Hello everyone. I'm a refugee from the WotC boards, fleeing the idiotic changes they seem to be making recently.
===== Card Tracker (Beta 5.1) =====
Changes included in the 5.1 version:
> All cards in Scars of Mirrodin
> Log history, the first steps in an undo history and other features
> Re-worked menu options, organizing for future changes and ideas
> System icons, to help distinguish menu options and such
> A host of minor fixes, bug corrections, feature improvements, and more
Note: File size has crept up on me again, partly because I haven't been vigilant about optimizing art files for large sets (M10 and M11 in particular).
I'll add this to the next release's to-do list, but for now the download is 140 MB.
Next update: Shortly before or after the Winter set release (Mirrodin Besieged).
Under development:
> Continued improvements to the GUI, paving the road for complete features in the future.
> Initial steps toward having a User Profile, for saving layout and search settings
> Besieged, and other minor sets released in the interim.
I haven't heard of or seen this bug in a long, long time. In addition, the changes I made to the layout for the 5.0 release should have fixed any timing issues, assuming they didn't get corrected earlier when I was optomizing things in general.
In the interest of full disclosure, however, I'll leave the comment here.
POSSIBLE BUG:
Quote from griffenwolf »
The program acts a little buggy when you input data. I had numbers pop-up on cards I never touched. Also when I was adding numbers for more than two cards the last entry tends to get erased. Other than that this program is great. Thank You
Possible problem: The computer may be glitching when you change a number and turn the page right away. The computer might start changing the number WHILE it is changing the page, and some numbers get put in the wrong place for some reason. I'm looking in to the problem, but in the meantime just give the PC a second or two to think before turning the page or changing the search buttons, and REPORT ANY PATTERNS you notice if it does it again.
Feel free to download and try it out. In fact, I'd encourage anyone with high-speed internet to do so. You can try it on not-high-speed, but you might cause yourself bodily harm while waiting for things to load.
To make things easier on everyone, I've separated the art files from the rest of the program. The program itself is about 55 MB, and the art packages total an additional 350 MB or so.
As of now, the program has every standard printing of every card, and most special printings (player rewards, DCI, etc) are included. The database has complete oracle information on each card, a complete GUI interface, and fairly high-res art from the awesome guys at MagicCards.info.
All I ask of anyone who downloads this are the following:
1) Give me credit. I've been working on this since the spring of 2008.
2) Report any bugs you find.
3) Share/blatantly advertise to friends (assuming you like it. :P)
You will probably get some angry firewall messages, which is normal (I am, after all, unregistered with Microsoft. ). That's it!
If it doesn't work, you probably don't have Microsoft SQL Express on your PC. No worries! Download it for free here. Update: It appears the program may specifically require SQL 2005. If you have Windows 7 or Vista, you may need to download the 64-bit version (rather than the 32 bit version). If this link doesn't work (which has happened before), Google "My SQL 2005 free download Microsoft" or something like that.
I will continue looking into the problem, and try to make the database-connection more open-ended.
2) Use the Program
Fiddle with the buttons, and see what it can do. I recommend you simply leave the program running for several hours, and use it instead of your normal MTG database (Gather, magiccards.info, exc). In fact, it has a nifty right-click-the-card feature that lets you copy the card's name to your computer's clipboard (copy/paste utility), meaning you will never have to remember how to spell Seizan, Perverter of Truth's name again.
3) Art Packages (optional) (October 14th note: I will be updating these files within the next week or two; I'll also load a "Changes" package, but if you don't want more work later, just wait a week)
Here are the links to more zip files with packages of card art. I have them grouped by set, and by their classification.
Recent Sets - This contains all new sets, Mirrodin - Eventide. Old Sets, part 1 - All old-frame blocks between Ice Age and Prophecy. Old Sets, part 2 - All old-framed blocks between Invasion and Scourge Starter Sets - Starter and Core sets. This contains Beta, and 5ED - 9ED*. Early Sets - Arabian Nights, Homelands, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Antiques, etc. Misc - Includes some random things like Duel Decks and Promo Cards. Un-Sets - Unhinged and Unglued full scans. *read the note below*
How to install Art Packages
Start the program, then click on Help > About > Update Packages.
In most cases you need to open the CardImages folder. *For Full Card scans, like Unhinged, open Frames > Unique.
Unzip the download, and move the folders to the directory you just opened (CardImages or Unuque).
*Note that Beta - 4ED all used repeat art. A note on art packages.
The art for Card Tracker has been optimized, both to get the best scan of a particular piece, and to conserve hard drive space. What this means is that art files are used by several cards. This is particularly obvious for Alpha, 2ED, 3ED, and 4ED, which all use art from previous sets (mostly Beta).
This also means that downloading a particular file may/may not fill all the card art from those sets. For example, if you download the Old Sets file, an Ice Age card with Beta art will still be missing the art.
Whenever possible, I made the most logical choice for what art goes where. In general, the first printing of a particular piece gets priority. I did make an exception for anything in 10E, because that's what I'm already including in the basic install. This means that many Mirrodin cards that were reprinted in 10E, actually have their art in the 10E folder, despite Mirrodin's status as first printing.
The second exception is for cards with old art in a new frame.
I could have used the same art, but I didn't feel that would be appropriate. Much of the art for the new frames was cropped differently, and in many cases was thoroughly recolored, resulting in some shocking differences.
The third, and final group of exceptions was when an old art was reprinted in an old frame again, but with a significantly higher quality. This occurred mostly in 5ED/6ED, when the printing quality of cards increased noticeably. Instead of giving the Beta art an errata, I went ahead and included another source file. The washed out colors from the early era of Magic is, after all, one of those card's most distinguishing features.
A: No!
Think of it like this: The program is similar to downloading Gather, but adds some functionality and lets you keep track of your cards, including alternate printings, alternate art, and other things like that.
A: Yes.
... Q: ... Would you please do so? A: Sure!
OK, the icons in the top right are basically check boxes in disguise. When you click on them they turn off/on, and when you double-click it turns all the OTHER related buttons off.
By this I mean that if you double-click on Red, the other colors (White, blue, black, green, colorless) turn off and red stays on.
When you click "go" the search is performed.
Only cards that meet the criteria are returned (show up).
Keep in mind that adding more search filters *will* make the program run slower, especially as they get more complicated. I'm doing my best to speed up the process, but that fact is inevitable.
OK, first of all, take a look at the search options buttons
The buttons are as follows:
Color: {White} {Blue} {Black} {Red} {Green} {Colorless}
Type: {Land} {Artifact} {Creature} {Instant} {Sorcery} {Enchantment}
Rarity: {Basic/Token} {Common} {Uncommon} {Rare} {Mythic} {Special}
The next tool is a drop-down list to select which set(s) to view.
The current options are: All, Standard, Extended, Legacy, Vintage, All Cards (one printing each).
Other printings, and each set/block chronologically starting with the most recent will be added later. Note that I forgot to remove the ones that don't work. Only the bolded ones actually work; the rest default to All Cards. >_<
An advanced search will let you choose what sets to show in a checklist.
Next we have the VERSION or MY CARDS filter.
These options allow you to do things like "only show cards that I own at least 5 of".
The options for the first box are: "Total", "All", "Regular", "Foil", "Other1", and "Other2"
This tool lets you filter what version of each card to apply the filter to. If you select "Total," the program will find the total of all printings you own and compare that to the next set of filters. "All" simply means it checks each printing independently. As long as one version passes, the card will show up. The next four only check that particular version.
Following that are the VERSION boolean and numeric filters.
The boolean list should have the following: " ", "<=", "<", ">", "=>", "==", and "!=" or [nothing], [less than/equal to], [less than], [greater than], [greater than/equal to], [equal to], and [not equal to]
The second box is simply an number up/down box where you enter a number.
If you enter "Total" ">=" "6," the database will show you the cards that you own at least 6 of, total (counting all versions).
Next we have Mana Cost, or more accurately CMC filter.
This is basically the same as the above search settings, but checks the card's CMC.
The Text Box
The big box is the search terms you want to enter. Currently, only one search term is used, but I hope to add more eventually. In other words "Elf AND Warrior" will only show cards with the exact phrase "Elf AND Warrior," of which there are none. Just do a search for one or the other.
Last of all, we have the sort by options. For now, only single-parameter criteria is allowed, but I you should be able to do *plenty* with that as-is. For some examples of search settings and results, see the screenshot section below.
The search box is actually linked to the card's NAME, TYPE, and RULES TEXT. Any results in any of those three parts of the card that match the exact phrase entered in the text box show up.
That means a search for "Elf" will return cards with Elf in the type line, Elf in the name, or Elf somewhere in the card text.
Mana costs are kind of tricky. Mana symbols are distinguished in the text within {} brackets. For example, [mc]WUBRGT42[/mc] would show up in the text as {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}{T}{4}{2}.
To search for the Llanowar Elves ability, the search phrase is:
"{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool."
If you have any questions, check out the MagicCards.info website. The card text there is similarly formatted.
One final note: sometimes formatting information is contained within the card text. Generally, this is for italics, such as Domain, Kinship, and Hellbent. This formatting information is simple HTML, meaning the and brackets are used. If any search results come out weird, these are probably to blame.
A: Cause it would throw off my beautiful layout
I did, however, include planeswalkers under the "Creature" and "Enchantment" buttons.... just because. You can also simply search for "Planeswalker" in the text field. That works too.
Tribal is a bit trickier, but generally you want something that's "Tribal Something - Creature Type" In that case, just turn off creatures and search for said creature type. Again "Tribal" is also a legitimate search word, too.
A: That's where you enter the number of cards you have.
The multiple number boxes under each card are supposed to be for the normal version and the foil version.
I chose this method, because displaying the foil version as a separate card seemed excessive and silly. Also, if I want to know how many Holy Days I have, I don't particularly care if they are foil or not. I just want to check if I have a playset!
There are options to view two more number boxes. I have no idea what these would be for, exactly, but at a guess you could use them for foreign printings or something.
A: Yes
Making money off of copyrighted material (IE: basically everything in Magic) is a tricky situation I'd rater avoid.
Also, I like making things for fun.
A: You can do this in any basic text editor, but an Excel variant is best.
Just make sure you open Excel first, because Excel likes to be clever and turn some almost-number fields into numbers, which buggers things up.
In particular, it likes converting the set code "10E" (for 10th edition) into "1.0E5" or something, which is scientific notation for big scary numbers.
To get around this, open your Excel variant first. Then open the file (I'll tell you where it is in a second). You should get a popup message asking how you want to interpret the data. The two important things you should do are thus: 1) Tell the computer the file is TAB DELIMITED 2) Tell the computer column 1 should be a TEXT FIELD
Once you do that, it should be pretty easy. The first column is the card's ID number. This code is a combination of the set code, followed by the card's collector number. The easy way to find this is by looking at the bottom of the card. If you need to add another row to the text file, go ahead. The file is read when you open the program. Just don't change the file while the database is running, because your changes will be overwritten.
After that should be 4 numeric columns. The first is for the regular printing. The second is for foil printings. The other two are for whatever you want to use them for. I'll be using them to designate my foreign printings. Although you can use columns 1 and two for whatever you want, the database will treat them as i have described. Note that many old cards (with no foil version) don't let you change that number within the program.
You can find the text file in the following default location: "[filepath]\Resources\My Cards.tab"
A: Click on HELP in the top right, scroll down to IMPORTING COLLECTIONS
Then just follow the instructions.
Not every card will be imported successfully. My database uses an ID number to save information, and MOL uses the card name. Because of this, I had to do a conversion, comparing each name from your MOL file to my database. Then I had to figure out the card's ID number from there. The importing function generates a list of error files, and opens it for you when it is done. These cards have something wrong with the formatting on the text, and the database doesn't recognize them properly. Most of the records work, however. I imported my MOL saved data, and it successfully imported nearly 99% of the cards. Most of the errors are bugs in the database involving:
1) non-english characters, such as AEther
2) Split cards, which are treated differently in my program.
Please, please report any bugs. If you don't report it, I may not notice it myself. If I don't notice it, I can't fix it.
In general, I will be releasing updates just before each set's release. This means the next release (Beta 5) will release on the eve of Zendekar's prerelease. If something goes horribly wrong, I will correct it as soon as possible, but in the meantime you'll have to live with the little things.
If there is a massive database overhaul, I could release that as a separate package if necessary.
General problems (I'm working on these)
* The program runs somewhat slow, but that may just be my computer.
* Lots of art is missing. That's OK. You can download these separately. See post 2.
* Some extra features are currently disabled. I could have simply removed these buttons, but I want to give people an idea of what ELSE I have planned.
Possible Glitches Much of the database work was actually clever use of formatting macros. Since I haven't personally looked at every line of information (10,000+ rows in the database!), something probably got messed up somewhere.
Things to look out for include:
* Wrong card frame * Wrong art
* Cards out of order (but still correct)
* Unnecessary reminder text (mostly from oracle wording of core set staples)
* Gibberish ("&bnsp;" and "/r/n" come to mind)
* Missing text
* un-parsed mana symbols (meaning a card says "add G to your mana pool" instead of "add :g: to your mana pool)
Reporting Bugs
Please report any glitches in this thread, as I'm awful at checking my PM's. Also, it will provide a nice record for anyone else to help track down the problem.
When reporting a glitch, please include WHAT happened, HOW it happened, and WHEN it happened. The more information the better. Don't just tell me "An error message came up." Tell me what you were doing to get that error message.
For example, "I did a search for Black Treefolk, turned to page 5, and the computer crashed with an error saying 'Out of Bounds'"
Credits
Thanks to everyone from the original thread, who offered ideas, guidance, and sometimes a mildly impatient post.
Thanks to WotC for giving a bored guy something to do during the summer, and for a pretty cool hobby.
Thanks to the MSE crew, for the source images for about 90% of my card frames. If you enjoy creating your own cards, check their program out. It's pretty snazzy, and very powerful.
Thanks to MagicCards.info, and several other database sites that I forget right now, for your services. It was only through the work they started that I was able to get a reasonably complete database. MagicCards.info was also the source of ALL my card art.
Look carefully at the top left. Notice the search filters that were used to generate this search, and the results.
Again, notice the filter settings and the results. When a color filter is turned off, it does not EXCLUDE cards of that color, it simply fails to include them. What this means is that green/white hybrid cards show up below, but green/white multicolor cards do not.
This screenshot shows two things. First, the search filter is for Standard, but older printings of cards in standard show up. Secondly, the database doesn't bother splitting the results into chapters until it hits a particular number of results (which you can change in the search options)
Here's how things looked before
As the title says, the appearance for the large card isn't working quite right. It's a work in progress. I have to fit a dynamic amount of text in a fixed area, using a dynamic font, while dynamically embedding dynamically sized icons amongst the text, while keeping track of font changes such as italics. Fun stuff.
Using some nifty number crunching, the database is able to figure out not only a card's multicolor/monocolor/colorless status, but it can also group cards by how many colors it is.
Here's a nifty search to see how many different groups of cards there are. See the search Options box up next to see just how speciffic you can get. Distinguishing a card's Legendary Status will separate it from non-legendary cards. The same is true for a card's snow, aura, equipment, tribal, and token status. If you turn all of those on, Legendary Snow creatures are separated from all the Snow, Legendary, and regular creatures. They then get all lonely and need a hug. :tissue:
Next up, a series of search options and other controls used to change the appearance of the cards. I've also included lots of controls that let you get information from the database as simply as possible. Many controls stick information right on your clipboard, so you only have to paste it where you want it.
Immortal Coil {2}{B}{B} (4)
Artifact ALA R
----------
{T}, Remove two cards in your graveyard from the game: Draw a card. If damage would be dealt to you, prevent that damage. Remove a card in your graveyard from the game for each 1 damage prevented this way.
When there are no cards in your graveyard, you lose the game.
----------
Illis: Dan Scott
79/249
ID#: ALA-079
Other Features If all those core utilities don't impress you, how about some silly extra features?
Although I am quite pleased by the success of the Card Tracker project, I know I can do better. This program was my first attempt, and while many things work, I know there is room for improvement.
For this reason, I will eventually begin work on a project presently called MTG Compendium. The name, by the way, is shamelessly stolen from the WotC-hosted DnD database of a similar name.
MTG Compendium will essentially include everything from Card Tracker, but improve upon it in every way I can think of. Speed, power, versatility, utility, functionality, customization, etc.
Basically, I plan on taking what I have now, streamlining it, and adding as many bonus features as possible. Ideally, the program will actually be a suite of applications, each with a speciffic task, but capable of sharing information, maximizing functionality and speed.
Compendium - Planned features
Main Menu - A small, unobtrusive main menu that launches the other programs. Each subprogram should be independent enough to start manually (bypassing the main menu)
Collection Manager - This will essentially be a direct port of Card Tracker. Same look, same feel, just improved in every way I can manage. I hope to have profile saving of some sort included with the first version. Multiple instances of the collection manager should be possible (like opening multiple Word documents). Collection Manager is designed for multi-card viewing, such as viewing entire sets at once.
Trade Manager - Using the Collection Manager, create a Wish List. Load your wish list and your Collection List, then watch this subprogram generate a list of cards you need and a list of cards you are willing to part with.
Detail Window - Think of this like Gather, only offline. Enter a card name, and it will show you details on that single card. Other subprograms will utilize this feature as well. This program will be small and simple, so if you simply want to check stats for a single card, this will be the best (fastest) way to do so. The detail window will be optimized for viewing very few cards at once, with a focus on speed and utility over raw power.
Deck Editor - A deck editor with sample hand generators, mana curve analysis, copy-and-paste [deck][/deck] tags for Forum users, and anything else I can think of.
Card Creator - A more limited version of MSE (Magic Set Editor), but will have improved functionality in other respects (mostly the ability to search custom sets through the rest of the suite). I'll probably stick to very basic controls, such as standard card frames and card types.
If you want to create anything more complex than that, simply download MSE and export an image of the card, then enter the card in Card Creator, specifying a Unique Frame (like what I do with Planeswalkers)
Interactive rules - If Yawgatog continues to update his hyperlinked rules, I'll just download that and tweak it for offline use (with full credits to his name ). Otherwise, I'll figure something out.
Wow, you are awesome. I was right about to post a thread about how people keep track of all their cards. Since I'm just now trying to inventory everything and what not. I'll give this a whirl.
Not exactly. Somehow this got cut from the FAQ, but there is a chance it could eventually work under the Mono project.
When I start this project over, I'll attempt to make it Mono-compatible if possible.
A bit more history:
I started this program over a year ago, and shared my results on the WotC boards. Fellow board members there helped me improve it and work out the bugs. After lots of feedback and testing, nearly everything works just as I had hoped. But I want to do more.
Although the program works, I started it without proper planning.
Basically, I was teaching myself as I went.
For this reason, this program isn't nearly as efficient or functional as it could be. For example, I know there is a way to allow patches and updates without forcing an uninstall, but I haven't figured it out yet.
I'd like to start over, rebuilding everything from the ground up. For now I'll be calling this project MTG Compendium, a name shamelessly stolen from the DnD side of WotC.
I'll go back and edit that reserved post now, with the ideas I had planned. The new version may be quite a while before I get started, because I want to learn everything I can first. I want to make it as robust and efficient as possible. I may even make it open sourced.
In the meantime, I'll continue to support Card Tracker to the best of my abilities.
While I'm currently physically separated from my cards (they're in another state), and thus have no interest in cataloging them, I may try this out when I'm reunited with them.
Also, welcome to MTGSalvation, and thanks for the nod to MSE.
Minor update everyone. I suppose you could call this a shameless bump, but I'm still on the first page.
Anywho, I'm adding Planechase on my side right now.
I managed to snag a box for me and a box for my buddy. Now that I have a reason to update the database I've suddenly gotten motivated!
I'll be going to my local Zendekar prerelease, hopefully gaming it out with some friends and past rivals :evil-laugh: If the Zendekar spoiler is updated Friday night, as it has before, I'll have the update done either late Friday or early Saturday. This update will include both Planechase and Zendekar, and possibly a few minor bugs.
Changes to the actual program are very minimal this time; I need to add code to allow Planes, and I may add a button for Planeswalkers and Planes. On the other hand, I may just add Planes to the Land button and call it a day. In other words, the only big changes this time are to the database.
If you're specifically referring to initial launch, and load of the .tab file, then no it's not just your computer.
Yah. That code is horrible.
I may edit the start up procedure a bit if I have time, but it truly is a mess. The layout was one of the first things I made, thus it is the most cluttered. That and the lack of multi-threading makes startup very slow.
I keep pushing it back so I can 'fix just one more thing'
Of course, we all know how that works... >_<
I should be done by this weekend, I HOPE. I'm currently trying to parse the updated Oracle text; I finally decided I'd wait for the October changes before updating, but I had to make some changes to the parsing mini-program and some problems crept up.
That and some IRL things have slowed down the update process. I'll have more details later. Thanks for the offer though.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Casual Magic player since Onslaught. 70% TIMMY, 30% Johnny.
Hi everyone. Sorry about the (very long) wait, but Beta 4.2 is now complete. Cool stuff first, excuses later.
Changes included in the 4.2 version:
> Complete Gather text for every card, including the new October rules changes.
> New sets included: Zendikar, Planechase, and FTV - Exile
> Support for Plane cards
> Introducing a new 'Product' rarity (for booster packs and such).
> Updates to FNM, JGC, and MPR special printings
> Prerelease and Release event cards now included (some with no art for now).
> Several minor fixes, art corrections, and such.
> Improved Database functionality: Simple Search now supports Block and Set selections, previously only available via the Advanced search.
Next update: Shortly before or after Worldwake's release.
Expected features:
> Improved reliablity for Flavor Text, Artist Credits, and Card Art. Presently, these features have been overlooked in favor of more functional changes.
> Increased accuracy for Print Version checklists
> More complete Product images and database records.
> Worldwake, and other minor sets released in the interm.
4.2 Changes, in detail
First of all, I would like to announce that I have finally streamlined the Oracle updating process to an automation level I'm comfortable with, so Beta 4.2 officially has Oracle wording on practically EVERY CARD EVER. woo.
In addition, Zendikar, Planechase, and FTV-Exile, are now included in the database, along with a slew of minor background changes. Plane cards now have featured support, and can be filtered using the LAND button for Simple searches. I may yet add a set of 7th buttons for Color, Type, and Rarity, but I haven't decided yet.
To recap, Planeswalkers can be filtered for using CREATURE or ENCHANTMENT, and planes can be accessed using the LAND filter.
Having said that, both Planeswalkers and Planes are options available through the Advanced search.
This update also introduces a few features I've been meaning to add for a while: Product entries and Prerelease/Promo cards. The images themselves are quite elusive, especially for older sets, but I am beginning to add entries for Products, both to allow inventory of unopened packs and to have some centralized database for storing product images. I realize the improperly resized images aren't that impressive within the Binder part of the database, but I have other plans for the future I must aspire to. :evillaugh:
Amongst all the other database changes, I've also reworked how the Normal/Foil printing information is saved. I've added two columns to the database for this information, instead of trying to parse (read) a text entry in the 'SPECIAL' column. Why I thought that was a good idea initially will remain a mystery, but with the addition of dozens of Promo-only cards from prereleases, the recent addition of several normal-printing-only boxed sets, and my general frustration with the program's speed, I finally wacked that problem with a nice big stick.
Speaking of Database updates (I so love a smooth segue), I've also added some additional tables for Metadata - Data about other data. In this case, speciffically, sets. Using this, I'll be adding some additional features later, but the important thing for now is that it allows a quick and easy way to allow the Simple Search's SET drop down list to find a list of sets and blocks. You can now select a block or a single set without resorting to using the Advanced search. This also means I no longer have to manually update each of these search filters with new sets, as I was doing before, because everything is generated from the database. Another 'woo' for me and my long-term sanity.
And now for something Completly Different
OK, I'm done being happy and excited now.
The reason this update is so late is partially due to the number of changes made this summer, particularly the introduction of Plane cards, and the changes to Gather, Oracle, and other things like that.
After M10 came out, I was forced to make a number of changes to the database by hand, because the formatting macro I had designed before was no longer up to the task - The changes to Gather and the new wordings freaked it out. I could have updated it rather than do everything by hand, but I didn't feel like it at the time. By hand is actually faster in the short term, doncha no.
Anyway, I'm trying to say I was burned out on Magic and on updating Card Tracker for a while. Then, as Zendikar came out, I realized I was going to have to do the same thing. Again. And again. I actually had Zendikar essentially done by the Monday after the prerelease, but then I kept running into issues with the back-end system.
I was going to have to add Zendikar to all the set lists by hand. So I said 'F this" and rewrote parts of the back-end system, adding some tables to the database as described above.
Then I got my hands on some Planechase and started adding that to the database, which required more back-end changes to support Plane cards.
Then MaGo announced a fairly major Oracle overhaul due out on October 2nd. By this point I was done with the previous changes, but still in the mood to tinker, so I added the promo cards and Product entries, reworking the Normal/Foil version settings while I was at it.
Finally, October 2nd rolled around and I was able to download the latest Oracle text. During the last week and a half or so, I've been working on a little Database Buddy program to convert the Unholy Nightmare of a Gather-generated HTML file and process it into something I can read. This is actually harder than it sounds.
The raw HTML file Gather spit out was 20 MB in size.
Let me say that again; a 20 MB pure text file.
Everything I tried to open it with just to shrink it curled up and died. Even notepad. Seriously.
So I made a little custom program that opens the OracleText text file, reads it line by line, removing the HTML and white space, then writing the results of that to a different text file. After running Step1, I was left with a 3 MB text file. Joy.
Through various shenanigans, this text file is processed and saved to a different location, after having extracted each card's NAME, TYPE, SUBTYPE, and TEXT. That file is compared to the next most recent version, and compiled as yet another text file (Step3.txt), this time with changes between the two lists flagged. At this stage, I can open the file and get a very precise look at what cards have been changed, and I get the opportunity to make manual changes to the list.
But Wait! There's More!
Now the fun really starts. That list (Step3.txt) is then compared to four other lists in order to complete the conversion.
1) CardTracker's AllCards list, a text file with just each card's name in a big effing list. At this point, this text file becomes the master, and everything else is encouraged to synchronize with it, rather than the Oracle text, as was the case in the precious steps.
2) OracleTextOverride, a list of cards with type lines and rules text, that I forcibly override the Oracle text for. Unhinged cards don't actually get updated through Oracle, but I at least make an effort to give them the current wording. Also, Eature Cray, and Interrupt would kill my database. >_<
3) CustomAdditions, a list of cards not in gather at all (Happy Holidays and Celebration cards)
4) OracleErrorIgnore, a list of cards I don't want to see in the error file when everything else is finished even though I know the card from the Oracle list wasn't actually matched to the CardTracker list.
Yah.
The good news is, Oracle updates shouldn't take more than an hour now, even including the time it takes me to load the website and review the changes. So in the future, everything should go much faster.
I tried to get everything finished by Monday, but I got some sort of violent stomach ache and was... indisposed.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Casual Magic player since Onslaught. 70% TIMMY, 30% Johnny.
No problems to report with Windows 7 RTM. I uninstalled the previous version and added the new one. That process is really smooth now, especially compared to earlier Betas. I will let you know if I find something out as I add the Zendikar cards to my collection. Thanks again for making a great program and looking forward to the new verison!
Sorry to hear about you getting sick over the weekend, that's never fun.
4.2 release looks good... spent the hour or so required tonight to enter all my Zendikar cards in..... was nuts.... I've got about 2 2/3 unsleeved fatpack boxes worth at this stage.... thankfully I'd already gone through and sorted all of it, which makes it much quicker to enter this information each time.
As I was entering my Husbands Fallen empires into the DB, I noticed the picture for Farrelite priest was wrong. The picture that is on Farrel's Mantle is was it is supposed to be. (Maybe they got switched, but I dont have a Farrel's mantle to check for you)
Thanks for the program too!! Is there a way to export the info into excel or any other format? I'm trying to find a way to tally the amount of cards we own
As I was entering my Husbands Fallen empires into the DB, I noticed the picture for Farrelite priest was wrong. The picture that is on Farrel's Mantle is was it is supposed to be. (Maybe they got switched, but I dont have a Farrel's mantle to check for you)
Thanks for the program too!! Is there a way to export the info into excel or any other format? I'm trying to find a way to tally the amount of cards we own
Oh, thanks for the bug report. I'll have to look into that.
Actually, there should be two ways to generate reports. The first is from within the program. I think it's the Data > Statistics file options but I honestly forget right now. It should be there somewhere (unless i disabled the feature, but I don't think I did).
That report only counts cards currently filtered by the search.
The other way is to save a copy of your save file somewhere easy to find (desktop) and open it in Excel.
*Make SURE you do this with a copy, as Excel may try to change the data if you save the file within it*
I jumped through some hoops to ensure the save file was mostly-readable by people. Any Excel variant should be open the file with ease; the only thing you might need to tell it is the file is tab delineated, meaning the columns are separated by tabs.
Once you have the info loaded in excel the typical excel tools will be available to you, and you can generate all sorts of information if you know some tricks.
Hope that was helpful!
PS: I've figured out the problem with the art. Some art files got misnamed, which is pretty easy to fix. I'll include a fix late this month when I update for Worldwake (woo!).
Looking forward to a new update, although I won't be buying any more Magic cards for a while. I'll test as much as I can. On the subject of the Farrelite Priest, you might want to look at all your files with apostrophes in the name if you haven't already. Pretty much anything I have with an apostrophe in the name is incorrect art if it is in a set with similar names (Zur's, Farrell's, Thelon's, etc).
On another note, I am trying (with no luck) to import a collection from MTGO 3. I can get the csv without an issue but there is no way to select "physical" because as you know that no longer exists. There may be other issues with the resulting CSV. I can send you a current one if you like. I am wondering if there is a way I can modify the existing CSV's to create something your program will import. I would prefer to look at my online collection with your program if possible.
Hey everyone, the Beta 4.3 update is complete, including Worldwake.
Unfortunatly I didn't have time to implememt (or really look in to) a better update procedure, so you will still have to uninstall your old version then reinstall the new one.
Again, no worries, the save files aren't effected by this process at all.
MAJOR CHANGES:
Worldwake
Gurrak vs Lilliana & Slivers
Lots of flavor text added (Zendikar - Onslaught complete, and I'm working my way back)
The default search is now "LATEST BLOCK" to vastly decrease the program's load time.
Various database tweaks and bug fixes
This is still my first draft of Worldwake, so there might be errors here and there in the card text, but nothing major. I plan to remove the Multikicker reminder text and add flavor text at the verry least. Let me know if you find anything and I'll fix it for the next release.
For that matter, I may include a WWK 'patch' with better-res WWK art files and an updated database in a week or two (after MC.info releases some scans).
This (tottally optional) update would simply be a database and art file, so no need to uninstall or reinstall; just replace the database.mdb file with the new one.
I never got around to completing the Garruk vs Liliana or Sliver records, so the art for those is missing. I changed the way foil/normal printings are handled to be more efficient, but I think some records were updated incorrectly in the database when I did so. Again, nothing major, just some cards will have a FOIL numeric box when they shouldn't. Let me know about any of these you find as well, and I'll add them to the WWK 'patch'
The update process was pretty smooth, with just a couple of minor problems, namely the fact that Gather output has changed slightly (in the background code) and now adds HTML line breaks throughout card text for some bizarre reason.
I had to figure out how to remove that weirdness and finally just removed all HTML 'BR' tags for the old-new comparison. Once I managed that I discovered a grand total of about four changes in all of Gather.
Piece 'O cake.
Other than that and some minor mistakes on my part (forgot to enter some info) it went perfectly. Less than 24 hours after Gather was updated I have a new up-to-date database, and even got a sane amount of sleep and went to the prerelease today.
Changes included in the 5.1 version:
> All cards in Scars of Mirrodin
> Log history, the first steps in an undo history and other features
> Re-worked menu options, organizing for future changes and ideas
> System icons, to help distinguish menu options and such
> A host of minor fixes, bug corrections, feature improvements, and more
Note: File size has crept up on me again, partly because I haven't been vigilant about optimizing art files for large sets (M10 and M11 in particular).
I'll add this to the next release's to-do list, but for now the download is 140 MB.
For more detail on the updates presented with this release, please see this post.
Next update: Shortly before or after the Winter set release (Mirrodin Besieged).
Under development:
> Continued improvements to the GUI, paving the road for complete features in the future.
> Initial steps toward having a User Profile, for saving layout and search settings
> Besieged, and other minor sets released in the interim.
I haven't heard of or seen this bug in a long, long time. In addition, the changes I made to the layout for the 5.0 release should have fixed any timing issues, assuming they didn't get corrected earlier when I was optomizing things in general.
In the interest of full disclosure, however, I'll leave the comment here.
POSSIBLE BUG: Possible problem: The computer may be glitching when you change a number and turn the page right away. The computer might start changing the number WHILE it is changing the page, and some numbers get put in the wrong place for some reason. I'm looking in to the problem, but in the meantime just give the PC a second or two to think before turning the page or changing the search buttons, and REPORT ANY PATTERNS you notice if it does it again.
Feel free to download and try it out. In fact, I'd encourage anyone with high-speed internet to do so. You can try it on not-high-speed, but you might cause yourself bodily harm while waiting for things to load.
To make things easier on everyone, I've separated the art files from the rest of the program. The program itself is about 55 MB, and the art packages total an additional 350 MB or so.
As of now, the program has every standard printing of every card, and most special printings (player rewards, DCI, etc) are included. The database has complete oracle information on each card, a complete GUI interface, and fairly high-res art from the awesome guys at MagicCards.info.
All I ask of anyone who downloads this are the following:
1) Give me credit. I've been working on this since the spring of 2008.
2) Report any bugs you find.
3) Share/blatantly advertise to friends (assuming you like it. :P)
1) Download the installer package
Download the zip file here, and run the Setup file.
You will probably get some angry firewall messages, which is normal (I am, after all, unregistered with Microsoft. ). That's it!
If it doesn't work, you probably don't have Microsoft SQL Express on your PC. No worries! Download it for free here.
Update: It appears the program may specifically require SQL 2005. If you have Windows 7 or Vista, you may need to download the 64-bit version (rather than the 32 bit version). If this link doesn't work (which has happened before), Google "My SQL 2005 free download Microsoft" or something like that.
I will continue looking into the problem, and try to make the database-connection more open-ended.
2) Use the Program
Fiddle with the buttons, and see what it can do. I recommend you simply leave the program running for several hours, and use it instead of your normal MTG database (Gather, magiccards.info, exc). In fact, it has a nifty right-click-the-card feature that lets you copy the card's name to your computer's clipboard (copy/paste utility), meaning you will never have to remember how to spell Seizan, Perverter of Truth's name again.
3) Art Packages (optional) (October 14th note: I will be updating these files within the next week or two; I'll also load a "Changes" package, but if you don't want more work later, just wait a week)
Here are the links to more zip files with packages of card art. I have them grouped by set, and by their classification.
Recent Sets - This contains all new sets, Mirrodin - Eventide.
Old Sets, part 1 - All old-frame blocks between Ice Age and Prophecy.
Old Sets, part 2 - All old-framed blocks between Invasion and Scourge
Starter Sets - Starter and Core sets. This contains Beta, and 5ED - 9ED*.
Early Sets - Arabian Nights, Homelands, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Antiques, etc.
Misc - Includes some random things like Duel Decks and Promo Cards.
Un-Sets - Unhinged and Unglued full scans. *read the note below*
How to install Art Packages
Start the program, then click on Help > About > Update Packages.
In most cases you need to open the CardImages folder.
*For Full Card scans, like Unhinged, open Frames > Unique.
Unzip the download, and move the folders to the directory you just opened (CardImages or Unuque).
*Note that Beta - 4ED all used repeat art.
A note on art packages.
The art for Card Tracker has been optimized, both to get the best scan of a particular piece, and to conserve hard drive space. What this means is that art files are used by several cards. This is particularly obvious for Alpha, 2ED, 3ED, and 4ED, which all use art from previous sets (mostly Beta).
This also means that downloading a particular file may/may not fill all the card art from those sets. For example, if you download the Old Sets file, an Ice Age card with Beta art will still be missing the art.
Whenever possible, I made the most logical choice for what art goes where. In general, the first printing of a particular piece gets priority. I did make an exception for anything in 10E, because that's what I'm already including in the basic install. This means that many Mirrodin cards that were reprinted in 10E, actually have their art in the 10E folder, despite Mirrodin's status as first printing.
The second exception is for cards with old art in a new frame.
I could have used the same art, but I didn't feel that would be appropriate. Much of the art for the new frames was cropped differently, and in many cases was thoroughly recolored, resulting in some shocking differences.
The third, and final group of exceptions was when an old art was reprinted in an old frame again, but with a significantly higher quality. This occurred mostly in 5ED/6ED, when the printing quality of cards increased noticeably. Instead of giving the Beta art an errata, I went ahead and included another source file. The washed out colors from the early era of Magic is, after all, one of those card's most distinguishing features.
Think of it like this: The program is similar to downloading Gather, but adds some functionality and lets you keep track of your cards, including alternate printings, alternate art, and other things like that.
...
Q: ... Would you please do so?
A: Sure!
OK, the icons in the top right are basically check boxes in disguise. When you click on them they turn off/on, and when you double-click it turns all the OTHER related buttons off.
By this I mean that if you double-click on Red, the other colors (White, blue, black, green, colorless) turn off and red stays on.
When you click "go" the search is performed.
Only cards that meet the criteria are returned (show up).
Keep in mind that adding more search filters *will* make the program run slower, especially as they get more complicated. I'm doing my best to speed up the process, but that fact is inevitable.
OK, first of all, take a look at the search options buttons
The buttons are as follows:
Color: {White} {Blue} {Black} {Red} {Green} {Colorless}
Type: {Land} {Artifact} {Creature} {Instant} {Sorcery} {Enchantment}
Rarity: {Basic/Token} {Common} {Uncommon} {Rare} {Mythic} {Special}
The next tool is a drop-down list to select which set(s) to view.
The current options are: All, Standard, Extended, Legacy, Vintage, All Cards (one printing each).
Other printings, and each set/block chronologically starting with the most recent will be added later. Note that I forgot to remove the ones that don't work. Only the bolded ones actually work; the rest default to All Cards. >_<
An advanced search will let you choose what sets to show in a checklist.
Next we have the VERSION or MY CARDS filter.
These options allow you to do things like "only show cards that I own at least 5 of".
The options for the first box are: "Total", "All", "Regular", "Foil", "Other1", and "Other2"
This tool lets you filter what version of each card to apply the filter to. If you select "Total," the program will find the total of all printings you own and compare that to the next set of filters. "All" simply means it checks each printing independently. As long as one version passes, the card will show up. The next four only check that particular version.
Following that are the VERSION boolean and numeric filters.
The boolean list should have the following: " ", "<=", "<", ">", "=>", "==", and "!=" or [nothing], [less than/equal to], [less than], [greater than], [greater than/equal to], [equal to], and [not equal to]
The second box is simply an number up/down box where you enter a number.
If you enter "Total" ">=" "6," the database will show you the cards that you own at least 6 of, total (counting all versions).
Next we have Mana Cost, or more accurately CMC filter.
This is basically the same as the above search settings, but checks the card's CMC.
The Text Box
The big box is the search terms you want to enter. Currently, only one search term is used, but I hope to add more eventually. In other words "Elf AND Warrior" will only show cards with the exact phrase "Elf AND Warrior," of which there are none. Just do a search for one or the other.
Last of all, we have the sort by options. For now, only single-parameter criteria is allowed, but I you should be able to do *plenty* with that as-is. For some examples of search settings and results, see the screenshot section below.
The search box is actually linked to the card's NAME, TYPE, and RULES TEXT. Any results in any of those three parts of the card that match the exact phrase entered in the text box show up.
That means a search for "Elf" will return cards with Elf in the type line, Elf in the name, or Elf somewhere in the card text.
Mana costs are kind of tricky. Mana symbols are distinguished in the text within {} brackets. For example, [mc]WUBRGT42[/mc] would show up in the text as {W}{U}{B}{R}{G}{T}{4}{2}.
To search for the Llanowar Elves ability, the search phrase is:
"{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool."
If you have any questions, check out the MagicCards.info website. The card text there is similarly formatted.
One final note: sometimes formatting information is contained within the card text. Generally, this is for italics, such as Domain, Kinship, and Hellbent. This formatting information is simple HTML, meaning the and brackets are used. If any search results come out weird, these are probably to blame.
I did, however, include planeswalkers under the "Creature" and "Enchantment" buttons.... just because. You can also simply search for "Planeswalker" in the text field. That works too.
Tribal is a bit trickier, but generally you want something that's "Tribal Something - Creature Type" In that case, just turn off creatures and search for said creature type. Again "Tribal" is also a legitimate search word, too.
The multiple number boxes under each card are supposed to be for the normal version and the foil version.
I chose this method, because displaying the foil version as a separate card seemed excessive and silly. Also, if I want to know how many Holy Days I have, I don't particularly care if they are foil or not. I just want to check if I have a playset!
There are options to view two more number boxes. I have no idea what these would be for, exactly, but at a guess you could use them for foreign printings or something.
Making money off of copyrighted material (IE: basically everything in Magic) is a tricky situation I'd rater avoid.
Also, I like making things for fun.
Just make sure you open Excel first, because Excel likes to be clever and turn some almost-number fields into numbers, which buggers things up.
In particular, it likes converting the set code "10E" (for 10th edition) into "1.0E5" or something, which is scientific notation for big scary numbers.
To get around this, open your Excel variant first. Then open the file (I'll tell you where it is in a second). You should get a popup message asking how you want to interpret the data. The two important things you should do are thus:
1) Tell the computer the file is TAB DELIMITED
2) Tell the computer column 1 should be a TEXT FIELD
Once you do that, it should be pretty easy. The first column is the card's ID number. This code is a combination of the set code, followed by the card's collector number. The easy way to find this is by looking at the bottom of the card. If you need to add another row to the text file, go ahead. The file is read when you open the program. Just don't change the file while the database is running, because your changes will be overwritten.
After that should be 4 numeric columns. The first is for the regular printing. The second is for foil printings. The other two are for whatever you want to use them for. I'll be using them to designate my foreign printings. Although you can use columns 1 and two for whatever you want, the database will treat them as i have described. Note that many old cards (with no foil version) don't let you change that number within the program.
You can find the text file in the following default location: "[filepath]\Resources\My Cards.tab"
Then just follow the instructions.
Not every card will be imported successfully. My database uses an ID number to save information, and MOL uses the card name. Because of this, I had to do a conversion, comparing each name from your MOL file to my database. Then I had to figure out the card's ID number from there. The importing function generates a list of error files, and opens it for you when it is done. These cards have something wrong with the formatting on the text, and the database doesn't recognize them properly. Most of the records work, however. I imported my MOL saved data, and it successfully imported nearly 99% of the cards. Most of the errors are bugs in the database involving:
1) non-english characters, such as AEther
2) Split cards, which are treated differently in my program.
Please, please report any bugs. If you don't report it, I may not notice it myself. If I don't notice it, I can't fix it.
In general, I will be releasing updates just before each set's release. This means the next release (Beta 5) will release on the eve of Zendekar's prerelease. If something goes horribly wrong, I will correct it as soon as possible, but in the meantime you'll have to live with the little things.
If there is a massive database overhaul, I could release that as a separate package if necessary.
General problems (I'm working on these)
* The program runs somewhat slow, but that may just be my computer.
* Lots of art is missing. That's OK. You can download these separately. See post 2.
* Some extra features are currently disabled. I could have simply removed these buttons, but I want to give people an idea of what ELSE I have planned.
Possible Glitches Much of the database work was actually clever use of formatting macros. Since I haven't personally looked at every line of information (10,000+ rows in the database!), something probably got messed up somewhere.
Things to look out for include:
* Wrong card frame * Wrong art
* Cards out of order (but still correct)
* Unnecessary reminder text (mostly from oracle wording of core set staples)
* Gibberish ("&bnsp;" and "/r/n" come to mind)
* Missing text
* un-parsed mana symbols (meaning a card says "add G to your mana pool" instead of "add :g: to your mana pool)
Reporting Bugs
Please report any glitches in this thread, as I'm awful at checking my PM's. Also, it will provide a nice record for anyone else to help track down the problem.
When reporting a glitch, please include WHAT happened, HOW it happened, and WHEN it happened. The more information the better. Don't just tell me "An error message came up." Tell me what you were doing to get that error message.
For example, "I did a search for Black Treefolk, turned to page 5, and the computer crashed with an error saying 'Out of Bounds'"
Credits
Thanks to everyone from the original thread, who offered ideas, guidance, and sometimes a mildly impatient post.
Thanks to WotC for giving a bored guy something to do during the summer, and for a pretty cool hobby.
Thanks to the MSE crew, for the source images for about 90% of my card frames. If you enjoy creating your own cards, check their program out. It's pretty snazzy, and very powerful.
Thanks to MagicCards.info, and several other database sites that I forget right now, for your services. It was only through the work they started that I was able to get a reasonably complete database. MagicCards.info was also the source of ALL my card art.
Also, for record-keeping purposes, here's the previous release's thread: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1094215
Immortal Coil {2}{B}{B} (4)
Artifact ALA R
----------
{T}, Remove two cards in your graveyard from the game: Draw a card. If damage would be dealt to you, prevent that damage. Remove a card in your graveyard from the game for each 1 damage prevented this way.
When there are no cards in your graveyard, you lose the game.
----------
Illis: Dan Scott
79/249
ID#: ALA-079
Other Features If all those core utilities don't impress you, how about some silly extra features?
Although I am quite pleased by the success of the Card Tracker project, I know I can do better. This program was my first attempt, and while many things work, I know there is room for improvement.
For this reason, I will eventually begin work on a project presently called MTG Compendium. The name, by the way, is shamelessly stolen from the WotC-hosted DnD database of a similar name.
MTG Compendium will essentially include everything from Card Tracker, but improve upon it in every way I can think of. Speed, power, versatility, utility, functionality, customization, etc.
Basically, I plan on taking what I have now, streamlining it, and adding as many bonus features as possible. Ideally, the program will actually be a suite of applications, each with a speciffic task, but capable of sharing information, maximizing functionality and speed.
Compendium - Planned features
Main Menu - A small, unobtrusive main menu that launches the other programs. Each subprogram should be independent enough to start manually (bypassing the main menu)
Collection Manager - This will essentially be a direct port of Card Tracker. Same look, same feel, just improved in every way I can manage. I hope to have profile saving of some sort included with the first version. Multiple instances of the collection manager should be possible (like opening multiple Word documents). Collection Manager is designed for multi-card viewing, such as viewing entire sets at once.
Trade Manager - Using the Collection Manager, create a Wish List. Load your wish list and your Collection List, then watch this subprogram generate a list of cards you need and a list of cards you are willing to part with.
Detail Window - Think of this like Gather, only offline. Enter a card name, and it will show you details on that single card. Other subprograms will utilize this feature as well. This program will be small and simple, so if you simply want to check stats for a single card, this will be the best (fastest) way to do so. The detail window will be optimized for viewing very few cards at once, with a focus on speed and utility over raw power.
Deck Editor - A deck editor with sample hand generators, mana curve analysis, copy-and-paste [deck][/deck] tags for Forum users, and anything else I can think of.
Card Creator - A more limited version of MSE (Magic Set Editor), but will have improved functionality in other respects (mostly the ability to search custom sets through the rest of the suite). I'll probably stick to very basic controls, such as standard card frames and card types.
If you want to create anything more complex than that, simply download MSE and export an image of the card, then enter the card in Card Creator, specifying a Unique Frame (like what I do with Planeswalkers)
Interactive rules - If Yawgatog continues to update his hyperlinked rules, I'll just download that and tweak it for offline use (with full credits to his name ). Otherwise, I'll figure something out.
The latest Comprehensive Rules are also good, and can be found here.
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
Not exactly. Somehow this got cut from the FAQ, but there is a chance it could eventually work under the Mono project.
When I start this project over, I'll attempt to make it Mono-compatible if possible.
A bit more history:
I started this program over a year ago, and shared my results on the WotC boards. Fellow board members there helped me improve it and work out the bugs. After lots of feedback and testing, nearly everything works just as I had hoped. But I want to do more.
Although the program works, I started it without proper planning.
Basically, I was teaching myself as I went.
For this reason, this program isn't nearly as efficient or functional as it could be. For example, I know there is a way to allow patches and updates without forcing an uninstall, but I haven't figured it out yet.
I'd like to start over, rebuilding everything from the ground up. For now I'll be calling this project MTG Compendium, a name shamelessly stolen from the DnD side of WotC.
I'll go back and edit that reserved post now, with the ideas I had planned. The new version may be quite a while before I get started, because I want to learn everything I can first. I want to make it as robust and efficient as possible. I may even make it open sourced.
In the meantime, I'll continue to support Card Tracker to the best of my abilities.
Also, welcome to MTGSalvation, and thanks for the nod to MSE.
My Moderator Helpdesk| My Custom Set List | My MSE Template HostingBeers Tasted: 113 | Last Beer Sampled: Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine Ale
If you're specifically referring to initial launch, and load of the .tab file, then no it's not just your computer.
AngelOfDeath1982
Anywho, I'm adding Planechase on my side right now.
I managed to snag a box for me and a box for my buddy. Now that I have a reason to update the database I've suddenly gotten motivated!
I'll be going to my local Zendekar prerelease, hopefully gaming it out with some friends and past rivals :evil-laugh: If the Zendekar spoiler is updated Friday night, as it has before, I'll have the update done either late Friday or early Saturday. This update will include both Planechase and Zendekar, and possibly a few minor bugs.
Changes to the actual program are very minimal this time; I need to add code to allow Planes, and I may add a button for Planeswalkers and Planes. On the other hand, I may just add Planes to the Land button and call it a day. In other words, the only big changes this time are to the database.
Yah. That code is horrible.
I may edit the start up procedure a bit if I have time, but it truly is a mess. The layout was one of the first things I made, thus it is the most cluttered. That and the lack of multi-threading makes startup very slow.
AngelOfDeath1982
I keep pushing it back so I can 'fix just one more thing'
Of course, we all know how that works... >_<
I should be done by this weekend, I HOPE. I'm currently trying to parse the updated Oracle text; I finally decided I'd wait for the October changes before updating, but I had to make some changes to the parsing mini-program and some problems crept up.
That and some IRL things have slowed down the update process. I'll have more details later. Thanks for the offer though.
RU Owling Mine (Runeflare Trap) RU
Recent FNM's
3-1 2nd
2-0 drop (Yeah, that is 2 wins and a drop...)
3-1 3rd
Hi everyone. Sorry about the (very long) wait, but Beta 4.2 is now complete. Cool stuff first, excuses later.
Changes included in the 4.2 version:
> Complete Gather text for every card, including the new October rules changes.
> New sets included: Zendikar, Planechase, and FTV - Exile
> Support for Plane cards
> Introducing a new 'Product' rarity (for booster packs and such).
> Updates to FNM, JGC, and MPR special printings
> Prerelease and Release event cards now included (some with no art for now).
> Several minor fixes, art corrections, and such.
> Improved Database functionality: Simple Search now supports Block and Set selections, previously only available via the Advanced search.
Next update: Shortly before or after Worldwake's release.
Expected features:
> Improved reliablity for Flavor Text, Artist Credits, and Card Art. Presently, these features have been overlooked in favor of more functional changes.
> Increased accuracy for Print Version checklists
> More complete Product images and database records.
> Worldwake, and other minor sets released in the interm.
4.2 Changes, in detail
First of all, I would like to announce that I have finally streamlined the Oracle updating process to an automation level I'm comfortable with, so Beta 4.2 officially has Oracle wording on practically EVERY CARD EVER. woo.
In addition, Zendikar, Planechase, and FTV-Exile, are now included in the database, along with a slew of minor background changes. Plane cards now have featured support, and can be filtered using the LAND button for Simple searches. I may yet add a set of 7th buttons for Color, Type, and Rarity, but I haven't decided yet.
To recap, Planeswalkers can be filtered for using CREATURE or ENCHANTMENT, and planes can be accessed using the LAND filter.
Having said that, both Planeswalkers and Planes are options available through the Advanced search.
This update also introduces a few features I've been meaning to add for a while: Product entries and Prerelease/Promo cards. The images themselves are quite elusive, especially for older sets, but I am beginning to add entries for Products, both to allow inventory of unopened packs and to have some centralized database for storing product images. I realize the improperly resized images aren't that impressive within the Binder part of the database, but I have other plans for the future I must aspire to. :evillaugh:
Amongst all the other database changes, I've also reworked how the Normal/Foil printing information is saved. I've added two columns to the database for this information, instead of trying to parse (read) a text entry in the 'SPECIAL' column. Why I thought that was a good idea initially will remain a mystery, but with the addition of dozens of Promo-only cards from prereleases, the recent addition of several normal-printing-only boxed sets, and my general frustration with the program's speed, I finally wacked that problem with a nice big stick.
Speaking of Database updates (I so love a smooth segue), I've also added some additional tables for Metadata - Data about other data. In this case, speciffically, sets. Using this, I'll be adding some additional features later, but the important thing for now is that it allows a quick and easy way to allow the Simple Search's SET drop down list to find a list of sets and blocks. You can now select a block or a single set without resorting to using the Advanced search. This also means I no longer have to manually update each of these search filters with new sets, as I was doing before, because everything is generated from the database. Another 'woo' for me and my long-term sanity.
And now for something Completly Different
OK, I'm done being happy and excited now.
The reason this update is so late is partially due to the number of changes made this summer, particularly the introduction of Plane cards, and the changes to Gather, Oracle, and other things like that.
After M10 came out, I was forced to make a number of changes to the database by hand, because the formatting macro I had designed before was no longer up to the task - The changes to Gather and the new wordings freaked it out. I could have updated it rather than do everything by hand, but I didn't feel like it at the time. By hand is actually faster in the short term, doncha no.
Anyway, I'm trying to say I was burned out on Magic and on updating Card Tracker for a while. Then, as Zendikar came out, I realized I was going to have to do the same thing. Again. And again. I actually had Zendikar essentially done by the Monday after the prerelease, but then I kept running into issues with the back-end system.
I was going to have to add Zendikar to all the set lists by hand. So I said 'F this" and rewrote parts of the back-end system, adding some tables to the database as described above.
Then I got my hands on some Planechase and started adding that to the database, which required more back-end changes to support Plane cards.
Then MaGo announced a fairly major Oracle overhaul due out on October 2nd. By this point I was done with the previous changes, but still in the mood to tinker, so I added the promo cards and Product entries, reworking the Normal/Foil version settings while I was at it.
Finally, October 2nd rolled around and I was able to download the latest Oracle text. During the last week and a half or so, I've been working on a little Database Buddy program to convert the Unholy Nightmare of a Gather-generated HTML file and process it into something I can read. This is actually harder than it sounds.
The raw HTML file Gather spit out was 20 MB in size.
Let me say that again; a 20 MB pure text file.
Everything I tried to open it with just to shrink it curled up and died. Even notepad. Seriously.
So I made a little custom program that opens the OracleText text file, reads it line by line, removing the HTML and white space, then writing the results of that to a different text file. After running Step1, I was left with a 3 MB text file. Joy.
Through various shenanigans, this text file is processed and saved to a different location, after having extracted each card's NAME, TYPE, SUBTYPE, and TEXT. That file is compared to the next most recent version, and compiled as yet another text file (Step3.txt), this time with changes between the two lists flagged. At this stage, I can open the file and get a very precise look at what cards have been changed, and I get the opportunity to make manual changes to the list.
But Wait! There's More!
Now the fun really starts. That list (Step3.txt) is then compared to four other lists in order to complete the conversion.
1) CardTracker's AllCards list, a text file with just each card's name in a big effing list. At this point, this text file becomes the master, and everything else is encouraged to synchronize with it, rather than the Oracle text, as was the case in the precious steps.
2) OracleTextOverride, a list of cards with type lines and rules text, that I forcibly override the Oracle text for. Unhinged cards don't actually get updated through Oracle, but I at least make an effort to give them the current wording. Also, Eature Cray, and Interrupt would kill my database. >_<
3) CustomAdditions, a list of cards not in gather at all (Happy Holidays and Celebration cards)
4) OracleErrorIgnore, a list of cards I don't want to see in the error file when everything else is finished even though I know the card from the Oracle list wasn't actually matched to the CardTracker list.
Yah.
The good news is, Oracle updates shouldn't take more than an hour now, even including the time it takes me to load the website and review the changes. So in the future, everything should go much faster.
I tried to get everything finished by Monday, but I got some sort of violent stomach ache and was... indisposed.
Sorry to hear about you getting sick over the weekend, that's never fun.
4.2 release looks good... spent the hour or so required tonight to enter all my Zendikar cards in..... was nuts.... I've got about 2 2/3 unsleeved fatpack boxes worth at this stage.... thankfully I'd already gone through and sorted all of it, which makes it much quicker to enter this information each time.
AngelOfDeath1982
Thanks for the program too!! Is there a way to export the info into excel or any other format? I'm trying to find a way to tally the amount of cards we own
Oh, thanks for the bug report. I'll have to look into that.
Actually, there should be two ways to generate reports. The first is from within the program. I think it's the Data > Statistics file options but I honestly forget right now. It should be there somewhere (unless i disabled the feature, but I don't think I did).
That report only counts cards currently filtered by the search.
The other way is to save a copy of your save file somewhere easy to find (desktop) and open it in Excel.
*Make SURE you do this with a copy, as Excel may try to change the data if you save the file within it*
I jumped through some hoops to ensure the save file was mostly-readable by people. Any Excel variant should be open the file with ease; the only thing you might need to tell it is the file is tab delineated, meaning the columns are separated by tabs.
Once you have the info loaded in excel the typical excel tools will be available to you, and you can generate all sorts of information if you know some tricks.
Hope that was helpful!
PS: I've figured out the problem with the art. Some art files got misnamed, which is pretty easy to fix. I'll include a fix late this month when I update for Worldwake (woo!).
On another note, I am trying (with no luck) to import a collection from MTGO 3. I can get the csv without an issue but there is no way to select "physical" because as you know that no longer exists. There may be other issues with the resulting CSV. I can send you a current one if you like. I am wondering if there is a way I can modify the existing CSV's to create something your program will import. I would prefer to look at my online collection with your program if possible.
Hey everyone, the Beta 4.3 update is complete, including Worldwake.
Unfortunatly I didn't have time to implememt (or really look in to) a better update procedure, so you will still have to uninstall your old version then reinstall the new one.
Again, no worries, the save files aren't effected by this process at all.
MAJOR CHANGES:
Worldwake
Gurrak vs Lilliana & Slivers
Lots of flavor text added (Zendikar - Onslaught complete, and I'm working my way back)
The default search is now "LATEST BLOCK" to vastly decrease the program's load time.
Various database tweaks and bug fixes
This is still my first draft of Worldwake, so there might be errors here and there in the card text, but nothing major. I plan to remove the Multikicker reminder text and add flavor text at the verry least. Let me know if you find anything and I'll fix it for the next release.
For that matter, I may include a WWK 'patch' with better-res WWK art files and an updated database in a week or two (after MC.info releases some scans).
This (tottally optional) update would simply be a database and art file, so no need to uninstall or reinstall; just replace the database.mdb file with the new one.
I never got around to completing the Garruk vs Liliana or Sliver records, so the art for those is missing. I changed the way foil/normal printings are handled to be more efficient, but I think some records were updated incorrectly in the database when I did so. Again, nothing major, just some cards will have a FOIL numeric box when they shouldn't. Let me know about any of these you find as well, and I'll add them to the WWK 'patch'
The update process was pretty smooth, with just a couple of minor problems, namely the fact that Gather output has changed slightly (in the background code) and now adds HTML line breaks throughout card text for some bizarre reason.
I had to figure out how to remove that weirdness and finally just removed all HTML 'BR' tags for the old-new comparison. Once I managed that I discovered a grand total of about four changes in all of Gather.
Piece 'O cake.
Other than that and some minor mistakes on my part (forgot to enter some info) it went perfectly. Less than 24 hours after Gather was updated I have a new up-to-date database, and even got a sane amount of sleep and went to the prerelease today.
Have a great February everyone!
4th ED Strip Mine picture is also wrong.