interest I might be willing to do something else as
well, like the cargo generator.

Are you into PHP ?

>

 

[coliver988]

No PHP for me. The web stuff I do manage to do is .Net (SQL based data, lots of business logic type of things. And I HATE web programming ) We have a couple guys here who do use PHP, and make really nice sites. They really like it, but I (1) don't like web programming and (2) just don't have the time to pick up the web language of the day. they tend to change every few years, although PHP has stuck around longer and I expect it to stick around a lot longer still.

Hate it or not, the advantage of the .Net/C# is that, as I come from a C/C++ background, it was a natural fit to get that working, although chunks of web programming still mess me up (turns out that a session variable is available on ALL open tabs in a browser regardless of login credentials - big security/data integrity issues there [as I found out when users were overwriting trouble tickets. I only tested 1 tab at a time, and they usually have dozens of tabs open. Who knew?])

(I do mostly business-type of programming, and know far more than I ever wanted to about rating & billing for cellular & CLEC phone systems. 90% of what I do is server-based, processing calls & generating billing files/reports. No user interfaces for the most part, just playing with data)

Someone over at the Mongoose boards had a web-based cargo generator for that system, but I think it has since been pulled due to licensing questions. Fortunately Marc/FFE has a fairly liberal approach to fan-based free stuff. My little program contains specific T5 cargo tables & stuff in plain text, and I have quietly asked if it is an issue & either no one noticed or it is not an issue. Pure LBB2 stuff I am certain is not a problem, the T5 may be.

 

[Gadrin]

I use it because PHP is very similar to Javascript (not Java).

So it helped me learn both.

I like automating the browser and using HTML/XML and the price of
XAMPP is right (free) so it's a fairly versatile system. It'll work on
various types of platforms (OS).

Unlike your program it does involve installing and setup (but fairly
streamlined).

I was programming in Winbatch (a vbscript like language) which was
actually very nice, it's just not great for small programs. EXEs are
usually at least a meg if not larger, even to do simple things. The
only browser you can automate with Winbatch is IE though.

Anyway if your data is available for export (meaning you have it in
.csv files or just text files) I'll take a look at it.

I just finished the Topic Downloader Beta for vBulletin and the Steve
Jackson Games site. I'll probably see about doing one for this site,
if I can remember how I did my Winbatch version I know it required
using MSIE's cookies or something, because if you're not logged in
you get only the first page of the topic.

So keep an eye peeled I'll try and post my result-file downloads as
a zip and need some feedback on them for general appeal, etc.

Have a good one!

>

 

[coliver988]

A lot of people like PHP, it is a fairly robust & useful language, just not one I use.

All the support tables are text files. The sector files are either SEC or a homebrew XML (with intentions of expanding that, as earlier noted, are still just intentions). The cargo files are either XML or CSV, and the support files mostly CSV. I'm a strong proponent of letting the user change things in software (means less work for me!) and external, user-editable tables allow that (I think I even have a built-in editor for one of the files, but I can't remember. Durn senior moments!).

The installer sticks everything in a single directory. Let me know if you have any further questions - my naming conventions are not (a) consistent nor (b) always meaningful. See above senior moments (and I'm only 45!)

There's an odd mix of LBB2, T5, GURPS and some BITS stuff in there - a veritable kitchen sink of Traveller goodness shuffled somewhat successfully together.

Have fun with the programming - seriously. Do stuff you like, and when it comes to computers, on the platform of your choice with the languages of your choice. I'd love to see the results when you get to that point - it is always useful to steal, err, borrow other peoples ideas when it comes to development!

 

[FreeTrav]

[FONT=arial,helvetica][/FONT]I previously built a phpBBS and vBulletin board topic downloader where you place the URL for the multi-page topic (ever wanted one that's 20+ pages but don't want to do SAVEAS 20+ times?) and it goes out and downloads all the pages, saves them as local files and reformats each page to use the navigation bars for the locals -- that way you can view the topic offline.

I finished prototypes for both the Palladium BBS (phpBBS) and Steve Jackson Games (vBulletin). It takes about 1 minute to download, format and store a 100-page whopper on my laptop. The SJG site is very similar to this one.

Gadrin, please contact me off-board at editor@freelancetraveller.com. I have a possible proposal for you based on this.