DAMN Development Thread (formerly known as "Custom Submenus")

[Cougar2004]

Is this the Support Thread for the DAMN?

I just installed it, followed all the instructions, and when i run the DAMN-Indexer (with admin access) it continues to say:
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.
The system cannot find the path specified.

repeating forever until killed.

What may be wrong?

[Jack_wilds]

The fix is quite simple, you need to open(right click on the file folder) the 'Properties' of the DAMN/Support folder. Open the Security Tab,
and then click edit then click add and
then type "Everyone" into the box that appears
and then give "Everyone" full control.

Jonathan

Hello Cougar2004,

Here is something from Jonathon... it helped me perhaps it will set things right for you too... also note that you can give yourself 'full permission' in the top frame -high light you name/ or your admin-name, then in the lower frame click the appropriate check-box...

Jack

[Cougar2004]

Hello Cougar2004,

Here is something from Jonathon... it helped me perhaps it will set things right for you too... also note that you can give yourself 'full permission' in the top frame -high light you name/ or your admin-name, then in the lower frame click the appropriate check-box...

Jack

Jack, thanks for the very clear instructions.  I did them without problem, but the problem still exists.  I noticed that the DAMN/support directory is still READ-ONLY.  I have removed it a dozen time, and clicked through all the security approvals to apply it, but everytime i open it it is READ-ONLY again.  I am wondering if this might be causing the problem.  The everyone-full access permissions are now set for the DAMN/support folder and all files in the folder, so i think that part is done now.  .

Other ideas?  (It might be good to mention that I use Vista x64 SP2.)

EDIT:  Oh nevermind!  After I finished writing this, i went back and tried it again and it worked perfectly.  Upon more research i verified that when i right click and run as administrator, it fails in that way shown above.  But after having set the permissions as Jack suggested, I can now just right click and open, and it works perfectly.  Thank you Jack.  I'm good now. 

[Jack_wilds]

Hello Cougar2004, Jack wilds here...

Now the folder permissions are OK;  find the file 'DAMN-Indexer' then right click it, properties-security tab, highlight the same name used before in upper frame, then lower click-box appropriate permissions.

'Support' folder ought to remain 'read only' attribute.  The DAMN functioned properly for me after this.   

Also be certain that the plugins in the 'my documents-simcity-plugins' don't have any numerals on the beginning of folder names.  Then make sure that your DAMN folders are in the proper location 'Cdrive:Program files-Maxis-simcity4deluxe-plugins'...

if you are still having troubles this is as far as my wit can take ya... 

Good luck 

Jack

[Rady]

Hi, I already used the DAMN menus with success. However, after I added some additional menu items, I suddenly face two problems:

1. the DAMN menu doesn't open in the extra window (although the advisors are turned on). This wouldn't be much of a matter to me, 'caues it's no problem having the DAMN menue in the news window. However, this is where problem 2 appears on the scene:
2. in the news window, when clicking on the "open additional submenues" line i get an extra "news" line (the root entry of the DAMN). Problem is, that the menu tunrs to light grey. This occurs both after selecting one entry or - if nothing is selecetd - after a given time (some 10 .. 15 seconds, I would guess).

So combining problem #1 and #2 makes it impossible to use the DAMN menu at the moment.   

What have I done so far:

> re-indexed the DAMN
> startet SC4, turned of the advisor windows
> stopped sc4
> started SC4 again, turned on the advisor popups again

With no appearant effect so far.   

Thanks

Sorry but I have to take up that post of mine again. I thought it would be no problem using the DAMN menu in the news window, but I found out that the "greying out" problem is to big to be ignored. It's simply horrible to try to build e.g. a seawall or a canal system when you need to click on "open custom subemenu" after every single lot you plop.

As far as I remeber, the greying out of menu items does not appear when using the extra window (or am I wrong with that asumption?) So all I want is to get that seperate window back. Possibly there's a solution out there, 'cause if not, I need to go back to normal menus (which I wouldn't like, but as said before you can't work with the DAMN menue that way.

@jp: thanks for your hint, at least I could solve this problem so far!

[z]

The mandatory use of the News window for DAMN menus was due to an error in the final RTMT V3.60 build; my apologies for that.  You can fix it by replacing the file DAMN\Support\cusomMenu.dat with this version of that file.

[daeley]

errr, I haven't looked into that file yet, but why would anyone have to use a different version of the DAMN Core file to use your RTMT stations?

[WC_EEND]

I have a question: why does my PC tell me "kan het opgegeven pad niet vinden" when I run the DAMN indexer?

[Rady]

FIrst, I'm completely lost now.  


But maybe I can contribute some results from my trial & error period ... as you can see from my posts above, I used DAMN but suddenly there was no more extra window. Instead the DAMN menu opened in the news window. So tofay I had the chance to dig into that matter. First, I replaced the existing custommenu.dat with z's version. Unfortunately with no result. After that I took a more organized aproach:  

1) removed my existing DAMN installation and installed again from the exe, but with no default menu entries.

--> no change, DAMN opened in the news window only

2) After reading between the lines of z' post (which is kind of tricky since he posted only one line  ) I thought that the latest version of RTMT could be the problem and removed it from my plugins

--> Hurraahh!   DAMN opened in a seperate window as I expected it to do.

So obviously RTMT V3.60 has some impact on DAMN.

However, I encountered a strange behavior of that menu window. As far as I remeber, that window should stay open unless you decide to close it using the "Close" button. But now the window closes after every item that I select ..? So I again have to click on "open custom subemenue" every time after plopping a lot ... So ... this wasn't like that before, was it?

I could swear that window stayed open and you could easily select an place your lots, but on the other hand - I haven't done anything (apart from that RTMT part), so why should DAMN no behave in a complete different way?    Daeley, could you clear things up for me, please?

Which leads us to the beginning of my post ...

I'm completely lost now ..

[z]

errr, I haven't looked into that file yet, but why would anyone have to use a different version of the DAMN Core file to use your RTMT stations?

Since the RTMT menus are extensive, and people go back and forth between different levels a lot, I introduced the idea of a "local root."  At the end of each RTMT menu, there's an icon that will take you directly to the RTMT root menu.  The RTMT testers were quite enthusiastic about it.  However, these icons required modifications to customMenu.dat, although those modifications don't affect anything else in DAMN.  It was the optional modification to use DAMN in a News window (which shouldn't have been there) that caused problems for Rady.

I had mentioned the local root feature before, and I'd like to suggest it again for DAMN.  It would be in the row of icons at the top of the menu, and would initially be set to the same location as the main root.  Developers could use this to implement a local root function for certain large hierarchies without having to modify customMenu.dat (which I'd rather not do anyway).  I think it would be a good addition to DAMN.

So obviously RTMT V3.60 has some impact on DAMN.

However, I encountered a strange behavior of that menu window. As far as I remeber, that window should stay open unless you decide to close it using the "Close" button. But now the window closes after every item that I select ..? So I again have to click on "open custom subemenue" every time after plopping a lot ... So ... this wasn't like that before, was it?

RTMT V3.60 has no interaction with DAMN, except through the customMenu.dat file.  The only way I can explain your experience is if you didn't remove the "DAMN Menus folder" from RTMT V3.60 at the end of installation, which the instructions tell you to do; this would produce exactly the behavior you described.  And it's always been my experience that DAMN will let you plop a given lot as many times as you want (as long as you don't have MML installed), but as soon as you stop plopping lots, the DAMN popup disappears.  This is one reason I introduced the News window variation - the number of clicks to plop lots is the same.

[Rady]

Ok, so that might be the case ... I don't know after all but think you're right (well, I'm quite sure you're right ..  ). But what do you mean with "as long as you don't have MML installed"?

[CaptCity]

...But what do you mean with "as long as you don't have MML installed"?

MML was kind of a predessesor to the DAMN where one icon 'hid' a set of icons in the menu until plopped. Then, once that icon was plopped, the icons for the complete set would appear in the menu. The drawback of this was that a lot could only be plopped once. If repeated lots were wanted, you had to return to the menu and select the item.

An MML was created for the RTMT set (and is included in the 3.60 download), but you don't want that if you're using the DAMN menus as it would cause the issue of one plop at a time. The file would be easily recognized by the letters "MML" in the file name.

[Rady]

An MML was created for the RTMT set (and is included in the 3.60 download), but you don't want that if you're using the DAMN menus as it would cause the issue of one plop at a time.

Ahh ... maybe things are getting clearer. I know about the MML itself since I used them prior to installing DAMN. So if I have DAMN installed I should neccesarily get rid of the MML lots because they interfere...? I suppose this is valid not only for the RTMT, but for other add-ons, too (like e.g. Simgoobers Brick Canals)?

[daeley]

Since the RTMT menus are extensive, and people go back and forth between different levels a lot, I introduced the idea of a "local root."  At the end of each RTMT menu, there's an icon that will take you directly to the RTMT root menu.  The RTMT testers were quite enthusiastic about it.  However, these icons required modifications to customMenu.dat, although those modifications don't affect anything else in DAMN.  It was the optional modification to use DAMN in a News window (which shouldn't have been there) that caused problems for Rady.

I had mentioned the local root feature before, and I'd like to suggest it again for DAMN.  It would be in the row of icons at the top of the menu, and would initially be set to the same location as the main root.  Developers could use this to implement a local root function for certain large hierarchies without having to modify customMenu.dat (which I'd rather not do anyway).  I think it would be a good addition to DAMN.

RTMT V3.60 has no interaction with DAMN, except through the customMenu.dat file.  The only way I can explain your experience is if you didn't remove the "DAMN Menus folder" from RTMT V3.60 at the end of installation, which the instructions tell you to do; this would produce exactly the behavior you described.  And it's always been my experience that DAMN will let you plop a given lot as many times as you want (as long as you don't have MML installed), but as soon as you stop plopping lots, the DAMN popup disappears.  This is one reason I introduced the News window variation - the number of clicks to plop lots is the same.

all right, when I have some spare time I'll add a "local root" feature in a way that is a bit more generic. It should be fairly simple to implement with backward (and forward ) compatibility.

[z]

Great!  Thank you. 

[Rady]

Just wanted to stop over and say thanks 


... my DAMN is now working again! Obviously I missed the fact that when installing the RTMT you also install some DAMN components. Since they are installed in the "my documents\..\plugins" directory and not in the "\programmes\..\plugins" directory (where DAMN normally sits) I didn't realize that. 

SO after moving this DAMN entries and removing all my MML lot's everything's fine again. 

[daeley]

I was going to add a bit of code to the DAMN to make it possible to add a local root, when I realized it's already possible to do it with the current DAMN You see, the DAMN is set up as a linked list where each menu points to its children, but there are no limits to what you're pointing to :p

so, to create a local root, put a marker file in the menu you want to return to, for example "RTMT Root" (I choose to omit extension to signify it's a emtpy file, but this is not important), then add the following code to your DAMN menu definition - at the desired position before, in the middle or at the end of your items list.

local localroot = DAMenu.items["RTMT Root"]
DAMenu.addItem(menu,localroot)

Where menu should be the current menu created by the file and obviously "RTMT Root" the exact name of the file marking the local root. This works since you're pointing upwards, so the menu defined by "RTMT Root" is already created.

there you go, no ugly kludging of the code needed :p

[hooha47]

Thank you so much for DAMN.  It makes the game playable again.

I have a question I posted on the SSP tool thread, but thought this might be the more appropriate place to ask.  Is there any way to use DAMN for items in the mayor mode menu?  I've been creating some new ploppables, but I'm concerned that the menu is getting awfully full.

[dragonshardz]

daeley, care to elaborate more on the local root stuff? Perhaps a more in-depth tutorial?

hooha, the DAMN is intended for lots, but it might be possible.

[hooha47]

dragonshardz, understood, and it's a great tool for that purpose.  Between DAMN and MML, we're able to control most of the menus in ways we never thought possible a few years ago.  The one menu that hasn't been helped by these advances is the Mayor mode menu.  It's getting more crowded, and I'm planning to crowd it some more  , so just wondering if there might be some way, whether through DAMN or some other method, to help out that poor overcrowded mayor mode menu.