FSX A way to read GUID from MDL [VB.NET]

[Dimitris4463]

Hey all! I m creating an aplication that makes the compiling process easier. I need to know how to read an MDL's GUID in VB.NET (or a C# example would me nice) and then show the number to a textbox. I will much appreciate your help!

Regards,
Dimitris

 

[scruffyduck]

Have you looked at the mdl format in the Wiki? That describes the layout of an mdl file and where to find the GUID.

 

[Dimitris4463]

Hello!

Yes I have already did that. But I can't understand it.
It says:

MDLG
This section stores the object GUID. The GUID is stored in the following parts:
unsigned long data1
unsigned short data2
unsigned short data3
unsigned char data4[8]
In hexadecimal form the GUID is then written as:
{data1-data2-data3-data4[0:1]-data4[2:7]}

okay now I have to read the file line by line like a txt file or is there any special way for this ?

 

[scruffyduck]

You will need to read the mdl file as an array of bytes. The way to decompile such a file is to use a pointer. Start at with the pointer at zero and then work through the byte array picking off the correct number of bytes that are required for each type. This is what I use in my decompiler. It is in C#

private void readMDLG(byte[] rawData) {
            guid = new Guid(ByteArray.Get(rawData, mdlgPointer + 4, 16));
        }

In this case ByteArray.Get(...) cuts out 16 bytes starting at the pointer+4 from the model. rawData is a byte array representing the contents of the model file.

The GUID class accepts different parameter types for input including an array of bytes.

 

[arno]

Hi,

Maybe you can use this basic class I use in one of my tools. I have stripped out some code you don't need, so I hope it still compiles .

Instead of reading the GUID like this and form a string. You can also just read 32 bytes and pass that into the constructor of the .NET GUID class.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;

namespace ASToFra.LibraryCreatorXML
{
    public class MDLObject
    {
        // Enumeration of the support FS versions
        public enum FsVersion
        {          
            unknown = 0,
            Fs2004 = 9,
            FsX = 10,
        }

        // Local variables
        FsVersion mdlVersion = FsVersion.unknown;
        string sGUID;
        string sName;
        string sShortName;
        string sPath;
        BinaryReader mdlReader;
        
        public MDLObject(string mdlFile)
        {

            sPath = mdlFile;

            // Set default values
            mdlVersion = FsVersion.unknown;
            sGUID = null;
            sShortName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(mdlFile);
            sName = sShortName;

            try
            {
                mdlReader = new BinaryReader(File.Open(mdlFile, FileMode.Open),System.Text.Encoding.Default);

                string sRIFF = new string(mdlReader.ReadChars(4));
                mdlReader.ReadInt32(); // skip length
                string sHEAD = new string(mdlReader.ReadChars(4));

                // If this is a valid RIFF file
                if (sRIFF == "RIFF")
                {
                    // If Fs2004
                    if (sHEAD == "MDL9")
                    {
                        mdlVersion = FsVersion.Fs2004;
                        readInformation(mdlReader);
                    }
                    // If FsX
                    else if (sHEAD == "MDLX")
                    {
                        mdlVersion = FsVersion.FsX;
                        readInformation(mdlReader);
                    }
                }
                mdlReader.Close();
            }catch{
                // Something wrong, but I am not going to do anything
                // special now
            }
        }

        public void readInformation(BinaryReader mdlReader)
        {
            string sLABL;
            int length;

            while (mdlReader.PeekChar() != -1)
            {
                sLABL = new string(mdlReader.ReadChars(4));
                length = mdlReader.ReadInt32();

                // If this is the GUID, read it
                if (sLABL == "MDLG")
                {
                    uint g1, g21, g22; //, g31, g32, g4;
                    byte[] g3;
                    string g3s, g4s;
                    g1 = mdlReader.ReadUInt32();
                    g21 = mdlReader.ReadUInt16();
                    g22 = mdlReader.ReadUInt16();
                    g3 = mdlReader.ReadBytes(8);
                    g3s = g3[0].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') + g3[1].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0');
                    g4s = g3[2].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') + g3[3].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') +
                        g3[4].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') + g3[5].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') +
                        g3[6].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0') + g3[7].ToString("X").PadLeft(2, '0');

                    sGUID = "{" + g1.ToString("X").PadLeft(8, '0') + "-" +
                                  g21.ToString("X").PadLeft(4, '0') + "-" +
                                  g22.ToString("X").PadLeft(4, '0') + "-" +
                                  g3s + "-" + g4s + "}";
                }
                // If this is the name, read it
                else if (sLABL == "MDLN")
                {
                    sName = new string(mdlReader.ReadChars(length));
                }
                // Else just skip the section
                else
                {
                    mdlReader.ReadBytes(length);
                }
            }
        }

        public string filename
        {
            get
            {
                return Path.GetFileName(sPath);
            }
        }

        public string filenameWithoutExtension
        {
            get
            {

                return Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(sPath);
            }
        }

        public string path
        {
            get
            {
                return sPath;
            }
        }

        public FsVersion version
        {
            get
            {
                return mdlVersion;
            }
        }

        public string GUID
        {
            get
            {
                return sGUID;
            }
            set
            {
                sGUID = value;
            }
        }

        public string name
        {
            get
            {
                return sName;
            }
        }

        public string shortName
        {
            get
            {
                return sShortName;
            }
        }
    }
}

 

[Dimitris4463]

Thanks Arno! I converted the code from C# to VB.NET with success, now the only problem is that I m getting error to:

        Public ReadOnly Property filename() As String
            Get
                Return [COLOR="Red"]Path.GetFileName[/COLOR](sPath)
            End Get
        End Property
        Public ReadOnly Property filenameWithoutExtension() As String
            Get
                Return [COLOR="Red"]Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension[/COLOR](sPath)
            End Get
        End Property

The errors are:
Error 1 'GetFileName' is not a member of 'String'.
Error 2 'GetFileNameWithoutExtension' is not a member of 'String'.

I searched to MS web site but their ways didn't help. Hope you can help a bit more
Regards,

 

[arno]

Hi,

In C# Path is a class in System.IO and it can do manipulations with with a path stored as a string. It is a default .NET class.

From your messages it seems Path is defined as a string for you, maybe that is the problem. But I am not so familiar with VB.NET.

 

[scruffyduck]

System.IO.Path is a static helper Class that, as Arno says, should be available to VB.Net. Try fully qualifying it by using System.IO.Path instead of just Path

 

[Dimitris4463]

Thats why I LOVE fsdeveloper! Thanks guys! Working nicely