How do I load a variable from a .txt file?

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Kobaltic

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 06:24

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I want to use a .txt file to hold the information for a variable that gets called in the program. This way I change the information without having to hard code it and compile it.

I looked into the loadSubImage and atlas but that is really setup for images and not information.

So how can I load a variable from a .txt file?

Thanks.

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erebusman

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 06:36

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Your going to need to use a fair amount of File commands found here:

http://www.appgamekit.com/documentation/Reference/File.htm

Firstly you'll have to decide what variables your going to be reading & writing.

Here is an example of how I write my high scores out in a Tier 2 style

+ Code Snippet

if (agk::GetFileExists( "highscore.dat" ) == 1)  agk::DeleteFile( "highscore.dat" );

	
	 agk::OpenToWrite( 1,"highscore.dat" );
 
		 for (int S = 0; S < 11; S++)
		 {
			 agk::WriteInteger( 1, HighScore[S] );
		 }
agk::CloseFile( 1 );

Notice I do the following
1: Check if the file exists
2: In this case if so I delete it because Im about to write it out again
3: Then I open the new file to write
4: I run a short loop to write the integer values to the file
5: I close the file out

Similar process to read a file

+ Code Snippet


if (agk::GetFileExists( "highscore.dat" ) == 1 ) 
	{	agk::OpenToRead( 1,"highscore.dat" );

	 HighScore[0] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[1] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[2] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[3] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[4] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[5] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[6] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[7] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[8] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[9] = agk::ReadInteger(1);
	 HighScore[10] = agk::ReadInteger(1);

		 agk::CloseFile( 1 );
	}

So here I:
1: Check if the file exists
2: Open the file to read
3: read in the values
4: Close the file

Only difference is Tier1/Tier2 commands .. the Tier2 usually has agk:: before it ; so take that out would be similar syntax to Tier1

Hope that helps

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Kobaltic

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 07:05

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Thanks, I setup a small experiment but ran into 2 problems.

First. I get an error "Both operands are required for non-uniary operations at line 11" line 11 is the if (getFileExists ("test.txt")==1)

+ Code Snippet


rem
rem AGK Application
rem

rem Portrait App
SetDisplayAspect( 0.66 )
SetVirtualResolution ( 440, 480 )

//score = 1

if (getFileExists("test.txt")== 1)
    openToRead (1,"test.txt")
    score = readInteger(1)
    closeFile(1)
endif

background = CreateSprite ( LoadImage ( "floor.jpg" ) )
    SetSpritePosition ( background, 0, 0 )
    setSpriteSize( background, 640, -1)
rem A Wizard Did It!
do
Print ("Score =" + str  (score))

 Sync()
loop

Also I am not 100% sure how to write the available in the txt file.

Not sure if it should be score, 10 or score = 10or score:10

Thanks again.

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Cliff Mellangard 3DEGS

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Location: Sweden

Posted: 15th Sep 2012 11:10

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Kobaltic he is using tier 2 and you are using tier 1

Her is my code for loading and saving my map file in my platformer.

State is simply wath the function should do.
file io is the file name to save or load.
Both are strings "text here".

Map_File( "load" , "mymap.lvl" )

+ Code Snippet

Function Map_File( state as string , file_io as string )

     If GetFileExists( file_io )=0 and state = "load" then ExitFunction
        If state = "load"
           OpenToRead ( 1 , file_io )
        Endif

        If state = "save"
           OpenToWrite ( 1, file_io, 0 )
        Endif
           
           For x = 0 to MapWidth
             For y = 0 to MapHeight

                 If state = "load"
                    Map [ x,y ] = ReadInteger ( 1 )
                    Map_Objects [ x,y ] = ReadInteger ( 1 )
                 Endif

                 If state = "save"
                    WriteInteger ( 1 , Map [ x,y ] )
                    WriteInteger ( 1 , Map_Objects [ x,y ])
                 Endif

              Next y
            Next x

        CloseFile ( 1 )
        If state = "save" then message("File saved!")
EndFunction

Android 2.3 Gingerbread , ZTE Skate , 480x800 , 800 mhz cpu , Samsung Galaxy Y , 240x320 , 832 mhz cpu
Android 4.0 Sandwich , Dmtech 3g 9738B , 1024x768 , 9.7 inches , cortex A8 1.2 cpu , 1 gb ram.

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Digital Awakening

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 11:33

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Here's another example for saving and loading in Tier 1:

+ Code Snippet

rem Save
if GetFileExists( "highscore.dat" ) = 1 then DeleteFile("highscore.dat" )
file = OpenToWrite( "highscore.dat" )
	for i = 1 to 10
		WriteInteger( file, highscore[i] )
	next i
CloseFile( file )


rem Load
if GetFileExists( "highscore.dat" ) = 1
	file = OpenToRead( "highscore.dat" )
		for i = 1 to 10
			highscore[i] = ReadInteger( file )
		next i
	CloseFile( file )
endif

Demo 2 is out! Click the image for more.

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Kobaltic

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 18:33

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Thanks everyone. I got it working. The only issue seems to be that the information in test.txt is not human readable. Is there a way to do this so I change the values in test.txt and have them change in the program?

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Auger

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Posted: 15th Sep 2012 23:02 Edited at: 15th Sep 2012 23:39

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You'll need to convert your variables to a string and then save the strings. Then just read back the string and convert it to a number

Use WriteString(File, str(YourValue))
instead of WriteInteger()

Str() converts a number to a string.

use YourValue = Val( ReadString(File))
to read your string and then convert it back to an integer

Val() converts a string to an Integer

Now you'll be able to open the file in say notepad and change the text numbers as you like.

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Kobaltic

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Posted: 16th Sep 2012 06:27

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Thanks I can now read the numbers in the .txt file. Is there a way to make it so I can read the variable and not just the number that relates to it. My concern is that six months from now I won't have a clue as to which number is which variable. I would like to see something like score = 10 or something close to that.

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Dar13

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Posted: 16th Sep 2012 06:51

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You could try creating a 'map' construct using a UDT.

In C++:

+ Code Snippet

std::map<std::string,int> variableList;

//populate the map
variableList["speed"] = 10;
variableList["lives"] = 3;
//etc

//to read the values
if(/*lost life*/)
{
   std::cout << "You lost a life!" << std::endl;
   variableList["lives"] = variableList["lives"] - 1;
}

//etc etc.

In AGK(a bit more involved, and this is pseudo-code):

+ Code Snippet

type StrIntMap
   name as string
   data as integer
endtype
//replace 20 with however many variables you want to keep track of
global variableList(20) as StrIntMap
global currentVariable as integer : currentVariable = 0

setVariableValue("speed",10)
setVariableValue("lives",3)

print("Lives:" + str$(getVariableValue("lives")))
print("Speed:" + str$(getVariableValue("speed")))

function setVariableValue(varName as string,data as integer)
    variableList.name = varName
    variableList.data = data
    currentVariable = currentVariable + 1
    //will rollover if not careful
    if currentVariable > 20 then currentVariable = 0
endfunction

function getVariableValue(varName as string)
    for i = 0 to 20 step 1
        if variableList(i).name = varName
           return variableList.data
        endif
    next i
    return -1
endfunction

Note: I can only guarantee that the C++ code will compile, the T1 code might not compile. Also note that the system in T1 will be slow compared to regular variable access, so reduce all calls to the provided function as much as possible.

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Auger

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Posted: 16th Sep 2012 07:21

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@ Kobaltic

An easy way would be just to save out your variable names also.

WriteString(File,"Score")
WriteString(File,Str(score))

Then in your text file it will look like this

Score
10

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Rich Dersheimer

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Posted: 16th Sep 2012 10:03 Edited at: 16th Sep 2012 10:03

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Also, AppGameKit allows you to save a file without checking if it exists and deleting it first, unlike DBPro.

Quote: "OpenToWrite( ID, szFile, append )

If the file does not exist it will be created, if the file does exist it will be overwritten if append is 0 or appended to if append is 1."

dersheimer.com

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Kobaltic

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Posted: 18th Sep 2012 19:05

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Things are moving along. The problem I have now is that I can't get AppGameKit to identify what is what in the file. When I use more than one word and/or variable it simply starts with the first one and then moves on. I need it to actually look through the list find the correct word and retrieve the variable associated with it. If you look at a typical .cfg file that is the results I want.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 18th Sep 2012 19:20

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It sounds like you want a file something like:

+ Code Snippet

Score=196
Level=10

And then a command that will look in the file for a line with the right tag and get the value, something like:

+ Code Snippet

// assume file opened and referenced by ID
iScore = GetNamedIntegerValue(ID,"Score")

If you are using Tier 1, as it appear you are, there are no such commands. You can write your own functions to parse a file and return values, or store them in arrays (but you cannot reference the arrays with string values).

The file read functions all read sequentially. There aren't even any commands for restarting at the beginning of a file. Definitely no direct access commands.

If you were to use Tier 2, there are probably lots of pre-built classes for doing what you want.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
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Kobaltic

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Posted: 18th Sep 2012 19:47

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Thanks Ancient Lady. I need to do this to stay compliant with OGL. So I guess I will move to tier2 and dust off the c++. At least I will get a debugger

but I will loose the broadcast

I guess I will have to learn how to compile into apk files pretty quickly.

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 18th Sep 2012 19:57 Edited at: 18th Sep 2012 20:12

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For the apk bits, you will need to do the setup for Android.

None of the Tier 2 templates are up to date with the current version of AppGameKit (this is a known and much complained about issue). So, remember to download the newest Tier 2 Android template from the 'My Products' TGC page (labeled 'Android 1076 Tier 2 Template'). You will need to update the make file to include any additional .cpp files. This is the set of code I use to build my Android apps, based on my VS projects (I have my Windows AppGameKit installed in C:\TGC\AGK and used just android-ndk as the dir name, without the version):

+ Code Snippet

cd /cygdrive/c/Android/IDE/templates/<yourproj>

\rm ./assets/media/*.txt
\rm ./assets/media/*.png
\rm ./assets/media/*.wav

cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/TGC/AGK/Projects/<yourproj>/Final/media/*.txt ./assets/media
cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/TGC/AGK/Projects/<yourproj>/Final/media/*.png ./assets/media
cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/TGC/AGK/Projects/<yourproj>/Final/media/*.wav ./assets/media

\rm ./jni/*.cpp
\rm ./jni/*.h
cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/TGC/AGK/Projects/<yourproj>/*.cpp ./jni
cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/Android/IDE/templates/template_android/jni/Core.cpp ./jni
cp --preserve=timestamps /cygdrive/c/TGC/AGK/Projects/<yourproj>/*.h ./jni
\rm ./jni/CoreForApp.h
\rm ./jni/resource.h
\rm ./jni/easyparticles.h
/cygdrive/c/Android/android-ndk/ndk-build clean
/cygdrive/c/Android/android-ndk/ndk-build 2> log.txt

For C++ Tier 2, I've attached a working template. You will probably need to change some directories in the properties (I use simple, but non-standard, directories for my VS Express 2010).

I'll do another post with the files for the Xcode4 Tier 2 template. It has my tweaks to allow you to catch when an app has returned from the background and to properly identify the landscape orientations.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
AGK Community Tester

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Ancient Lady

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Posted: 18th Sep 2012 20:04

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Here are the replacement files for the Tier 2 Xcode template. Simply unzip into your Xcode project. You should notice that there are some minor differences in the template.cpp/.h files from the VS template previously posted. The windows version has a method to allow you to properly close the app in different platforms (if they allow it).

I'd recommend using the Windows version as the base.

When you are set to do the Xcode, just copy the template.cpp/.h files and any others that you add. If you add any .cpp files, you will need to remember to include them in your project (I use a subdirectory in the project to keep them separate) and to set the 'File Type' to 'Objective-C++ source' in the 'File Type' drop down in the far right column, when you select the file. This avoids some annoying errors during compile/link.

Cheers,
Ancient Lady
AGK Community Tester

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Marl

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Posted: 19th Sep 2012 06:17

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The new string token functions make reading data from files much easier.

You can store your data in the way AL suggested above;

+ Code Snippet

Score=196
Level=10

Read each line as a string and use getStringToken() with "=" as the delimiter, to split the data, eg.

+ Code Snippet

Variable$ = lower( getStringToken( readLine$ , "=" , 1 ) )
Value$ = getStringToken( readLine$ , "=" , 2 )

You can then use a select structure to deal with the results

+ Code Snippet

select Variable$
  case "score"
    myScore = val( Value$ )
  endcase
  case "level"
    myLevel = val( Value$ )
  endcase
endselect

This can be extended by further splitting the data further if required - for example;

+ Code Snippet

colour=123,234,012

could use

+ Code Snippet

...
  case "colour"
    myRed$ = getStringToken( Value$ , "," , 1 )
    myGreen$ = getStringToken( Value$ , "," , 2 )
    myBlue$ = getStringToken( Value$ , "," , 3 )
  endcase
...

Initially I didn't think I'd use this command that much, but lately I've really taken a shine to it.