New program to help set up VASL scenarios

Neal

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I'm having problems with the Template program not saving any of the "User Settings." Every time I load the program and/or load a saved scenario setup all the user settings are gone (or never load).

I'm referring to the settings section below.

Thanks!


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Pacman Ghost

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This is very weird. You're saying that:
  • you open the User Settings dialog and your settings are there
  • you then load a saved setup (.json file)
  • you open the User Settings dialog again, and all the settings have been reset?
The settings are saved in C:\Users\YOUR-NAME\vasl-templates.ini, so keep an eye on that file as you're making changes. It should be updated when you click OK in the diaog. Over-zealous virus-checkers have been known to sometimes cause problems like this, blocking access to files.

Also, the program is a web application, so after you've started the program, open a browser and go to http://localhost:5010. When run this way, settings are stored in cookies, not the INI file, but do you still have the problem of settings being reset?
 

Neal

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The .ini file is there, the user settings are set in the file, and it's being updated when I re-enter settings every time...but the settings never get loaded any time using your client/loader (not a web browser). They are always blank and I have to re-enter them.

But, when I loaded localhost in a browser (as you describe), change settings, close browser, then reload...the settings are there.

Also, on your latest Beta it doesn't recognized "Partisan" as a nationality used in some aslscenarioarchive listings. It replaces "Partisan" with "German". I will post more things I notice in this thread.
 
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Pacman Ghost

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but the settings never get loaded any time using your client/loader (not a web browser). They are always blank and I have to re-enter them.
But is this happening every time you restart the program, or every time you load a previously-saved scenario?

Also, try closing the program, editing the INI file directly, then starting the program. Are your changes still not seen? Do they get removed from the INI file?

Also, on your latest Beta it doesn't recognized "Partisan" as a nationality used in some aslscenarioarchive listings. It replaces "Partisan" with "German".
Yes, that's correct. "Partisan" isn't a nationality vasl-templates knows about, and in these cases, you'll get a warning, and it leaves whatever nationality that is currently configured as is.
 
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Neal

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But is this happening every time you restart the program, or every time you load a previously-saved scenario?
Yes and yes.

Also, try closing the program, editing the INI file directly, then starting the program. Are your changes still not seen? Do they get removed from the INI file?
The .ini file is being updated when I make changes in User Settings. It's just never loaded under any circumstance that I can find.

Shut down the program and restart it...no settings.
Shut down the program, restart it, then load a scenario...no settings.
Shut down the program, edit ini, then restart it...no settings.

The only time I have settings is if I edit the User Settings and never close the program. Or run it in a web browser (chrome).

Another thing I notice is it takes about a full minute for the program to start up once I double click the .exe.
 

Pacman Ghost

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Shut down the program and restart it...no settings.
Shut down the program, restart it, then load a scenario...no settings.
Shut down the program, edit ini, then restart it...no settings.
The case I need to know about is the one in the bullet points earlier:
  • Shut down the program, restart it
  • Configure some settings
  • Load a scenario
Are the settings still there, or have they gone?

Another thing I notice is it takes about a full minute for the program to start up once I double click the .exe.
Yes, it's slow to start. The EXE is a self-unpacking thing, so it takes time to do that. The program uses a GUI toolkit, so that takes time to initialize. It also has an embedded browser, and that's quite slow to initialize as well. If you run the program from source, it starts instantly, and then you just connect to it from a browser.

Nevertheless, a minute is a bit long. My system takes about 30 seconds, Windows 10, SSD, 24 GB. If you have a virus checker, that will slow things down even more, as it will be checking the files as they are unpacked.
 

Jplott94

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Just updated VASL Templates to ver 1.2. Getting these error messages...but it doesn't seem to affect the functionality.

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In the settings window, it shows the correct VASSAL location in my directory.

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Am I doing something wrong here?
 

Pacman Ghost

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This program has not been tested with VASL 6.6.0. Things might work, but they might not :)

You don't have to use the same version of VASL to create scenarios in vasl-templates as you to do to play scenarios. Go back to using VASL 6.5.1 and VASSAL 3.2.17 (in this program), and everything should be fine.
 

Pacman Ghost

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The next beta release is now available. Please PM if you'd like to kick the tyres.

This release completes integration with the ASL Scenario Archive - the last beta let you search it for scenarios, now you can also update it.

Once you've set up a scenario, in its scenario card there is a new Upload button, which will let you upload to the ASL Scenario Archive:
  • your vasl-templates scenario setup
  • a VASL save file (i.e. the .vsav file)
  • a screenshot of the VASL setup
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Just load your .vsav file into the dialog and the program will automatically generate a screenshot for it, or you can add one of your own. Once you're happy with everything, upload it.
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NOTE: You will need to register at the ASL Scenario Archive website, and get an API token from your My Page.

Then, when people search for that scenario, they will be able to see your screenshot (e.g. so they can check their map configuration against it):
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The program uses a new image viewer, which is seriously cool, and importantly, lets you rotate the images so you can match it up with your own setup.

People will also be able to download the vasl-templates scenario setup, or VASL save file:
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If you'd like to see this in action, the example scenarios supplied with the program have all been uploaded, so search for:
  • Hill 621
  • Hube's Pocket
  • The Streets Of Stalingrad
Note that if you download the VASL save files for these, they will take a short while to open in VASSAL, as they download images from the internet.

A big shout-out to Dave Ramsey for the work he did at his end to make this happen, he was incredibly responsive to requests. And for y'all out there who enjoy using VASL, the ASL Scenario Archive, vasl-templates and all the other goodies people have built, here's your chance to put something back in, and help build up a library of scenario setups that we can all benefit from ?
 
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Pacman Ghost

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Really looking forward to the next full release of VT!
Yah, me too. Then I can take a break from working on the bloody thing :rolleyes:

Things are unlikely to change much between now and the next full release - there will be one more beta, with a few bug fixes, minor cleanup, and updated help - and so the latest beta is pretty close to what the final thing will look like.
 

Pacman Ghost

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The next (and hopefully last) beta release of vasl-templates is now available. Please PM me if you'd like to take this one for a spin.

Just clean-up and minor enhancements:
  • Updated the help.
  • Added menu icons.
  • Added a menu item to the snippet buttons to generate snippets as an image.
  • Allow "[EXC: ...]" blocks to be styled.
  • Added an option to confirm User Settings before updating a VASL scenario.
  • When importing a scenario from the ASL Scenario Archive, the current scenario is checked to see if it has been modified.
  • Fixed a problem that was stopping links in the help from opening in an external browser.
  • Added an ATMM template for the Romanians.
  • Minor changes to National Capabilities and vehicle notes.
  • Changed how the Escape key is handled.
  • Warnings about VASL extensions are no longer logged at startup.
  • Minor UI changes.
I'll let this release bake for a while, and that'll be the v1.3 release ?
 
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NtheP

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Question. How can I add into an OB a piece of equipment from another country's OB. It's scenario given not to deal with captured use. For example scenario 144 The Professionals gives the Allied Minor (Yugoslav) forces two Italian AT guns but I can't add those Italian weapons to the Yugoslav OB.
 

Pacman Ghost

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Version 1.3a of vasl-templates has been released here.

The main new features are:
Other minor features and bug fixes are listed here.

Up next, support for the new versions of VASSAL and VASL, and more log file fun.

I am sooo off to the pub...
 
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Stewart

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I'd love to give it a SPIN.

Notes:
When you wish to create a SNIPPET, can you have a pallette color window pop up to chose a color of the Snippet
The Gray default is about the least attractive feature.

Your Generating snippets as an IMAGE.
Will this provide a PREVIEW? in a preview window?
 

Pacman Ghost

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I'd love to give it a SPIN.
This is a general release, not a beta, so you don't need to ask for it, just grab it.

When you wish to create a SNIPPET, can you have a pallette color window pop up to chose a color of the Snippet
The Gray default is about the least attractive feature.
All the snippets are generated from template files (hence the name), so if you don't like mine, you can either:
  • edit the template files directly (in the data/default-template-pack/ directory), but your changes will be overwritten when you install the next version
  • create a new template pack, as described in the help (but then you have to update it to reflect any changes when you install the next version)
Your Generating snippets as an IMAGE.
Will this provide a PREVIEW? in a preview window?
If you are using the Windows application, the image will be placed in your clipboard, which you can then paste into e.g. Paint or Word. If you are running it from a browser, you will get a file to download.
 
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Neal

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FYI... I get lots of "Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 1" errors when trying to link VTP with VASL 6.6.1 (latest version). And the dice stats won't import a vlog file saved with 6.6.1
 

Pacman Ghost

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FYI... I get lots of "Unexpected return code from the VASSAL shim: 1" errors when trying to link VTP with VASL 6.6.1 (latest version). And the dice stats won't import a vlog file saved with 6.6.1
You would've got a warning message when starting the program that this VASSAL and VASL is not supported. Support will be coming in the next release.

Even if you're using the new VASSAL+VASL to play your games, you can still use the old VASSAL+VASL in vasl-templates to set up the scenarios.
 
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