Custom output requests

[Kizan]

Didn't see another forum to post this in so I figured I'd post it here and someone can move it to the correct place if it needs moved.

Most custom output sheets are being done to work with a browser usually IE or Chrome since that's what most windows users have and I believe it's available on OSX as well.

I'm requesting an option within Hero Lab to specify what browser/viewer to use to view the Custom Portfolio Output. The final step of creating a character sheet as a user is to select the output sheet from the list and press the "Output" button. This will generate the sheet in the correct form and open it in the default browser (if it's an HTLM sheet).

I usually wind up using non-IE in windows. I'd like an option to select what browser will be used to view the sheet (in this case I'll select IE even though it's not my default browser). That way I can set print boundaries and so forth and not have to worry about again. It would be great to be able to set them on a per sheet basis that way if one sheet prints better out of a specific browser than another it can be pre-selected.

Kizan

[chiefweasel]

Are you getting some errors with different browsers?

[Nanan00]

This guy has the right of it, his sheets look better than any I have seen thus far.

http://code.google.com/p/charactersheets/

[Kizan]

Originally Posted by chiefweasel

Are you getting some errors with different browsers?

Most of the creators are creating with a few browsers in mind so when printing there can be some differences. In other PC managment software I could designate a path to a html browser/viewer even though it wasn't my system default. This way I could setup that browser with the printing setup that I wanted for printing character sheets.

Currently it auto-opens the sheet in whatever view/browser is set as the default. If I use sheets that aren't setup for my normal default browser/viewer or I have settings (like print background colors) that I want for character sheets that I don't want for everyday use I have to change those settings. Or since it auto-opens the viewer/browser I have to close the one I didn't want and go open the file again in the viewer/browser I do want.

It adds several steps to something that would be easy if there were a setting in HL for it.

Kizan

[armidale]

Originally Posted by Tasha

For experience I would love to see something for number of xp req for next level. Since there are 3 different leveling speeds there is no easy way to have the sheet do that. Also, something for listing the leveling speed would be cool too.

The leveling speed is listed in the middle of settings/@summary as "Advancement Speed: ...". I use this in v3.3 of my custom sheet to correctly display the number of xp req for next level.

[armidale]

My top requests for things not currently supported by HeroLab are:
* Add special attack types on weapons (previously requested here by Sebacore, so +1)
* Add source on feats/traits/spells/specials (previously requested here by Kizan, so +1)
* Armor list ("defenses/armor" node list) should include all items that grant AC bonus. Currently magic items like bracers and rings do not appear.

I'm not currently aware of any workaround available for any of the above.

Secondary requests (workarounds exist):
* Add the Bonus Spell Attribute to the "spellclasses/spellclass" nodes
* Add the Next Level XP value to the "xp" node

[Tasha]

Originally Posted by armidale

My top requests for things not currently supported by HeroLab are:
* Add special attack types on weapons (previously requested here by Sebacore, so +1)
* Add source on feats/traits/spells/specials (previously requested here by Kizan, so +1)
* Armor list ("defenses/armor" node list) should include all items that grant AC bonus. Currently magic items like bracers and rings do not appear.

I'm not currently aware of any workaround available for any of the above.

Secondary requests (workarounds exist):
* Add the Bonus Spell Attribute to the "spellclasses/spellclass" nodes
* Add the Next Level XP value to the "xp" node

I saw that you input all 3 XP advancement charts in your sheet. I didn't consider that to be "simple". I guess it was simple, just fairly time consuming . Thanks for finding that tag.

[armidale]

Other annoying issues with HeroLab, for which no workarounds exist:
* Abilities with "Append Spell Information" set in the editor result in the spell information showing up in the help text of the UI, but don't appear in the XML and hence cannot be used in custom output.
* Some spelllike abilities show up under trackedresources but have no node under "spelllike" in the XML, and so don't have a full description in the output. Example: Dhampir's "Detect Undead" racial ability.
* Bane items don't have the creature type in the XML. The built-in sheet shows it correctly, but custom sheets cannot.
* Ammo items don't show up in the weapons section of the XML, even when "Hide Ammo" is not checked. So they show up in the built-in sheet, but can't show up in custom sheets.

[Colen]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to say thanks for your requests here. We are keeping an eye on this thread, and are planning to add more custom output capabilities like this in future, probably in an update after the mac beta comes out.

[armidale]

Another request
* Add weapon class (light, 1-handed, 2-handed) to weapon nodes. This is needed to calculate bonuses when fighting 2-weapon or not, offhand or not, etc as the builtin sheet shows.

I can use a cumbersome heuristic to try to guess it, but it can't be guaranteed to be right.