Editing the era_ballparks file

BaseballMan · 09-01-2009, 06:33 PM

I am looking through my ballpark books and i want to change some ballpark info
in the era-ballpark file instead of creating or editing the ballparks within the game. Takes too long. Problem is that though i can open it to a Excel spreadsheet so its easier to read im not sure how to save it after i make changes so that it still works. I can make changes in notepad but its kinda hard to read and too easy to make a mistake.

SteveP · 09-01-2009, 06:38 PM

You have to save it as a comma-delimited (not tab-delimited) text file.

BaseballMan · 09-01-2009, 07:08 PM

I tried it both ways and neither way will work.
Im just trying to convert the era-ballpark text file into excel and then be able to convert it back to the same way it was in the database folder.
I could be converting it to excel wrong but i can see all the data there but it
wont convert it back to the way it was as a notepad text file.
Would access be better?

BMW · 09-01-2009, 07:26 PM

I see two potential problems:

Excel should automatically qualify text strings with double-quotes. The original file doesn't have this. The chances that this is an issue is small, but there is still a chance. Obviously, if you don't escape text strings with double-quotes, you cannot use a comma within those text strings. So avoid using them. It would also be good to remove the double quotes, since it could cause an issue importing. You could get fancy and use Excel, but since the file isn't too big, just find-and-replace the double-quotes with nothing.
The original file was saved in a UNIX format. This means it uses LF as a line terminator, whereas a Windows environment will use a CRLF. Here's what you'd want to do:
1. Get a really good text editor (I use PSPad, which is 100% free at editor PSPad - freeware HTML editor, PHP editor, XHTML, JavaScript, ASP, Perl, C, HEX editor) which will allow you to save with whatever line terminator you want.
2. After you export the file back to era_ballparks.txt from Excel, open the file in PSPad.
3. Go to the menu Format > UNIX (LF).
4. Save the file. You've now saved it with LF characters.
5. Try that file.

Questdog · 09-01-2009, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

I tried it both ways and neither way will work.
Im just trying to convert the era-ballpark text file into excel and then be able to convert it back to the same way it was in the database folder.
I could be converting it to excel wrong but i can see all the data there but it
wont convert it back to the way it was as a notepad text file.
Would access be better?

The easiest way is to save the file from excel as an MS-DOS comma delimited file (.csv). Then exit excel and just change the .csv extension to .txt.

SteveP · 09-01-2009, 08:49 PM

I guess it's just a lot easier on a Mac ...

Questdog · 09-01-2009, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

I guess it's just a lot easier on a Mac ...

It's even easier in my spiral notebook, but that doesn't mean it's optimal.....

BaseballMan · 09-01-2009, 09:56 PM

Well that program BMW suggested seems to work. All i do is open the file with the program and just save it and it seems to work. Not quite as easy to read as excel but way better than notepad. I was a little confused cause it was taking the changes to the 27 yankee stadium but not my 1886 altoona park. But then i remembered that i had moved some teams because i had moved some teams around from the 19th century to avoid the odd 3 of teams error. I had to change the year in the ballpark to match and the league. Otherwise it just gave me 42000 for capacity.
Anyways thanks for the help guys and BMW for the program.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 10:58 AM

Well everything is working fine except the game isnt taking the factors i changed. Its taking the field dimensions & capacity but not the avg,2b,3b,Hr.
In fact the numbers in the era-database dont match what ootp imports for
teams i did not even edit.
For example the database has 1.038 avg for the 1930 tigers yet the game has 1.019. A lot of the ballparks just have 1.000 for 2b & 3b. Could my file be corrupted or are they suppose to have 1.000?

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 01:27 PM

Reinstalled the game and the parks in the game do not match the data in the era-ballparks file. The capacity and dimensions are correct but the factors are off. Is it because the database only has avg and hr where the game has lavg,ravg,lhr,rhr? I tried adding the 2 missing numbers to the database but it didnt work. If the game can read the factors from the ballpark file then it makes the file pretty much useless except for capacity and dimensions.

I know the dimension are cosmetic but it still gives you the feel of playing in that park. I thought capacity would have a small effect on finances. And the factors should make the park unique.

I was hoping to be able to have the different park effects for each year of a park's existence. But i guess i will have to settle for an avg and export them from the game. That really sucks but i dont know if it imports factors correctly for everyone else.

SteveP · 09-03-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Could my file be corrupted

Very likely.

SteveP · 09-03-2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

but i dont know if it imports factors correctly for everyone else.

It does.

It's possible that you are modifying the file in some way that, without your realizing it, is causing the game to grab data from the "wrong" cells (the data fields). I note that you mention "adding" numbers. No can do.

It also possible that there is still a problem with the way you are saving the file after you edit it.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

It does.

It's possible that you are modifying the file in some way that, without your realizing it, is causing the game to grab data from the "wrong" cells (the data fields). I note that you mention "adding" numbers. No can do.

It also possible that there is still a problem with the way you are saving the file after you edit it.

Could be but i reinstalled the game and i know its the original file because the changes i made to Altoona are back to the original state. I have not edited the file and yet the factors do not match what the game imports. Could the fonts be a problem. I will try deleting the whole ootp folder and reinstalling.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 04:03 PM

Ok i deleted the ootp developments folder and reinstalled the game.
I made no changes and just created a historical 1930 league. The data for factors do not match. Are you sure everyone elses is correct because i dont see how it could mess up if i didnt edit anything.
The game still has 1.019 for the 1930 tigers but 1.038 in the file. It also has the same number for avg and hr in the file for teams before 1957. I can see each year having the same number but not both avg and hr having the same number.

SteveP · 09-03-2009, 04:42 PM

You are correct! The numbers showing up for ballpark factors are not the same numbers that are in this DB. I don't have an explanation for that. It does not seem to me that this was the case before, but where the numbers are coming from now (perhaps calculated?), I don't know. Maybe someone else will know.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveP

You are correct! The numbers showing up for ballpark factors are not the same numbers that are in this DB. I don't have an explanation for that. It does not seem to me that this was the case before, but where the numbers are coming from now (perhaps calculated?), I don't know. Maybe someone else will know.

Thanks for confirming. At least i now know its not just me.

SteveP · 09-03-2009, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

Thanks for confirming. At least i now know its not just me.

Sorry I didn't check it out first. My guess is that the game is using the numbers in the DB to plug into some sort of formula -- perhaps to be sure that the factors for all of the ballparks in a league add up to 1.000 for each factor. Just my guess.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 07:34 PM

I deleted everything in the era-database file then added the yankees factors back for 2007 and they matched what the game produced before but still didnt match the database. I then added the red sox's factors and same result.
I would like to customize the ballparks in my league but i dont want to spend time editing the database and have it not reflected in the game.

SteveP · 09-03-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

I would like to customize the ballparks in my league but i dont want to spend time editing the database and have it not reflected in the game.

As long as I'm speculating about things: I think the edits you make will be reflected in the game. You just won't be able to predict the effects. I'm not sure you could have predicted them anyway. The ballpark factors subsystem (if I can call it that) was clearly not designed for user customization, although you are free to experiment with editing all you want. But the underlying relationship between the factor numbers and results produced is neither simple nor intuitive (not counting the fact that there is bug in the AVE factor at the moment

)

I am not sure that even a ballpark factors editor would be possible -- if I am right that the game engine does calculations to neutralize the factors across all the ballparks in a league.

BaseballMan · 09-03-2009, 08:01 PM

Ok i was just trying to make some 19th century parks unique. Im thinking about just using the data in that ballpark data file for each team for every year.
Just have a team withe 35,000 seating capacity throughout the ballparks life
instead of having it changed each year. I just dont want it to make the 61 yankees to hit too many more homers or far too less. Im thinking that it wont do that. That there may be more hrs hit at yankee stadium but the overall hr totals should remain close to the actual totals. Ill try changing the hr totals to the extreme and running some test seasons using that suggestion to uncheck the adjust historical modifiers and then recheck it when i reach the playoffs.

09-01-2009, 06:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Editing the era_ballparks file I am looking through my ballpark books and i want to change some ballpark info in the era-ballpark file instead of creating or editing the ballparks within the game. Takes too long. Problem is that though i can open it to a Excel spreadsheet so its easier to read im not sure how to save it after i make changes so that it still works. I can make changes in notepad but its kinda hard to read and too easy to make a mistake.

09-01-2009, 07:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
BMW All Star Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Jersey Posts: 1,471 Thanked 491x in 204 posts	I see two potential problems: Excel should automatically qualify text strings with double-quotes. The original file doesn't have this. The chances that this is an issue is small, but there is still a chance. Obviously, if you don't escape text strings with double-quotes, you cannot use a comma within those text strings. So avoid using them. It would also be good to remove the double quotes, since it could cause an issue importing. You could get fancy and use Excel, but since the file isn't too big, just find-and-replace the double-quotes with nothing. The original file was saved in a UNIX format. This means it uses LF as a line terminator, whereas a Windows environment will use a CRLF. Here's what you'd want to do: Get a really good text editor (I use PSPad, which is 100% free at editor PSPad - freeware HTML editor, PHP editor, XHTML, JavaScript, ASP, Perl, C, HEX editor) which will allow you to save with whatever line terminator you want. After you export the file back to era_ballparks.txt from Excel, open the file in PSPad. Go to the menu Format > UNIX (LF). Save the file. You've now saved it with LF characters. Try that file.

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09-01-2009, 06:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,768 Thanked 260x in 197 posts	You have to save it as a comma-delimited (not tab-delimited) text file.

09-01-2009, 07:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	I tried it both ways and neither way will work. Im just trying to convert the era-ballpark text file into excel and then be able to convert it back to the same way it was in the database folder. I could be converting it to excel wrong but i can see all the data there but it wont convert it back to the way it was as a notepad text file. Would access be better?

09-01-2009, 08:49 PM	#6 (permalink)
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,768 Thanked 260x in 197 posts	I guess it's just a lot easier on a Mac ...

09-01-2009, 09:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Well that program BMW suggested seems to work. All i do is open the file with the program and just save it and it seems to work. Not quite as easy to read as excel but way better than notepad. I was a little confused cause it was taking the changes to the 27 yankee stadium but not my 1886 altoona park. But then i remembered that i had moved some teams because i had moved some teams around from the 19th century to avoid the odd 3 of teams error. I had to change the year in the ballpark to match and the league. Otherwise it just gave me 42000 for capacity. Anyways thanks for the help guys and BMW for the program.

09-03-2009, 10:58 AM	#9 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Well everything is working fine except the game isnt taking the factors i changed. Its taking the field dimensions & capacity but not the avg,2b,3b,Hr. In fact the numbers in the era-database dont match what ootp imports for teams i did not even edit. For example the database has 1.038 avg for the 1930 tigers yet the game has 1.019. A lot of the ballparks just have 1.000 for 2b & 3b. Could my file be corrupted or are they suppose to have 1.000?

09-03-2009, 01:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Reinstalled the game and the parks in the game do not match the data in the era-ballparks file. The capacity and dimensions are correct but the factors are off. Is it because the database only has avg and hr where the game has lavg,ravg,lhr,rhr? I tried adding the 2 missing numbers to the database but it didnt work. If the game can read the factors from the ballpark file then it makes the file pretty much useless except for capacity and dimensions. I know the dimension are cosmetic but it still gives you the feel of playing in that park. I thought capacity would have a small effect on finances. And the factors should make the park unique. I was hoping to be able to have the different park effects for each year of a park's existence. But i guess i will have to settle for an avg and export them from the game. That really sucks but i dont know if it imports factors correctly for everyone else.

09-03-2009, 04:03 PM	#14 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Ok i deleted the ootp developments folder and reinstalled the game. I made no changes and just created a historical 1930 league. The data for factors do not match. Are you sure everyone elses is correct because i dont see how it could mess up if i didnt edit anything. The game still has 1.019 for the 1930 tigers but 1.038 in the file. It also has the same number for avg and hr in the file for teams before 1957. I can see each year having the same number but not both avg and hr having the same number.

09-03-2009, 04:42 PM	#15 (permalink)
SteveP Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 2,768 Thanked 260x in 197 posts	You are correct! The numbers showing up for ballpark factors are not the same numbers that are in this DB. I don't have an explanation for that. It does not seem to me that this was the case before, but where the numbers are coming from now (perhaps calculated?), I don't know. Maybe someone else will know.

09-03-2009, 07:34 PM	#18 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	I deleted everything in the era-database file then added the yankees factors back for 2007 and they matched what the game produced before but still didnt match the database. I then added the red sox's factors and same result. I would like to customize the ballparks in my league but i dont want to spend time editing the database and have it not reflected in the game.

09-03-2009, 08:01 PM	#20 (permalink)
BaseballMan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,473 Thanked 82x in 55 posts	Ok i was just trying to make some 19th century parks unique. Im thinking about just using the data in that ballpark data file for each team for every year. Just have a team withe 35,000 seating capacity throughout the ballparks life instead of having it changed each year. I just dont want it to make the 61 yankees to hit too many more homers or far too less. Im thinking that it wont do that. That there may be more hrs hit at yankee stadium but the overall hr totals should remain close to the actual totals. Ill try changing the hr totals to the extreme and running some test seasons using that suggestion to uncheck the adjust historical modifiers and then recheck it when i reach the playoffs.