Filtering for Equip Selection in TOAWxml

[76mm]

I am hard at work on TOAWxml to enable players to add new equipment to OOBs, but have a question for experienced scenario developers before I get too far downfield. One of the things that drives me crazy about the current editor is having to wade through screens and screens of dozens of types of equipment to find what I am looking for. In fact, this might be my biggest pet peeve with the current editor.

So I want to add filtering, so allow players to narrow down the list of equipment before selecting it. Currently I have three filters in mind, with two of them being optional. These three filters would be applied in sequence:
1) The first filter would be whatever equipment categories are defined in the eqp file (ie, "Infanty & Support Troops", "Tanks", "Ships), etc.). This will provide the same list of equipment as the current editor.

2) A second filter for "Country" would be optional. Generally, if I'm building a German force, I don't want to be looking at Chinese equipment, etc. Note that this would also be keyed from the data in the eqp file, which is too fine-grained for my taste because it is broken down by year, but for now I think it will be better than nothing. For instance, the default eqp file currently has three entries for Argentina, nine for Austria, four for Belgium, etc. with many of the entries overlapping (ie, "1970s", "1974", etc.). Major powers have dozens of entries, which makes it kind of a pain... Maybe later I will be able to figure out a way to aggregate entries by country, including all years, or maybe eqp files will emerge with more useful year data.

3) A third filter for equipment characteristics would also be optional. This would be based on the "flag" entries (eg, "In Flight Refueling", "Agile", "Major Fording Capable", etc.). I guess this wouldn't be used most of the time, but if you are looking for units with specific capabilities it would be helpful.

I thought about, but have so far decided against a series of other filters for other factors in the eqp database, such as AT, AT, AA values, etc. (eg, "AT > 4" or "DF < 5"), but this would be a bit fiddly to program and moreover would make the GUI too busy, so for now I think I'll pass on this option--any violent reaction?

[cathar1244]

Generally, if I'm building a German force, I don't want to be looking at Chinese equipment, etc.

The Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army finds this statement "unfortunate". [:D]

Seriously, all good ideas for data sorting.

Dating equipment is problematic for two reasons. Some equipment is generic and can only be "1940s" etc. The other issue is many countries use equipment made by other countries but acquired it long after manufacture (Estonia still uses the M40 recoilless rifle, for example.) Other pieces of equipment are maddeningly difficult to pin down as to when they entered service. An example of this is the M1919A4 machine gun, which did *not* enter service in 1919. (If photographic evidence serves as a guide, it may have entered service in the late 1930s or 1940).

Cheers

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: cathar1244
Dating equipment is problematic for two reasons. Some equipment is generic and can only be "1940s" etc.

hmmm, good point...I don't want to create a filter that would force players building a 1943 scenario to filter once with "Germany-1943" and then again with "Germany-1940s" (using country entries from the default database). Let me look at some other eqp files and I will think about how to proceed.

[Lobster]

If I'm building a Finnish OOB for Barbarossa I have to find artillery that will cover almost everything from the early 1900s to the latest models from at least five different nations. Sorting by type (artillery) and nationality would be about all you could hope for. Much would depend on what equipment database you were using in the first place. If you used a modded one that accurately portrayed the way the Finns went to artillery second hand stores to gather their artillery then it would all be under Finland. If you used the generic equipment database then you would need to look under all the nationalities that modeled the equipment they used. Other than nation and equipment type I don't know if you would need any other sorting criteria. Perhaps you could sort between 'modern' (post 1945), pre-modern (1914-1945) and pre-20th century and hope the database creator got their dates right. [;)]

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: Lobster
Sorting by type (artillery) and nationality would be about all you could hope for.

In this case, sure, but for many other more common scenarios (WWII, etc.), having at least some date range would be helpful.

ORIGINAL: Lobster
Much would depend on what equipment database you were using in the first place. If you used a modded one that accurately portrayed the way the Finns went to artillery second hand stores to gather their artillery then it would all be under Finland. If you used the generic equipment database then you would need to look under all the nationalities that modeled the equipment they used.

Yes, but from what I've seen from a couple of eqp files I've looked at, even with custom eqp files the creators don't remove country entries from unneeded equipment types. In other words, even the D21 and 18th Century DBs include most of the same country entries as the default database (ie, "Argentina", etc.), but presumably the unneeded country entries are allocated to "Spare" or "Empty" equipment. If you understand what I mean.

ORIGINAL: Lobster
Perhaps you could sort between 'modern' (post 1945), pre-modern (1914-1945) and pre-20th century and hope the database creator got their dates right. [;)]

I was thinking about Pre-WWII, WWII, and Post-WWII, but for now I am leaning toward a country filter that will (i) include all of a countries entries from all years; and (ii) all common equipment.

So if you are building a German WWII force, you will have to sort through ALL German equipment, including pre and post WWII as well as WWII, but at least you won't have to do separate filters for, say, "1943", "1940s", and "Common Equipment", and won't have to wade through dozens of entries for Chinese, Soviet, British equipment, etc. This will be a bit tricky but I should be able to figure it out. Later I might try to add the Pre-WWII, WWII, Post-WWII filter mentioned above.

Does anyone have a better suggestion?

[76mm]

Just so that everyone understands what I'm talking about for this "Country" list issue, here is the list of country entries from the default eqp file:
****************
Argentina - 1970's
Argentina - 1974
Argentina - 1984
Australia - 1943
Austria - 1960's
Austria - 1961
Austria - 1965
Austria - 1970's
Austria - 1971
Austria - 1975
Austria - 1977
Austria - 1990's
Austria - 1995
Austria Hungary - 1895
Austria Hungary - 1899
Austria Hungary - 1914
Austria Hungary - 1916
Austria Hungary - 1917
Austria Hungary - 1918
Belgium - 1914
Belgium - 1932
Belgium - 1940
Belgium - 1950's
Bosnia
Brazil - 1970's
Brazil - 1974
Brazil - 1980's
Brazil - 1982
Brazil - ex US M3
Bulgaria - 1980's
Bulgaria - 1990's
Canada - 1979
Canada - 1980's
Canada - 1983
Canada - 1994
China - 1950's
China - 1960's
China - 1962
China - 1966
China - 1968
China - 1969
China - 1970
China - 1970's
China - 1980's
China - 1982
China - 1984
China - 1985
China - 1990's
China - 1993
Common equipment - 1800's
Common equipment - 1860's
Common equipment - 1870's
Common equipment - 1890's
Common equipment - 1900's
Common equipment - 1910's
Common equipment - 1920's
Common equipment - 1930's
Common equipment - 1940's
Common equipment - 1950's
Common equipment - 1960's
Common equipment - 1980's
Common equipment
Czech - 1995
Czechoslovakia - 1934
Czechoslovakia - 1935
Czechoslovakia - 1938
Czechoslovakia - 1948
Czechoslovakia - 1958
Czechoslovakia - 1959
Czechoslovakia - 1960's
Czechoslovakia - 1964
Czechoslovakia - 1970's
Czechoslovakia - 1974
Czechoslovakia - 1980
Czechoslovakia - 1980's
Czechoslovakia - 1982
Egypt - 1965
Egypt - 1967
Egypt - 1980's
Egypt - 1986
Egypt - 1991
Egypt - 1994
Finland - 1944
France - 1850's
France - 1860's
France - 1870's
France - 1880
France - 1885
France - 1890
France - 1910
France - 1911
France - 1914
France - 1915
France - 1916
France - 1917
France - 1918
France - 1930
France - 1930's
France - 1931
France - 1934
France - 1935
France - 1936
France - 1937
France - 1938
France - 1939
France - 1940
France - 1947
France - 1949
France - 1950's
France - 1951
France - 1952
France - 1954
France - 1956
France - 1957
France - 1958
France - 1960
France - 1960's
France - 1961
France - 1962
France - 1963
France - 1965
France - 1967
France - 1968
France - 1970's
France - 1971
France - 1972
France - 1973
France - 1976
France - 1978
France - 1979
France - 1980
France - 1980's
France - 1981
France - 1982
France - 1986
France - 1990
France - 1990's
France - 1992
France - 1997
France/Germany - 2001
France/Yugoslavia
Germany - 1860's
Germany - 1888
Germany - 1914
Germany - 1915
Germany - 1916
Germany - 1917
Germany - 1918
Germany - 1927
Germany - 1933
Germany - 1934
Germany - 1935
Germany - 1936
Germany - 1937
Germany - 1938
Germany - 1939
Germany - 1940
Germany - 1940's
Germany - 1941
Germany - 1942
Germany - 1943
Germany - 1944
Germany - 1945
Germany - 1960's
Germany - 1965
Germany - 1966
Germany - 1967
Germany - 1970
Germany - 1970's
Germany - 1975
Germany - 1976
Germany - 1978
Germany - 1979
Germany - 1980
Germany - 1980's
Germany - 1983
Germany - 1989
Germany - 1995
Hungary - 1939
Hungary - 1940
Hungary - 1941
Hungary - 1942
Hungary - 1944
India - 1964
India - 1967
India - 1994
Iran - 1980's
Israel - 1956
Israel - 1960's
Israel - 1962
Israel - 1967
Israel - 1970's
Israel - 1976
Israel - 1979
Israel - 1980's
Israel - 1983
Israel - 1990
Israel - 1990's
Italy - 1900
Italy - 1910
Italy - 1914
Italy - 1915
Italy - 1916
Italy - 1917
Italy - 1918
Italy - 1920
Italy - 1923
Italy - 1926
Italy - 1931
Italy - 1935
Italy - 1937
Italy - 1938
Italy - 1939
Italy - 1940
Italy - 1941
Italy - 1942
Italy - 1943
Italy - 1950's
Italy - 1954
Italy - 1957
Italy - 1966
Italy - 1970's
Italy - 1976
Italy - 1980
Italy - 1980's
Italy - 1981
Italy - 1982
Italy - 1985
Italy - 1987
Italy - 1990
Italy - 1990's
Italy - 1991
Italy - 1997
Japan - 1930
Japan - 1930's
Japan - 1932
Japan - 1934
Japan - 1935
Japan - 1937
Japan - 1938
Japan - 1939
Japan - 1940
Japan - 1941
Japan - 1942
Japan - 1943
Japan - 1944
Japan - 1945
Japan - 1959
Japan - 1960
Japan - 1960's
Japan - 1962
Japan - 1970's
Japan - 1972
Japan - 1974
Japan - 1975
Japan - 1990's
Japan - 1991
Japan - 1992
Jordan from UK- 1981
Netherlands - 1938
Netherlands - 1939
Netherlands - 1964
Netherlands - 1970's
Netherlands - 1977
North Korea - 1950's
North Korea - 1960's
North Korea - 1970's
North Korea - 1980's
North Korea - 1990's
North Korea - 2000+
Norway - 1960's
Poland - 1930
Poland - 1931
Poland - 1932
Poland - 1933
Poland - 1934
Poland - 1935
Poland - 1936
Poland - 1937
Poland - 1938
Poland - 1950's
Poland - 1960's
Poland - 1992
Romania - 1942
Romania - 1944
Romania - 1960's
Romania - 1970's
Romania - 1977
Romania - 1980's
Romania - 1985
Romania - 1990's
Romania - 1992
Russia - 1895
Russia - 1904
Russia - 1908
Russia - 1915
Russia - 1916
Russia - 1917
Russia - 1990's
Russia - 2000+
Saudi Arabia - 1980
South Africa - 1970's
South Africa - 1977
South Africa - 1979
South Africa - 1980's
South Africa - 1982
South Africa - 1988
South Africa - 1989
South Africa - 1990's
South Africa - 1992
South Korea - 1970's
South Korea - 1986
South Korea - 1990's
Soviet Union - 1930's
Soviet Union - 1931
Soviet Union - 1933
Soviet Union - 1934
Soviet Union - 1935
Soviet Union - 1936
Soviet Union - 1937
Soviet Union - 1938
Soviet Union - 1939
Soviet Union - 1940
Soviet Union - 1941
Soviet Union - 1942
Soviet Union - 1943
Soviet Union - 1944
Soviet Union - 1945
Soviet Union - 1946
Soviet Union - 1947
Soviet Union - 1948
Soviet Union - 1949
Soviet Union - 1950
Soviet Union - 1950's
Soviet Union - 1952
Soviet Union - 1953
Soviet Union - 1954
Soviet Union - 1955
Soviet Union - 1956
Soviet Union - 1957
Soviet Union - 1959
Soviet Union - 1960
Soviet Union - 1960's
Soviet Union - 1961
Soviet Union - 1962
Soviet Union - 1964
Soviet Union - 1965
Soviet Union - 1966
Soviet Union - 1967
Soviet Union - 1968
Soviet Union - 1969
Soviet Union - 1970
Soviet Union - 1970's
Soviet Union - 1972
Soviet Union - 1973
Soviet Union - 1974
Soviet Union - 1975
Soviet Union - 1976
Soviet Union - 1977
Soviet Union - 1978
Soviet Union - 1979
Soviet Union - 1980
Soviet Union - 1980's
Soviet Union - 1981
Soviet Union - 1982
Soviet Union - 1983
Soviet Union - 1984
Soviet Union - 1985
Soviet Union - 1986
Soviet Union - 1988
Soviet Union - 1990
Soviet Union - 1990's
Spain - 1977
Spain - 1978
Spain - 1979
Spain - 1980's
Spain - 1998
Sweden - 1931
Sweden - 1937
Sweden - 1940
Sweden - 1943
Sweden - 1944
Sweden - 1950's
Sweden - 1951
Sweden - 1954
Sweden - 1957
Sweden - 1958
Sweden - 1960's
Sweden - 1965
Sweden - 1966
Sweden - 1967
Sweden - 1971
Sweden - 1975
Sweden - 1980's
Sweden - 1984
Sweden - 1986
Sweden - 1990's
Sweden - 1993
Sweden - 1995
Switzerland - 1939
Switzerland - 1955
Switzerland - 1965
Switzerland - 1970's
Switzerland - 1971
Switzerland - 1980's
Switzerland - 1990's
Syria - 1970
Taiwan - 1955
Taiwan - 1960's
Taiwan - 1970's
Taiwan - 1990's
Taiwan - 1995
Turkey - 1970's
Ukraine - 1984
United Kingdom - 1870's
United Kingdom - 1885
United Kingdom - 1890's
United Kingdom - 1895
United Kingdom - 1900
United Kingdom - 1901
United Kingdom - 1904
United Kingdom - 1912
United Kingdom - 1914
United Kingdom - 1915
United Kingdom - 1916
United Kingdom - 1917
United Kingdom - 1918
United Kingdom - 1928
United Kingdom - 1929
United Kingdom - 1931
United Kingdom - 1933
United Kingdom - 1935
United Kingdom - 1936
United Kingdom - 1937
United Kingdom - 1938
United Kingdom - 1939
United Kingdom - 1940
United Kingdom - 1941
United Kingdom - 1942
United Kingdom - 1943
United Kingdom - 1944
United Kingdom - 1945
United Kingdom - 1946
United Kingdom - 1947
United Kingdom - 1948
United Kingdom - 1949
United Kingdom - 1950
United Kingdom - 1950's
United Kingdom - 1951
United Kingdom - 1952
United Kingdom - 1953
United Kingdom - 1954
United Kingdom - 1955
United Kingdom - 1956
United Kingdom - 1957
United Kingdom - 1958
United Kingdom - 1959
United Kingdom - 1960
United Kingdom - 1960's
United Kingdom - 1963
United Kingdom - 1964
United Kingdom - 1965
United Kingdom - 1967
United Kingdom - 1970
United Kingdom - 1970's
United Kingdom - 1971
United Kingdom - 1972
United Kingdom - 1973
United Kingdom - 1975
United Kingdom - 1976
United Kingdom - 1978
United Kingdom - 1979
United Kingdom - 1980
United Kingdom - 1980's
United Kingdom - 1981
United Kingdom - 1983
United Kingdom - 1985
United Kingdom - 1986
United Kingdom - 1989
United Kingdom - 1990's
United Kingdom - 1994
United States - 1898
United States - 1919
United States - 1932
United States - 1934
United States - 1936
United States - 1937
United States - 1939
United States - 1940
United States - 1941
United States - 1942
United States - 1943
United States - 1944
United States - 1945
United States - 1946
United States - 1947
United States - 1948
United States - 1949
United States - 1950
United States - 1950's
United States - 1951
United States - 1952
United States - 1953
United States - 1954
United States - 1955
United States - 1956
United States - 1957
United States - 1958
United States - 1959
United States - 1960
United States - 1960's
United States - 1961
United States - 1962
United States - 1964
United States - 1966
United States - 1967
United States - 1968
United States - 1969
United States - 1970
United States - 1970's
United States - 1971
United States - 1972
United States - 1975
United States - 1976
United States - 1977
United States - 1978
United States - 1980
United States - 1980's
United States - 1981
United States - 1983
United States - 1984
United States - 1985
United States - 1986
United States - 1988
United States - 1990's
United States - 1992
United States - 1997
United States - 2000+
Unites States - 1975
Yugoslavia - 1937
Yugoslavia - 1960's
Yugoslavia - 1965
Yugoslavia - 1970's
Yugoslavia - 1975
Yugoslavia - 1980's
Yugoslavia - 1982
Yugoslavia - 1984
********

[cathar1244]

United States - 2000+

I like the "2000+" stuff, especially since we're now 20% done with this century ... [:'(]

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: cathar1244
I like the "2000+" stuff, especially since we're now 20% done with this century ...

Let's see, it might turn out to be as easy, or easier, to just allow users to create date ranges rather than pre-specified periods.

But as described above, for the initial iteration I will probably exclude dates from the filter.