Subject:
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Re: MPD Files?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev
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Date:
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Sat, 19 Jun 1999 01:09:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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662 times
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On Fri, 18 Jun 1999 22:29:08 GMT, "Adam Howard" <abhoward10@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Can someone give me a simple explanation of what MPD files are and what they
> are good for? I've read the FAQ (absolutely no help) and Jacob's
> explanation, but I still haven't got a clue. He explains that they are
> files with multiple ldraw files in them. But it seems to me that's pretty
> much what you get when you create a model with a bunch of part files. What
> is the difference and why is it a good thing?
>
> Just Curious,
> Thanks,
> Adam
Ah my young Padewan, MPD (Multi-Part Dat) originally was intended as a simple
way of distributing a model that had multiple DAT files.
The idea was to have a program that would gather together all the subfiles of a
model and write them into one single file. This would make the file easy to
attach to an email or to post. Then the recipient could run the single file
through a "splitter" and it would recreate all the model subfiles exactly as
they were.
The resulting single file has special lines that the program uses (a
"meta-command"). In this case, the MPD meta-command is:
0 FILE filename.dat
So all the dat file content following the "0 FILE filename.dat"command would be
written as a file with the name "filename.dat".
When the splitter program encounters the next 0 FILE command, it uses the name
provided to create the next file from the block of code below it.
You can also create MPD files manually by just adding the contents of each dat
file a model uses into one file. Separate the sections with the "0 FILE
xxxx.dat" lines - where xxxx.dat is the name to give the block of code.
One rule: The first block of code in an MPD file should be the code for the
main model. Then the submodels follow. If you have any sub-submodels, those
code blocks should be _after_ the section that uses them.
(this is so that the LDLite program can display them properly without splitting
the MPD file)
To manually split an MPD, just copy each block of code and make each section
into an individual file, using the filename provided in that sections 0 File
line. You should also delete that 0 File line in each individual file.
So MPD's allow multi-part dat files to be easily distributed, recreated at
will, and they can be viewed without splitting by LDLite.
As opposed to inlining, which transforms all the submodels into the main file,
and cannot be easily undone. At least, it cannot recreate the original file as
the author had written it.
-- Terry K --
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | MPD Files?
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| Can someone give me a simple explanation of what MPD files are and what they are good for? I've read the FAQ (absolutely no help) and Jacob's explanation, but I still haven't got a clue. He explains that they are files with multiple ldraw files in (...) (25 years ago, 18-Jun-99, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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