Understanding categories and platforms

[Gaz70]

Can someone help me get my head around Platform categories.

If I import Roms and choose Atari 2600, it creates a folder under Consoles and has a little icon for the Atari next to it. When you click into it, on the right hand side at the top it has the Atari 2600 image then underneath that has a picture of the console.

I love all this!

Where I am falling into a problem is that I want to create folders on the left hand side. For the BBC I have disks and cassettes so what I ideally want is under "Computers" for there to be BBC - but no games in here. I then want a folder "in" BBC called "disks" and a second folder called "cassettes".

I'm unsure on the best way to go about this. If I manually create a folder on the left just called "BBC" it doesn't have the BBC icon. I understand this because Launchbox doesn't know or understand what it is.

I really can't get my head around the best way to import and then sort this. As I say I want a "BBC" under computers which has the nice icons but no games and then sub categories of "Disks" and "cassettes" under that.

I've also discovered that if I try to circumvent the "tools import" wizard then I lose a lot of information like all the text in the "details" tab as well as the notes tab. I guess what I am trying to achieve is for it to create that platform with all of the details but without it importing anything at that stage - if that makes sense?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm going round in circles!

[JoeViking245]

1 hour ago, Gaz70 said:

Can someone help me get my head around Platform categories.

This article should help some.
Organizing Your Library: Platforms, Categories, Playlists, Favorites, and Filters

Bottom line is games need to be and can only be imported into a platform.
Playlists contain games that have already been imported into a platform.

Platforms can be only "nested" under platform categories.
Platform categories can be "nested" under platforms and/or other platform categories.
Playlists can be "nested" under platforms and/or platform categories.

The term platform category is synonymous "category" for the purpose of the above reading and here.

1 hour ago, Gaz70 said:

I really can't get my head around the best way to import and then sort this. As I say I want a "BBC" under computers which has the nice icons but no games and then sub categories of "Disks" and "cassettes" under that.

Based on this, what 'you want' is the category BBC nested under the category Computers.  Nested under BBC, you are wanting the platforms Disks and Cassettes.

Alternately, you can have a platform BBC nested under the category Computers. Then under BBC, have 2 playlists Disks and Cassettes.  Though not 'reasonably' feasible to set up in this scenario (because of determining which is a disk and which is a cassette), can keep it in mind for other circumstances. (Always like to present options. )

 

2 hours ago, Gaz70 said:

If I manually create a folder on the left just called "BBC" it doesn't have the BBC icon. I understand this because Launchbox doesn't know or understand what it is.

LaunchBox doesn't know what "BBC" is. But it does know what "BBC Microcomputer System" is.  

Which brings us to the icons.  BBC Microcomputer System is a 'known' as a platform and [by default] has an icon (image file) located under ..\LaunchBox\Images\Media Packs\Platform Clear Logos\Nostalgic Platform Clear Logos\Platforms\.

If you have a premium account, you can add custom icons. To add the BBC image to platform categories, you can copy the one located in the above folder into ..\LaunchBox\Images\Media Packs\Platform Clear Logos\Nostalgic Platform Clear Logos\Platform Categories\.  Note the image filename has to be the exact same as the platform or platform category. There is no 'fuzzy matching'.

[Gaz70]

This makes a lot of sense and helps me a lot.

So I have right-clicked Computers, New platform and called it BBC. However it does not show in the list so prevents me from moving forwards?

I had a look under "Manage > Platforms" and can see it was created, and when I edit it it is populated perfectly so this is a step in the right direction. So what I need to be able to do now is to see BBC in the left then right click it and create a category and then import my games into that - but I can't because it's not visiible?

[JoeViking245]

51 minutes ago, Gaz70 said:

So what I need to be able to do now is to see BBC in the left then right click it and create a category and then import my games into that - but I can't because it's not visiible?

If there isn't a platform, category or playlist existing under the category, it won't show.

You can't import games into a category.  (semantics. )  Go ahead and import your games into a platform. Then right-click that platform and edit it (or Tools < Manage < Platforms... and edit it from there).  Go to the parents tab and check the box for the category which you want it to show under.

[Gaz70]

I'm not trying to import into a category, I'm trying to import into a platform (see last message).

I have created a platform called "BBC Test". If I go into Manage platforms, I can see it. Currently its parent is "Computers" but it does not show (because there is nothing in it I assume.)

I have then imported roms. This created its own list by default. I then right-click this list and basically want to change the parent to BBC Test  ... but that does not show in the list. This is where it all falls apart for me.

[JoeViking245]

3 hours ago, Gaz70 said:

I'm trying to import into a platform (see last message).

What I read was "...and create a category and then import my games into that".  I guess I read that too literally, instead of 'import my games into a platform under that category.

 

3 hours ago, Gaz70 said:

If I go into Manage platforms, I can see it. Currently its parent is "Computers" but it does not show (because there is nothing in it I assume.)

Correct. An empty platform won't show in the left sidebar. But it will show under Manage Platforms [as having 0 games].

 

2 hours ago, Gaz70 said:

I have then imported roms. This created its own list by default.

It didn't create a "list". It imported them into a platform.  Again, semantics. But it's most helpful when trying to keep everyone on the same page.

When importing your ROMs, you can pick (or name) the platform to anything you want. You don't have to just pick one from the list if 'known' platforms. You can manually type in "BBC Test". Or whatever you want the platform to be called. 

If you had already created the platform "BBC Test" (empty, as it sits right now), it may not appear on the list [of known platforms], but you can manually type it in. It will then populate your 'existing' "BBC Test" platform with the ROMs being imported.  I believe on that same screen of the Import Wizard is where you set Scrape As to (in this case) "BBC Microcomputer System".

 

3 hours ago, Gaz70 said:

I then right-click this list and basically want to change the parent to BBC Test  ... but that does not show in the list. This is where it all falls apart for me.

Platforms can be only "nested" under platform categories (see my 1st reply).  A platform cannot be nested under another platform. 

So you want to create a category named "BBC Test" (not a platform).  Then import your ROMs into a platform (name of your choosing, e.g. "Disks" or "Cassettes").

It's at this point (after importing is complete) you can then edit the platform and in the parents tab, nest it under the category "BBC Test" (which is nested under "Computers").

 

Games
├── Computers (Category)
│   └── BBC Test (Category)
│       ├── Disks (Platform)
│       └── Cassettes (Platform)