Graphical Plist File Editor

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Noobasaurus
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Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

So I'm trying to edit some .plist files, and I downloaded an editor from the internet. However, it's going to be extremely difficult for me to edit the plist file in simple text form. I'm trying to change the whole layout of it. Does anyone know if there is a graphical plist editor for Windows anywhere? By graphical I mean that when you open up the file it actually shows what the file is doing, like if it makes a red ball and a green ball appear next to each other and bounce then that's what I see. Thanks.
Last edited by Noobasaurus on Wed Jan 15, 2014 10:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Twilight_Warrior
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Twilight_Warrior »

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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by the best »

Plists are preference files that hold values and fields, I'm not sure what you mean when you want a graphical representation of what they're doing, because it's other programs that use their stored information. You can have nice columns or rows using most common editors because at their core they're XML structured. Any plist file I've ever dealt with has been configured through some sort of text input. For example, this following screenshot is from Xcode whilst editing a plist file as "graphically" as possible.

Image

If this isn't the type of thing you're dealing with then please explain further, because this is the only plist file I understand.
Twilight_Warrior wrote:Does this help?

http://www.question-defense.com/2010/12 ... on-windows
This application organizes the plist file like normal program code, but because it is by structure an XML file, other applications like Xcode can edit it all nice in columns and rows.
Noobasaurus
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

@Twilight_Warrior: Thanks for the link, but I've already found and used that program.

@the best: Thank you for the helpful explanation on plist files. In my case, they're used in a game to create the levels. When I open them, I see the position data of all of the different platforms in the game. It looks like this:
Hidden/Spoiler:
[code]
<dict>
<key>posX</key>
<real>63</real>
<key>posY</key>
<real>3</real>
<key>type</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>posX</key>
<real>64</real>
<key>posY</key>
<real>3</real>
<key>type</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>posX</key>
<real>65</real>
<key>posY</key>
<real>3</real>
<key>type</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>posX</key>
<real>66</real>
<key>posY</key>
<real>3</real>
<key>type</key>
<integer>1</integer>
</dict>[/code]
I'm wondering if there is a way to see this data graphically. Now I understand that another program uses this information to place the platforms in the game, so I want to be able to see something similar to what I see in the game. I wouldn't mind if it were simple red dots at the positions listed in the file. Well, dots I could drag around to change the position in the graphic as well as in the file.

Is there any way I can see this information as a graphical representation?
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by the best »

I've never seen an application that does something like that specifically, I've been looking around a bit to try and find something that might work, though I haven't found anything close to your description except for sprite animation applications like ShoeBox and TexturePacker, both of which are capable of exporting plists, but when I created some mock objects, their plist outputs weren't really coordinates because these applications deal more in animations I think. Usually what you're looking for is provided within whatever IDE you might be using, for example when I used mono touch (now called Xamarin), I was able to use the GUI to drag and drop objects into my interface, and it would change the XML file for me dynamically. What compiler or game engine are you using this plist file in? There may be a different approach you can take for this problem, unless you're doing it all by hand that is, then it might be harder.

Also, here are links to ShoeBox and TexturePacker in case they might be useful to you: (TexturePacker has a trial, and ShoeBox is reportedly better and free)

http://renderhjs.net/shoebox

http://www.codeandweb.com/texturepacker
Noobasaurus
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

Okay so I accidentally just closed Chrome when I had most of this post written, so here it is again.

After messing with stuff, I found out that it is formatted as an xml file. I then looked around the internet for a while for a graphical xml file editor. Most of the programs that I downloaded didn't work too well, and this was as close as I got to getting what I want.
Hidden/Spoiler:
Image
I want it to take the data from inside the file and use it to place squares and whatnot. In the picture on the right side, you can see under the general tab that it shows the X and Y coordinate data for the specific key. I want it to use that data to place a marker at that coordinate, and then when you move that marker the X and Y coordinates move accordingly as well.

If you'd like the xml file to give it a try, here it is.


The original plist was taken from a Windows 8 computer app. It's supposedly the data for the blocks in one of the levels of the game. I'm trying to make my own levels for it because it doesn't have enough.

And what you said about mono touch is exactly what I'm looking for.
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by the best »

The graphical XML programs I've seen just organize it like in your screenshot. Everyone's XML file that would have coordinates or data like you're using would have a very specialized structure. In Xamarin, they use a specific file structure for their WYSIWYG editor. Each value points to something that the IDE recognizes. Your plist structure is proprietary in a sense, I really don't think it's as simple as putting it into a program that automatically knows what each of your tags/keys/values mean. Maybe I'm also not good at finding stuff, but your file holds values that are foreign to Dreamweaver/Xamarin/Other drag/drop capable editors. Do you know what was used to create this app?
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

I have no idea what was used to create this app. I've decided that since I can't see the data visually, I might as well take the single player levels and bring them into multiplayer. Some of the levels haven't worked so well, but today I finally managed to bring one in that works pretty well so far. Another thing that I've noticed with the data is that 1 unit in the block and collision positioning data equals about 50 units in multiplayer spawnpoint data. I kept on wondering why the player spawnpoints weren't moving.

So it's been going decently well so far. The only problem is that I'm not able to test out the entire level since it's multiplayer (one person uses Q and the other uses P) and I'm controlling both people. And I can still also add jet flybys and maybe silhouettes in some parts using general estimated position data.

Yes, all of this evolved form my friends coming to my house every weekend and complaining about the slow speed and lack of levels in multiplayer. So now that I'm able to port over the singleplayer levels into multiplayer and set the speed it should be good. Thank you for your help though! :)
Hidden/Spoiler:
Image
Yep, that's a singleplayer level in multiplayer.
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by the best »

Okay, well I'm glad you're able to find a way to continue your work. I'm sorry I couldn't help you find specifically what you're looking for. Good luck on your project!
Noobasaurus
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

I'm back with a progress update. A kind user on a different forum was able to build a program to view and edit the different values in the XML files. However, there's one problem, and it's the same problem that I stated above. The values in the collision info are about 1% the size of all of the other values in the other categories. The program generates a properties file in the same folder when its run. These properties include the scale sizes for the values in order to get them to be more uniform. I'm yet to find a perfect fit, though. The visual info looks weird but that's what I've been using to try to find a scale value so everything lines up nicely.

If you're willing to help me, feel free to leave a comment or PM me and I'll give you the XML and program.
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by the best »

Sure that'd be good, I should have a better understanding of the problem then.
Noobasaurus
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Re: Graphical Plist File Editor

Post by Noobasaurus »

Great, thanks for volunteering to help. I sent you the stuff you need.
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