Do more with Refresh!

Module Design
1

[Updated 6th Dec: Refresh options revised in light of use experience]

An update to the Refresh tools is available for user testing. A consolidated interim build includes re-vamped search as well (previously announced). Further testing and feedback invited on both sets of update. Find latest build here.

The update is especially aimed at modules in active development with existing scenario libraries. As such much of the update concerns the Predefined Setups refresh tool, though core features affect Refresh Counters as well. The Reference Manual reflects all changes.

New features:-

  1. The refresh can invoke a special Global Hotkey after each game is refreshed. This allows you to perform custom maintenance that you have designed, tackling things that a simple refresh cannot do, typically creating, replacing or relocating counters (including cards). Up to now these tasks had to be performed manually or during game startup.

  2. Reporting is streamlined and expanded to include unknown counters. Warnings are highlighted and the Predefined Setup refresh gives a summary of warnings at the end, making it easy to spot oddities picked up by the refresh run. Never again spend time wondering why a game piece hasnā€™t picked up your module changes after a refresh! Of course, you could use the post-refresh Global Hotkey to generate your owns reports. With that in mind, thereā€™s an option to suppress (most) standard refresh reporting.

  3. A new option also lets you repair unknown counters, when successfully matched by name (use with caution!).

  4. Just testing a sample of predefined setups? Predefined Refresh now offers a search field so that you can choose to refresh a subset of setups from the module. Straightforward text or a regular expression are both accepted. Whatā€™s more, the planned refresh list is now presented in a confirmation window before the run starts.

  5. Doing a long run and wondering when it will finish? Predefined Refresh gives you a progress report during the run! You can also choose to get an audible alert for when the run is complete.

  6. Finally, the refresh window now automatically closes at the end of a Predefined Refresh run and you will be prompted to save the module when you close the module, in case you forget.

In addition to the new features, one faulty and one unused option have been removed (ā€œtestā€ and ā€œdelete counters with no mapā€), for the time being.

The updated/trial Predefined Setups refresh options panel, fully expandedā€¦

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Note: the interim search/refresh test builds should be compatible for Vassal v3.7.x module development. Usual advice about backing up your module applies. Also, if you develop using an interim build, to avoid your module users getting spurious though harmless compatibility warnings, use standard Vassal 3.7 to do a final module save before release, preceded a Predefined Setup Refresh, if applicable.

2 Likes
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So, can this new ability, assuming it comes with 3.7.6, be used to place a specific counter onto a map at a specific location for each pre-defined game? Sure would be good to do that automatically instead of open every pre-defined game to do it manually.
How far away is the release of 3.7.6?

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It can trigger such an ability if you have built it into your module.

To expand: you would make a temporary change to your module so that the Place Marker trait is available on an existing piece. You would add a module-level GKC to trigger that trait on receipt of the hotkey VassalPostRefreshGHK.

I donā€™t know if this feature will make it into 3.7.x. However, if youā€™re prepared to use an interim build then you could use that for some one-off maintenance work and revert back to the standard release to continue normal use. This is what Iā€™m doing.

PS Since my post above, Iā€™ve removed the options to run a pre- refresh GHK and to skip the pieces refresh, due to a complication that negated the benefit from those features.

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Thank you for your quick response.
There is currently no counter on the particular map and position I want to add a new game piece. So a ā€˜Place Markerā€™ trait would not work.
Oh well, back to manual adding the new game piece to each pre-defined game.
Again, though, thank you.

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A Send to Location trait on the target piece would allow it to re-position itself to any map.

Of course, this comes with an effort to be balanced against that for manual placement.

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You see the tree, I see the forest. Well done indeed. Already over half way doing the manual add. But something to keep in mind for any future instances.

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Iā€™d like to release 3.7.6 sometime in the next two weeks.

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Thank you Joel.

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The expanded refresh described in my original post is now merged into the master build of candidates for Vassal 3.7.8. To test, find the build for your machine in the first bunch at the top of this list.

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I am unable to see the Refresh Predefined Setups option under Tools? Running 3.7.9. Am I looking in the wrong place?

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Refresh Predefined Setups is in the Tools menu of the Editor, not the Player.

1 Like
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Looking in the wrong place. I was looking in the Player window while in Editor mode and not the Editor window while in Editor mode. I assumed that after clicking ā€œEdit Moduleā€ everything was the Editor.

Curses Moriarty! Foiled again. Thanks!