New program to help set up VASL scenarios

[Pacman Ghost]

Did I get this right - you need a seperate independent JAVA installation and having just the one which is inherent to the newest VASSAL releases will not suffice?

No

vasl-templates runs VASSAL to do certain things, and to do that, it needs to know where Java is. This version of vasl-templates only supports the newer versions of VASSAL, and so the note I made was to remind people that if they are currently using vasl-templates, they need to update its setting for where Java is (since old versions of Java can't run new versions of VASSAL). Newer versions of VASSAL come with Java bundled, and it's OK to configure vasl-templates to use that Java.

It's far more complicated to explain than it is to do. TL;DR:

• this version of vasl-templates only works with the newer versions of VASSAL (3.4.2 or later), and hence newer versions of VASL (6.6.0 or later).
• if you're currently using vasl-templates, update the versions of VASSAL and VASL in the Server Settings dialog.
• also, update the location of Java in the Server Settings, to point to the Java in the VASSAL installation directory.

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

Hi there,
I tried to install your helpfull program, but i Always get this message, do you know what is wrong?
Thanks in advance,
Johan;

 

[Pacman Ghost]

I tried to install your helpfull program, but i Always get this message, do you know what is wrong?

You've got Java 8 configured, you need a version of Java that will run VASSAL 3.4.12.

Inside C:\Program Files\VASSAL-3.4.12\, there will be a sub-directory that contains the Java installation that VASSAL uses - configure the path to java.exe therein.

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

Ok, that problem is solved,
now he says
this program has not been tested with x VASSAL 3.4.12
it might work, but they might not...
is this a problem?
Thanks for helping me!!!
Johan.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

this program has not been tested with x VASSAL 3.4.12
it might work, but they might not...
is this a problem?

vasl-templates is only officially supported for the versions of VASSAL that VASL supports i.e. 3.4.2 and 3.4.6.

Unofficially, 3.4.12 should be OK.

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

Thank for your help,
I am happy to be able to use your program
it is very nice!!!
Johan.

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

one last question,
when trying to update the scenario i get this message,

Message: session not created: This version of ChromeDriver only supports Chrome version 81

Johan.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Message: session not created: This version of ChromeDriver only supports Chrome version 81

Each version of chromedriver works with a specific version of Chrome, so you have to make sure they match up.

If you still can't get it to work, you can try Firefox + geckodriver, it's perhaps a little less finicky about these things.

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

Each version of chromedriver works with a specific version of Chrome, so you have to make sure they match up.

If you still can't get it to work, you can try Firefox + geckodriver, it's perhaps a little less finicky about these things.

It's now ok with Chromedriver but I get now the error below (chromedriver & geckodriver)
Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 4294967295
Do I need to change something ?
Thank you

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

It's now ok with Chromedriver but I get now the error below (chromedriver & geckodriver)
Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 4294967295
Do I need to change something ?
Thank you

Problems solved now, hope so!!!!

 

[Pacman Ghost]

Problems solved now, hope so!!!!

What was the problem?

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

What was the problem?

I don't really know, I had to call my neighbor to help, I don't know anything about computers,
the program works, and I hope it stays that way because it's a very good program, thanks for your help, I wouldn't be able to use it without

 

[JohanVrijdaghs]

I don't really know, I had to call my neighbor to help, I don't know anything about computers,
the program works, and I hope it stays that way because it's a very good program, thanks for your help, I wouldn't be able to use it without

I am sorry, but this message returns
" Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 4294967295"
I am unable to use it

 

[Pacman Ghost]

I am sorry, but this message returns
" Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 4294967295"

You're going to have to call your neighbour again

Tell them to create a file called logging.yaml in the config/ sub-directory that looks like this:

version: 1

formatters:
    standard:
        format: "%(asctime)s.%(msecs)03d | %(message)s"
        datefmt: "%H:%M:%S"

handlers:
    file:
        class: "logging.FileHandler"
        formatter: "standard"
        filename: "c:/temp/vasl-templates.log"
        mode: "w"

loggers:
    vasl_mod:
        level: "DEBUG"
        handlers: [ "file"]
    vassal_shim:
        level: "DEBUG"
        handlers: [ "file" ]

Change the path to the output log file to something suitable.

Create another file called logback-test.xml in the same directory as vasl-templates.exe (i.e. not the same directory as above) that looks like this:

<configuration debug="false">

<appender name="FILE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.FileAppender">
    <file>c:/temp/vassal-shim.log</file>
    <append>False</append>
    <encoder>
        <pattern>%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} | %msg%n</pattern>
    </encoder>
</appender>

<root level="WARN">
    <appender-ref ref="FILE" />
</root>

<logger name="vassal_shim.VassalShim" level="DEBUG" />
<logger name="vassal_shim.LabelArea" level="WARN" />

</configuration>

Change the path to the output log file to something suitable.

Restart the program, try to update a scenario, so that the error happens again. Then post the log files here.

 

[Jazz]

Interesting and kinda neat feature.

My big complaint is that it turns loading up the scenario glacially slow. At least is does on my machine.

<shrug> Time and a place for everything.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

My big complaint is that it turns loading up the scenario glacially slow.

It shouldn't. How big are the log files? And is that loading the scenario into vasl-templates, or into VASSAL?

You can change the DEBUG settings to INFO for a less-voluminous output.

 

[von Marwitz]

It shouldn't. How big are the log files? And is that loading the scenario into vasl-templates, or into VASSAL?

You can change the DEBUG settings to INFO for a less-voluminous output.

I would not say that loading the scenarios made with your program are glacially slow to load, but they do load slower than bare-bone setups do. This is caused by images being embedded/linked to in the VASL files an not by your tool per se.

Sometimes I encounter the same phenomenon for my setups with an image in it.

von Marwitz

 

[Pacman Ghost]

but they do load slower than bare-bone setups do. This is caused by images being embedded/linked to in the VASL files an not by your tool per se.

Yes, that's correct. It's a particular problem if the images are unavailable because (1) VASSAL loads them one at a time, and (2) with a really long timeout.

But Jazz's post implied that turning logging on made scenarios load slower, and it was that I was asking about.

 

[Jazz]

My bad for not communicating effectively. I am not logging anything.

With images embedded it takes as long as 5 minutes (seems an eternity) to load up a saved scenario or to synch to someone in a VASL room.

 

[Pacman Ghost]

With images embedded it takes as long as 5 minutes (seems an eternity) to load up a saved scenario or to synch to someone in a VASL room.

Yeah, unfortunately it's not something I can really do anything about; VASSAL is just extremely slow loading images. The more images there are, the longer it takes.

5 minutes is a bit excessive, though. The images finally show up, though, right? If you get the "broken image" image, that would explain why it's taking so long, because VASSAL has a really long time-out before it gives up on an image and moves on to the next one.