Excellent, that helps a lot

One thing about your tool, it doesn't seem to catch quite everything. Specifically the GalaxyScenarioDef file. Maybe it's by design, but your tool doesn't show any errors and/or warnings pertaining to it. When I run my mod with the dev.exe, though, I get tons. I know how to fix them, but it might be something for you to consider for the next version. I'll upload my mod soon so I can show you better what I mean.

Updated for version 0.5 (Downloads)

• Added custom perspective for Sins of a Solar Empire.
• Added custom icon for Sins of a Solar Empire files.
• Added text editor extensions to automatically map str, entity, constants and galaxyScenarioDef to open in the Eclipse Text Editor.
• Added support for placing mod files in sub-directories in the Eclipse project.
  • For example path?/mod/GameInfo?, path?/mod/String, etc.

Yep, nothing too major and should be backwards compatible, let me know if there are any issues. I'm working on the definitions for some of the other files like the galaxyScenarioDef.

I wish I new more about programing, I don't really understand all that syntax stuff.

Now that would be very helpful.

 Edit; 1 thing that may or may not need to be added, as you know my understanding of this is pretty basic, could be missiles and torpedoes to the objects. I am not sure I understand this correctly, are all the objects basically the mesh's in game?

I'm always open to add new functionality. Maybe you could describe this a little further as I'm not sure I'm fully following you here.

Ah, thanks for the explanation. You last statement is correct, the only constant values allowed for the field 'object' referenced in targetFilter are what you have listed above.

http://code.google.com/p/soaseplugin/wiki/targetFilter

http://code.google.com/p/soaseplugin/wiki/object

I have the ability to add helpText to the xml definitions which will make their way into the wiki and hover help. Hopefully, I can add more examples and explanations to help new modders.

Version announcement: v0.6

Lots of goodies added with the latest version. Make sure to check out the project home page details on the new preference.

7/32/2010 v.0.6

1. Added new grammar validation rules
   1. Any - Just validates there is a value
   2. SoundFile? - Validates the referenced file and extension exists
   3. Color - Validates the color is a RGBA value
   4. Position - Validates the position matches [ #, #, ... ]
2. Added brushes.xml - validates all *.brushes files
3. common.xml changes
   1. Added condition canAlwaysFire for fireConstraintType
   2. Added missing force element_rule
4. Added constants.xml - validates Gameplay.constants
5. Added help support to grammar definitions
6. Added missing FALSE condition for hasWeaponLevels in frigate.xml
7. Added galaxy_scenario_def.xml - validates *.galaxyScenarioDef files
8. Added missing validation rules to pip_cloud.xml
9. Added missing validation rules to quest.xml
10. Added sound_data.xml - validates *.sounddata files
11. Added string_info.xml - validates *.str files
12. Build/Nature
    1. Added support for files other than *.entity
    2. Added new preference for sins installation directory
       1. Allows for binary file references to be located such as *.ogg
13. Entity Definition View
    1. Added support for files other than *.entity
14. Entity Parser
    1. Fixes issue when tabs are used instead of spaces between keyword and value
    2. Adds validation support for Any, SoundFile?, Color and Position
    3. Fixes issue where an error was not reported at the end of the file
    4. Adds references to field definition handler - used for wiki generation
15. WikiDefinitionBuilder?
    1. Adds new functionality to generate dynamic wiki pages based on definition xmls

Version 0.7 will be coming soon.

I'm currently testing the first iteration of content assistance (key words, entity references, sound references, etc) and syntax coloring. So far it's looking pretty good. I may have some time to add hover help before the release but won't worry to much if it's not there in time.

There will also be a quite a few updates to the syntax rules that will make validations a little more accurate (more still to come as I learn more). For example, if you trace from Buff to finishConditionType you'll see it is now defined as a conditional field. Conditions allow me to limit what fields are allowed to follow based on the value set.

Files added outside of eclipse, possibly through windows explorer may not directly show in your eclipse project. If you right click on the project there is a "Refresh" option. This will pull in any files added outside of using the eclipse project explorer.

I use this a lot in my job too as dynamically generated files don't show unless I hit refresh like this.

It is also possible to directly paste files into a project but I still have to perform the refresh step occasionaly to catch changes I made through windows explorer or notepad, etc.

Version announcement: v0.7.1

It looks like there were a couple of people that downloaded v.0.7 while I was testing it to make sure everything installed ok. Unfortunately v.0.7 did not have the icons packaged. I updated the build to include icons with v.0.7.1. (Sorry for those who downloaded during this time).

Now for the goodies (I'm pretty proud of this release). This is a fairly expansive version including Syntax Coloring, Content Assitance, Hover Help and a couple other useful features. I've done a lot of testing, but please let me know if you run into any issues.

8/23/2010 v.0.7.1

1. Fixes issue with v.0.7 build not including icons.

8/23/2010 v.0.7

1. Enity Editor Enhancements
   1. Adds Syntax Coloring Support
   2. Adds Hover Help Support
   3. Adds Content Assistant
      • Enumerations/Constants
      • Sound References
      • Entity References
      • Explosions
      • Particle Effects
   4. Adds popup menu with F3 shortcut to open referenced entity files
   5. Adds new icons
2. Adds new preference options
   1. Version support
   2. Editor Tab Width
   3. Show Hover Help Flag
   4. Syntax Coloring
3. Entity Builder
   1. Adds additional progress information
4. Entity Parser/Validator
   1. Addds support for Vanilla/Entrenchment/Diplomacy validations
   2. Fixes some issues with validation
   3. Enhanced validation for many conditional type fields
      1. finishConditionType
      2. buffInstantActionType
      3. etc
5. Quick Access Wiki Syntax (SOASE Menu)

Content Assitance in action:

New features:

After working with TrooperScooper7's mod I found the requiredShip tag in spawnShips needs minCount and maxCount so I updated version 0.7.3 to support this.

Also, I added a new feature to report when the Research Tier level does not match the Research Block.

8/24/2010 v.0.7.3

1. Enhancement: Adds tier validation support for ResearchSubject entity files
2. Defect: Fixes issue with requiredShip rule not correctly validating minCount and maxCount.

@kyogre12 Thanks for the great feedback both here and in PM.

I'm working on a new build and have most of it tested out. I will hopefully have version v.0.7.4 posted in the next day or two. This release will exclude Artifacts from the tier level validation as well as adding some new validations I'll list with the release post.