Magic Deck Options

[CSM]

I found this on my harddrive, and decided to put it out here for a few reasons. But first, the back-story: Matt Hackett put out a Widget called "Magic: The Gathering". Anyways, I saw the comments from users, and they all seemed to have the same issues: Not being about to save their cards, and not knowing card names. Well, I thought that making users have to type in the card's exact name, spelling, case and all, was pretty dumb. Then, the card saving, I'm the self-proclaimed king of spawning Widgets. (in my own mind. humor me please ) So, I thought maybe I could rectify these things easily, and give it back to the author, you know, just a little help. Well, it turns out, I had no idea how he was handling things, and by the time I was done, the code had been totally rewritten, and it even looked different. So I did put it out there for the author, but he didn't do anything, and I've checked back a couple of times since (okay, a bit more than I care to admit) and I changed the saving/loading to use XML before I posted it here.

download here

Things I "rectified":

• Cards now save themselves to an XML file. I let DOM build the XML, so it is very fast.
• Card names are chosen via a drop down list.
• Cards are resizable.

Like the original, double click cards to "tap" them. (turn them sideways)

Some side effects:

• The Widget is very slow to load. This is due to the search engine being very slow at building the page it gives to me. I assume my parsing code would actually be very fast.
• I tell the website's search engine to search for "all". Which is a pretty cheap trick, assuming that brings up all the cards (there is a chance it doesn't).
• The original animation code (which I kept) would "leap" to the right when run the first time. After that it's fine. I call the animation twice before setting cards visible to "eliminate" this.
  (I think it is still there after resizing cards)

A possible future item might include a second drop down to set certain "colors" and only choose among them, however, that would require a bit of finesse, as you can't dynamically update either a Preference or a Form.

Please note, I'm am neither Magic player nor "fanboy". I don't collect the cards, and at most have watched maybe two games. I actually consider card games such as this as a "money hole". That blasphemy aside:

Enjoy the Widget.

P.S.: This will more than likely not make it into the gallery, unless reviews are generally positive, and the original author doesn't come back to claim the few lines of code that are still his. (the rotation/animation code). I am also working on another project that I wish would be finished right now and it is taking all of my time. I just put this out there so it would stop bothering me.

[Lauurent]

It's working great and it's indeed much easier to use than the original Magic Card widget.

I tell the website's search engine to search for "all". Which is a pretty cheap trick, assuming that brings up all the cards (there is a chance it doesn't).

No it doesn't It looks like it's only returning the cards from the latest edition(s). I couldn't find any of the old cards. Also if you have this data somewhere in your feed, it would be nice to list the cards by editions like "Beta - Black Lotus", "Ice Age - Jester's Cap", etc. so that it's easier to find the card you need.

Also I noticed that the card is a bit "pale" like if it was half transparent on a white background. Don't know if it's an issue with the website or with the widget though.

[ghostwalker]

Well that was weird when I went to save file I clicked the button to download your widget I got an advertisement page and instead of your widget I got c.wmf which was a virus. My second attempt did not bring up the ad page and I was able to get your widget just thought someone should know to be careful.

[dimsum]

LOL - pwns teh spawns...

(The original author has been busy.)

EDIT: Oops, link repaired.

[CSM]

I'll answer one at a time ...

It's working great and it's indeed much easier to use than the original Magic Card widget.

Thanks.

No it doesn't It looks like it's only returning the cards from the latest edition(s). I couldn't find any of the old cards. Also if you have this data somewhere in your feed, it would be nice to list the cards by editions like "Beta - Black Lotus", "Ice Age - Jester's Cap", etc. so that it's easier to find the card you need.

The power of the search! I can send various commands to their search "engine" and that might be one of them ... here is the link I use to "search" their database: Magic "Gatherer" Using the search engine parameters, maybe a dynamic popup could be used to select the card you want, from the appropriate set.

Also I noticed that the card is a bit "pale" like if it was half transparent on a white background. Don't know if it's an issue with the website or with the widget though.

Heh ... uh, well, that's what you get for me trying to attempt to make a "fancy" overlay. I tried to rectify that the "lightness" but couldn't quite do it. Inside the Widget there is a .drawOld() on Card objects, I don't remember what it looks like, (because I liked the "look" of the current) but it is worth investigating ...

Well that was weird when I went to save file I clicked the button to download your widget I got an advertisement page and instead of your widget I got c.wmf which was a virus. My second attempt did not bring up the ad page and I was able to get your widget just thought someone should know to be careful.

Yeah, Savefile sucks. I have become less and less complimentary of their site. More adds, less content. As for the virus, I haven't gotten one from [savefile] yet ... may have been the ad page. In the future, I plan to host bigger projects through a management site to get the benefits of bug tracking, features, and the like. Since I don't really have a place to host other miscellaneous projects, savefile won't completely disappear from my projects ...

LOL - pwns teh spawns...

(The original author has been busy.)

EDIT: Oops, link repaired.

Well, I published it and very clearly stated my intentions (twice, no less) and all before the new gallery was posted. As to the "LOL - pwns teh spawns" ... I have no idea ...

[dimsum]

As to the "LOL - pwns teh spawns" ... I have no idea ...

... as in King of Spawning

[CSM]

Okay, the function drawOldStyle() just draws a simple "glass" translucent border around the card. No overlay. While cards would appear to be more "vibrant" than the current look, I kinda liked the "under glass" look. Maybe I could tone it back a bit. Suggestions welcome, and I will especially welcome Canvas code. Technically, since I save it to an image anyways (via an invisible canvas) nice photoshopped images are welcome too, I guess.

[CSM]

Since I am working on a project right now that currently involves a lot of work right now (and after it is published), I didn't expect this to require major work. However, I hate to see great ideas die.

So I have some suggestions/options here:

• Someone with enough interest could continue my work. (more below)
• The original idea-author can maybe pick up some tips and integrate them into his Widget to resolve its current "issues".

I will admit the Widget won't be the easiest to "maintain", but I have made a few steps to make that easier. The preferences are saved via "universal" XML, which is easily changed, parsed, and can be made backwards compatible with previous versions of the Widget if more data is stored in the future. The Widget also follows my typical "spawning" layout, so if you read my tutorial, it might be a bit easier. There are a few code comments, but if (at the request of) the person assuming this project wants me to got through and thoroughly document the code, I would be very willing. As always with projects I "abandon"* the new author may assume any and all credit due. *

* Ugh, such an ugly word here. Maybe "give away"?
* I do not require any, the assuming author may choose to do what he wishes.


I am not doing to this like I have other projects where I just say: "Anyone who wants it, take it ... you're on your own.", I am asking someone to please take up this project, and I will help out to get it started again, as requested/needed. I was stupid to take on another project, but that's how I am, and I profusely thank anyone wishing to take over this one. If it works out, I hope to see it in the gallery. It would make a fine addition.