Trying to learn modding...

[cybersmurf]

but damn this is hard... Cudos to all you modders out there who make complete UIs

I have a couple of issues so bear with me.

Trying to get started I have read the documentation (loosely ) and the one from tony3l33t. My goal in round 1 is to add a button to the Player window which casts Animist's Transference on myself.
I tried for 5 hours last night to make one button but no... didn't get it to work.
I used the BuildUI and my base file was the one from SORi. I tried copying one of the buttons he had already made and change it to cast Animist's Transference instead but was as if the button wasn't there, all that happened was I selected myself. I also tried creating a button ala Himays Group Window (the click to follow-button). Still no dice...

So:

1) Could a kind soul add a simple button to the default Player-window that can cast a spell and post it here so I can examine the differences.

2) Do you use the BuildUI-program or just Notepad++ (or other xml-editing tool) to create mods? Which is easier to use?

3) I tried looking at the ProfitUI regarding using a Potion on a button (easy cure on the Player-window) but couldn't connect the dots between include docs and whatnot
Is it possible to use a potion on a button-click like you cast a spell or is it much more difficult to program?

Thanks in advance and thank you for your patience.
Kind regards
Flaxer Nox
70 Conjuror
Befallen

[gm9]

That code from ProfitUI is probably not the easiest to understand if you are starting out, since it is not all in one place and doing several things at once.

The actual code you need for a cure by potion button is only the following:

OnPress="use_itemvdl VDL#
target_previous"

You need to replace VDL# by the actual number representing the potion you want to use. Check the ProfitUI FAQ for how to get that number.

The target_previous is necessary since the player window is hardcoded to target yourself once you click it.

The code for your other button would therefore be

OnPress="useability "Animist's Transference"
target_previous"

(this refers to what you see in the XML file, not in UIbuilder)

[cybersmurf]

Thanks for the hint gm9.

One other thing... do I really have to start my eq2 everytime I need to test my changes or is there some kind of simulation-program somewhere to run tests on?
I don't have the fastest system so it takes forever to starte eq2 all the time

[gm9]

Personally when I am changing code for testing I am often just doing that via other scripts during runtime, but that's probably not what you want to do as a beginner.

The easy way to quickly reload a window is to type /loadui YOURUINAME (or just /loadui to get a window pop up that let's you re-select the UI). It causes some issues but for what you have in mind it will work fine.

[cybersmurf]

Wow! This is incredible... I am a pretty good programmer of both C++ and Delphi but this I just cannot wrap my head around

I tried taking a look at the standard Advancement button (the big green plus-sign) but I just cannot see how its all connected.

What kind of elements do I need to add to f.eks. Player-window if I just want to add a button with the icon of a spell and when I press that button the spell fires on me (hopefully I can proceed from there)?

I don't see how the element Button gets its icon. I guess the "useability Animist's Transference <enter>target_previous" go into the OnPress property.
In my world, that should be it... how hard can it be

Thank you for your patience and help gm9.

[gm9]

You need to define a ButtonStyle and apply it to the Style of the button.

And you cannot input an "<Enter>" into the OnPress property from within UIbuilder, you need to manually edit the XML for that (there are other ways to code it from within UIbuilder but just doing newlines in the XML is the easiest to read afterwards).

[Othesus]

Just another note, if you want to use the /loadui command you need to have a file called eq2ui_skininfo.xml in your custom UI folder. (You'll already have this if you use one of the major packaged UIs.)

After that you'll want to use /load_uisettings to get your window positions back. You'll see a couple funny things, like stack quantities will not be in the right place but it works otherwise.