On Tue, 13 Aug 1996, Jack Wilson wrote:
> >I think that this problem has to do with diffences in the size and
> >structure of the way the 2 os's save binary data with fwrite().
>
> Yeah, which gives me an idea.
>
> Why not prefix every Circle binary file with a 32 bit integer (such
> as 0x01020304). If, when the file is loaded, the driver detects that
> the number is not equal to 16909060 (decimal for 0x01020304), it will
> know that the file was saved in a different format than the driver
> is currently using, so it can convert.
>
> Sure would save a lot of people some headaches...
>
A much better thing to do (in my opinion) is make ASCII playerfiles, instead
of one big binary-file.
Positive:
+ [BIG PLUS!] You do not have any problems moving it to a new OS.
+ Much easier to delete one player. [No need for DELETED Flag. Just delete
the playerfile.]
+ Fill less [Made one on 2.2 long time ago.. One ascii playerfile filled
only 33% of the binary info for a player. Never saw it over
45%. And that was even after I added 640 more bytes to the
player structure.]
+ Name change much easier.
+ Don't need to load the whole playerfile in for all players. Load a player
only when needed.
+ A few other things..
Negative:
- ASCII file read/write is slower than binary. But trust me.. You can't
feel it.
- Take some time to insert the damn code :) Including making a different
playerindex system and fix all the small stuff that use playerinfo.
It is worth it.
---
Erik Niese-Petersen
Aka Quint The typo God
Realms of Darkness IMP [matrix.xiii.com 6666. Playertesting]
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Ensure that you have read the CircleMUD Mailing List FAQ: |
| http://cspo.queensu.ca/~fletcher/Circle/list_faq.html |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : 12/07/00 PST