Another question about shipdata.plist

[Lestradae]

Hi,

in shipdata.plist, is it actually of relevance if done in XML scripting in which sequence the commands are listed?

I.e., which fuel a ship has, which equipment, hyperdrive spin time, weapons energy, subentities, large cargo bay largeess etc. etc. - could they just be mixed together as it pleases or is a certain sequence nescessary, and if yes, which?

Perhaps a stupid question, perhaps not, I better ask before experimenting, and if it could be "pick & mix" that would be very practical.

Thanks in advance for any knowledgeable people

L

[Ramirez]

Pretty sure that sequence isn't important. I tend to keep things in a certain order just so that I can find things in the list quickly. However, as long as all the keys are in place technically you can order things as you like.

[Commander McLane]

Doesn't matter at all. PlistEdit Pro puts all keys of any plist it opens in alphabetic order, so personally I've got used to this. But it really doesn't matter.

[JensAyton]

Lestradae, shipdata.plist is not a script, it is a data file. A script contains instructions, a data file contains descriptions.

The order of items in dictionaries does not matter – they are unordered collections. The order of items in arrays does matter. This applies to all plists.

[Lestradae]

Thanks again, guys, for the quick and to-the-point answers.

@Ahruman: I really must get my understanding of the terms here somewhere else

Problem is, I have no programmers background at all, and what I know of the terms - legacy scripting, script, data file, XML, OpenStep etc. - I picked up by reading on the forums ...

Is there some sort of resource or dictionary from where a noob to those topics like me could get a basic education?

Greetings

L

[ClymAngus]

I always find that a combination of popping the hood and busting things combined with the odd specific question tend to work well.