Alamaze & Fall of Rome Forum

The Alamaze Turn Parser is a non-official, standalone tool written by a fan.  It displays the Resurgent map and is capable of automatically updating itself by parsing the PDF (or HTML) turn results that are mailed to you. The parsed information can be saved and accumulates from turn to turn. It can also generate different reports based on the accumulated information. 

The easiest way to get it is to download and run the Windows executable.

• parserGUI-2.2.0.exe   Map/GUI (startup time is 1-4 minutes... be patient)
  
• TurnParserInstructions-1.9.4.doc 
  

I am sorry, but I do not have a Mac version of the executable. However, the core tool is actually just a set of Ruby scripts, and Ruby is a multi-platform scripting language. So if you are adventurous, you can install Ruby and then run the scripts natively. And actually, it runs better that way. So Windows, Linux, and Mac users are all invited to download, unzip, and run the scripts directly.

• turnParserBundle-2.2.0.zip  (startup time < 10 seconds)
  
• RubyInstallationInstructions.doc (for Windows)
  

If you are not in a game yet but want to try out the tool now, here is a sample data file (parsed output) from Game 157.

• game157-TR.dat
  

The source code (and bug tracking) are in GitHub

• AlamazeTurnParser
  

If you want older releases, you can find them in Bintray

• AlamazeTurnParser
  

(original cheesy first post is below this line, maintained purely for historical purposes and to make the thread readable)

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Hi all!



I just finished throwing together a script to extract some of the basic information from the PDF turn results. The output is in CSV format so you could potentially do some cool stuff with a spreadsheet or something. This tool is not finished; it has a long way to go.



Lord Diamond was gracious enough to share several PDF turn result files for me to practice on. After seeing the initial results, he was anxious to try it on some of his current turns. So, for good or ill, I'm putting my tool out there early.



I've put it in my Google Drive and am sharing it via the following links. If you're feeling adventurous, try it out.

• Instructions
  
  
• Turn Parser Tool
  
  
• Sample 1 - spreadsheet from parsed output
  
  
• Sample 2 - spreadsheet from parsed output
  
  
• GNUPL3
  

Thanks, Bannanas! I plan to download it and play with it tomorrow.

I haven't been able to get mine to work yet. I wasn't expecting to have to dust off those old DOS skills!

Ruby may be a problem after all. I can see that it will be a tedious process even after I get it working correctly. I wonder if there might not be a modern tool that does the same thing...

(10-10-2014, 09:54 AM)Lord Diamond Wrote: [ -> ]I haven't been able to get mine to work yet. I wasn't expecting to have to dust off those old DOS skills!

Ruby may be a problem after all. I can see that it will be a tedious process even after I get it working correctly. I wonder if there might not be a modern tool that does the same thing...

LOL, Ruby *is* a relatively modern language. The problem is that I'm used to developing on a Unix based system. Is the problem with the ruby install, the PDF reader gem install, our the script itself? What version of windows are you on? I think I'm on vista, but cannot check as I'm not at home right now.

I'll dig around and see if I can get you a friendlier interface or something. I've never made a windows installer before.

I just found a gem called rubyscript2exe. It sounds like I can use it to create a stand alone executable. You'll still give to fire up a Command window to run it because you will still need to pass it the name of the file to parse.

Eventually the toolv will have a GUI, but that may be a long way off.

I should pay attention to dates... that thing hasn't been updated since 2007
Still looking for a prettier solution.

Hey, I just corrected a problem with my instructions.
I did not specify which versions of ruby and devkit to install.
I had a reason... not that I can recall now.... but I did have reason for not selecting the latest versions.
I've added more detail in the instructions file on which ones to get.

Ruby 1.9.3-p545
DevKit-tdm-32-4.5.2-20111229-1559-sfx.exe

(10-10-2014, 09:00 PM)bananas Wrote: [ -> ]Hey, I just corrected a problem with my instructions.
I did not specify which versions of ruby and devkit to install.
I had a reason... not that I can recall now.... but I did have reason for not selecting the latest versions.
I've added more detail in the instructions file on which ones to get.

Ruby 1.9.3-p545
DevKit-tdm-32-4.5.2-20111229-1559-sfx.exe

I will give it another shot. Thanks.

I've been working on the GUI to show the parsed turn results.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a short demo video.

GUI Demo

Yes, the gui is ugly right now, but that is not what I'm showing off.
Please focus on the functionality and let me know if I'm headed in the right direction.

Prettied up the interface a bit.

Screen Shot