Editing Decompiled Interpretations Text

Once you have decompiled an interpretation file into a definition file, or if you already have some definition files from previous versions of Solar Fire, or perhaps even created some of you own from scratch and want to make changes to these files, or want to create a new one from scratch, then you need to edit a definition file.

To do this via the "Interpretations Compiler" you must first find the relevant definition (*.def) file. If you wish to work with a definition file other than that already shown in the "Definition File" text box, then you must select another file.

>> To select a definition file

Do one of the following...

•Enter a full file path and name into the "Definition File" text box

or...

•Click on the Browse button to the right of "Definition File" text box. You will be shown a file selection dialog box from which you may select folders and files.

When you select a definition file in the "Interpretations Compiler", all the definition text files that are related to this project will be listed in the "Interpretation Text Files" listbox. You are then able to edit or browse them with an editing program.

Note: A definition file (which is itself a text file) can include (reference) other definition text files (see Input File Layout), which is why once you've selected a definition file to edit there might be more than one file showing in the "Interpretation Text Files" listbox - the definition file you selected, and the other text files it references.

>> To create new definition file

•Enter a full file path and name for your new definition file into the "Definition File" text box.

As soon as you tab out of the text box, or click in another part of the window, a dialog box will appear that says your new file as referenced in the project but does not exist, and do you want to create it as an empty file ready for editing. If you say Yes a new definition file will be created with the filename you entered in the "Definition File" text box, and the new file will also be displayed in the "Interpretation Text Files" listbox, ready for editing.

>> To select a text editor to work with

Do one of the following...

•Choose the required editor from the drop down Text Editor / Word Processor textbox.

In most cases the easiest editor to use is Notepad, which is supplied with Windows, as this is a simple text editor. Any changes that you make with Notepad are automatically saved in the correct (ANSI i.e. text) format. However, Notepad is unable to edit files which exceed a certain size. If you attempt to do so, then it will display an error message to this effect. If this happens then you should close Notepad and use another editor instead. The Wordpad word-processor is also quite easy to use, but you will need to remember always to save any changes using the "Save As" menu option and selecting to save as “Text Files (*.txt)” or "Plain text document" from the drop-down list of File Types. Also, when you open the Wordpad program, it may ask you whether or not to convert the file to its own internal format. If it does the best option is to select “No Conversion”.

or...

•If you prefer to use an editor or word-processor of your own choosing not listed in the drop down box, then you may do so by entering its full path and filename into the drop-down list box.

For example, to use MS Word for Windows 2003 on a 32 bit Windows 7 computer, you might enter “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\winword.exe”, or "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\winword.exe" on a 32 bit Windows 7 computer. Do not include the quote characters. (Whatever you enter here will be remembered for future sessions with the compiler.)

>> To edit a text file

•Select the required file from the "Interpretation Text Files" listbox and click on the Edit Text button, or double-click on the required file in the list.

This will start up the selected editor with the selected file. Note that you must remember to close the editor after you are finished with it. Each time that you edit a file in the compiler, a new instance of the editor is started up. If you do not close the editor after editing each file, then you will end up with many copies of the editor running simultaneously.

For help with creating or changing the actual text in a definition file see Input File Layout.

Note: If you are adept with your computer, then you may prefer to edit the text files externally, without using the "Interpretations Compiler" at all. This is quite acceptable, in which case you only need the "Interpretations Compiler" to compile your text files after you have finished creating/editing them.