MAME Software Lists Import Tool - plugin

[d2produce]

There is no mame.ini same with the mess emulator there is no mess.ini from another guide I was reading.  Does MAME and MESS no longer support software lists?  Why is it so hard to get these to work lol?  Don't you love it when a guide says "press this button" or "open this file" and the button and or file don't exist? LOL.

Edited December 26, 2020 by d2produce

[JoeViking245]

3 hours ago, d2produce said:

Does MAME and MESS no longer support software lists?

MESS has been integrated into MAME for some time now but some users will still compile a 'dedicated' copy of MESS. But for the most part, MAME will do Arcade and well as Software Lists (softlists).  

To generate a copy of mame.ini (or mess.ini if you decide to use a MESS compiled version) for a new installation, open the emulator and

double click Configure options
double click Save Configuration
double click Return to Previous Menu
double click Exit

3 hours ago, d2produce said:

Why is it so hard to get these to work lol? 

Softlists are unique animal in MAME compared to any other emulator/roms that you'd typically setup.  Some might say they're not for the timid.    But really they're not that bad.  It does have it's own particular idiosyncrasies.  But there are many posts on the forums here covering the different consoles and computers MAME has available.  Some info general and a lot specific.

The main starting point is to make sure you have the same version of the executable as you do roms.  (i.e. both ver 0.221)

[SiriusVI]

I found an issue concerning the import of CHD files of Philips CD-i. I'm using mess227.xml as well as cdi.xml hash file from MAME .227. Now when I import the CHD files, the importer imports the files with the wrong titles. Let me give you an example:

- The game files is called: "3rd degree (1993)(philips)(us)[!].chd"

- The Rom Name in the cdi.xml is "3rd Degree (1993)(Philips)(US)[!].iso" and "3rd Degree (1993)(Philips)(US)[!].cue".

- In Launchbox however, the imported game file is called: "3rd degree (1993)(philips)(us).chd" (without the [!])

 

What I think happens is that the importer takes the file name from the "rom name", but from the "disk name" in the cdi.xml, which is: "3rd degree (1993)(philips)(us)".

 

Is Philips CD-i just a special case / is the xml wrong or is this an issue with the importer tool.?

Edited January 26, 2021 by SiriusVI

[JoeViking245]

1 hour ago, SiriusVI said:

is the xml wrong or is this an issue with the importer tool.?

Then Importer Tool is never wrong.  lol jk  However, unless I'm totally misreading what your wrote, that stands true in this case.

1 hour ago, SiriusVI said:

The game files is called: "3rd degree (1993)(philips)(us)[!].chd"

???

 

1 hour ago, SiriusVI said:

The Rom Name in the cdi.xml is "3rd Degree (1993)(Philips)(US)[!].iso" and "3rd Degree (1993)(Philips)(US)[!].cue".

The  [!]**  was removed (in MAME) as of MAME revision 0.221.  

1 hour ago, SiriusVI said:

In Launchbox however, the imported game file is called: "3rd degree (1993)(philips)(us).chd" (without the [!])

As per [0.227] cdi.xml.

**The addition of the  [!]  is used in the TOSEC naming convention.  As are the use of iso/cue files (vs chd's).  Which appears MAME (at least in this case) doesn't use.

(I hope I didn't misunderstand you and go on an abstract tangent)

[SiriusVI]

2 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

The  [!]**  was removed (in MAME) as of MAME revision 0.221.  

That was the missing piece of information. Thank you!

[mcfilmmakers]

On 6/2/2020 at 11:49 AM, JoeViking245 said:

Ya, 'updating' is beyond the original intent of the plugin.  But is the next logical progression for a version 4.0.  I'll add to my "I'll think about it" list.

Long time no speak!

I know updating software lists wasn't in the cards originally, but I was wondering if you had put any thought into version 4? 

I just tried importing an update folder (contains only new roms) and the plugin keeps importing the entire platform. Say i want to import fmtowns_flop update folder (contains 8 files), the plugin imports 130 "files".

I was thinking that the plugin could scan the source folder for the roms present (strip the path and file extension, retaining only the name), and then on the import loop compare the rom name from the hash to the "present in folder" list and skip the import if no match is found.

I'm thinking this would be useful also in situations where people aren't looking to update but only want to import a partial set that they cleaned out themselves.

Edited March 2, 2021 by mcfilmmakers

[JoeViking245]

16 hours ago, mcfilmmakers said:

I was wondering if you had put any thought into version 4?

To be honest, no.  And to add some brutality to that, I haven't even put any thought into the importing of a curated set.

Have you tried LaunchBox's built-in Scan for Removed ROMs?    I'm thinking that's going to be your golden ticket for what you're wanting to do.  It's a little less direct, but makes good use of existing tools.  So use this Importer (setting the Destination Folder to your update folder), then Scan for Removed ROMs.

For "updating", that was done in release 3.0.  17 days after my quote about "beyond the intent of the plugin".    Where it scans your existing Platform [during the Import process] against the 'new' MAME updated xml and renames titles and roms as necessary (and of course, adding new roms).  

[mcfilmmakers]

5 hours ago, JoeViking245 said:

To be honest, no.  And to add some brutality to that, I haven't even put any thought into the importing of a curated set.

Have you tried LaunchBox's built-in Scan for Removed ROMs?    I'm thinking that's going to be your golden ticket for what you're wanting to do.  It's a little less direct, but makes good use of existing tools.  So use this Importer (setting the Destination Folder to your update folder), then Scan for Removed ROMs.

For "updating", that was done in release 3.0.  17 days after my quote about "beyond the intent of the plugin".    Where it scans your existing Platform [during the Import process] against the 'new' MAME updated xml and renames titles and roms as necessary (and of course, adding new roms).  

All good. I think the partial set import could be something to consider but I don't know how in-demand that is. I assume it would be popular since so many don't want to import educational stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the response.

[JoeViking245]

2 hours ago, mcfilmmakers said:

I assume it would be popular since so many don't want to import educational stuff

What would make that nice is if there were categorized ini files like MAME does for Arcade Machines.  Like genre, controls, number of players etc..  But I just haven't seen anything like that for softlists.  

[mcfilmmakers]

Just now, JoeViking245 said:

What would make that nice is if there were categorized ini files like MAME does for Arcade Machines.  Like genre, controls, number of players etc..  But I just haven't seen anything like that for softlists.  

it was just an example. What I mean is people have their own sets and might have say, a best of, for a givne platform. Even if that ini file existed, their set wouldn't conform to that anyway.

[fromlostdays]

You can still drag and drop your own curated set and import like normal in launchbox, right? The only thing you'd have to do is type in the command line manually under associated platforms?

[JoeViking245]

3 minutes ago, fromlostdays said:

You can still drag and drop your own curated set and import like normal in launchbox, right? The only thing you'd have to do is type in the command line manually under associated platforms?

You can.  But your games' title would be something like "lordmon" instead of "Lord Monarch".  Which really, is the whole reason this plugin was created.  But then ya, the command line thing you'd need to do also.

[JoeViking245]

On 3/2/2021 at 3:33 PM, mcfilmmakers said:

I was wondering if you had put any thought into version 4?

v4 is out. (less than 17 days [this time] from re-asking.  )

New feature:   Import only rom Titles that exist in your Source Folder.

When you check the "Import only games that exist in the ROMs Source Folder" box, only those Titles will be imported. This will not remove any existing entries in LaunchBox.  Only add new ones or modify existing ones (per MAME changes in the hash file).

Did some minor testing with this. But no major 'stress-testing'.  Please let me know if you come across any issues.

[fanzine]

Wanted to let you know of two issues I have come across in the last couple of days. First the tool is now making you put a file path in both boxes even if you aren't copying files. If you don't then there will be zero games imported when you try to import. Secondly, the tool is no longer assigning the command line parameters. I have re imported systems like Atari 2600 that I know used to assign the command line properly and now they no longer are.

[JoeViking245]

@dcosborne Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

Just uploaded v4.01 that should take care of the 'Requiring the Source folder even if you're only Importing' issue.  (A big "oops" on my part ?)

2 hours ago, dcosborne said:

no longer assigning the command line parameters.

This tried this several times, both before and after my v4.01 fix and wasn't able to recreate the problem.  I did a complete Delete Platform (Atari 2600 Cartridge's) and deleted the Associated Platform for it in the MAME Emulator.  Each time doing a fresh Import, it did add the Associated Platform and Default Command-Line Parameters back in the MAME Emulator.

Any chance you have a long list of Associated Platforms in with your Emulator and it showed up at the very bottom?  (or click the "Associated Platform" header in the grid and it will (re)alphabetize them.)  

[fanzine]

@JoeViking245 After getting the new version I deleted all my associated platforms attached to Mame. I imported the Casio Loopy software list and didn't have a associated platform built with any command line parameters. I am using the latest beta version of Launchbox so maybe that could be related? Besides that I also use exodos, exoWin3x, and the bulk command line editor plugins. I wouldn't think any of those could be causing issues as most of them don't touch the mame emulator stuff at all but I thought I should let ya know.

[JoeViking245]

@dcosborne No. The other plugins wouldn't be causing this issue.  And we're go to go through the latest LaunchBox betas.

From what I can see and just tested, the code was never written to account for the selection Import Clones as Additional Apps when adding the Platform and Custom Command Lines to the emulators additional apps.  

In other words, if you select that option [red box]...  

...the Platform and its' Custom Command Line Parameters will never get added to your selected emulator.

However it does seem to work with the other 2 options.  Let me know if the other 2 don't work on your end.

Those 3 options were originally put there to mimic the MAME Arcade Full Set importer tool.  And honestly, when testing I'd never looked beyond making that selection and seeing the Platform and games were indeed added.  I suppose I never totally thought through adding Clones as Additional Apps for Consoles.

I'll put that on my "to-do" list.   As always, thanks  [sincerely] for letting me know.  And if you would, let me know if those other 2 aren't working for you either.  If it's of any consequence, luckily, Casio Loopy Carts don't have any clones in the MAME set.  

[fanzine]

 Just checked and it seems to work with the other two methods. That is almost definitely the problem because I always set mine to import clones as additional apps. Thanks for the help!

[JoeViking245]

33 minutes ago, dcosborne said:

Just checked and it seems to work with the other two methods. That is almost definitely the problem because I always set mine to import clones as additional apps. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for letting me know.  I'll work on fixing my oversight.

I would love to say that you're not alone in this problem.  But after about a year and a half this is the 1st that it's come up. lol  Well, maybe you're just the first to take the time let me know.  Thanks again for getting back.

[JoeViking245]

Updated: v 4.02

Fixed:  Will now add the Associated Platform and Custom Command-line Parameters to the emulator when you choose "Import clones as additional apps".