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[2.53][2.55] ZQuest: alias management errors above certain #s


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#1 Lüt

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Posted 24 January 2019 - 10:45 PM

When attempting to manage aliases using the "Organize Combo Aliases" window, certain functions misbehave above certain numbers. Those functions are "Copy" and "Swap," and in most cases, that number is 999.

First, let's look at entering numbers into the "Source" and "Destination" boxes.

I want to swap alias 1476 and 1584, so I type 1476 into the Source box:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-01-crop.png

Then I type 1584 into the Destination box:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-02-crop.png

But if I click on the Source box again...

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-03-crop.png

...the number disappears.

So I type 1476 again:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-04-crop.png

But now, after doing that, if I click on the Destination box again...

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-05-crop.png

...the entire Source number gets copied onto the end of the Destination number, creating an impossible entry.

So I figure, let's try it again with a sub-1000 Source number:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-06-crop.png

But, the same error happens:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-07-crop.png

And again for sub-100 and sub-10 Source numbers:

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-08-crop.png

zq-combomgmt-orgnums-bad-09-crop.png

So it seems that the boxes are linked in such a way that the Source box gets carried over to the Destination box if the Destination box entry is larger than 999. Once the carry-over occurs, removing digits 5 - 8 of the Destination box will also remove them from the source box, but only if you click back.

That's odd, but it's not a deal-breaker, since I can just re-enter the numbers without continuously clicking between entry boxes.

The deal-breaker comes when trying to use those numbers with the Copy and Swap functions. The way ZQuest interprets Destination numbers larger than 999 is "ZERO" (or "Invalid dest" if you don't remove digits 5 - 8) ... BUT only in the Source box.

See, because the Destination box now carries over to the Source box, it zeroes out the Source number as well.

Of course, if you don't click between the entry boxes, you won't actually see this. All that will happen is you'll try to Copy/Swap alias 1476 to 1584, and be surprised when alias 0 shows up in alias 1584's slot (and possibly be even more surprised when alias 1584 also overwrites alias 0 using Swap).

The exception to this comes when your Source is 0, at which point your Destination can be a number larger than 999. But even if you try to Copy/Swap an alias as "large" as 1 to a Destination larger than 999, it will Copy/Swap alias 0 instead.

Which brings me to my main problem...

Current process to Swap alias 1476 and 1584:
1) Make sure alias 0 and alias 1 are blank.
2) Swap alias 1476 and 0.
3) Swap alias 0 and 1.
4) Swap alias 1584 and 0.
5) Swap alias 0 and 1476.
6) Swap alias 1 and 0.
7) Swap alias 0 and 1584.

What the process should be:
1) Swap alias 1476 and 1584.

You don't have to imagine the tedium of swapping a full section of these if you really don't want to - you can just ask me, and I'll give you my answer when this site adds an unfiltered Rants & Raves forum.

Fortunately, this doesn't affect "Insert" or "Delete," since those only require the Source box.

But this has been present since ZC 2.50.0, and carried through 2.50.1, 2.50.2, the 2.53 betas, the 2.55 alphas, and will be more pertinent than ever now that 2.55 has expanded the alias count from 2048 to 8192, meaning that currently over 87% of its resource count doesn't work with such basic functions as Copy and Swap.

If I've heard correctly, prior versions of ZQ only supported 1000 aliases. It would appear that, when the count was first increased, certain parts of the alias management system didn't get the notification. So if they could get it before 2.53 final, that would be great.
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#2 Anthus

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Posted 25 January 2019 - 01:00 AM

Only Lüt would need more than 999 combo aliases :P

 

But I can see that being hella frustrating. But maaaaaan that's a lot of aliases.


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#3 Lüt

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Posted 25 January 2019 - 01:55 AM

Must. Pre-build. Everything.
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#4 Timelord

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Posted 25 January 2019 - 07:34 AM

Must. Pre-build. Everything.

 

Hmm, this one shouldn't be too bad. What is probably happening, is that the buffer for the alias number is too small, and the value range is clamped to 0->999, because it was never updated in the previous expansion of combo aliases, much less my latest expansion.

 

Only Lüt would need more than 999 combo aliases :P

 

But I can see that being hella frustrating. But maaaaaan that's a lot of aliases.

 

 

I would, too, at some point, with module quests that are meant for use with layering, and complex structures, such as Z3 mountains.



#5 Timelord

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Posted 31 January 2019 - 05:51 AM

Fixed.

 

Later, I may decide to have this dialogue return to the Edit Combo Alias dialogue, rather than fully cosing, for the sake of efficiency.



#6 Lüt

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Posted 16 February 2019 - 08:28 PM

Fixed.

And confirmed.

I spent some time testing a variety of copy/swap scenarios in 2.53.0 Gamma 3 using WIP projects, and they're all functioning as expected.

I'll double-check this functionality across the extended alias options in 2.55 when the next alpha incorporates this fix, but I expect it'll work fine.

Later, I may decide to have this dialogue return to the Edit Combo Alias dialogue, rather than fully cosing, for the sake of efficiency.

Does it not already?


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