Backups and Embedded PDF files

Dungeon_Master_Loki
Dungeon_Master_Loki

I use a lot of embedded pdf files in my OPs, and I try to backup regularly. I was looking at a recent back up and the embedded characters etc did not seem to be part of the backup. Am I missing something? And if not, may I submit a feature request to make this happen? 

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Comments

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,059

    Thanks for bringing this up!

    Before now, I hadn't really looked at what all the Backups do or don't contain. 

    It looks like they don't contain:

    - Calendar

    - Player Secrets on anything

    - Adventure Log Comments

    - Media Library files

    - Character DST entries

    - Maps or Map Markers

    I haven't looked at how difficult it would be to add any of these, but I'll add them all to the dev list, with Media Library files getting a vote of priority from DMLoki.

    If you're reading this, and you use the Backup feature and would like to add a vote of priority for any of these specific things, please chime in.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • ragnarhawk
    Posts: 168

    I do not use them, but that is partially because they are so limited.

    I was looking to see if they saved the DST information, as that would be one way to extract data from OP for processing to upload to a VTT.

  • UselessTriviaMan
    UselessTriviaMan
    Posts: 546

    Given the sheer volume of my media libraries, I'm definitely on board for this.


    Ptolus, City by the Spire - 2016 Campaign of the Year

    "Please pay attention very carefully, because this is the truest thing a stranger will ever say to you: In the face of such hopelessness as our eventual, unavoidable death, there is little sense in not at least TRYING to accomplish all your wildest dreams in life."  - - Kevin Smith

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,059

    @ragnarhawk, I'm not a big user of VTTs, so I don't have context here.  What data are you needing for uploading to a VTT?

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • ragnarhawk
    Posts: 168

    My thought is that I can take output (e.g. xml) from the character sheets, and transform it into instructions (commands) that can be pasted into Roll20 (the VTT I am most familiar with), to recreate characters.  A DST provides a structured format for that data.  I know that you mentioned that it should be possible to create a DST that imports character data - this would be a reversal of that process (and perhaps the start of a framework to move data both ways)

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,059

    @ragnarhawk, if you View Source on a Character with a DST, and search for "dynamic_sheet_attrs", you'll find all of the DST data in JSON format.  Does that give you what you need for transforming to commands?

    Note that the data labels, like "ac" and "class" and "strength" or "str" are specific to the DST, and very likely will not be the same across different DSTs.  So if you get this working for one DST (and you're not just using the data labels as is for the commands), you'll likely have to rework it if you want to switch to a different DST, or your Players use different DSTs from each other or from your NPCs.

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • ragnarhawk
    Posts: 168

    Understood - I remembered you mentioning that earlier...  the difference would be with an export I would just be parsing through the data in the exported file, instead of having to do HTML calls and pulling the source from each character.  Basically it would make it easier to do mass/bulk processing.  I would expect to have to do different parsing for each game system - hopefully the bulk of campaigns for any given system use the same DST.

    On a related note, would automated reading of OP pages be a violation of TOS?  How about using a macro tool to automatically build OP pages?

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,059

    @ragnarhawk, I've done a fair amount of screen scraping for various projects, and I bet you would find it pretty easy even compared with having a file to parse.  And I don't know when we'll be able to get to adding the DST data to the backups, so I'm sure it would be the faster route to what you're wanting.  For whatever programming language you're using, I'd bet there's a blog post where someone has the basics of how to grab the text of a webpage that you can grab and have working in a few hours.  After that, it's just the same parsing stuff.

    Anything that makes OP easier to use or more useful to GMs is inline with the ethos of OP, so definitely not a violation of TOS on either one.  I guess if something was hammering the servers and bringing down the site, then we'd need to discuss and figure out a better way, but we're totally open to projects being built to use OP.  I'm not sure I fully understand what "a macro tool to automatically build OP pages" would look like, but it sounds pretty interesting!  Feel free to message me or discuss more here if there's something I can help with.

     

     

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    If the media library (which contains out pdf character sheets) backs up, I'm happy. If the rest of the hit list makes it I am thrilled to death. Cheers, y'all. Sorry my replies are so far between. Deadlines and such.

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    So any word on this? Any progress on getting the Media Library stuff included in the backups? DSTs would be nice, but I've switched to embedded pdf character sheets so if the media library backups up I know the Pcs are safe.

    Just checking in while I have a moment, merci in advance!

     

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • thaen
    thaen
    Posts: 1,059

    Thanks for checking back.  No further progress on this feature yet.

    Are you currently backing up the Media Library files "manually" by downloading the individual files from the Media Library?  I'm trying to make sure I'm understanding what you're seeking that's missing?

    Obsidian Portal Developer

  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Yes, sir! That is exactly what I am doing currently. Right click, save as, dropping them into a Google folder.

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

  • R_Panda
    R_Panda
    Posts: 11 edited August 2022

    For your particular need DMLoki, as a temporary workaround, I would look into image saving browser extensions. There should be an extension for whatever browser you use to mass / bulk download images, if you search for those kind of key words.

    To contribute to this thread, I wish the Backup button/area would explain what it backs up and in what format the data is downloaded. Right now it just says "THIS IS NOT AN IMPORT/EXPORT," which itself is very unfortunate in an environment where duplicating campaigns is not an option, though that's a different topic; my point is that I have no idea what it backs up. Guessing based on what thaen has said it doesn't contain, does it only back up the most basic of wiki entries, character entries, and adventure logs, with no secret info on those pages saved?

    Post edited by R_Panda on
  • Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Dungeon_Master_Loki
    Posts: 358

    Just to follow up, I am still lobbying hard for backups to be expanded to include all files from the media library as well as the overall wiki content. ;)

    Game Designer, Pro GM, multiple ENnie Award winner

    GM of Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 and still going strong!

    GM of The Planewalker's Guild (Pathfinder 1e) 

    Need a GM? Book me today!

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