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StarWeb Analyzer Troubleshooting

This section provides help if you are having trouble getting the Analyzer to work correctly.  If your Analyzer is working correctly and you would just like to learn some tips and techniques, please see our FAQ.

 


 

Can't get the Analyzer setup to run a game

  • Have you used the Setup Wizard and browsed to your turn 1 file? If so all the necessary game information should have been derived correctly and placed in the Game Edit window. Check this information (especially if you chose the 'Manual' selection).
  • Did you select an FBI account number presented (or create a new one)?
  • Did you put in the Game name exactly as shown on your turn sheet? Even leaving out the '-' will foul it up. E.g. SW1234 instead of SW-1234.
  • Is your player name entered correctly
  • Is the game path correct - pointing at the folder that you have put the turn sheets and map files for this game. E.g. c:/Starweb/SW-1234.
  • did you check the 'Show the Edit Game Profile dialogue when done'? This will allow you to see the setup information again - and add in the player names of other players whose turn sheets you want run.

Can't get the Analyzer to find your turn sheet

Your turns are reported as not found in the processing window (Despite your knowledge that you have the turn sheets). Check the following:
  • Have you named the turn sheet properly? Only 2 conventions are allowed. Playername_t#.txt or playername.t#. So Turn 1 for Somnos would be named as somnos_t1.txt or somnos.t1. This must be spelled correctly.
  • Perhaps you have named your turn sheet properly but misspelled your name in the Game Edit Profile.
  • Have you placed the turn sheet in the correct directory designated in the Edit Game Profile Window?
  • WINDOWS 95/98 Hates you :-). If you have Windows 95/98 set to hide file extensions you may think you are naming the turn sheets correctly but may not be!! What may be occurring is that you designate a file to be somnos_t1.txt but it has a hidden file extension of .txt. In reality the turn sheet has the name somnos_t1.txt.txt which is incorrect. To check this problem:
    • Open any folder
    • Click on the menu bar ->View->Options
    • Now open the View tab
    • Under Hidden files -> Which radio button is selected? If it's 'Hide Files of these types' then deselect it by selecting the 'Show all files' option.
    • Close the folder and examine your turn sheets. Are they named properly or did they suffer from double .txt extensions?

Can't get the Analyzer to find your allies' turn sheets

In addition to checking the same things as above you must also check:
  • Have you added this allies' name to the list of 'Players you wish to process turn sheets' for in the Game Edit Profile?
  • Do you actually have the turn sheet? Sometimes you don't get every turn sheet or you may have pirated a turn sheet from a player only once. In this case the error reported is correct but of no consequence.
 

Turns not processed and not reported in the processing window

Have you added the player's name to the player list under Edit Game Profile?

No Valid Data/QuoteStyle Errors

Originally this was designed to alert you to Quotation marks in the turn sheet that would confuse the parsing of the turn sheet by the Analyzer. Presently the Analyzer will recognize 3 common quote styles which are characters in the left margin placed by email programs to indicate a quoted piece of text. The recognized Quotes are >, >>, and > . If any other quote styles are used you will get this message and it will instruct you on how to compensate for these unique quote styles. So if the turn sheet arrives and the quote style being utilized is >>> you can easily fix this.

However, this error also states that no valid data was found and will also be triggered by anything that disrupts the Game Identifying line in the Analyzer. This line is being used by the Analyzer to locate the beginning of useful data (so it can ignore all that internet routing information and any comments above your turn sheet). It also uses this ID line to determine if one of those 3 quote styles is active. The Game ID line looks like: 
Game SW-Z1230, Turn 5, [ORIN]
If you receive a Quote style error you should check that your turn sheet has the Game ID line exactly as it should appear as I've seen many allies cut it off before sending their turn.

The absence of the line found above the world data on the turn sheet will also trigger a No valid data/Quote style error. This is the 3 spaces followed by 12 dashes. (e.g..,   ------------)

The turn sheet is named correctly but is not a text file. This will generate a No Valid data/Quote style error. 
Many of the difficulties players have is that some email software and word processors seems to add many invisible characters (Outlook Express via Microsoft Word as its editor is famous for this). These characters will make the turn sheet unreadable to the Starweb Analyzer. If you are using one of these software's it is suggested that you copy and paste your turn sheet into a player turn file (such as playerturn.t#) directly or to save it as an text file. Forwarding your turn sheet to other players with the analyzer will create the same difficulties. You should copy and paste your turn sheet into your mail if you use Outlook or the turn sheet will be unreadable by the Starweb Analyzer.
To check if you have a turn sheet that is a binary (not text) file try to open it in a simple text editor (such as notepad) and see if any funny characters show up.

The Processing window reports errors inside the turns

Usually a typo results in an unrecognized attribute error. In this case you should review this turn to see if you can correct it and then rerun the analyzer.  A fatal error will stop the turn sheet from being processed. The Analyzer will tell you which turn sheet had trouble and the line number of the offending line.  You will need to review the turn sheets fed in for the error. Basically you must remember that a turn sheet must resemble closely the FBI Starweb Turn sheet. Line noise, garbage information, missing information will result in error flags.

  • information wrapping to a new line incorrectly - It will tolerate wrapping of anything after a comma or completely enclosed in brackets. It will not tolerate well wrapping in the middle of words or adding extra blank lines within a worlds information.
  • garbage information/typos.

Map View does not appear

In the processing window the final comment is on locating the map data file.

Was this file found? If not ....

  • Have you done any mapping for this game yet? If not, don't expect a map file to be present. Once you create then save a map a file will be there and future processing should indicate that it was found.
  • You have mapped already? Check that you have a properly named map file in the folder you designated in the Edit Game Preferences. Put the mouse over the Save Map button on the Mapping Toolbar (beside the World Quick Information area) and the flyover help will tell you the current map file and path. Make sure that this file actually exists and has data in it. If not, you can open another map file using the Open Map file button or if you do not have any map files yet - you must create a map and save it.
  • Perhaps WINDOWS 95/98 Hates you :-). If you have Windows 95/98 set to hide file extensions you may think you are naming the Map files correctly but may not be!! What may be occurring is that you designate a file to be SW1234.map but it has a hidden file extension of .txt. In reality the map file has the name SW1234.map.txt which is incorrect. To check this problem
  1. Open any folder
  2. Click on the menu bar ->View->Options
  3. Now open the View tab
  4. Under Hidden files -> Which radio button is selected? If it's 'Hide Files of these types' then deselect it by selecting the 'Show all files' option.
  5. Close the folder and examine your map file. Is it named properly or did it suffer from a .txt extension? Check if the map file contains any valid data.  It should start with a line stating 'Version:1' The worlds are listed followed by (x,y) coordinates. E.g. W1(11,9).
 

 

 
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