[FAQ] Problems with VBO export

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9000Redline
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by 9000Redline »

gplracerx wrote:Notepad++ can put the space back in. You need to select all the data lines, open the replace menu, Select Regular Expression search mode in the lower left and check the 'in selection box' for the Replace all button. Search for $ and enter a space in replace with, then Replace All. I'm not at all sure that the format for entering Start/Finish and Splits is correct either.
Hi there,
I'm not sure if you were responding to the vbo's that I posted but I generated them using HLT and processed them according to Harry's instructions (first post in this thread). I trust Harry's instructions are correct, they seem almost the opposite of what you suggested, for example instructions suggested to remove whitespace between lines.

This is painful. Is this working for anybody at all using the current HLT version and circuit tools?
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by gplracerx »

9000Redline,

Yes, I am referring to the files you posted. Harry asked if anyone could help with this problem. I'm helping.

Either you didn't follow Harry's instructions or the file was altered to remove the space at the end of each line in the mailing process. Harry never said to remove all white space, only blank lines. The end of line should be CR/LF, (/r/n in Notepad++ search and replace terminology) not CR/CR/LF (/r/r/n). I compared your .vbo file with a file generated by a VBOX Sport. The VBOX Sport file, which loads into Circuit Tools just fine, has a space at the end of each data line. When I add a space to the end of each data line in your one lap .vbo file and put the column names on separate lines, it loads into Circuit Tools. Your GPS data has a lot of bad fixes in that lap, by the way.

I suggest you take the original file, if you still have it, and load it into Notepad++. Then select Show Symbol in the View drop down menu and click on Show All Characters. That will show if the original file had a space at the end of the line. It's possible that the space was removed in the mailing process. Or you could use Dropbox instead of mail and compare files.
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Harry
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by Harry »

The mailer conversion will change line feed conventions only. I'm sure it does not touch anything else. LapTimer does not generate spaces before line ends, that is not necessary.
The only way I know to work around this conversion problems is to generate compressed .vbo files (i.e. .vbo.gz). The mailers will run the conversions on text files only. As I have only .gz compression available, this would generate issues for many Windows users on the other hand. .gz is not a standard extension for Windows and requires 3rd party software. That's the reason I have not added compression.

- Harry
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gplracerx
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by gplracerx »

Harry wrote:The mailer conversion will change line feed conventions only. I'm sure it does not touch anything else. LapTimer does not generate spaces before line ends, that is not necessary.
The only way I know to work around this conversion problems is to generate compressed .vbo files (i.e. .vbo.gz). The mailers will run the conversions on text files only. As I have only .gz compression available, this would generate issues for many Windows users on the other hand. .gz is not a standard extension for Windows and requires 3rd party software. That's the reason I have not added compression.

- Harry
OK, I downloaded one of my sessions to Dropbox as a .vbo file. It loaded into CT, but, as usual, there was difficulty with CT detecting laps, but that's a separate issue. There was no space at the end of each data line. However, adding a space was the only way I could get 9000Redline's file to load into CT. By the way, it's pointless to include lateral and longitudinal acceleration. CT ignores those columns and calculates speed and acceleration from the position data. The VBOX Sport .vbo file even has the labels switched on the acceleration columns. Maybe CT requires those columns, but I'm betting that you could fill them with all zeros and it would still work.

Back to the drawing board to see why it works when you use Dropbox and why it doesn't when the file is mailed.
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by gplracerx »

I mailed myself the same file using gmail. The line ending is CR/CR/LF with the CR/LF on a separate line. If I use search \r\r\n and replace\r\n I get a usable file. If, OTOH, I use Edit-Line Operations-Remove Empty Lines and Edit-EOL Conversions-Windows, it doesn't. Eyeballing the files, I don't see a difference. I'll have to look more closely. I wonder if there's a compare file function in Notepad++.
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by gplracerx »

I've tried changing EOL to windows only, EOL to windows first then remove blank lines and remove blank lines and then EOL to Windows. EOL to Windows screws up the file somehow. Maybe something has changed in Notepad++ since you first tried the procedure, but as far as I can tell, the only method that works to make a file that has been mailed through Gmail work is Find: \r\r\n, Replace: \r\n

Final answer:

There must be one, and only one, blank line after [header]. Removing all blank lines will cause import into CT to fail because of this. No other blank lines are required. You need to add a step to your Edit method: after removing blank lines and doing the EOL conversion, add a blank line after [header] before saving the file.

I tested this by adding a blank line after [header] with 9000RedLine's large .vbo file and it worked. Eight laps showed up in CT.

edited to replace / with \ in the search/replace. *sigh*
Last edited by gplracerx on Fri Jun 06, 2014 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Harry
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by Harry »

LapTimer finishes lines in VBO using \r\n - which is the Windows standard sequence. The mailer considers the file a Unix file and replaces each \n by \r\n - which results in \r\r\n

The recommended editors are able to replace \r\r\n by \r\n -although the display shows something unexpected.

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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by gplracerx »

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: Circuit Tools is worth the money you pay for it, zip, nada, nothing.
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by Harry »

Just thought about exporting the file twice - once with Unix conventions and once with Windows conventions. The one with Unix conventions will work for Windows, the one with Windows conventions will not work - as long as you have a "wants to be smart mailer".

CT's VBO parser is extremely sensible, yes...

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9000Redline
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Re: [FAQ] Problems with VBO export

Post by 9000Redline »

Harry and Gplracer,

thank you so much for your help. I could never have figured this out myself. I'll post back when I've had time to try the new findings.
The Circuit Tools import is shocking indeed. I hope the rest of the software is better.

By the way, has anybody tried the Aim Solo? I wished I had a real-time predictive timer, but with my current HTL setup I do not. Harry, that would be an amazing feature to add by the way.

The sector based +- times aren't as useful as realtime deltas. With realtime feedback you can tell good lines apart from bad lines, immediately, and observe how different lines affect times through corners or on the straightaway (faster exist means delta drop on straightaway)
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