Graphing Aurora Data

[Larz (OP)]

I am pretty new to Aurora and am having a great time playing it.  One problem I had was keeping track of resources and how my stockpiles where changing (am I running out of Duranium or is my supply increasing?).  So, I have created an application to track mineral stockpiles (and fuel reserves, population level and wealth), and then graph these values on demand.  Here are some examples of the graphs that can be generated:

Duranium report(as you can see it got dangerously low, so I concentrated on getting more and have recovered):
https://docs. google. com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavQTdjaUllZ3kzek0/edit

All minerals at once:
https://docs. google. com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavNnRiekRTYXU3cU0/edit

Population (pretty boring, had no idea growth was so linear):
https://docs. google. com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavYldIM09fQ1FLQ1k/edit

Wealth (uh oh. . . ):
https://docs. google. com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavNmVTQUZZMlZqbmc/edit

Fuel:
https://docs. google. com/file/d/0B3IGmBe9vPavZzJBTkhrR3pRUms/edit

Here is where you can download the application to try it out.  Just extract the zip file and run the AuroraReports. exe file.
https://docs. google. com/uc?export=download&confirm=CiCI&id=0B3IGmBe9vPavczVocUdLWm5uSUk

Once you start it, just point it to your Aurora location and let it run as you play.  It will gather data as you play.  Then, whenever you want to generate a report just select the Game and Race and the report type you want generated.  You need to have the app running whenever you play for it to gather the data.   As a disclaimer, I have been running this app for months without issue, but you will still want to backup your Stevefire. mdb whenever you play.  The AuroraReports application shouldn't effect the database at all but backups are always a good idea.

Also, if you are curious the source code is available here: https://github. com/larzm42/AuroraReports

[justleroy]

Yes, sir, this would be very useful.

[Bgreman]

Trying to look into the source, I can't quite see where it hooks into the Stevefire.mdb file.  Where does that happen?

I've got a set of tools I'm using for my LP to be able to generate some data in tabular format: an app reads from Stevefire.mdb, then spits out various json files.  I put those on my website and the web front-end can then read it.  http://www.bgreman.com/LP/Aurora/ColdestWarViewer/

However, my tools don't track data over time (other than loading up the historical json files and comparing manually).  It's something I want to add, eventually.

[sloanjh]

an app reads from Stevefire.mdb, then spits out various json files. 

Have you run into any problems with DB corruption?

A year or two ago I went back to Starfire Assitant (the predecessor to Aurora) and wrote a little C# app to perform operations on the DB.  The main thing it did was provide the ability generate officer with automatic names - I think I grabbed some of the name files from Aurora and used them (SA didn't have auto-naming for officers).  After playing a few days, I got a message that my Starfire.mdb was corrupted.  My recollection is that I figured out that the JET engine doesn't like two different applications (SA and mine) poking at the DB at the same time - even though only one of the apps was changing the DB at any one time, it somehow still managed to get corrupted.

You might not have run into this because it sounds like you're only doing queries, but I thought I'd mention it to see if you had any clever ideas to dodge the issue.

John

[Larz (OP)]

Trying to look into the source, I can't quite see where it hooks into the Stevefire. mdb file.   Where does that happen?

I've got a set of tools I'm using for my LP to be able to generate some data in tabular format: an app reads from Stevefire. mdb, then spits out various json files.   I put those on my website and the web front-end can then read it.   hxxp: www. bgreman. com/LP/Aurora/ColdestWarViewer/

However, my tools don't track data over time (other than loading up the historical json files and comparing manually).   It's something I want to add, eventually.

Here is where I make a couple connections to the Stevefire. mdb (two connections because I am threading some of the reads).
https://github. com/larzm42/AuroraReports/blob/master/qt/mainwindow. cpp

See the getMDBConnection method.  They are read-only connections to limit any blocking.  The connections are used in the DBReader class here:
https://github. com/larzm42/AuroraReports/blob/master/qt/dbreader. cpp

I take the data I read and put it in another database (a SQLLite DB).  It's keeping track of all resources over time across all bodies.  It only adds data when time advances in the game.  Also it handles loading a backup by removing data it's read that is now in the future.  I then use JasperReports to generate reports on the data.  Do you think there is any other game data that would be useful to track over time?

I was partly inspired to create this tool by your web viewer and am following your LP on SA.  Maybe I'll throw my hat in to become a naval officer.  Though I'll be honest that sometimes it's hard to follow all of the politics of the UN.

[Larz (OP)]

I have updated the OP with the location of the AuroraReports application.  Let me know if it is useful for you or any suggestions for improvement.  Thanks.

[coco146]

I'm afraid that I can't seem to get it working, when selecting the Aurora install location I get this message. "Error opening Aurora database.  Please select the installation directory of Aurora."  I am using the portable/all in one launcher version, could this cause a problem?

[Karma Chip]

Just checked out the google doc graphics.  Wow that looks pretty neat! Nice work, always cool to see 3rd party tools supporting these type of games

[Larz (OP)]

I'm afraid that I can't seem to get it working, when selecting the Aurora install location I get this message.  "Error opening Aurora database.   Please select the installation directory of Aurora. "  I am using the portable/all in one launcher version, could this cause a problem?

You need to select the directory where the Stevefire. mdb is located.  Also I should have mentioned that this only works with 6. 21.  If this is what you are doing, I will see what else may be happening.

[justleroy]

You need to select the directory where the Stevefire. mdb is located.  Also I should have mentioned that this only works with 6. 21.  If this is what you are doing, I will see what else may be happening.

I'm getting the same error. I have stevefire.mdb in c:\games\aurora, but when I select that directory I get the message "error opening local database" then "Please select the installation directory..." message. I get the same errors when I put stevefire.mdb in the same directory as aurorareports.exe.  I've tried running aurorareports.exe as administrator and in compatibility mode (XP, SP3). I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium x64.

Could this be a permissions issue?

[Larz (OP)]

I'm getting the same error.  I have stevefire. mdb in c:\games\aurora, but when I select that directory I get the message "error opening local database" then "Please select the installation directory. . . " message.  I get the same errors when I put stevefire. mdb in the same directory as aurorareports. exe.   I've tried running aurorareports. exe as administrator and in compatibility mode (XP, SP3).  I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium x64. 

Could this be a permissions issue?

Yeah, something is definitely up.  I can reproduce the problem on one machine but not another.  I will post when I have the problem fixed and a new version uploaded.  Sorry about that.