<identity> defines a new tag group - each thing defined for that compset will get a tag from that group, where the group Id is the <identity>, the tag ID is its own unique Id, and the tag name is its own name.

And I got the code working for allowing a user to choose to choose any skill of a particular type (in case, allowing the military backgrounds to implement the "+2 to any Combat skill").

Is there any easy to ensure that added bootstraps get an explicit order tag?

I think you'd have to put the explicit.x tags on the things, then go into your control file and rig up a sortset to use explicit (there should be an example of it in the control file's predefined sortsets). Make sure your display table is using that sortset on showsortset or choosesortset though.

{nods} I have those explicit tags on the code I'm writing. I guess I was wondering if there's any way to make sure they get added for new items added via the editor. If not, that's cool.

Is the order of the bootstraps in the book, that you're trying to match not alphabetical? Or is it that there's a sorting order that applies to things added as a bootstrap, but not the rest of the things added to that same table, so you can't use a sortset on the table itself?

Honestly, I mainly just don't want the items to move around as I select values. The default sort is alphabetical, so if I have:

• +2 to Skill: ________
• +2 to Skill: Deceive

And I set the unfilled skill to Engineering, I suddenly get this:

• +2 to Skill: Deceive
• +2 to Skill: Engineering

I mean, it's not a huge thing, but it also sounds like the sort of thing you've probably solved a dozen times over.

Option 1: turn OFF alwaysupdate="yes" - then, the table will only get re-ordered when a new pick is added to the table, or if the view is created again from scratch (which happens if you use the print preview and then go back to the regular HL window), or when you reload the character. But, if these are bootstraps, and this isn't the same table their root pick is being added to, the bootstraps may not even show on the table without alwaysupdate.

Option 2: Use a shortname for the abilities, and set up a sort order for that table that's based on the shortname, not the name. The shortnames should be set up to always be named "+2 to Deceive or Engineering", and not change based on the selection. Make sure not to use _Name_ as a sorting element in that sortorder, so that when the name changes, that doesn't alter that order.

Option 3 is the explicit tags.

We normally just put multiple selections that derive from the same thing in the same ability, not on separate abilities, so this isn't normally something we run into.

And, with a little fiddling, I verified that I'm using two different SkillBonus items here. One is the tag (which is basically just the Skill itself), bootstrapped to the player and added as part of the BGTrait component. The other is the compset item, which directly modifies the field in the thing that is bootstrapped in. That explains why I was having difficulty attaching a value to the SkillBonus tag. Namely, it wasn't actually a tag.

All of this leaves me a little better informed, but still a bit at sea on how to make this all work like I want it to. Ah, learning...