ExtendThing always takes effect even if that source is not selected?

[wynlyndd]

(Notice that this whole post was inspired by Fenris and DungeonGuru's comments on the Community Pack thread)

I'm very new to this scripting but here's what I tried:

I wanted my UA Class Variants file to be selectable when going to Configure Hero in the interface. follow me if I've done anything wrong.
So I made my own .1st file

   <source
    id="p5eUACViA"
    name="UA Class Variants"
    selectable="no"
    parent="p5eUneArc"
    sortorder="50"
    description="UA Class Variants Use is allowed for gaming groups only.">
    </source> 
<source
    id="p5eSorUACVAP"
    name="UA Class Variants - Sorcerer"
    selectable="yes"
    parent="p5eUACViA"
    sortorder="11"
    description="UA Class Variants Use is allowed for gaming groups only. Use is allowed for gaming groups only.">
    </source>
</document>

Success! I see a subheading under Unearthed Arcana with a checkbox for my UA Class Variants Sorcerer!

I made sure to add <usesource source="p5eSorUACVAP"/> to my custom .user file

<document signature="Hero Lab Data">
  <thing id="cElmSpSCM" name="Elemental Spell" description="When you cast a spell that deals a type of damage from the following list, you can spend 1 sorcery point to change that damage type to one of the other listed types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder." compset="CustomSpec" summary="Spend 1 sorc. pt.: Choose dmg type from 5 elements." uniqueness="unique">
    <usesource source="p5eSorUACVAP"/>
	<tag group="Helper" tag="Secondary" name="Secondary" abbrev="Secondary"/>
    <tag group="SpecSource" tag="cHelpSor" name="Sorcerer" abbrev="Sorcerer"/>
    <tag group="abAction" tag="Free" name="Free" abbrev="Free"/>
    <tag group="abCategory" tag="SorMetamag" name="Sorcerer Metamagic Ability" abbrev="Sorcerer Metamagic Ability"/>
    <tag group="abDuration" tag="Instant" name="Instantaneous" abbrev="inst"/>
    <tag group="abRange" tag="Personal" name="Personal" abbrev="pers"/>
    </thing>
  <extthing thing="sp5CXGEPrS" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spGrease" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spProtGoEv" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spFlamBlad" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spFlamSphe" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spVampTouc" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spFireShie" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spFlesSton" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spDemiplan" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  <extthing thing="spForesigh" group="sClass" tag="cHelpSor"/>
  </document>

Current behavior: If I toggle the "UA Class Variants Sorcerer" checkbox in Configure Hero, the metamagic ability CORRECTLY becomes available or flagged in red if it had previously been added.
However, the spells are always added as valid sorcerer spells, even if "UA Class Variants Sorcerer" is not selected via Configure Hero

Question: Has ExtendThing been used elsewhere and is it always in effect? If not, what's the proper usage? Otherwise, it seems as if ANY custom file in the 5e folder has an extthing it's going to take effect.

Edit: okay searching all of the files in the 5e folder, it seems that extthing hasn't been used all that much and it seems like the main use has been to add spells to the Artificer's class list, which you aren't ever going to see if the artificer isn't a selectable class, so it doesn't matter if those spells are always extended. So sadly, it does look like DungeonGuru's comments hold true. It looks like the "easiest" thing to do would be to make a new class "UA Class Variant Sorcerer" which is basically a copy of the Sorcerer. I may get on that soon.

 

[wynlyndd]

I now know how to programatically add spells to a class and don't need ExtendThing. See my other thread.