Import/Export question

[Agyess]

So I have a realm that is currently hosting 2 different campaigns (along with all of my basic world info). So I export separate copies to split the two campaigns and make "child" realms. Will I be able to delete the campaign specific info from the "master" realm without risking it deleting info on a future update of the child realm?

thanks

[rob]

Absolutely. Since you just want two clean clones of the realm, and you don't want there to to be any connection to the original realm, it would be faster to use the Copy Realm mechanism twice.

[Agyess]

well, no I still want to be able to use the original as a master so that I only have to add permanent world features once.

Im not sure if I'm misunderstand what you mean or your misunderstanding me but here's the example.

so I have currently Realm1AB
then I export into Realm2A and Realm2B
then i delete all the specifics out of Realm1AB making just Realm1

then I add stuff to Realm1 that I want to import into both Realm2A & 2B.

Is there a danger of stuff being deleted in 2A & 2B because it was deleted in Realm1?

[Silveras]

Let's see if I have this right...

Exporting is primarily intended for moving the data between copies of RealmWorks, or for use outside of RealmWorks altogether. Copying is the way to generate one or more duplicates within an instance of RealmWorks.

Exporting "Realm1AB" is a good way to give a copy to "Friend 1" who plans to run a separate campaign in the same world (for example). "Friend 1" can then import the version of Realm1AB and make any changes desired.

To separate the two campaigns currently housed in your Realm1AB for your own use, the Copy Realm function is more appropriate. You make 2 identical copies of Realm1AB named Realm2A and Realm2B. You delete all of the content exclusive to Campaign A from Realm2B, and all of the content exclusive to Campaign B from Realm2A. Then you can delete all of the content that are exclusive to the two campaigns from Realm1AB, leaving only the "pristine state" of the campaign setting.

So far, so good.

Now, you make some changes to Realm1AB that are intended to be common to both Campaign A and Campaign B. You want to export Realm1AB again and import the results into Realm2A and Realm2B.

Agyess' concern is whether the "campaign specific" content deleted from Realm1AB will cause the same content to be deleted from Realm2A and Realm2B.

If I understand correctly, there is no "connection" between the realms after Copying or Export-then-Import. Realm2A and Realm2B would not recognize the "missing" content as deleted; the import would simply see some content as added, and some as updated.

The only issue I would expect is that, if there were changes made to the common content in Realm2A or Realm2B, that would require some attention when the updated version from Realm1AB is imported.

[rob]

Alright, I misunderstood the original question. You want to maintain a connection between the Source/Master realm and two distinct Derived realms. That DOES require the export mechanism.

Once you export content from the Master and import it into a Derived realm, there is a tracked connection between content in the two realms. Updates to material in the Mater will be inherited into the Derived. However, if you DELETE content from the Master after it's been imported into the Derived, that content will NOT be deleted from the Derived.

So things should work exactly as you want them to here.

[GThiel]

There is still confusion on my part. In a master realm, in Mechanics, I create a bestiary using text blocks created in Hero Lab.

I then export it to a child realm and go thru all the encounters and link to the child bestiary. If I add new creatures to the master bestiary and re-export it to child, do I then have to re-link encounters in the child?

What I'm getting at, is that I would like to do all generic info adding that can then be exported to any child realms. Is this how it's supposed to work?

[DaFranker]

Originally Posted by GThiel

There is still confusion on my part. In a master realm, in Mechanics, I create a bestiary using text blocks created in Hero Lab.

I then export it to a child realm and go thru all the encounters and link to the child bestiary. If I add new creatures to the master bestiary and re-export it to child, do I then have to re-link encounters in the child?

What I'm getting at, is that I would like to do all generic info adding that can then be exported to any child realms. Is this how it's supposed to work?

Yes, that's exactly what it's for. They've mentioned it's a key point for them to be able to do this with paid content from the Content Market, so that updates to the "official" content you bought can be imported into your realm with a minimum of friction with your own content.

[GThiel]

To further clarify the point I was getting at, after the initial export to a child realm and linking of all topics, an update export will NOT destroy any pre-existing linking in existing topics in the re-imported info.

Example, I have a bestiary in the Master Realm. It contains a topic "Orc." I export it to a child realm and go thru all encounters and link to "Orc." Later I add topics for "goblin", "hobgoblin", and "kobold." If i export it to the child, "orc" is still linked.

One further question. If I add/change something in the "orc" topic and re-export, the linkage also stays?

Until I retired, I was a programmer for 30+ years starting in BASIC with 2 character variable names and ending up in .Net full-blown windows apps. I understand the difficulties in doing something that the end user thinks is sooooo simple, so I appreciate all the hard work the Lone Wolf developers have done.

[Silveras]

I think my earlier post was mostly correct. Where I erred was in the handling of the Export and Import, where I said there would be no connection.

The Export marks the topics with an identifier. After the Import, the destination Realm retains the list of imported topics and the identifiers. If you export an updated version of the topic again, the destination Realm recognizes the identifier and updates the Topic in-place. So, all links would be retained.

What's different is, if you use Copy Realm initially, then there is no common identifier to be recognized. Exporting the updated version, then importing it, would create a new copy of "Orc" with the new information, right next to the mostly-the-same old copy of "Orc" with the old information. All of the links would still point to the old copy of "Orc".

At least, that's how I understand it.

What that may mean for any links IN the "Orc" Topic/Article, I don't know.

[rob]

Originally Posted by GThiel

To further clarify the point I was getting at, after the initial export to a child realm and linking of all topics, an update export will NOT destroy any pre-existing linking in existing topics in the re-imported info.

Example, I have a bestiary in the Master Realm. It contains a topic "Orc." I export it to a child realm and go thru all encounters and link to "Orc." Later I add topics for "goblin", "hobgoblin", and "kobold." If i export it to the child, "orc" is still linked.

One further question. If I add/change something in the "orc" topic and re-export, the linkage also stays?

Your example is exactly correct.

The answer to your question is "yes". Even if you add/edit/remove snippets on the "Orc" topic, the topic still exists and all links to it in the child realm will continue to reference it.

Here are some additional notes about how things work that you may be wondering about...

If you add new snippets to the "orc" topic and then import the updated material into the child, they will appear in the child.

If you edit existing snippets in the "orc" topic, they will either overwrite the material in the child OR be ignored (leaving the old version in the child in place). This is determined by an option you choose when initiating the import.

If you delete existing snippets from the "orc" topic, they will NOT be deleted from the child when you next do an import. The import won't know that anything was deleted, so it will simply think the snippets in "child" were added by you at some point, so they will be left alone.