Naming of tables and backglass files

[JSpradlin]

So I'm running into what I think is a strange issue with table and backglass matching. When I name my tables I use the following convention.

<Table Name> (<Manufacturer & Release Year>) <table submitter/author> <version description if needed> <version number>

ex. Attack From Mars (Midway 1995) <table author> Night Mod v1.2.vpt

Then because there are often multiple directB2S files available for a given table I name that file the same as the table but append the B2S submitter and version on the end.

ex. Attack From Mars (Midway 1995) <table author> Night Mod v1.2 <b2s author> 1.0.directB2S

For the most part this works fine, But I'm starting to run into this issue where tables that start with the same word such as Black Hole and Black Pyramid get crossed up so that the Black Hole backglass displays when running the Black Pyramid table. This happens despite the fact that the only parts of the names that match are the first words, Further confusing the issue is that this doesn't happen with other tables sharing the same first word such as Black Rose and Black Knight. Another oddity is that on some of the tables where this occurs the correct backglass shows in the menu portion of PinballX but not when the table actually loads (and I'm not using backglass videos or images).

The only way I've found to get around this is to use underscores when necessary (in this case I renamed Black Pyramid to Black_Pyramid) but for the sake of consistency I'd rather not have to do that. Also this doesn't always work either as I discovered with Sharpshooter and Sharpshooter II. I renamed the latter to Sharpshooter_II and it still happened. I had to name it Sharp_shooter II which just seemed ridiculous. There's no rhyme or reason it seems.

I'm sure this has probably been discussed before, but some quick searching did not lead me to an answer. If anyone has any thoughts on this I'd appreciate it.

[Thalamus]

Is this problem pinballx related ? I mean, if you start the table outside of Pinballx - does the correct backglass start up ? IF so, then you need to turn off the option in pinballx that tries to match these file for you.

[JSpradlin]

I need to recheck it, but I'm fairly certain that it happens when running the table directly through Visual Pinball also. The cabinet is elsewhere, but I'll see if I can recreate it on my test PC.

[JSpradlin]

So I just tested it on my test machine. I knew it was happening with Space Invaders and Space Jam on the cabinet so I used those on my test machine and got the same results running straight through Visual Pinball. Then I tested the ones starting with Black and had the same results. So I figured out why some of them worked without the underscore while others didn't. I found out that because of the way I was naming my B2S files with the appended backglass info, I assumed that the table and backglass names only had to be very similar (like matching the table name with a certain amount of characters in the backglass name). For tables with unique first words this match is good enough because it defaults to the closest match. For tables without unique first words it defaults to the first backglass with the same first word. So for instance...

Funhouse (Williams 1990) <table author> v1.2 <bg author> 1.0.directB2S

Funhouse (Williams 1990) <table author> v1.2.vpt

Works fine because there are no other tables/bg starting with the word Funhouse

However, with the following...

Black Belt (Bally 1986) <table author> v1.1 <bg author> 1.0.directB2S

Black Belt (Bally 1986) <table author> v1.1.vpt

Black Hole (Gottlieb 1981) <table author> v1.3.directB2S

Black Hole (Gottlieb 1981) <table author> v1.3.directB2S

Black Pyramid (Bally 1984) <table author> v.1.1.0 <bg author> 1.1.directB2S

Black Pyramid (Bally 1984) <table author> v.1.1.0.vpt

What I was getting was the Black Belt backglass with Black Belt and Black Pyramid, but Black Hole was fine. I realize now that when I thought the program was doing partial matches by as many matching characters in the table and file name as posssible it wasn't. It was either matching them if they were identical or matching the first word in the name if there was no complete match. Black Hole was named before I started adding the backglass info to the directB2S file names.

So basically what it boils down to is I either need to scratch using the backgalss info in the name of the directB2S file (the easiest solution), or I need to add that info to the name of the table file. I like the idea of keeping track of the exact backglass in use in case I need to upgrade it with a newer one that has been released, or in case I'm having issues with it and need to find a different version, But if I include it in the table name, every time I update a backglass I have to update the table name and everything that references it.

Sorry to be so long winded, but maybe this can help out anyone else who is running into a similar issue.

[allknowing2012]

If the name is not an exact match then it starts to guess. Best to name directb2s exactly the same as the table name. 

[Thalamus]

Yeah, those names a not exact the same, you can't really use your naming scheme without including both author and b2sauthor in both files.

[JSpradlin]

@Thalamus What naming convention do you use for your tables? I'm currently doing the above with <table name> (<manufacturer> <year>) <table author> <version desc> <version #>. It works pretty well for me but here is my only concern with that. I use the PBX Recorder for my media, and I use the table file name option as opposed to table description. This means that when a new version of the table comes out I have to rerun the recorder to create the perfectly matching media files. This may not be a bad thing as the look of the table may have changed ever so slightly. But this will leave many old unused media files over time. 

Is this the same situation you find yourself in or do you handle your names and media differently?

[Thalamus]

Heh - we are both in the same boat - kind of ;-) I don't change the original table names, I of course rename my b2s files exactly like the table names. So, my strategy for not needing to rename or run the pbxrecorder often is that I have a folder c:\-test and a shortcut to it on my desktop. It contains tables and screenres.txt. Tables live there until they have been tweaked/updated, whatever. But, you can be darn sure that the day after I've added them to Pinballx there will be a new update ;-)

I've written my own perl script that helps me add those files to PinballX. Adding wheels, music, b2s. My scheme is like this :

VPX__Americas_Most_Haunted__DMD__2014__Spooky

I separate fields by double underscoring and spaces with one underscore. If I need to revert or automate something this scheme helps me quite easily since it easy to go back to 'Americal Most Haunted ( Spooky 2014 )'.

[JSpradlin]

Ha. Glad to know I'm not making it more difficult than anyone else. I'm at the point now where I'm keeping a spreadsheet (so I can at least track the name of the b2s file I'm using). I am half considering just putting the actual table filename in it too. Then If I need to check what table file I'm currently running I can just look at the spreadsheet. If I do that then I'll just go with and actual name like Batman (Data East 1991) VPX.vpx when I place it in may tables folder.

I'm currently spending more time maintaining the cab then p[laying it if you can't already tell .

[Thalamus]

Its part of the hobby ;-) ... always making it look and play better !

[JSpradlin]

On that note, one more quick naming question for you. How do you prefer handling the "The" tables in PinballX. Do you let them fall alphabetically under "The" such as "The Simpsons" or drop the "The" and go with "Simpsons" or move it to the back "Simpsons, The"? I find that when finding the tables on the hosting sites, they are located in the T's. Do you go with that same philosophy in PinballX?

[Thalamus]

Well, my script uses metadata that I download from ipdb.org. I just write eg. 'simpson' at it will ask matching tables from my input. And, this is the only place I've been a bit inconsistent. What I should have done is to change the script to take away "The" from the possible beginning of the names, but, I told myself, it isn't that many - you just do it in the suggested string. But, well - it has happened that I've put several tables in a row and been too quick at this stage of input. There is also those cases where the table uses characters outside of the regular ascii table.

So in short, I would have liked to not use 'The' in the start of any table, or any character outside of the normal ascii. The last case I have managed to keep in check, but the inconsistencies with 'The' It is in my todo list ... update the script and re-run those few tables that I missed.

The biggest benefit of using my script is that I do auto-fill almost all info automatically ... name, year, type, producer. But here are some corner cases. Joker Poker that exists both in EM and SS :-) And those Sterns that has Pro, Limited Edition etc.