XML APIs?

[FifthWanderer]

Forgive my coder geek curiosity, but what XML APIs are you using in Hero Lab? I've been reading up on coding with XML in anticipation of the release of the authoring kit, and I noticed some similarities with Hero Lab's scripting.

[rob]

At 09:50 AM 5/27/2008, you wrote:

Forgive my coder geek curiosity, but what XML APIs are you using in Hero Lab? I've been reading up on coding with XML in anticipation of the release of the authoring kit, and I noticed some similarities with Hero Lab's scripting.

Your question is worded such that I'm a bit confused. I'll strive to answer it and you can clarify or correct me where I miss the point of what you're asking.

XML isn't an API. Instead, it's a structured syntax that is reasonably flexible and versatile. HL is comprised of a few different types of data files, and all of them use XML as the underlying syntax. All data files have a formalized structure that dictates what information belongs where and what options can be specified for each element. To keep things relatively simple for users, we don't use some of the more sophisticated XML features (e.g. entities) - they just aren't needed and they increase complexity unnecessarily for authors.

The data files each have their own specific contents. Those contents and their basic structure represent the "API" for HL. The contents consist of three general groupings of material. First, there are the basic building blocks for game system content that define how the game works and what information it operates upon. Second, there is the actual game system data, such as the individual classes, feats, skills, attributes, etc. Third, there are the basic UI elements that control how the material is actually presented to the user. Each of these groupings is significantly different from the other two, but all three pieces are required to have a viable set of data files ready for use.

The scripting language itself within HL is completely separate. As part of the contents of the data files, various scripts will be written to effect the relationships and calculations between the various pieces. The contents of the individual scripts is wrapped within the overall XML syntax of the data files.

At this point, I've probably rambled way too much and potentially not even answered your questions. Please let me know if you have further questions and I'll do my best to answer/clarify.

[FifthWanderer]

:mrgreen: I guess I should be embarrassed here. I've dabbled in a few programming languages, and after a while, they all start to look very similar. I guess it's a case of form follows function. Any language dealing with hierarchical data is going to look similar.