Tips on entering large amounts of data?

[blzbob]

I'm trying to enter some books that I recently bought but it's very time consuming. Even short ones can take me a while. I generally do each entry one at a time. Once it's complete I move on to the next one and make sure it works. I rarely do things out of order unless I need something done first (prerequisites for example).

Those who enter lots of data, do you have any tips on how to make this go faster for me?

[ShadowChemosh]

Wish I had some but not really. Its time consuming and not allot of ways around it. If entering a whole "Campaign" like setting I have advice to what to add first and then second.

So I would start with skills, spells, domains, gods, feats, Classes, Archtypes, PrCs, and then Races. You could do races before classes often does not matter much.

Otherwise I pretty much do what you said I enter something and get the scripts working. Then I test it and then I move on the the next Thing to enter. About the only thing that speeds up after awhile is to either A) write a script off the top of your head or B) now where to pull an example script from so you don't have to start from scratch.

Sorry don't have any great advice...

[Duggan]

Split up the programming bits and the data entry aspects. They use different parts of your brain, so when you get stumped on a bit of script, move to typing in descriptions, or clipping out artwork. And, when you do have a lot of data entry, learn your keyboard shortcuts. There are a lot of places where you can readily tab from one part to another, or use Shift-click or Ctrl-click to quickly increment by 5s and 10s.

[RavenX]

Originally Posted by blzbob

Those who enter lots of data, do you have any tips on how to make this go faster for me?

I write out to-do lists and go over things carefully. For older book projects, such as 3.5 conversion to pathfinder, I usually start with Races, Traits, Backgrounds, new Skills, Feats, or Spells, as many of these items can appear in prestige classes as prereqs. If a spell has a prestige class listed, I will use the author comments section of the item to leave a note saying "Prestige Name at level" so that I can go back and add it later. I frequently use the author comments section to leave myself notes so I don't forget things. I then take care of adding new equipment and other tidbits. Then I work in the prestige classes and other final bits. As part of my last check, I double check source tags and make sure everything is sourced. I then do a final check to clean up the author comments notes I left to ensure I got everything added, deleting the notes once I finish adding and testing the new bits.

The important thing is to make sure you take your time and don't rush it. It is time consuming to add large chunks of data, Forgotten Realms was a huge bit that I've converted and it has been tedious to get the data in place. Just test things as you go, make notes, and keep working on it. If a feat looks like it might be more work than you can handle, leave a note, ask someone on the forum for assistance, and move on to another feat. In a way, I do this the same way I'd take an examination, do all the problems I know the answer to first, come back to the ones that require a little more thought and work. Don't let yourself get bogged down on one item for too long, you can always come back to fix something later on if it is frustrating or too time consuming.

[blzbob]

Some good tips there. I should use the author comments. That might help me a lot. Otherwise it looks like I'm doing things almost the same as everyone else.

[frumple]

I go through the book first and note all the things that will need to be entered. I think put them in an Excel sheet so I can check them off, as well as make sure I do not miss anything.

In coding, comment, comment, comment. Often what is obvious one day will be Linear-A the next.

Also, keep a consistent naming convention. It does help when you are entering your 300th magic item and you get an error related to id of some other thing.

Finally, the order Shadow mentioned is a good one. Personally I would do races and monsters before classes. Classes, archetypes and prestige classes tend to be the most involved and time consuming.

Another suggestion that I have been trying to follow (often with mixed results). For spells also don't forget to include an adjustment for their effects. Especially if it is something that effects a character's skills, AC, CMB, etc.

[blzbob]

I've been wondering if just entering everything without any scripting, just names and descriptions, is an efficient way of doing this. I was thinking that it would allow me to quickly use as much as possible for things like prerequisites and similar coding can be done quickly with cut-and-paste/modify. I'm working mostly with feats right now but I want to also get to work on favored class bonuses.

[Aaron]

I often make several "passes" when entering content. The first pass is to get all the info in there which does not require eval scripts (for example, adding tags, setting fields, inputting expr-reqs). During the first pass I also make note in the Comments area on each thing what I need to accomplish with eval scripts and issues I need to research (like how would this interact with some other game element).

The second pass is where I do the simple eval scripts. If something is going to be a pain in the ass I save it for a 3rd pass. Any complex scripts I am not confident in I mark in the comments with "TEST THIS", which is just a reminder to pay special attention to the thing when testing.

After all the evals are done I do a testing pass, of everything. If I find a simple error (like a typo) I immediately fix it. Otherwise I note it down in the comments.

Then I do an adjustment pass to fix any errors found in the testing, fiddling and testing each item individually at this point.

Last I do a final QA pass, fixing any remaining issues found and deleting the comments in each thing after confirming 1 more time they are done.

[scibat]

On this topic, here's a question:

Is there any way to fully test a large quantity of items in a row? For instance, I'm currently cleaning up source tags in a large .user file to prepare it for packaging. Do I need to do a Test Now or Test Thing on every single item I fix? It seems to be so, even if all it does is push out a 'ready for use' dialogue box.

[Aaron]

You don't need to Test Now each thing, if you reload the game system with Ctrl-R or by closing and re-opening.