Problems with the new database editor

[MuonNeutrino]

I've used Mids' for a while, as I am quite a build junkie - I can't resist endlessly speculating about what characters I might make in the future. As such, I also like customizing the program to suit my speculations on what may change in the game next. However, since the change in the database system to (I assume) accomodate the new villain epic ATs in i12, I can't seem to do what I used to be able to. Or, at least, I can't figure out how to.

For example, I wanted to add a version of ninjitsu to scrappers, so that I could play around with possible builds for whenever that secondary gets proliferated. Under the old system, it was as simple as copying the powerset and setting it available for scrappers (I think so, anyway - it was a while ago). I could also go into the copied powerset and do things like edit and rearrange the powers - for example, changing hide to a generic stealth and moving it out of the first slot.

Under the new system, though, I can't see to figure out how to do that sort of thing. There doesn't seem to be any way of copying an existing power set, and I get weird results when I try to create a new set. I seem to be able to give it whatever "Display Name" I want, but no matter what I enter into the "Powerset Name" field, it says it's invalid. Amusingly enough, although it pops up an 'invalid name' error, it still lets me create it, though it has no name. And, of course, it has no powers to start off with.

I don't want to recreate the ninjitsu set's powers from scratch, so I go to the "All Powers" tab and try and clone the existing ninjitsu powers. Unfortunately, when I select a ninjitsu power and hit 'clone', it doesn't actually clone the power. It pops up a new power window, with absolutely no existing data in it, and a label of "New Power (Clone)". In addition, whether I get to that window by trying to clone an existing power or by trying to create a new power, it says that whatever "Power Name" I give it is invalid, just like for the powerset. As well, although it lets me assign the power to a group, it refuses to let me assign it to a set.  I can get around some of this by selecting a ninjitsu power (say, hide), hitting the 'copy' button, and creating a new power and hitting 'paste' (giving me the power data), but the name is still invalid and I still can't assign the power to any powerset.

If I create the power anyway, it returns an invalid name error, but still creates the power. If I subsequently edit that power, it then lets me assign it to a powerset. If I assign it to a normal set (say, scrapper dark armor), it doesn't give the 'invalid name' error again, but instead pops up an error box about an 'unhandled exception' having occured, giving as explanation the phrase "Index was outside the bounds of the array." (For what it's worth, this is the exact same error I get when I try to load the scrapper build that references the (now nonexistent) scrapper ninjitsu set that I created under the previous version.) If I hit 'continue' and go look at the dark armor set in the editor, it does indeed have two level one powers, one being the hide power I just assigned to it. In the dialog box for assigning the power to a set, the set I created shows up as a blank line, since it doesn't have a name. If I try to assign the power to the new set, I get the same 'unhandled exception' error. This time, though, the power doesn't show up in the set, and if I attempt to edit the power again, I get an error box saying "Unknown error caused an invalid nID return value", and it doesn't let me edit.

At this point I gave up and canceled out of the editor without saving any of my changes, since I hadn't gotten anywhere and I was worried that I was going to corrupt something. It seems like there's at least two issues here. One of them is probably just me not understanding how to work the new database editor. If I could get any help with how I'm *supposed* to go about doing what I'm trying to do, that would be great. The other problem, though, lies in the editor not letting me do things that I'm pretty sure should be allowed. If I've interpreted everything I've seen correctly, I think I *almost* managed to do what I wanted to. If it had allowed me to give my new powerset a name, I think it might have worked. However, it didn't, and it continuously threw out all sorts of other errors and exceptions to boot. Either there's something wrong with my copy of Mids, or else there's something wrong with this new database system. Either way, I would appreciate some help.

[Edit: looking at some other posts in this forum, I suppose I should add the following info:
The about box says the program version is 1.4006 and the database version is 1.4007 (23/Jul/2008). I'm running it under windows XP on a dual-boot intel macbook pro laptop, and it's installed to the fairly generic path "C:/Mids' Hero Designer/".]

[Mids]

First off, I should say that the database editor, whilst present and enabled, is primarily intended for me to use when I need to make alterations, etc.
I don't reccommend it for general use, as it doesn't have a full stack of sanity checks on everything - although actually more than the old one did.

It's mostly there for minor tweaks, and to look things up.

The issue you're having with naming powersets and powers may be to do with the way that names are stored now.
The display name is quite separate and isn't used for lookups anymore (it used to be)

A powerset name is made up from [Group_Name].[Powerset_Name] - so you need to make sure you've entered in a group name or it'll say the name is invalid.

Similarly, every power is named in the form of [Group_Name].[Powerset_Name].[Power_Name], and all three parts must be entered in the relevant edit boxes for the name to be valid.

It'll allow invalid names, and will most likely tag them as belonging to the 'Orphan' group when it re-indexes.

The Clone button doesn't at present. I'm aware of this.
However, the Copy and Paste for powers does work, so you can open a power, copy it, create a new power, and paste the data into it.

Whilst I do intend to add some more functionality to the database editor, it's got a fairly low priority, simply because at present, the intended purpose is to plan builds which can be reproduced in the game, rather than as a way to assemble new sets (or test proliferation possibilities). Although that said, I do see the value in being able to do just that.

The database changes that had to be made when i12 came along were quite significant, I pretty much had to re-implement the whole database system, both the visible and not so visible parts, so I do apologise if some of the elements got lost in the shuffle.

[MuonNeutrino]

What's interesting is that I *had* entered group names each time I was trying to name a power or set. It wasn't accepting the power or set names even though they seemed to have complete 'paths' like [Group_Name].[Powerset_Name].[Power_Name] or [Group_Name].[Powerset_Name].

However, as an experiment, I tried creating the set, attempting to give it the name of my choice, and proceeding as if it had that name. I created my powers, copied over the ninjitsu set powers, and manually entered the set name into the box, and it worked. The powers showed up in the set, and after I saved and exited the editor, the set showed up in the main planner.

Everything worked just fine, except... it appears that somewhere along the way something else got screwed up in the database. Now, all invention sets have their set bonuses completely randomized. For example, the set bonuses for Multistrike are now 20% perception, 5% energy resistance, mag 4 knockback protection, 8% flyspeed, and 5% lethal defense. Some of the others have really bizzare stuff like negative recharge time bonuses, negative movement speed bonuses, and triple-digit damage buffs.

I assume that this is a more or less unavoidable consequence of the rather messy way I had to go about creating the set. I'm going to re-download the planner and revert to a clean version - I think it's pretty apparent that this isn't going to work.

[Quick edit: I am pretty sure that this set bonus issue was caused by my meddling, as I used the planner just yesterday and they were fine. I'm pretty sure there haven't been any updates since then.]

[Tidbit Jr.]

Heh, yeah, I used to do the same thing with making up proliferated sets out of the copy-paste maneuver, pre-update. I could never get sets that I made myself to work, for some reason though. But that's another story.

Just today (and I've been looking for a thread like this to get some info on it) I started wondering about things again, especially for a copy-paste powerset ability like the OP was talking about.

Oh well, guess I'll do it the long way.