MZ and CreepingDeath,
Maybe I can help. I have been playing with MK for a couple of months...Long post and directions follow...
What MK is designed for is to automated your hack installs. You need to create (or import when available) the mods. You should only need to do this once. As it stands now, if you upload lots of new files you either have to completely reinstall each and every hack or use Beyond Compare to transfer information.
1. Start MK for the first time and you will have to set your folders. My suggestion is to create two new folders. One for input (source File) and one for output (Output). I named mine "upgrade" and the other "output." Set these in the MK Options section.
2. Over on the far left, check whatever options you want. I use "start in advanced mode," "validate each mod," "use Big Windows," and "check for .MHP & .MHK file associations at startup."
3. For Install Options I suggest "search output Directory First" and nothing else for starters. When you get the hang of things you can change that.
4. Click on save settings and lets get started.
5. When a version of UBB comes down the road, unzip it to any directory and COPY (leave an original copy incase you mess something up) all the files into your source file (mine being named upgrade).
Now you should be in advanced mode and ready to create a hack from scratch (we'll import later).
1. Click on "new" and fill in the information at the bottom left. Things like Hack name, Author name, version, etc. This is the information you find at the top of every hack. The click on "Save Hack Info" at the bottom of that section.
2. Once the info is saved you will click on the file you just created in the top left screen under "Hack List."
On the right side of your screen click on "Add"
3. On the bottom left side you will now be in the "Mod Info" view. Here you put in the info for the first modification of the hack you are building. lets say that "public_topic_page.pl" is the file I want to modify (this comes from the hack you are installing). below the Modification file name you will select the location the file is in. IE in our case the .pl files are in the Template directory.
4. Now look at what the author of the hack wants you to do. In this case we are...
and
6. So, we click on the radio button that says "Replace", cut and paste the info that we want to FIND into the "Old Data" box and what we are CHANGING TO in the "new Data" box.
7. Now click 'save" over on the far left at the bottom of the screen. That first step is complete and automated.
8. You will do each step of the hack directions just like that. Hit "add" to start a new step and save to cplete it.
9. if you are using the "Mod Info" from the same file again, IE you are modifying the same file, like the "public_topic_page.pl" file we used above again (when you make multiple changes to the same file) then click on the "double arrows" to the right of the "add button." This will keep your file information intact and save you the step of having to fill in "Modification File Name" and File Location" again and again. When you click on just the "add" button, it clears out those blocks so you can put in fresh info.
So, once you have completed all the steps in the hack directions, you can run the "analyze' feature. This is the green button at the very top with the picture of the magnifying glass. it will run through each step without actually modifying anything to make sure everything is in order. What this is basically looking for is the EXACT text and format of the "old data." it DOES not look at the code and make sure your new data is correct. So, if you cut and past incorrectly into the "New data" section it will install but the hack wont work.
- If something fails in the "analyze" phase, my suggestion is to open the file that needs to be modified from your Source Directory (mine is upgrade) and search for the "old data." Something like an extra space or carriage return will throw the system off and give a "false-positive." Once you find the section in question, copy the section and repaste it over the "old data" in MK and run analyze again. 9.895 out of 10 times this corrects the problem even though everything looks exactly alike.
Once you get everything put in, everything analyzes correctly, you will "install" the hack. This is the green button at the very top with the green arrow pointing right. This copies the files out of your source directory (so the originals are un touched), modifies the files with the changes, and places new copies into your "output directory." now just upload those files to the web location and your done.
How does this save you time? In the long run it does. Once your hack is done in MK it only takes seconds to modify. If a new version of UBB comes out, just copy all files from the new version over the old ones in your "Source directory." hit the install button, and upload. That will take you about 30 seconds. No more recoding or searching every time.
Another NOTE: Most people have multiple hacks installed. I suggest the following for all of you...
The first time you create the hack. install each one individually and upload. Check the UBB out thoroughly to make sure everything works correctly and then move on to the next one to install. If you try to install all of them without verify that you did everything correctly, then you won't know which mode is messed up.
once you know the mod works, drag and drop, copy, cut and paste (what ever works for you) those files form your "Output directory" back into your "source directory." Copy them over the old files.
Now install the next hack, upload, test, verify, then copy those files into the "source directory." Essentially you are building up each file.
Once you know that all the files work correctly, when the next version of UBB comes out you can just install each and every hack with the "Overwrite Source Files" box checked and you don't have to worry about any output directory. MK will modify all the source files and will install as fast as you can click the button. It should only take you 15 seconds to add 15 hacks. AGAIN, do not use this until you know all the hacks were created correctly.
If an author was nice enough to build a .mhx file for use, then all you have , to do is download the file, double click on it and it will "import" itself into MK, the run a quick analyze, install, and upload. I give this 30 seconds in the difficulty scale.
I think I made most steps clear, but if not I can try to elaborate and clarify...
[ June 29, 2001 02:14 PM: Message edited by: snip1er ]
