MAWS source code available UPDATE: Now resurrected in java

[8BitMonk]

Mame version is good to display.

For the preference setting I wouldn't have it filter out game types like Mahjong, Fruit Machine etc., leave that to the UI on the left. For the extra history.dat blank listings that'd be a good solution though. I like the saved search option.

I'm with you on always having the option to get at all the data. One mans 'dubious value' is another mans treasure. 

[ids]

Mame version (as per mame.xml) added to title-bar

One mans 'dubious value' is another mans treasure. 

Agreed, which is why there are so many blank-ish entries.  I thought it best to add, rather than impose my opinions.

However, I've now worked through the cause of most (all?) blank entries and, rather than impose myself on the solution, have created two options to control loading these.  Causes include:

• mismatched file versions, eg mame.xml from 151, mameinfo/catver/history/etc from various other versions - games added/removed/renamed along the way; dat file entry causing creation a new database entry
• console games from history.dat
• "drivers" from the driver section of mameinfo.dat

New options:

• Create entry for unknown will create a database entry when a game not found in mame.xml is discovered in another dat/ini file (mismatch, console game, any other reason, except the next bullet)
• Load drivers will load the mameinfo driver info.  I separated this out in case some people had need for driver entries, but not the other noise.

And I've added a button on the toolbar to bring up the settings/config dialog for easier access.

Added the "miscDetails" from controls.ini to the "Controls" section (detail screen)

etc

I'm testing these and a few more things and will post app update asap.  8bit, I can swap the splash-screen logo with one of yours, if you pick one out - I'm overwhelmed by the sheer number of cool options you created.

[BadMouth]

I think you may have mentioned this before, but since the original MAWS was last updated, reporting of the joysticks in the xml has changed from
 
control type="joy4way"
 to
control type="joy" ways="4"

I'm trying to make a list of all 4-way games with your most current build, but only have the option for "joy".
I'd hate to add yet another category.  Is it possible to add joy 4-way, joy 8-way and joy 2-way to the current drop down list for controls?

[ids]

yeah, no problem, will be in next build...coming soon...

[headkaze]

I think you may have mentioned this before, but since the original MAWS was last updated, reporting of the joysticks in the xml has changed from

Yes there is more detail about this change in this post. It's easy enough to convert it back to the old format to maintain backward compatibility.

[8BitMonk]

Thanks ids, I was bored so I did a boatload of variants. Some of the zombie ones are fun but I'd probably go with one of the standard non-zombie versions below unless there's a strong opinion here. Are you ok with MAWLER? I'm happy to change anything on the splash screen (name, font, color etc) if anyone wants to see something else.

[ids]

Yes there is more detail about this change in this post. It's easy enough to convert it back to the old format to maintain backward compatibility.

Thanks - I've ported your code over, and added a case to handle:
doublejoy   8   2   -   doublejoy4way

Are you ok with MAWLER?

Sure, I've no particular opinions on name, MAWLER sounds cool enough.  I grabbed one of those pics and put it in as the splash screen.  Calling it "v1.0" might be premature, but we can call it a bug in the beta


Anyway, new version uploaded - same URL.

Deleting mature, fruit machines, and all that, makes a big difference to load time.  Filter for all the crap you want removed, hit the trashcan in the toolbar, and then hit the floppy (save) icon.  Next startup will be improved.  Runtime seems a bit quicker as well.  You can run multiple filter/delete cycles and save at any time(s).  Not loading console game entries and the like also reduces overall count.  This build has had a lot of internal changes and may be a bit rough, please report issues.

Thanks



EDIT: just uploaded another version, fixed a few things

[8BitMonk]

Cool, thanks for the updated version!

New splash that says '(pre-beta)' at the url below:

http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa380/8BitMonk/MAWLER/mawler_c6pb_zpsb0e0ef7d.png

Here's what I found:

• Toggling the two options to include the extra data only seems to include a couple hundred records. 29436 without and 29852 with. Seems like your original was up around 59k so I'm not sure if it was just cleaned up more or? The extra's seem to come from history.dat selection, not the mame info one.
• I filtered my list down to 2685 records and tried to re-launch with no luck. See error message below. I tried several times. I'm testing on my Macbook Pro i7 2.2 Deleting the MAWLER-save.db fixes it but the deletions are of course gone.
• If you hit the trash can to delete records it deletes them when you hit cancel!!
• The trashcan is a bit confusing since you can select or shift-select records. The user may wonder, am I deleting my selected records or my whole filtered list? Trial and error shows it's the filtered selection but then there's no way to go back other than restarting.
• I'm not sure I like the 'trash' records. Seems like it would be better as save states. Glad that it doesn't mess with the original xml, that's good. Easy enough to delete the MAWLER-save.db and start over but it's not super user friendly.

Coming along nicely, thanks!!

Error message after saving trimmed down list and trying to restart:
MAWLER-save.db: Processed 2685 games in 3.799000 seconds.
java.lang.NullPointerException
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.GamePanel.addContent(GamePanel.java:31)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.BorderedPanel.<init>(BorderedPanel.java:32)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.GamePanel.<init>(GamePanel.java:26)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.DetailScreen.<init>(DetailScreen.java:25)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2._showDetailScreen(Maws2.java:289)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.showDetailScreenHelper(Maws2.java:245)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.showSet(Maws2.java:226)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.init(Maws2.java:154)
   at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.main(Maws2.java:88)[/list]

[headkaze]

Thanks - I've ported your code over, and added a case to handle:
doublejoy   8   2   -   doublejoy4way

How does my code not handle this case?

[ids]

Headkaze, as I understand your code from the other thread, it does not map that case.  Snippet:

Code: [Select]

if (ways.Equals("3 (half4)"))
ways = "4";
else if (ways.Equals("5 (half8)"))
ways = "8";
else if (ways.Equals("vertical2"))
{ ways = "2"; vertical = "v"; }

return String.Format("{0}{1}{2}way", vertical, type, ways);
The way I read this code, in the case where type=doublejoy, ways=8, and ways2=2, the result will be "doublejoy8way", but your table there says it should map to"doublejoy4way".  My apologies if I've got this wrong somehow.


8Bit - thanks for all the testing - if you add back pacman, the app should start up, seems it's quite upset that it's removed.  I'll fix that - bug is related to some of the internal messing around I've done, and doesn't surprise me.  I have since changed the "confirm" dialog to show only "OK" - it's popped-up after the delete is done as a confirm...i used the wrong dialog box there.  Maybe it'd be better as a pre-delete confirm - and maybe it should track selection, or let you pick all or selected.  I've def. got some UI work to do, lots in fact.  I've been focusing on the easy bits to get the functionality in.  I was also thinking it'd be good to be able to save multiple files and select which to load - if that's what you mean by save-states.

[8BitMonk]

8Bit - thanks for all the testing - if you add back pacman, the app should start up, seems it's quite upset that it's removed.

Cool, I'll give that a try.

Maybe it'd be better as a pre-delete confirm - and maybe it should track selection, or let you pick all or selected.

I think it would, more intuitive as a confirmation dialog box.

I've def. got some UI work to do, lots in fact.  I've been focusing on the easy bits to get the functionality in. 

Let me know if I can help. I have a bunch of UI elements etc. For your icons you should check out the Free Fugue or Fam Fam Silk sets:
http://p.yusukekamiyamane.com/icons/search/fugue/
http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/

I was also thinking it'd be good to be able to save multiple files and select which to load - if that's what you mean by save-states.

Yep that's what I was thinking. The ability to save what you've filtered and then restore to an old save or the full list.

[ids]

New version uploaded.  You should delete your .db file if you have one

• Updated dialog interaction wrt deletes.
• Fixed bugs in xml/dat/ini loading and the options related to load/not load things.
• Fixed startup - loads a random game, pacman no longer required
• Updated splash image to the pre-beta version
• Other stuff I forget already

Oh, and cool icons - I've downloaded, and put them on my to-do list

[8BitMonk]

Excellent, thanks for the update! I'll check it out tonight. 

Edit: Just got a chance to take a look and test it out, works great!

Feedback:

• The new 'trash' works great, the dialogs are much more clear and you can cancel.
• Like that you can manually select games and it will ask you if you want to delete your selections or by the sort.
• Would be nice to be able to be to reset to the full list without having to manually delete the save db like the ability to save/load different pruned saves. Minor inconvenience.
• Like that it tells you how many records it trashed. Maybe put the records that will be deleted in the confirmation popup too before they delete.
• Trimmed list of ~2800 records loads fast, about 4 seconds.
• Might be nice to have a reset button (where the graph is now) that just resets the single field. Find when I don't want to reset all of them it can be a pain to go to each and roll it back to 'Any'.
• I've thrown in some icons and did a little UI mockup. Think the nav arrows work better over the records.
• If anyone is on a Mac  and wants to do a shortcut for launching this from terminal without typing see this http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/terminal_101_creating_aliases_commands. Saves some time vs. typing in Terminal. I'm sure there's a PC equivalent

Mock-up:


Great work, better with every revision. 

[ids]

Thanks again - your feedback is very much appreciated.

Quick response to a few items - numbered for reference:

• Would be nice to be able to be to reset to the full list without having to manually delete the save db like the ability to save/load different pruned saves. Minor inconvenience.
• Like that it tells you how many records it trashed. Maybe put the records that will be deleted in the confirmation popup too before they delete.
• Trimmed list of ~2800 records loads fast, about 4 seconds.
• Might be nice to have a reset button (where the graph is now) that just resets the single field. Find when I don't want to reset all of them it can be a pain to go to each and roll it back to 'Any'.
• I've thrown in some icons and did a little UI mockup. Think the nav arrows work better over the records.
• If anyone is on a Mac  and wants to do a shortcut for launching this from terminal without typing see this http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/terminal_101_creating_aliases_commands. Saves some time vs. typing in Terminal. I'm sure there's a PC equivalent

• I was thinking that app startup should be smarter - prompt for which files to load, show the File Config dialog if no files found, etc.  And, at runtime, be able to switch.  However, I'm not sure how much value some of this adds, as the real benefit is start-up time.  Switching databases on the fly will still incur the load time.  And the real goal is a proper SQL database, at which point this is all moot, and the killer feature will be pseudo-permanent filters (ie remove all the "junk", then apply my filter stuff on the left there).
• I was planning this, but laziness won out.  I'll try to get it into the next build.
• That's fast - I'm at about 12s, which is still a huge improvement.  I was thinking of an option - maybe in a startup-prompt - to pre-configure the xml/dat/ini file loading with certain filters to bring down the total numbers.  It may not actually improve load times, as we still need to parse the entire file, but it would make it easy to have a trimmed DB.
• There are a lot of things I'd like to place by each drop-list, but real-estate is at a premium.  I was thinking maybe a pop-up menu or something... I was also thinking to highlight fields that have a value(s) selected to make them easier spot
• Looks great.  I'll get there one day.  It's hard to juggle time: add feature, or work on aesthetics...hmmm...maybe one more feature....
• I can add "bat/cmd" and shell scripts to the zip file if that helps.  That should cover most OS's.

Currently working on creating custom filter sets - you get to pick with fields show up on the left there.  Out of the box, there will be settings for "minimal" and "deluxe", but you can add your own, name them, and select them on the fly.  I'd really like to know what fields people would like to search/filter.    I can very easily add them to the list, making them available for custom filter set things.

thx

[8BitMonk]

• I was thinking that app startup should be smarter - prompt for which files to load, show the File Config dialog if no files found, etc.  And, at runtime, be able to switch.  However, I'm not sure how much value some of this adds, as the real benefit is start-up time.  Switching databases on the fly will still incur the load time.  And the real goal is a proper SQL database, at which point this is all moot, and the killer feature will be pseudo-permanent filters (ie remove all the "junk", then apply my filter stuff on the left there).

I agree, I wouldn't spend time on this as as the value is questionable and it'd likely be moot with an SQL version. I would make it fail nicer if the appropriate files aren't all there though so it's at least friendly for a basic user for the time being. As it stands I think it just doesn't launch with no indication as to what went wrong.

• I was planning this, but laziness won out.  I'll try to get it into the next build.

This is more polish than necessity.

• That's fast - I'm at about 12s, which is still a huge improvement.  I was thinking of an option - maybe in a startup-prompt - to pre-configure the xml/dat/ini file loading with certain filters to bring down the total numbers.  It may not actually improve load times, as we still need to parse the entire file, but it would make it easy to have a trimmed DB.

Not sure a prompt to filter at load would be useful, more confusing with minimal payoff.

• There are a lot of things I'd like to place by each drop-list, but real-estate is at a premium.  I was thinking maybe a pop-up menu or something... I was also thinking to highlight fields that have a value(s) selected to make them easier spot

This was a also a nice-to-have and unecessary if you couldn't make space or it's too difficult to implement. The icon sizes could be smaller, you could probably get 3 to the right of the text field, not a big deal though. I like the idea of highlighting changed fields, several time I hit Search thinking I was getting the whole sort and not realizing I had set one of the filters.

• Looks great.  I'll get there one day.  It's hard to juggle time: add feature, or work on aesthetics...hmmm...maybe one more feature....

I'll take features over aesthetics any day. However if it's just a matter of swapping an image and it's relatively easy then... 

• I can add "bat/cmd" and shell scripts to the zip file if that helps.  That should cover most OS's.

This would be good and may get more people to test. I think for the average user opening up a cmd prompt or terminal window, changing the directory and typing in a string of commands is a dealbreaker.

Currently working on creating custom filter sets - you get to pick with fields show up on the left there.  Out of the box, there will be settings for "minimal" and "deluxe", but you can add your own, name them, and select them on the fly. 

I like this idea, it'd be good to be able to share sets.

I'd really like to know what fields people would like to search/filter.    I can very easily add them to the list, making them available for custom filter set things.

I think all of the ones I need/want are there already.

[ids]

...I think for the average user opening up a cmd prompt or terminal window, changing the directory and typing in a string of commands is a dealbreaker.

yeah, i keep forgetting things like this.  I've been staring at command lines for far too many decades now.

[8BitMonk]

Is there somewhere in each game record that shows if it's a parent or clone? Or if it's a parent what it's clones are? I didn't notice anything in the listing, would be useful to know. In the built-in mame launcher they show parents in white and clones in gray in the list view. It might be nice to have a visual cue like this as well in list view.

One other thing, it's currently not easy to add back a handful of games once you've filtered. For example: say you wanted to filter out all clones except a few because they are better than the parent. There's not easy way to do this. This is a typical use too because there are probably 20-50 roms that are better than the parents or that you might want in addition to the parent. Check out this thread: http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?11442-Mame-Clones-worth-playing-a-complete-(hopefully)-list

Not to pile on more stuff, just spitballin' here. 

[ids]

New version uploaded.

Search results show clones in grey, BIOS in red
Detail screen - ROM list is colour coded - blue indicates clickable to go to parent set
Customizable search criteria included (need a good name for these, suggestions welcome)
    - config dialog is used to create/delete custom search styles
    - new droplist in toolbar is used to select current search style.  Simple and deluxe are defaults out of the box and cannot be deleted.
    - Customizations are not currently saved after app closes - that's a to-do list item
New icons in use in most/all places
Now includes both a .bat and shell script
etc

I can see no easy way to apply a filter yet at the same time maintain specific exceptions.  I'll keep it mind, and maybe work something out some day.

[BadMouth]

I'm missing buttons on the toolbar now and the buttons at the bottom just have part of the word followed by ....
as if the word doesn't fit.

Not sure if it's relevant, but the toolbar can also be detached from the window and pops into it's own little window.
I discovered this clicking on it to see if the buttons were there, but invisible.

Also, I think the chart button makes it look more complicated than it needs to be.
If it's not going to be used anytime soon, ditch it.

[ids]

Thanks for the feedback - I will post a fix asap.  And I'll remove the chart button - I was thinking along the same lines.

The toolbar is supposed to be detachable, and can reattach to any side of the window - I can disable that if it's a problem.

[8BitMonk]

Great additions, thanks for the update. I like the rom color coding.

I'm having the same issue with icons, they're gone and the clickable region is really small.





The shell script didn't work for me, it says...

Code: [Select]

Unable to access jarfile maws2.jar
logout

[Process completed]
Something odd is going on with the Simple/Deluxe dropdown menu, it stays on the screen for about 15 seconds after you select one of the options.

[ids]

Update posted, hopefully all new issues resolved.

Shell script needs work - right now it requires being run from cmdline in the right dir.

The dropdown should go away fairly quickly - any messages showing in stdout/stderr?

thx

[8BitMonk]

You da man ids, this is fantastic!   

Comments below:

• Really like the saved search styles. Nice to let the user choose what they want their filters to be.
• Saved search styles don't appear to be persistent, ie. they are gone after I close and reopen the app.
• Icons look great, like that they gray out when not needed. At first I thought it was a glitch.
• You can expand AND contract the filters now. Nice!

Shell script needs work - right now it requires being run from cmdline in the right dir.

So I did some digging online and found that OSX 10.5 and later come with an interesting app built in called Jar Bundler. From the Finder go to 'Go to folder' and /usr/share/java/tools. This appears to allow you to bundle your java with parameters and have it act like a clickable app (screenshot below). I tried it and it works except for I don't get the boot screen anymore. Maybe something I missed that your expertise with java will catch?

The dropdown should go away fairly quickly - any messages showing in stdout/stderr?

I guess it's only a second or two. It's a little disorienting, nothing major and I don't see any error messages.

Great work, this has come a long way in a short time and is a very handy little app. For me it's replaced ROMLister entirely. If you want to keep developing however...

...at the top of the 'wish list' for me would be the ability to save games to separate groupings instead of deleting them. I envision this just like it is now except instead of the scissor there would be another icon for you to add what you have selected/sorted to a list rather than deleting from the master list like you do with the scissors. You would create/manage these just like you do now with teh search styles and they would be persistent. When you'd go to add more it would ask you which list to add them to.

Thanks again for all your work. 

[ids]

new version uploaded - sorry, thats 3 in less than 24 hours, my bad

Fixed shell script
Search fields are highlighted if a value is picked, or text entered -- the label goes bold/red
Minor performance improvement when switching search styles (I really really need a new name for this feature)
etc

I don't have the Jar Bundler, and google says they've dropped it over a year ago.  I assume it would have been silently deleted during an OS or Java update.  The shell script should work tho.


Thanks

[Well Fed Games]

Hey, I haven't jumped into this yet, but as someone who lamented the passing of MAWS I really appreciate the work you've done in resurrecting it. It is a great thing for the BYOAC community! 

[ids]

Thanks - very much appreciated.  Now that you've jumped in, any feature requests?

[8BitMonk]

Fixed shell script

New one works, thanks.

Search fields are highlighted if a value is picked, or text entered -- the label goes bold/red
Minor performance improvement when switching search styles (I really really need a new name for this feature)
etc

Cool, I like this feature. It's nice and easy to see at a glance if you've got a filter active.
Ideas for names: List Filters, List Filter Sets, Filter Sets, Filter Presets, Data Selector Set(s), Data Selection Set(s)

I don't have the Jar Bundler, and google says they've dropped it over a year ago.  I assume it would have been silently deleted during an OS or Java update.  The shell script should work tho.

The shell script works though I see the error message below in Terminal. No noticable affects after launch. I wouldn't worry about it, guessing 99% of users will be Windows. No errors show on the windows version.

Code: [Select]

Failed to load database - perhaps a versioning issue here.
java.io.InvalidClassException: ca.ids.mame.model.Mame; local class incompatible: stream classdesc serialVersionUID = 4948313731757071219, local class serialVersionUID = 1
at java.io.ObjectStreamClass.initNonProxy(ObjectStreamClass.java:570)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readNonProxyDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1601)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readClassDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1496)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:1750)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1329)
at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject(ObjectInputStream.java:349)
at ca.ids.maws.DataAccess.deserialize(DataAccess.java:345)
at ca.ids.maws.DataAccess.getMame(DataAccess.java:287)
at ca.ids.maws.DataAccess.list(DataAccess.java:142)
at ca.ids.maws.Cache.getFieldValues(Cache.java:18)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.createCB(AdvSearchList2.java:163)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.addDropList(AdvSearchList2.java:128)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.addCB(AdvSearchList2.java:118)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.addCB(AdvSearchList2.java:114)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.setGUI(AdvSearchList2.java:50)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.AdvSearchList2.<init>(AdvSearchList2.java:38)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.DeluxeSearchPanel.<init>(DeluxeSearchPanel.java:35)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.init(Maws2.java:96)
at ca.ids.maws.gui.Maws2.main(Maws2.java:87)
log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (xmc.util.xml.PropertyDescriptor).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.
log4j:WARN See http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/faq.html#noconfig for more info.
Warning - data being overwritten: Mame.game; key='vector'
mame.xml: Processed 29610 games in 33.126000 seconds.
nplayers.ini: Processed 29648 games, 0 failed, 9836 games, 19812 non-games, in 0.218000 seconds.
hiscore.dat: Processed 4498 games in 0.025000 seconds.
controls.ini: Processed 1072 games in 0.152000 seconds.
history.dat: Loaded info for 10737 games in 0.403000 seconds.
mameinfo.dat: Loaded info for 8949 games in 2.388000 seconds.
Read 28627 files from 'cheat.7z' in 3.057569 seconds
7425 files had cheat codes, and 21202 files had none.
Catver.ini: Loaded 29429 genre/category details into games, 29414 version-added entries, in 0.131562 seconds.
Database contains 29610 unique entries.  Total load time of all files was 40.132 seconds
SEACHING !!!!
SEACHING !!!!
Another random 'nice to have' feature: If the window is focused on the list view (ie. a record is selected) and you start typing it filters the list automatically based on the first few letters you type.

Not sure why people aren't more excited about this and there hasn't been more traction in the thread, it eff'ing ROCKS!!
Really nice to be finally be able to browse and trim my mame game list in an efficient way.

[ids]

That error means you need to delete your save.db file, sorry.  Or re-save/overwrite.  I've fixed the "serial version id" to a constant value, 1, so it shouldn't happen in the future.  Sorry, beta software has it's risks

Thanks for the kinds words - all I see are the flaws and to-do's, so its really appreciated

[ids]

New version uploaded.

• Added graphic to toolbar
• Added "mechanical" to "Resource Type" list
• Added dipswitch stuff - filter option, result option, detail screen bit
• Added info taken from controls.ini and Colors.ini to detail screen in new table
• fixed minor parse bug for controls.ini and Colors.ini - would not have had any real impact afaik
• etc

Due to updated internal data model, you should delete your save.db file, sorry again about that

[8BitMonk]

Wow, that was quick, thanks for the update. It's cool to have that extra data on the detail screen.

I'm getting some errors on both mac and pc when I launch though I'm not sure there's any affect once loaded.

Code: [Select]

log4j:WARN No appenders could be found for logger (xmc.util.xml.PropertyDescriptor).
log4j:WARN Please initialize the log4j system properly.
log4j:WARN See http://logging.apache.org/log4j/1.2/faq.html#noconfig for more info.
Warning - data being overwritten: Mame.game; key='vector'
mame.xml: Processed 29610 games in 33.596000 seconds.
nplayers.ini: Processed 29648 games, 0 failed, 9836 games, 19812 non-games, in 0.190000 seconds.
hiscore.dat: Processed 4498 games in 0.016000 seconds.
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game firetrk control 'P1_DIAL
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game firetrk control 'P1_DIAL_EXT
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game quarterb control 'P1_JOYSTICK_UP
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game quarterb control 'P1_JOYSTICK_DOWN
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game quarterb control 'P1_JOYSTICK_LEFT
controls.ini contains a duplicate entry for game quarterb control 'P1_JOYSTICK_RIGHT
controls.ini: Processed 1060 games in 0.150000 seconds.
Cannot find Colors.ini file: Colors.ini
history.dat: Loaded info for 10737 games in 0.657000 seconds.
mameinfo.dat: Loaded info for 8949 games in 0.262000 seconds.
Read 28627 files from 'cheat.7z' in 2.144911 seconds
7425 files had cheat codes, and 21202 files had none.
Catver.ini: Loaded 29429 genre/category details into games, 29414 version-added entries, in 0.108075 seconds.
Database contains 29610 unique entries.  Total load time of all files was 37.54 seconds

The Search Styles should save, I think this will be confusing and frustrating to users. Having it adjust only for the session is useful but a bit counterintuitive.

The way it's setup color flagging and filtering would be a hugely welcome addition and really take this to the next level. Example: Select some records from the list view, right-click and a contextual menu with 5-10 common colors are there to choose from. Pick a color to assign it to the records you have selected, they change to the color and then under the Search Styles you have a dropdown menu called 'Color Flags' that you can use to sort what you've manually selected.

Nice to see the Mawler logo in the titlebar, once it gets out of pre-beta we should change the boot screen to one of the zombie versions. It's sufficiently badass enough now to warrant a zombified boot screen.

[ids]

The output you quote should be mostly safe to ignore.  Items of interest, however:

• The mame-vector thing is complaining about the mame.xml having two games called "vector" - I use name as a key, and can only keep one of these
• The controls.ini stuff I believe to be legit problems with the file.  I think those should be P2_*.  I get the same thing.

The rest is on the to-do list

[ids]

New version - search styles now saved

[8BitMonk]

Nice work, that rocks!! 

[nullPointer]

I was just wondering if we could pin this thread?  It seems like something that could have a great benefit for the community.  Well done ids!

[BadMouth]

I was just wondering if we could pin this thread?  It seems like something that could have a great benefit for the community.  Well done ids!

Might be better to make a new thread so nobody has to dig through our discussions about previous versions.

EDIT: I think the GameEx/X-Arcade giveaway thread can be de-stickied.  The promotion is long dead.

[ids]

thx null ptr

ok - I'll create a new thread.

Sorry about the silence lately, been busy with other things, and the to-do list remains as-is for now.  I plan to get back to it as soon as I can find the time.  In the interim, if there is some particular feature needed I can try to work in into my schedule, otherwise the to-do list will be attacked at some random moment in the future.

[ids]

New thread: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,136193.0.html

[wp34]

So I don't muddy up the new thread I'll thank ids here for doing this.

Very awesome!   

[ids]

Thanks - it was my pleasure, and I'm thrilled others find use in it

[Vigo]

Awesome! Been patiently lurking on this, but as soon as I get my computer (which is a smoldering heap) repaired, I'm gonna dive into trying this out.