Need info about Catobase and OOTP player.dat file

jupiter29 · 08-12-2004, 12:32 PM

I guess I should start off by admitting that I messed up. BIG.

I have a league that is about 70 years old, and the first 60 years of it's history are stored in the Catobase utility. About ten "years" ago, I decided to continue simulating the league, but not do the Catobase update each year (I was having computer problems at the time, and one of my drives was offline). So at the end of each year, I backed up the league and created the HTML files that I would later need to use Catobase, when I was ready to catch up.

Unfortunately, this is where I made my mistake. Since I wanted to be able to easily find the HTML files again, at the end of each year I created them into the same directory I'd backed the game up to, thinking that I'd know immediately where they were when the time came. And I have to admit I did this ten times before I bothered to check what was happening.

As it turns out, the HTML creation routine deletes every file in that folder before it copies the HTML files. The result of this is that I have ten years worth of saves that contain all the HTML files (player files, etc) that are in the subdirectory of the backup, but none of the main DAT files. As a result, I can't run Catobase on these seasons, or restore the league.

[And (for the record) I take responsibility for this. I did it, and I didn't check to see if it would cause any problems. It was pure sloppiness on my part, and I won't be complaining or demanding my money back. But I WILL say, in case anyone is listening, that having the HTML creation routine wipe out the entire directory is one of the worst programming decisions I have ever seen. And a search of the board tells me that it has been as issue since at least version 5, which I think is regrettable. I hope it will be changed in future versions, since there is obviously at least one person (me) dumb enough to be bitten by it.]

Anyway, I am now left with two options and a hope. Option 1: I can continue with the league as is, but never update Catobase again, which would make me very sad. Option 2: I can revert back to the last year I entered into Catobase, and lose ten years of work on my team. This would also make me sad.

And, finally, my (possibly empty) hope. That there might be a way to get the data I need into Catobase. I have a complete (midseason) backup of the league from the current season, which has a complete Players.dat and retired.dat file, which I assume has all player statistics from those ten missing years. I am wondering if there is some way to get that data into Catobase. For instance, if I put a copy of the player.dat file from 2070 into the backup directory from 2063 (possibly having gone in and stripped up all statistics from 2064+?) and tried to run Catobase, would it be able to capture those 2063 statistics? No doubt I will not be able to recreate everything, and I might lose team totals or team-specific stats for traded players. But I'd like to at least get career totals correct.

I will have to play with this for awhile, I'm sure, and I don't reasonably expect anyone to pop up with an elegant solution. But if anybody has ever tried this and can offer any basic advice along the following lines, it would be greatly appreciated:

1) Exactly which .DAT files are used by Catobase each season?
2) Does Catobase look for a specific year's data from these, based on some other file in the backed-up league (or, perhaps, just the next year it doesn't already have?), or does Catobase automatically pull in the most recent data in the DAT file?
3) Can someone recommend a method of editing the DAT files? I've played with them only briefly, but can't seem to find a program that opens them. Perhaps it would be easier to work with the delimited files directly?

If anybody has any thoughts at all they want to sure, they will be appreciated.

jmm8356 · 08-12-2004, 03:37 PM

A big problem to take a bite out of... but the one thing I think I know is that Catobase cannot read data from the retired.dat file (thus far) and always reads the current (just ended) season stats...

... so the best you could do is to import data into Catobase at the end of your current season, and then continue adding to it from that point. You're not done with Catobase, necessarily; you would just have a ten year gap with no stats.

jupiter29 · 08-12-2004, 03:47 PM

Yeah, I could do that, but a lot has happened in those ten years, including the home run record being demolished. I'd hate to lose that.

What I was hoping, if Catobase always takes out the most current year, was that I could update, for instance, 2062 by removing all the data for 2063-2069 and "fooling" Catobase into thinking 2062 was the most current year. It's worth playing around with, I suppose. And maybe I can move the retired data back in with the active player data for that current year, but that's more unlikely. Oh well, I have to play around with it, and I was hoping somebody might have some ideas.

jcato · 08-12-2004, 09:02 PM

I'm sorry to say, but I think your least sad solution is to turn back the clock 10 years and resim. Once you turn the season, you lose alot of stats. Things like SH and HBP aren't kept, so you can't correctly calculate OBP (or OPS). I can't think of anyway to 'fool' CatoBase to get those missing years.

jupiter29 · 08-19-2004, 10:52 AM

Well, I suppose you would be the authority on the subject.

That is definitely not what I was hoping to hear, though. But I do appreciate your reply. Thanks.

08-12-2004, 12:32 PM	#1
jupiter29 Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 12	Need info about Catobase and OOTP player.dat file I guess I should start off by admitting that I messed up. BIG. I have a league that is about 70 years old, and the first 60 years of it's history are stored in the Catobase utility. About ten "years" ago, I decided to continue simulating the league, but not do the Catobase update each year (I was having computer problems at the time, and one of my drives was offline). So at the end of each year, I backed up the league and created the HTML files that I would later need to use Catobase, when I was ready to catch up. Unfortunately, this is where I made my mistake. Since I wanted to be able to easily find the HTML files again, at the end of each year I created them into the same directory I'd backed the game up to, thinking that I'd know immediately where they were when the time came. And I have to admit I did this ten times before I bothered to check what was happening. As it turns out, the HTML creation routine deletes every file in that folder before it copies the HTML files. The result of this is that I have ten years worth of saves that contain all the HTML files (player files, etc) that are in the subdirectory of the backup, but none of the main DAT files. As a result, I can't run Catobase on these seasons, or restore the league. [And (for the record) I take responsibility for this. I did it, and I didn't check to see if it would cause any problems. It was pure sloppiness on my part, and I won't be complaining or demanding my money back. But I WILL say, in case anyone is listening, that having the HTML creation routine wipe out the entire directory is one of the worst programming decisions I have ever seen. And a search of the board tells me that it has been as issue since at least version 5, which I think is regrettable. I hope it will be changed in future versions, since there is obviously at least one person (me) dumb enough to be bitten by it.] Anyway, I am now left with two options and a hope. Option 1: I can continue with the league as is, but never update Catobase again, which would make me very sad. Option 2: I can revert back to the last year I entered into Catobase, and lose ten years of work on my team. This would also make me sad. And, finally, my (possibly empty) hope. That there might be a way to get the data I need into Catobase. I have a complete (midseason) backup of the league from the current season, which has a complete Players.dat and retired.dat file, which I assume has all player statistics from those ten missing years. I am wondering if there is some way to get that data into Catobase. For instance, if I put a copy of the player.dat file from 2070 into the backup directory from 2063 (possibly having gone in and stripped up all statistics from 2064+?) and tried to run Catobase, would it be able to capture those 2063 statistics? No doubt I will not be able to recreate everything, and I might lose team totals or team-specific stats for traded players. But I'd like to at least get career totals correct. I will have to play with this for awhile, I'm sure, and I don't reasonably expect anyone to pop up with an elegant solution. But if anybody has ever tried this and can offer any basic advice along the following lines, it would be greatly appreciated: 1) Exactly which .DAT files are used by Catobase each season? 2) Does Catobase look for a specific year's data from these, based on some other file in the backed-up league (or, perhaps, just the next year it doesn't already have?), or does Catobase automatically pull in the most recent data in the DAT file? 3) Can someone recommend a method of editing the DAT files? I've played with them only briefly, but can't seem to find a program that opens them. Perhaps it would be easier to work with the delimited files directly? If anybody has any thoughts at all they want to sure, they will be appreciated.

08-12-2004, 03:37 PM	#2
jmm8356 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lafayette IN (by way of Tonawanda NY) Posts: 1,673	A big problem to take a bite out of... but the one thing I think I know is that Catobase cannot read data from the retired.dat file (thus far) and always reads the current (just ended) season stats... ... so the best you could do is to import data into Catobase at the end of your current season, and then continue adding to it from that point. You're not done with Catobase, necessarily; you would just have a ten year gap with no stats. __________________ Jeremy from Tonawanda --- Go Cubbies! --- Unofficial Theta Tester(tm) "Oh, we got both kinds. We got country and western!" From OOTP 6: Designated for Assignment FAQ (Includes both problems and solutions! Ooooo! )

08-12-2004, 03:47 PM	#3
jupiter29 Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 12	Yeah, I could do that, but a lot has happened in those ten years, including the home run record being demolished. I'd hate to lose that. What I was hoping, if Catobase always takes out the most current year, was that I could update, for instance, 2062 by removing all the data for 2063-2069 and "fooling" Catobase into thinking 2062 was the most current year. It's worth playing around with, I suppose. And maybe I can move the retired data back in with the active player data for that current year, but that's more unlikely. Oh well, I have to play around with it, and I was hoping somebody might have some ideas.

08-12-2004, 09:02 PM	#4
jcato Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 200	I'm sorry to say, but I think your least sad solution is to turn back the clock 10 years and resim. Once you turn the season, you lose alot of stats. Things like SH and HBP aren't kept, so you can't correctly calculate OBP (or OPS). I can't think of anyway to 'fool' CatoBase to get those missing years.

08-19-2004, 10:52 AM	#5
jupiter29 Bat Boy Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 12	Well, I suppose you would be the authority on the subject. That is definitely not what I was hoping to hear, though. But I do appreciate your reply. Thanks.