Tables - syd711/vpin-studio GitHub Wiki

The table overview is the heart of the software and contains different functionalities and validators that help you to get the best experience out of your VPin. It's main task is to see, validate and improve the resolved configuration and media assets for every table.

Table Overview

Table Scans

Right after the installation of the VPin Studio Service, an initial table scan is triggered. This table scan has three main task:

  • evaluate the ROM name of the table (or "alt. ROM name" for older EM tables) out of the VPX file
  • scan the current highscore type and value and store it into the database for new highscore comparisons
  • determine the default image that should be used for highscore cards and competitions

Once the scan is finished, the overall table status is visualized using a green icon if everything is fine or a red one if one of the validators ound an issue (see also next section "Table Validation").

Overall Table Status Icon

A table can be rescanned everytime using the "Scan" button from the toolbar. The action supports multi-selection, so you can re-scan multiple tables at once.

Table Scan Button

Table Uploads

The Studio supports various uploads types so that you can upload all assets required for a table administrate remote. The available upload types can be selected from the table's overview toolbar.

The table upload itself comes with a set of options and allows to replace existing tables with a newer one.

Table Data Manager

The Table Data Manager is the center where all table meta-data sources are gathered. It helps you to configure every table correctly so that the highscores can be extracted (if supported).

Auto-Filled Fields

When the auto-fill action of the Table Data Manager is used, the following fields will be filled:

  • Game Year
  • Author
  • Game Version
  • Numer of Players
  • URL
  • IPDB Number
  • Game Theme
  • Designed By
  • Manufacturer
  • Game Type
  • Details
  • Tags

Table Validations

The table validation ensures that all tables are configured properly and gives you hints what configuration or assets are missing or should be adjusted. If specific validators do not apply to your VPin, you can disable them in the preferences. Additionally, you can disable validations for every table. The colored icon in front of every table indicates the overall validation state of the table. If the icon is green, no issue was found. Otherwise check the footer information and take the required action.

Validation Issue Example

The validation state can be resetted by pressing the "Validate" button. This will reset the previously dismissed messages.

Table Versions

A VPX table has different sources regarding the version information. The version can be stored

  • in the table information section inside the VPX file itself.
  • inside the frontend (PinballX, PinUP Popper), using the "Version" field.
  • through the linked VP-spreadsheet, which also provides a version field.
  • in the filename (e.g. Cirqus Voltaire (Bally 1997) VPW Mod v1.0.vpx).

The VPin Studio comes with a version check so that when a table has an update, an update indicator is shown in front of the version:

The check uses the version number of the linked VP-spreadsheet table and compares it with the version number stored in the frontend database. The version stored in the table information is completely ignored here since most table authors don't curate this field. You version number of a VP-spreadsheet table is always part of the displayed name:

When this version does not match with the version stored in the frontend database (editable in the "Table Data Manager" section), the update indicator is shown. You can "fix" the version uploading the matching version, change the VP-spreadsheet entry or by using the "Fix Version" button, which overwrites the version of the frontend database with the on of the VP-spreadsheed.

Table Script Editor

The table script editor allows you to customize the VB script of a VPX table from remote. This somes in handy if for some reason the ROM name resolving fails and you want to look up the actual name. You can either use the internal editor to edit the script or use the system default. Note that by default, Windows will simply try to execute .vbs files, so you have to manually set the default application that should be used by Window to open .vbs files!. Personally, I prefer Visual Studio for VBS file editing, but you can simply choose Notepad++ or any other editor of your choice and operating system.

Table Backup

Outdated: The current backup support is provided by VPBM.

The table overview has a button to backup tables into the tables repository manager. More about the table import and backup and the table repositories can be found in the Table Repositories section.