MARP Confirm Automation 0.1.2.2 released!

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 4:35 am

MCA 0.1.2.2 has been released. Please read section IV of the readme, posted below, for installation instructions, and section V for upgrade instructions.

Complete installation (3,486 KB): http://www.roncli.com/files/mca_0.1.2.2.zip
MSI file for those that know what they are doing (144 KB): http://www.roncli.com/files/mca_0.1.2.2.msi

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MARP Confirm Automation 0.1.2.2
by Ronald M. Clifford

I.    Freeware Notice
II.   What's New
III.  Before You Install
IV.   First Time Installation
V.    Upgrading
VI.   Running MARP Confirm Automation
VII.  Version Changes
VIII. Support

--- I. Freeware Notice ---

This program is free for use, distribution, decompiling, whatever.  However,
this program will only work if you are a confirmer at MARP
(http://marp.retrogames.com)!  If you want to be a confirmer, read the
information at http://marp.retrogames.com/rules/election.htm, section G.

By using this program, you agree that I am not liable for any damages caused
either directly or indirectly by this program.

--- II. What's New ---

Version 0.1.2.2
- Fixed a bug where .INP files located in subdirectories weren't being
  extracted.
- Fixed a bug where .INP files without headers wouldn't playback.
- Added support to use the system's current proxy settings when connecting to
  MARP.

--- III. Before You Install ---

It is very important that you use the following conventions for your MAME
directory:

- All directories must be the default MAME directories.  For example, the ROMs
  directory must remain <mamedir>\roms.  It is not required to have an NVRAM
  directory.
- The executables for the Windows Client version of MAME must be
  mame<version>.exe.  For example, version 0.61 would be mame61.exe.
- The executables for the MAME32 version of MAME must be mame32<version>.exe.
  For example, version 0.61 would be mame3261.exe, while version 0.35b13 would
  be mame3235b13.exe.

If these conventions are not followed, MARP Confirm Automation will fail to run
properly.

--- IV. First Time Installation ---

MARP Confirm Automation was written in Visual Basic .NET.  As a result, you will
need to first ensure that the .NET Framework is installed on your computer.
Either visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to download the most up to date
version of the .NET Framework, or download the Framework directly from
Microsoft:

- First, download the original Framework package:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/.netframesdk/Redist/1.0/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/dotnetredist.exe
- Then, download Service Pack 2:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/NETFrameworkRedistributable/Patch/2/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/NDP10_SP_Q321884_En.exe

Next, run Setup.Exe provided with this installation package.  Follow the steps
provided to install the program on your computer.  After setup has completed,
you can run the program by going to Start, Programs, MARP Confirm Automation,
and run MARP Confirm Automation.

To uninstall the program, simply go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel,
select MARP Confirm Automation, and uninstall it.

--- V. Upgrading ---

When upgrading to the latest version, you only need to download the .MSI file.

If you are upgrading from version 0.1.1.1, please download the .NET Framework
Service Pack 2:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/NETFrameworkRedistributable/Patch/2/W98NT42KMeXP/EN-US/NDP10_SP_Q321884_En.exe

--- VI. Running MARP Confirm Automation ---

When you first runn MARP Confirm Automation, you will be prompted with a login
and password dialog.  The login is your 3 character or less login name on MARP,
and the password is the password corresponding to that login name.  There is no
validation on the login, but if you have the wrong username and password, or you
are not a confirmer on MARP, you will not see any recordings available to
confirm.

Once you have logged in, you will be prompted to find your MAME executable
directory.  Here, you must select a MAME executable that is in the main MAME
directory.  Once you have selected this directory, the program will
automatically know where to find your ROMs, CFG files, and so on.

After selecting the executable directory, you will be on the main screen.  The
first thing you need to do is download the list of files that need to be
confirmed.  Select the version of the recordings you would like to use and click
Get List.

While the list is downloading, now is a good time to set up your initial
playback options.  You can choose various frameskips, whether or not to throttle
the playback, whether or not to include sound, and which type of MAME you would
like to use.

After the list has downloaded, all you need to do is click on the recording you
would like to view, and click Playback INP.  The program will then download the
.ZIP file for the recording, extract the INP, and play it back in MAME.

Once MAME playback is completed, you have the option of confirming the score for
the file by clicking the Confirm button in the lower right hand corner.  Be
careful!  Once you confirm a file, it is gone from your list.  If you confirm a
recording accidently, you will need to get an editor to unconfirm it for you.

When you are finished with the program, simply click the X in the upper right
hand corner to close the application.

That's it!

--- VII. Version Changes ---

Version 0.1.2.2
- Correctly extracts .INP files from subdirectories within .ZIP files.
- Playsback the ROMset based on the ROMset it was uploaded to if the ROMset is
  not embedded in the .INP file.
- Added support to use the system's current proxy settings when connecting to
  MARP.

Version 0.1.1.1
- Added support for retrieving the list of unconfirmed recordings for a
  particular version of MAME.
- Added ability to download the recording's .ZIP file and extract the .INP into
  the directory.
- Added ability to playback the recording with Windows Client version, 0.61.
- Added ability to playback the recording with MAME32 version, 0.61.
- Added NVRAM file deletion prior to playback.
- Added support to playback recordings using any version prior to 0.61.
- Added support to play with or without sound, with or without throttling, and
  with a variety of frameskip options.
- Added basic MARP login support.
- Added manual search for MAME executable directory.

--- VIII. Support ---

For support regarding this application, send email to roncli@roncli.com.  I
cannot guarantee that every problem will be resolved.  However, I will do my
best to iron out all the bugs in the program.

If you have any suggestions for additional features to the program, send me an
email, and I'll see what I can do.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:18 pm

oh gawd! .NET framework required...

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:23 pm

I was wondering when I was gonna hear someone say something about that, and it didn't take long. hehe

I figure that I'm gonna need to know .NET for my job eventually, and have pretty much ditched VB6 for home use.

Though, if you've been a good computer user and keeping up with your Windows Update, though, you should already have the Framework.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:27 pm

real programers don't use microsoft, unfortunatley my job requires it, but my home computer certainly doesn't. eh oh well. I actually tried installing .NET at home but it appeared to require a MS Messenger account and that i will NOT do.

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 1:38 pm

Eh?!? Never asked me for one. In fact, I have Messenger uninstalled completely.

And I've heard a ton of people whine about using MS for development. I've been programming in a variety of MS languages for several years now, and the functionality to ease of use ratio is way above anything else I've tried. So, yes, real programmers can and do use MS.

You can always not install the program if you don't want it.

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 2:14 pm

maybe i'll try again, coulda sworn there was some sort of activiation messaging thing, just as long as it doesn't "sign me up" anywhere, i'll give it a try just for your app. microsoft programming has some advantages that were stolen from earlier unix tools... and VB does allow you to quickly make usefull nonportable interfaces.

roncli wrote:So, yes, real programmers can and do use MS.

VB programmers don't count as real programmers

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 2:58 pm

Until it stops putting money in my pocket, it's real.

And I don't think Microsoft has ever come out with an original product of their own.

However, when they do something, they nearly always do it better, such as is the case in their dev environments. When you can do something quickly and easily, it saves a lot of time. Much like MCA.

Post by **mahlemiut** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:20 pm

Chad wrote:real programers don't use microsoft

What is so wrong with Microsoft programming apps? Even Ben Jos agrees that Visual C++ is pretty good.

As for .NET, I doubt I'll be downloading that any time soon (Although I might have it on one of those useless VS .NET beta CDs I have...)

Anyway, I'll continue working on my simple MARP frontend for MAME in Visual C++. At least it won't require stupidly large libraries to go with it. (No, not even MFC).

Chad · Post by **Chad** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:50 pm

mahlemiut wrote:
Chad wrote:real programers don't use microsoft
What is so wrong with Microsoft programming apps? Even Ben Jos agrees that Visual C++ is pretty good.

At least it won't require stupidly large libraries to go with it. (No, not even MFC).

MFC, case closed. unfortunatley, i have to say the debugger in VC++ 6 is nice with the edit and continue stuff and i've uncomfortably gotten used to using it. But it can crash disgustingly in the middle of writing/debugging programs (no not the machine but the VC++ enviroment itself) and thus if you haven't built/saved in a while, (which is hard not to do), changes all gone. Gimme gcc and gdb anyday: more compatible/portable with zillions of other oses, doesn't give Compiler Errors as often, better warnings (although 7.0 seems similar now), and it's fricken FREE!

walbeehm · Post by **walbeehm** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:55 pm

mahlemiut wrote:What is so wrong with Microsoft programming apps? Even Ben Jos agrees that Visual C++ is pretty good.

As for .NET, I doubt I'll be downloading that any time soon (Although I might have it on one of those useless VS .NET beta CDs I have...)

Anyway, I'll continue working on my simple MARP frontend for MAME in Visual C++. At least it won't require stupidly large libraries to go with it. (No, not even MFC).

How did *I* get sucked into this discussion?

Anyway, yes, Visual C++ is pretty good. Its IDE is by far the best IDE I have ever seen for any compiler on any platform. And the code that it generates is pretty tight, too. Hand-coded assembly is usually not needed, because there will be no noticeable improvements in speed. Of course, size is another matter. I've even seen cases where the compiler beat anything you could do yourself in assembly, simply because the compiler knows which registers it can trash, while an inline assembly programmer has to save pretty much all the registers.

As for .NET... *sigh*... I guess I'll have to start using it at my job sooner or later. You know how in VC++ you had a "File View", a "Class View", and a "Resource View"? Well, the latter two still exist in .NET, but they have renamed "File View" to "Solution Explorer"... . Man... they should fire guys who come up with terms like that. Instead, he probably got a bonus for it.

Ah well, enough babbling.

Cheers,
Ben Jos.

walbeehm · Post by **walbeehm** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 10:58 pm

mahlemiut wrote:Anyway, I'll continue working on my simple MARP frontend for MAME in Visual C++. At least it won't require stupidly large libraries to go with it. (No, not even MFC).

Oh, yes, and MFC sucks. But that's just my not-so-humble opinion.

Cheers,
Ben Jos.

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 11:20 pm

Personally, I dislike the steep learning curve between VisStudio 6.0 and VisStudio.NET 7.0. They changed everything. Stuff you're comfortable with in VB6 may be gone or radically changed in VB.NET7. And instead of the standard VB6 runtime stuff, everything has gone to the .NET Framework common runtime library, which is about 10 times its size.

I have attempted writing a number of VB.NET applications, and this is the first I actually got working to the point of distribution. Fortunately, my company is paying for me to take a .NET class at the end of the month (YAY!), so hopefully I'll fill in the gaps of what I have learned with what I need to learn.

You can do a lot of neat stuff really easily with .NET, though, and that's my main attraction to it. I like speed and ease of use when programming. If I half understand something, say like VC++6, I really can't do a lot with it. But BASIC has always been my thing since I was about 5, and over the years watching the language change from a simple set of basic statements to the complex object oriented language it is now has really given me a good solid background to build on in order to come up to speed on VB.NET quickly.

In any case, has anyone downloaded and used the program? Thoughts and comments?

Post by **mahlemiut** » Wed Aug 07, 2002 11:59 pm

Let me just add this one point...

Fuck VB. Use a real language.

Thank you.

QRS · Post by **QRS** » Thu Aug 08, 2002 12:35 am

ohh come on guys.. Ron has done a neat little application here that might help the confirming etc, and all you are doing is telling him he uses the wrong programming language?

Of course VB is easier to use and more limited that c or c++, but why compicate things when you want to create a simple aplication?

I tried it and it works great. And I don´t care what language it is made of when it works and get the job done

Just give him opinions about the program (if you use it) or don´t download it!

Cheers

roncli · Post by **roncli** » Thu Aug 08, 2002 12:46 am

roncli wrote:Until it stops putting money in my pocket, it's real.

So there.