Sigh - Names still not working

cbbl · 07-28-2008, 11:33 PM

I gave up on OOTP 8 because I wanted to customize the names file, but the program kept producing errors.

I was hoping OOTP would be better, but no.

I don't understand why this happens, and although I've posted about it a dozen times, I never seem to get any answers. I'll try again.

I opened first_names.txt and changed all of the names in the 39 name set to more historically accurate names. I added a whole bunch -- hundreds, actually, so that I would have a very diverse list of names from which to choose.

I created a game -- 296 players created, about half of them named Robert, another 40% named Floyd and the remainder gibberish.

Why doesn't OOTP read this file correctly???!!!! Is there a limit on the number of names than can be in the file? Anything???

I just don't want Manuels and Rodriguezs and Yoshis in my 1946 league! I want Elmers and Edwards and Alberts.

If I can't fix this then I suppose I'll have to give up on OOTP 9 too...

Darn it. Are there any fictional historical players out there? Has anyone successfully modified the names files?

Please help! I'm very frustrated!!!

Tony M · 07-29-2008, 02:32 AM

It is possible to alter the names.txt file and I have done it a few times to test the fixes Markus made.

Can you zip up your names files (first_names and names) and put them on the FTP site (How to FTP Your Files to Us)

cbbl · 07-29-2008, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony M

It is possible to alter the names.txt file and I have done it a few times to test the fixes Markus made.

Can you zip up your names files (first_names and names) and put them on the FTP site (How to FTP Your Files to Us)

Tony,

I'll take care of this tonight. Thank you for responding. Can you send me the link on how to FTP? It didn't come through in your post.

cbbl

Tony M · 07-29-2008, 02:47 PM

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-files-us.html

cbbl · 07-29-2008, 08:11 PM

OK, FTP novice here. How do I actually transmit the files? I've gone to the ftp://ootpsupport.com site in the browser and I see an index.

Now what?

Using Firefox on an iMac.

cbbl · 07-30-2008, 06:11 PM

Tony:

Here's the latest attempt and my step-by-step.

1. Adjusted nations.txt, line 206 to:
206,The United States,U.S.A.,USA,American,4,5,0,0,1,0,39,100,0,0, 123,30,716,6,125 via Mac's TextEdit.

2. Adjusted first_names.txt, name set 39, by creating a spreadsheet of the top 1,000 names from the SSI database. Overwrote the entire 39 name set by cutting-and-pasting the column from the spreadsheet into first_names.txt via Mac's TextEdit.

3. Started OOTP -> New Custom Game.

4. Created a 4-team fictional league with 1 level of minors. Set Foreign players percentage to 0 and Foreign Players Limit to "No Foreigners Allowed".

5. Started the game. Went to "Draft Pool"

6. Names are junk. TONS of "lliam" (90% of all names).

7. Saved the league and exited OOTP.

8. Compressed the two .txt files (nations.txt and first_names.txt) as "cbbl1a.zip"

9. Compressed the entire league folder as "cbbl1b.zip".

10. Uploaded both zip files to you via the OOTP ftp website.

Is there some step I'm failing to take that is the problem? I suppose I could uninstall and reinstall OOTP, but I've experienced this same problem in the last version (OOTP8) also.

For reference I am using the Mac version of version 9.1.2.

Carplos · 07-30-2008, 06:18 PM

206,The United States,U.S.A.,USA,American,4,5,39,100,0,0,0,0,0,0, 123,30,716,6,125

Try that.

Tony M · 07-30-2008, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbbl

1. Adjusted nations.txt, line 206 to:
206,The United States,U.S.A.,USA,American,4,5,0,0,1,0,39,100,0,0, 123,30,716,6,125 via Mac's TextEdit.

That line doesn't look quite right

Can you make it 4,5,39,100,0,0,0,0,0,0,123,30,716,6,125 and see if that has any effect?

cbbl · 07-31-2008, 05:37 PM

Sorry, still junk.

Please -- someone walk me through step by step how to change the first_names.txt file and get it to work.

I even tried starting over -- erased everything OOTP-related from my Mac, redownloaded and reinstalled. Changed nations.txt based on the prior post.
Overwrote first_names.txt, 39 only.

Started a game. Junk, junk, junk.

What the @#$%!!??

I took the back-up version of first_names.txt and overwrote the modified version. Entered OOTP9. Reloaded the names database.

In Commissioner mode, entered player edit mode and regenerated a name.

Everything fine.

So--the problem is clearly with the overwrite of the first_names.txt data. Perhaps because I'm cutting and pasting from Excel? Perhaps because I don't have the names in alphabetical order? Perhaps because there are 1,000 names? The frequency numbers too high? I have no idea.

Grrr...

I'll keep messing around with that file and see what happens, but I'd love if some OOTP development guys could too. I don't understand why Tony could load it no problem, but me ... junk, junk, junk.

<sigh>

Continued help appreciated!!

cbbl · 07-31-2008, 06:55 PM

Well, this is curious.

I thought I had the problem solved. I think I'm close.

Here's what I did.

Thinking the trouble might be that I was cutting and pasting from Excel, I went to my Excel file and saved it as a .csv file.

I opened that in TextEdit and noticed that every line had quotation marks around it: "Richard,5000,39"

I did a massive find and replace to remove the quotation marks.

I renamed the file first_names.txt and placed it in the database directory (overwriting the other file). Note that ONLY group 39 names were in the file.

I opened OOTP, re-imported the names database, and went into a player editor.

Everything fine!

"Great", I said, "the problem must be the Excel cut and paste".

So, I then took a copy of the ORIGINAL first_names.txt file and copied the names from my "39 only" file into it, overwriting the group 39 names in that original file. I saved it in the database folder and returned to OOTP.

Re-import, player editor.

JUNK!

Now I'm baffled. What is it about that file that if I only change the 39 set it won't work?

Even checked alphabetical order. I don't see why that should make a difference (it didn't when the file was only my list of names), but seeing all the other name sets are in alphabetical order, I'll try it.

So, I'm stumped.

There must be something about that file.

Tony M · 08-02-2008, 01:53 PM

Is that the file that I would have loaded up because it loaded up fine on my machine or is it a different file up there on the server now?

cbbl · 08-03-2008, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony M

Is that the file that I would have loaded up because it loaded up fine on my machine or is it a different file up there on the server now?

Tony, I'm not sure, I've lost track.

I think its a different file.

But the first file didn't load fine on my machine, nor did the second, or the third ... or any adjusted first_names.txt file I've ever loaded -- on my old Windows PC or my new iMac.

The file I uploaded included my entire league folder, so you can (hopefully) clearly see the issue.

Tony M · 08-05-2008, 05:01 AM

OK. I'll download that again and take the entire league structure to have a look at.

cbbl · 08-05-2008, 07:48 PM

Thanks. Let me know if I can provide anything else.

I've moved past this -- well, temporarily anyway -- by just having my name set 39 in the file.

But I create other games and files to send to you if need be.

Thanks,
cbbl

Nutlaw · 08-17-2008, 03:10 PM

These guys are saying that your names file is garbled:

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...t-quiting.html

Have you made any more progress?

cbbl · 08-18-2008, 05:10 PM

Not yet, though I'm going to try a file Bobble added.

What is perplexing is the claim that BOTH files are garbled, yet one works just fine. But only one. The one with just the 39 name set.

Why would that be?

I'll experiment some more -- with Bobble's file and with a different text editor.

Thanks for the follow up.

Nutlaw · 09-01-2008, 11:40 AM

Any progress now?

cbbl · 09-03-2008, 02:53 PM

No, this remains an open issue.

Nutlaw · 10-03-2008, 07:05 PM

Any change using version 9.2.0?

cbbl · 10-07-2008, 05:45 PM

Hi Nutlaw ...

I skipped this issue for awhile, as I had a first name set that just included set 39 and everything was fine ... but now, a few years in, I want to introduce other ethnicities. So, I tried to change the first_names.txt file to include name set 1 and 39 and reimported it.

But, no I keep having the same issue.

It doesn't appear as bad as before (where everything was messed up), but I'm noticing that OOTP is only properly pulling from the names.txt set and doesn't seem to be properly matching the first_names.txt with it (in other words, its pulling first names from the 39 name set and combining it with last names from the 1 name set).

Here's what I did:

* Within ethnicities.txt, changed line 39 from:
39,U.S. (Historical),0,0,0,1000,0,
to:
39,U.S. (Historical),100,0,0,900,0,

* Within first_names.txt (which only had names in the 39 name set), added the original list of 1 nameset names (that is, from the original OOTP-provided first_names.txt file).

* Reimported names and ethnicities database.

* Under Nations Editor, changed The United States (which for some reason shows fourth in the list, even though everything else is in alphabetical order), from:

Name Origin #1 - US (Historical) 100%

to:

Name Origin #1 - US (Historical) 89%
Name Origin #2 - Hispanic 11%

Note that I had never changed the names.txt file.

When my amateur draft came around (60 players created), I noticed only a couple of hispanic last names (good so far) and that some players were of African facial type (also good).

But the first names didn't seem to line up.

To test it out, I returned to Nations Editor and changed Name Origin #1 to Hispanic 100% and eliminated Name Origin #2. Now, theoretically all names should pull from the 1 name set, and none from the 39 name set.

I went to my draft list, picked a name, entered the editor, and clicked regenerate name. Here are my results:

Winton Velazquez
Edmond Sierra
Benedict Santos
Eldridge Machado
Loy Lujan
Crawford Villanueva
Vincent Reyes

All first names are from the 39 name set. GRRRRR

I looked at the first_names.txt file using TxtEditor and noted that the special characters in name set 1 appear messed up. I'm thinking that TextEditor is the problem.

To see, I copied the original OOTP first_names.txt file into the active database directory, and reloaded the ethnicities and names database.

I returned to my player, and regenerated names:

Pancho Macias
Hector Huerta
Ivan Lopez
Cris Rivera
Anibal Cataquet

So, it appears to be working fine now.

That tells me that TextEditor is the problem.

I will play with it more and see if I can use a different program to import my own names and reload.

But for now, the issue appears resolved.

(BTW, a seperate issue, I am using 9.1.6 and clicked "Check for Updates" and was told there were none -- even though 9.2.2 has been released). I'll have to update manually. But, isn't this an issue?

07-29-2008, 02:47 PM	#4
Tony M Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Here Posts: 6,156	http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...-files-us.html __________________ This signature is intentionally blank

07-31-2008, 05:37 PM	#9
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Sorry, still junk. Please -- someone walk me through step by step how to change the first_names.txt file and get it to work. I even tried starting over -- erased everything OOTP-related from my Mac, redownloaded and reinstalled. Changed nations.txt based on the prior post. Overwrote first_names.txt, 39 only. Started a game. Junk, junk, junk. What the @#$%!!?? I took the back-up version of first_names.txt and overwrote the modified version. Entered OOTP9. Reloaded the names database. In Commissioner mode, entered player edit mode and regenerated a name. Everything fine. So--the problem is clearly with the overwrite of the first_names.txt data. Perhaps because I'm cutting and pasting from Excel? Perhaps because I don't have the names in alphabetical order? Perhaps because there are 1,000 names? The frequency numbers too high? I have no idea. Grrr... I'll keep messing around with that file and see what happens, but I'd love if some OOTP development guys could too. I don't understand why Tony could load it no problem, but me ... junk, junk, junk. <sigh> Continued help appreciated!! Last edited by cbbl; 07-31-2008 at 06:37 PM.

07-31-2008, 06:55 PM	#10
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Well, this is curious. I thought I had the problem solved. I think I'm close. Here's what I did. Thinking the trouble might be that I was cutting and pasting from Excel, I went to my Excel file and saved it as a .csv file. I opened that in TextEdit and noticed that every line had quotation marks around it: "Richard,5000,39" I did a massive find and replace to remove the quotation marks. I renamed the file first_names.txt and placed it in the database directory (overwriting the other file). Note that ONLY group 39 names were in the file. I opened OOTP, re-imported the names database, and went into a player editor. Everything fine! "Great", I said, "the problem must be the Excel cut and paste". So, I then took a copy of the ORIGINAL first_names.txt file and copied the names from my "39 only" file into it, overwriting the group 39 names in that original file. I saved it in the database folder and returned to OOTP. Re-import, player editor. JUNK! Now I'm baffled. What is it about that file that if I only change the 39 set it won't work? Even checked alphabetical order. I don't see why that should make a difference (it didn't when the file was only my list of names), but seeing all the other name sets are in alphabetical order, I'll try it. So, I'm stumped. There must be something about that file. Last edited by cbbl; 07-31-2008 at 07:03 PM.

08-02-2008, 01:53 PM	#11
Tony M Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Here Posts: 6,156	Is that the file that I would have loaded up because it loaded up fine on my machine or is it a different file up there on the server now? __________________ This signature is intentionally blank

08-05-2008, 05:01 AM	#13
Tony M Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Here Posts: 6,156	OK. I'll download that again and take the entire league structure to have a look at. __________________ This signature is intentionally blank

07-28-2008, 11:33 PM	#1
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Sigh - Names still not working I gave up on OOTP 8 because I wanted to customize the names file, but the program kept producing errors. I was hoping OOTP would be better, but no. I don't understand why this happens, and although I've posted about it a dozen times, I never seem to get any answers. I'll try again. I opened first_names.txt and changed all of the names in the 39 name set to more historically accurate names. I added a whole bunch -- hundreds, actually, so that I would have a very diverse list of names from which to choose. I created a game -- 296 players created, about half of them named Robert, another 40% named Floyd and the remainder gibberish. Why doesn't OOTP read this file correctly???!!!! Is there a limit on the number of names than can be in the file? Anything??? I just don't want Manuels and Rodriguezs and Yoshis in my 1946 league! I want Elmers and Edwards and Alberts. If I can't fix this then I suppose I'll have to give up on OOTP 9 too... Darn it. Are there any fictional historical players out there? Has anyone successfully modified the names files? Please help! I'm very frustrated!!!

07-29-2008, 02:32 AM	#2
Tony M Global Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Here Posts: 6,156	It is possible to alter the names.txt file and I have done it a few times to test the fixes Markus made. Can you zip up your names files (first_names and names) and put them on the FTP site (How to FTP Your Files to Us) __________________ This signature is intentionally blank

07-29-2008, 08:11 PM	#5
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	OK, FTP novice here. How do I actually transmit the files? I've gone to the ftp://ootpsupport.com site in the browser and I see an index. Now what? Using Firefox on an iMac.

07-30-2008, 06:11 PM	#6
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Tony: Here's the latest attempt and my step-by-step. 1. Adjusted nations.txt, line 206 to: 206,The United States,U.S.A.,USA,American,4,5,0,0,1,0,39,100,0,0, 123,30,716,6,125 via Mac's TextEdit. 2. Adjusted first_names.txt, name set 39, by creating a spreadsheet of the top 1,000 names from the SSI database. Overwrote the entire 39 name set by cutting-and-pasting the column from the spreadsheet into first_names.txt via Mac's TextEdit. 3. Started OOTP -> New Custom Game. 4. Created a 4-team fictional league with 1 level of minors. Set Foreign players percentage to 0 and Foreign Players Limit to "No Foreigners Allowed". 5. Started the game. Went to "Draft Pool" 6. Names are junk. TONS of "lliam" (90% of all names). 7. Saved the league and exited OOTP. 8. Compressed the two .txt files (nations.txt and first_names.txt) as "cbbl1a.zip" 9. Compressed the entire league folder as "cbbl1b.zip". 10. Uploaded both zip files to you via the OOTP ftp website. Is there some step I'm failing to take that is the problem? I suppose I could uninstall and reinstall OOTP, but I've experienced this same problem in the last version (OOTP8) also. For reference I am using the Mac version of version 9.1.2.

07-30-2008, 06:18 PM	#7
Carplos Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Idaho Posts: 2,854 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	206,The United States,U.S.A.,USA,American,4,5,39,100,0,0,0,0,0,0, 123,30,716,6,125 Try that.

08-05-2008, 07:48 PM	#14
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Thanks. Let me know if I can provide anything else. I've moved past this -- well, temporarily anyway -- by just having my name set 39 in the file. But I create other games and files to send to you if need be. Thanks, cbbl

08-17-2008, 03:10 PM	#15
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	These guys are saying that your names file is garbled: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...t-quiting.html Have you made any more progress?

08-18-2008, 05:10 PM	#16
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Not yet, though I'm going to try a file Bobble added. What is perplexing is the claim that BOTH files are garbled, yet one works just fine. But only one. The one with just the 39 name set. Why would that be? I'll experiment some more -- with Bobble's file and with a different text editor. Thanks for the follow up.

09-01-2008, 11:40 AM	#17
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Any progress now?

09-03-2008, 02:53 PM	#18
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	No, this remains an open issue.

10-03-2008, 07:05 PM	#19
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	Any change using version 9.2.0?

10-07-2008, 05:45 PM	#20
cbbl All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,179	Hi Nutlaw ... I skipped this issue for awhile, as I had a first name set that just included set 39 and everything was fine ... but now, a few years in, I want to introduce other ethnicities. So, I tried to change the first_names.txt file to include name set 1 and 39 and reimported it. But, no I keep having the same issue. It doesn't appear as bad as before (where everything was messed up), but I'm noticing that OOTP is only properly pulling from the names.txt set and doesn't seem to be properly matching the first_names.txt with it (in other words, its pulling first names from the 39 name set and combining it with last names from the 1 name set). Here's what I did: * Within ethnicities.txt, changed line 39 from: 39,U.S. (Historical),0,0,0,1000,0, to: 39,U.S. (Historical),100,0,0,900,0, * Within first_names.txt (which only had names in the 39 name set), added the original list of 1 nameset names (that is, from the original OOTP-provided first_names.txt file). * Reimported names and ethnicities database. * Under Nations Editor, changed The United States (which for some reason shows fourth in the list, even though everything else is in alphabetical order), from: Name Origin #1 - US (Historical) 100% to: Name Origin #1 - US (Historical) 89% Name Origin #2 - Hispanic 11% Note that I had never changed the names.txt file. When my amateur draft came around (60 players created), I noticed only a couple of hispanic last names (good so far) and that some players were of African facial type (also good). But the first names didn't seem to line up. To test it out, I returned to Nations Editor and changed Name Origin #1 to Hispanic 100% and eliminated Name Origin #2. Now, theoretically all names should pull from the 1 name set, and none from the 39 name set. I went to my draft list, picked a name, entered the editor, and clicked regenerate name. Here are my results: Winton Velazquez Edmond Sierra Benedict Santos Eldridge Machado Loy Lujan Crawford Villanueva Vincent Reyes All first names are from the 39 name set. GRRRRR I looked at the first_names.txt file using TxtEditor and noted that the special characters in name set 1 appear messed up. I'm thinking that TextEditor is the problem. To see, I copied the original OOTP first_names.txt file into the active database directory, and reloaded the ethnicities and names database. I returned to my player, and regenerated names: Pancho Macias Hector Huerta Ivan Lopez Cris Rivera Anibal Cataquet So, it appears to be working fine now. That tells me that TextEditor is the problem. I will play with it more and see if I can use a different program to import my own names and reload. But for now, the issue appears resolved. (BTW, a seperate issue, I am using 9.1.6 and clicked "Check for Updates" and was told there were none -- even though 9.2.2 has been released). I'll have to update manually. But, isn't this an issue?