Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections

meleu

Fix the issue where "&" is turned into "&"

It's not an issue! I did it intentionally. the & character alone is an invalid XML char. It needs to be encoded as & and ES works just fine with it. Test it and see.

Side note: you have many bizarre game names in the Adult games folder... :-)

Used2BeRX

@meleu

d'uh! I wasn't aware about it. I slightly modified the script to search things this way and indeed, it's faster.

Can you --update and run it again?

Sure. I'm going to do it right now.

It's not an issue! I did it intentionally. the & character alone is an invalid XML char. It needs to be encoded as & and ES works just fine with it. Test it and see.

Okay. It just wasn't finding the media because it was looking for media with "&.amp;" in it :) I'll verify it works right after this run.

Side note: you have many bizarre game names in the Adult games folder... :-)

If you think the names are weird, you should try playing them. ;)

meleu

@Used2BeRX I've just added the --no-desc option you asked. Update the script again. ;-)

Used2BeRX

@meleu ~~It says I have the latest version. Nothing changed. Maybe I have to wait a few minutes?~~ nevermind. got it now.

About folders... How do you suppose we should go about that?

The <image> for the folder is going to be named exactly the same as the folder name and the folder.txt file, and it's going to be in /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/{system_name}/Artwork/Folders/

meleu

@Used2BeRX said in Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections:

@meleu It says I have the latest version. Nothing changed. Maybe I have to wait a few minutes?

maybe yes. Just a few minutes...

About folders... How do you suppose we should go about that?

I'm taking a look at it.

The <image> for the folder is going to be named exactly the same as the folder name and the folder.txt file, and it's going to be in /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/{system_name}/Artwork/Folders/

Good. I'll stick with this standard.

Used2BeRX

@meleu I ran "--no-desc" after the command and it's running now but still adding the description. Overall, as well, I'm not noticing that the speed has picked up at all yet.

I ran the command like this ./Used2BeTxt.sh /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.* --no-desc

Should I run it like this instead?

./Used2BeTxt.sh --no-desc /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.*

meleu

@Used2BeRX

I ran the command like this ./Used2BeTxt.sh /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synoipsis/*.* --no-desc

Usage:
./Used2BeTXT.sh [OPTIONS] synopsis1.txt [synopsisN.txt ...]

Yes, the options needs to be the first argument

meleu

@Used2BeRX by the way, if you want to interrupt the script in execution, hit ctrl+c.

Used2BeRX

@meleu Got it. Will re-run it now. BTW.... I checked the entry for "Adventure (New Graphics)" which previously didn't work and it works now! :)

by the way, if you want to interrupt the script in execution, hit ctrl+c.

I accidentally figured that out when I stopped the script 10 minutes ago for your new update. Sometimes I get lucky and Linux behaves like DOS did. ;)

EDIT: Start time was 3:42 by me. I'll try to gauge when it will finish so I can get an exact time to see how long it takes to do 745 entries with "--no-desc"

meleu

@Used2BeRX

EDIT: Start time was 3:42 by me. I'll try to gauge when it will finish so I can get an exact time to see how long it takes to do 745 entries with "--no-desc"

Here's a tip to measure this kind of thing: Use time before a command.

Examples:

with --no-desc

meleu@mlenovo ~/src/Used2BeTXT $ time ./Used2BeTXT.sh --no-desc ../XBox\ Synopsis\ Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA\ MAN\ -\ THE\ WILY\ WARS.TXT 
"../XBox Synopsis Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA MAN - THE WILY WARS.TXT" data has been added to "megadrive_gamelist.xml".

real    0m0.242s
user    0m0.124s
sys     0m0.084s

default use (no options)

meleu@mlenovo ~/src/Used2BeTXT $ time ./Used2BeTXT.sh ../XBox\ Synopsis\ Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA\ MAN\ -\ THE\ WILY\ WARS.TXT
"../XBox Synopsis Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA MAN - THE WILY WARS.TXT" data has been added to "megadrive_gamelist.xml".

real    0m0.257s
user    0m0.148s
sys     0m0.072s

with --full

meleu@mlenovo ~/src/Used2BeTXT $ time ./Used2BeTXT.sh --full ../XBox\ Synopsis\ Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA\ MAN\ -\ THE\ WILY\ WARS.TXT 
"../XBox Synopsis Files/GENESIS/synopsis/MEGA MAN - THE WILY WARS.TXT" data has been added to "megadrive_FULL_gamelist.xml".

real    0m1.200s
user    0m0.664s
sys     0m0.312s

If you are curious about the meaning of real, user and sys, this is a good reading: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/556405/what-do-real-user-and-sys-mean-in-the-output-of-time1

Used2BeRX

@meleu Good to know. Thanks. I will use that going forward.

Right now it's 4:49, so we're at 1 hour and 7 minutes and we're only at "Miner 2049er", which is number 359 out of 745.

I didn't time it last time, but I think it took just over 3 hours to make the list. The way this is going now, I think it will be about 2 1/2 hours. Looks like changing the way it searches for files like you did today may have cut down the time about 15-20%, but I can't be sure. Some of this time savings might also be because it's not doing the <desc>

I'm thinking that if you can write the code so it looks for specific media in specific folders instead of all of the folders that we could put a serious dent in the time it takes to create these lists.

I didn't check all of them so far, but a cursory "find" on the document shows that every entry that I looked at that wasn't working before is working now. I will let you know what our percentage of good files was when the list completes and I can scroll through the games in the romlist in EmulationStation.

Also, the file is extremely smaller than it was with the description like I wanted it to be. I'm hoping this helps with a Pi Zero. The file I ran yesterday was over 1.2MB when it was finished. With the file nearly halfway done right now, the file is only 168kb. I think that "--no-desc" option is going to work out great for the Pi Zero when coupled with a skin that has no metadata like "Carbon No-Meta"

meleu

@Used2BeRX I was working on the folder path finding and then the kids demanded my atention. I uploaded what I've done so far but didn't make enough tests. If you wanna test, give it a try. There's no need to parse every synopsis file again, only the folders ones. The script updates the file accordingly.

Now I have to play with kids! :-)

Used2BeRX

@meleu So you're saying that even though the folder entries are already in the gamelist.xml it will automatically make the updates to them? If that's the case, that's sweet. :)

When this is done I'm going to verify which games if any still have problems and let you know how close to 100% we came, then I'll re-run the script to see if we get the folders working too.

Have fun with the kids. :)

meleu

@Used2BeRX said in Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections:

So you're saying that even though the folder entries are already in the gamelist.xml it will automatically make the updates to them?

The script updates an existing .xml file instead of creating a new one since the first version. I did this way for a case you get a new synopsis.txt for a game, there's no need to parse every single file again. Just run the script with the new synopsis file and the metadata will be added to the existing gamelist.xml.

Used2BeRX

@meleu Nice.

Does it alter the existing entry when you do this, or does it create a second entry?

If I run the same command with the *.* will it take a few hours to complete again, or will it skip all of the entries that are complete with the given parameter of --no-desc?

Used2BeRX

@meleu Final results of second run (before running again with folder find code):
Start Time: 3:42, End Time: 5:56
Total Time: 2 hours and 14 minutes
Previous Errors: 108 out of 745
Current Errors: 5 errors out of 745

List of errors:

(2_2) Prototypes
DUKES OF HAZZARD [STUNT CYCLE VERSION] / Dukes of Hazzard (Stunt Cycle Version)
ROCKY & BULLWINKLE / Rocky &amp; Bullwinkle
(2_3) Hacks
TARG (ALT) / NO ENTRY IN GAMELIST.XML (both synopsis have same description of "Targ"
(3) Adult Games
TERRANCE & PHILLIP / Terrance &amp; Phillip: Asses of Fire
TERRANCE & PHILLIP 2 / Terrance &amp; Phillip 2: Not Without My Anus

TARG (ALT): This is an easy fix. I will just have to make sure that every synopsis has a different first line entry. Both "TARG.TXT" AND "TARG (ALT).TXT" had just "Targ" for the first line. No changes necessary for these on the script needed.

ROCKY & BULLWINKLE, TERRANCE & PHILLIP, TERRANCE & PHILLIP 2:

"Phantom II & Pirate" and "Track & Field" worked fine because there was no "&" in the file names ("PHANTOM II" and "TRACK AND FIELD").

The other three failed to find the files because there was an & in the rom/media/synopsis file name. Is it possible to have the program search for just "&" instead of the full &amp text that is required in the XML? I know that over other systems the use of the "&" is quite prevalent and changing those would require a LOT of file renaming otherwise.

DUKES OF HAZZARD [STUNT CYCLE VERSION]: Not sure about this one. Maybe there is a special character used for the "[]" like the "&" that is giving us problems?

I'm going to run the command with the update for the folders now and see what happens. This is exciting. :)

EDIT: 3rd run with folder code added

Folder code is not working. This may be because it's trying to use the first line name in the TXT file which is different than the actual folder name. Examples:

"(1_1) US.txt" / <name>(1) US: Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>
"(1) Licensed.txt" / <name>(1) Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>
"(1_5) Cassettes.txt" / <name>(5) Atari 2600 Cassettes</name>

(Unlike the roms/media names, I did not make the folders or the folder.txt files in all caps. They are exactly as you see them above. I do not know if this is possibly the problem. They aren't uppercase, but every txt file matches case perfectly with the folders).

I answered my first two questions as well. It looks like running *.* on the same file will take exactly as long as it took the first time. It does not look like it adds multiple entries. It simply overwrites any data onto the current file. If I were to manually run the command on each individual folder.txt after you fix it, I would be able to update this file much quicker than running the *.* command again.

meleu

@Used2BeRX

Is it possible to have the program search for just "&" instead of the full &amp text that is required in the XML?

Yes. Please don't rename anything from now on. The script must be smart to deal wit those problems. I'll take a look when I have a chance.

Good to know you've found the answers for your own questions. :-)

Used2BeRX

@meleu Understood. I won't edit anything that shouldn't be edited. In the case of Targ, I shouldn't have had them named the same anyhow since one was a hack that changed the game.

Right now I'm working on updating all of the information for the many, many, many sub folders and getting good images to display for them. I think my favorite image so far is the one I'm going to use for "(4) Requires Unsupported Controller"...

alt text

EDIT:

I did all the folder entries by hand just to see what this bad boy would look like, and it looks amazing now in the Carbon No-Meta skin!

I'm going to wait for the program to do everything right before I do any of the other systems, but I couldn't wait to see what the final product would look like for a system so I spent about 45 minutes doing what your program is going to do in about 45 seconds lol...

I'm going to put here every single folder entry that I have that works so you can get a good idea of what they should look like when you're altering the script to do the folders.

  <folder>
    <name>(1) US: Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_1) US/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_1) US.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(2) Europe: NTSC Conversions</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_2) Europe (NTSC Conversions)/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_2) Europe (NTSC Conversions).png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(3) Europe: Non-NTSC Conversions</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_3) Europe (Non-NTSC Conversions)/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_3) Europe (Non-NTSC Conversions).png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(4) Brazil: Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_4) Brazil/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_4) Brazil.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(5) Atari 2600 Cassettes</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_5) Cassettes</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_5) Cassettes.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(6) Atari 2600 Light Gun Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_6) Light Gun</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_6) Light Gun.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(7) Atari 2600 Special Releases</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_7) Special Releases</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_7) Special Releases.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(1) Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1) Licensed.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(1) Atari 2600 Homebrew Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(2) Homebrew - Prototypes/(2_1) Homebrew</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(2_1) Homebrew.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(2) Atari 2600 Prototypes</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(2) Homebrew - Prototypes/(2_2) Prototypes</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(2_2) Prototypes.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(3) Atari 2600 Game Hacks</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(2) Homebrew - Prototypes/(2_3) Hacks</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(2_3) Hacks.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(2) Atari 2600 Homebrew &amp; Prototypes</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(2) Homebrew - Prototypes</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(2) Homebrew - Prototypes.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(3) Adult Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(3) Adult Games</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(3) Adult Games.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(1) Androman Controller</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_1) Androman Controller/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_1) Androman Controller.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(2) Atari Keypad</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_2) Atari Keypad/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_2) Atari Keypad.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(3) Foot Craz</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_3) Foot Craz/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_3) Foot Craz.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(4) Kid Vid</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_4) Kid Vid/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_4) Kid Vid.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(5) Kid's Controller</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_5) Kid's Controller/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_5) Kid's Controller.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(6) Mindlink Controller</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/(4_6) Mindlink Controller/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4_6) Mindlink Controller.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(4) Requires Unsupported Controller</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(4) Requires Unsupported Controller.jpg</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>
  <folder>
    <name>(5) Non-Working Games</name>
    <path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(5) Non-Working/</path>
    <image>/home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(5) Non-Working.png</image>
    <video/>
    <marquee/>
    <desc/>
    <releasedate>19770101T000000</releasedate>
    <developer>Atari Inc.</developer>
    <publisher>Atari Inc.</publisher>
    <genre/>
    <players/>
  </folder>

Hope that helps!!!

EDIT 2:
I just learned some art stuff with paint.net. Took some transparent images and combined them for the (2) Homebrew - Prototypes folder.

alt text

meleu

@Used2BeRX said in Making premade gamelist.xml with xtra media collections:

I'm going to put here every single folder entry that I have that works so you can get a good idea of what they should look like

Hmm... Then for folders things are different.

The synopsis.txt file name with no extension is the <name>.

The Folder: field is the name of the folder that will have the full path in <path>.

Am I right?

Used2BeRX

@meleu

The <name> is the first line of the folder.txt file.

<name>(1) US: Licensed Atari 2600 Games</name>

The <path> is the Folder: field in the folder.txt file.

<path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_1) US/</path>

/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_1) US/

The highlighted part in the line above is the Folder: field as well as the name of the folder.txt file without the .txt extension.

Here's the full entry for "(1_1) US.txt"

(1) US: Licensed Atari 2600 Games
Folder: (1_1) US
Platform: Atari 2600
Release Year: 1977
Developer: Atari Inc.
Publisher: Atari Inc.
_________________________

LICENSED ATARI 2600 GAMES
=====================================

The Atari 2600 (or Atari VCS before 1982) is a home video game console by Atari, Inc. Released on September 11, 1977, it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and ROM cartridges containing game code, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F video game console in 1976. This format contrasts with the older model of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware, which could only play the games that were physically built into the unit.

The console was originally sold as the Atari VCS, an abbreviation for Video Computer System. Following the release of the Atari 5200 in 1982, the VCS was renamed to the "Atari 2600", after the unit's Atari part number, CX2600. The 2600 was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge: initially Combat, and later Pac-Man.

So the two important lines are going to be <path> and <image>

Synopsis Location: /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Synopsis/(1_1) US.txt

Image Location: /home/pi/RetroPie/Media/atari2600/Artwork/Folders/(1_1) US.png

Folder Location: /home/pi/RetroPie/Roms/atari2600/(1) Licensed/(1_1) US