Attract-Mode Support Forum
Attract-Mode Support => General => Topic started by: crawlingpeter on March 28, 2015, 07:59:38 AM
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So I currently have all clones being filtered out in AM by using "rule CloneOf not_equals .+" in the cfg file. However, I saw this thread:
http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?11442-Mame-Clones-worth-playing-a-complete-%28hopefully%29-list
and would love to have these few dozens clones show up while the remaining stay hidden. Is such a thing possible?
Thanks!
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Am I the only one that makes lists the hard way? lol No like you I used romlister and made a batch file I got rid of a lot of junk but kept my clones of some things. I got rid of the "duplicates" though. From there I edited mine by hand. What games are you wanting to add to the list? Filters no matter what front end will always be a pain until mame finds a better way of using a XML (and I doubt there is a better way). (Mostly because know one can know what roms you want to list.) You can, if you are willing, edit the mamelist.xml and remove the clone status from the games you want and then build from that list..(i think). I had to so that for advancemeu. If you are on windows use notepad+ on linux/mac/bsd use vim. The XML will load faster that way. Also you could build a whole list and then delete the ones you don't want from the list. I'm sure someone around here knows an easier way though :P I do have an idea though..send me a list of the clones you want listed please...yes just those games.
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I just bung all clones I want to play into my favourites list. The "mame.tag" file.
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This can be done by using custom tags, that includes all parents, and hand-picked clones.
The problem is, how do you add tags to only parents?
There are two ways of doing this. Both methods have their disadvantages, so choose wisely!
Method 1 : Elegant, but requires MS-Office
#1. Open MS Excel.
#2. Copy contents of romlist file into sheet
#3. Data->Text to columns (this may differ from Office version, though)
#4. A wizard will appear. Set delimiter to ';' (Am's delimiter). Set all column to 'text' type (few games may affected by this)
#5. If done correctly, the romlist will be nicely analyzed into columns
#6. Add 'filter' to each columns
#7. Choose 'CloneOf' column, and select 'empty' entry only. (only parent roms will be shown)
#8. Copy the contents of '#Name' column into a new text file.
#9. Save the text file. this file is tag file (containing only parent roms)
#10. The name of tag file created in #9 acts as tag name in FE. Copy the tag file into appropriate romlist directory
Method 2 : (very) hackish method. But works anyway
#1. Backup the favourite file for the mame list, and delete it.
#2. Create a temporary layout, as follows
list temporary
layout basic
romlist mame
filter parent_not_favourite
rule CloneOf not_equals .+"
rule Favourite equals 0
filter verify_parent_favourite
rule CloneOf not_equals .+"
rule Favourite equals 0
filter verify_no_parent_favourite
rule CloneOf equals .+"
rule Favourite equals 1
(you may have to modify "romlist mame" to your list name, if not mame)
(actually, only first filter is used, second/third is for verifying purpose)
#3. Launch AM, switch to above temporary list and first filter
#4. Mash 'add to favorite' button repeatedly. You may want to set AM's option 'confirm favorites' to 'No' temporarily...
#5. It would take about 2000~3000 strokes to finish. Once finished, first filter should be empty.
#6. (surprisingly) Now all parent roms are marked as 'favourites'. Close AM.
#7. Copy the favorites to tag file.
Favorites are stored in <AM Directory>/romlists/<romlist name>.tag
Tags are stored in <AM Directory>/romlists/<romlist name>/<tagname>.tag
#8. Restore original favorites file in #1, if necessary
Once either Method 1 or 2 is done, all parents will be marked as some_tag.
Then you can add clones of your choice by also marking it as some_tag.
Lastly, initial filtering rule
rule CloneOf not_equals .+"
can now be replaced as
rule Tags contains some_tag