EOC: Universal Exporter/Importer Proposition
 

So I think I am going to end up doing this anyways, but I have been thinking of an idea that I think is definitely worth my time for the help of the community so hear me out on this.

Universal Content Exporter/Importer

What?

• The idea of this would be that you can log into your database with EoC as you normally would and be able to export content in such a form that it can be universally imported into someone else's database flexibly so that it molds right into their environment.
• The EoC already has Zone Tools, which I have never really explained to the community what its capabilities are, which is to be able to connect to a 2nd database and import content from a zone from one version to another and I've worked all of the bugs out of it and it works entirely. Import the zones NPC's/spawns/doors/objects/grids etc.

Although this idea would extend much further than the concept. The idea that you need to connect to a 2nd database and do the transfer as not as friendly as it could be.

Breaking Down Content Sharing Barriers
One of the biggest things in my mind that creates a barrier to helping each other out in this community is the ability to share each others work. The Wiki will help us break down those barriers over time here immensely. But there is another big component and that is the time, blood and sweat put into these servers for content.

Sometimes the server isn't able to stay up, someone has more commitments in life and they have the shelf their work. Even if someone released their database and binaries it is one thing to get it up to speed and get it going but it is another thing to keep it going, host it and maintain it from a content perspective.

Sometimes, a server developer would be open to help if they could trust a random person. How about being able to stage content for a zone locally and export it to another server?

Exporting to Flatfiles
The idea is that you would be able to take in a variety of components and export them into a flat file that is agnostic of ID's, they would be 'Pseudo_ID's' that when the importer comes to parse the data, it would then use the pseudo ID's to match up with free ID's that are available in the target database and all of the ID's would match up.

The other idea of this is that you have zone script files that reference old ID's and the ability to upload a zip file with the folders quest and have the exporter parse out all of the NPCID oriented commands that reference an ID, to then also be replaced with 'Pseudo ID's' so that when it comes time to import, everything is re-linked and migration of this content should be perfectly in tact.

We could extend this out with our new Wiki and have complete archives of server content that people can openly share, post pictures of content and its layout and people can choose to include that in their server. (This same concept applies to sharing knowledge and tools on the Wiki).

Your export options would include (But not limited to)

• Tasks
• NPC's and their spawn points
• NPC Grids
• Doors
• Objects
• Source Zone Version
• Loot Tables and the item data associated with it
• NPC Factions
• NPC Spells
• Merchant Lists
• NPC Armor Tints
• Quests NPC ID/Item ID/Door ID References

You could then take this (large) generated flatfile that only the importer can interpret on the target database and it would break out the information necessary and you can select your target version for this zones data.

This would give you the flexibility to be able to make an instance out of this content and leverage my 'expeditions' system that I will be releasing in the next few weeks.

Either way I am just shooting this proposition out as an idea and to see how many people would be interested in it. My guess is that most people would more than want to see something like this around. But I am posting this to hear your thoughts.

GO!

Its an A+ idea.

The only problem i see, is that most people running servers dont want to contribute or share.

So ya, i guess the real question is, how many servers would actually share to the community to make it worth the time of creatin something to allow them to share easily.

Id say do it anyway, sounds very useful.

I think this is a great idea. Even though there is proprietary data out there that would not be shared, there are a lot of people that would share what they have worked on and that can only help others out. You have given this community a ton of help, excellent tools and data Akka and I certainly appreciate it. I am sure others do too.

Cool idea for sure!

For some people who might have a hard time understanding what I am trying to convey with this: This would allow content on a server to be saved and imported to ANY database at any time, it would not have to be reliant on having certain data because all of it would seamlessly transition from import to export.

You cannot simply write SQL queries that fit for any one persons database as there are ID's and things that have to line up correctly.

The point of how this Importer/Exporter would be written is in such a way that the specifics of a database and what ID's it is using doesn't matter as the exporter would fit around their existing ID space like a custom fit glove.

In the end, you could save all kinds of content styles to share with everyone. I'm not sure some people see how HUGE this is, you give other people the chance to use the content you created as inspiration to add on TOP of it and share the result of THAT? Do you have any idea how amazing that is?

I was really hoping I would get more discussion on this topic, because how I envision this is no different than what I am seeing with Landmark EverQuest right now is that everyone is sharing their work so that others can use it and build their own worlds in their own way.

This saves people SO much time customizing their environment for their sandbox and needs.

This is huge..

Also combined with the door tool that you've released the possibilities are amazing.. I've completely changed the look of the end of crystallos with it.. the ability to share something like this to everyone would be great.

http://i.gyazo.com/2ebe0f8757e80720588a3c12ba2fa896.png

Doing all that and then having someone add on to it would make for some pretty badass places.

This could definitely come useful even for internal DB relocation.

BTW, whats a "door tool" ? I missed on that one

I don't think Chaos has ever had one post that has been helpful/interesting.

I use EOC when I'm away from my residence. Shit has been a god send. I finally broke away from using phpmyadmin and the like and committed 100% to EOC.

That's really cool to hear. The amount of use EoC has been getting is insane.

Thank You Akkadius! Now I remember this thing. Its pretty cool.

I don't think Maze ever had one post that hasn't been snotty.

This is a great idea Akkadius the ID's having to be available for use and lineup properly is a good point. This defiantly could help foster a lot more custom content sharing for EQemu which is perfect to go along with EoC and PEQ Editor and how they aid development of custom content.

It would be something fairly intense to write, and I don't really want to donate my time to develop something that may not have enough interest in.

For me I personally think some people just aren't seeing what possibilities this kind of application would bring as it has been with EoC's upbringing in general. I know it would be super useful to basically archive and store content in a place people could add onto, expand or simply use in an instance fashion.

I can see your perspective in terms of donating your time into something that may only get limited use. If it was available I'm sure it would get used, but how much is unknown and difficult to determine.

There is probably a good middle ground alternative that might not be as ideal in the long term, but better in the short term and mid term. Any kind of semi organized file depot for content sharing could be really useful.

The more people are willing to commit to sharing content the more the community can flourish. A small contribution can branch into a much bigger one over time.

I'd ask George Costanza. He's the one I ask for advice on importing/exporting.