novaparse/README.md

An EV Nova file parser for NovaJS

# NovaParse
An EV Nova data file and plug-in parser built for NovaJS, this project parses a directory containing `Nova Data` and `Plug-ins` subdirectories according to the [NovaDataInterface](https://github.com/mattsoulanille/NovaDataInterface). 

In contrast to how EV Nova parsed files, NovaParse separates Plug-ins into their own namespaces to prevent ID conflicts. Each plug-in placed directly in the `Plug-ins` directory has access to its own IDs and to the global `Nova Files` IDs, but does not have access to IDs defined in other plug-ins. Creating a subdirectory inside the `Plug-ins` directory creates a shared namespace, and any plug-ins placed into that directory will have access to each other's IDs (in addition to the `Nova Files` ids), allowing plug-in packs like Extra Outfits and ARPIA2 to work correctly.


## Prerequisites
git, npm

## Installing
For deployment, [get it from npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/novaparse) with
```
npm install --save novaparse
```

## Usage

#### Reading Nova data and Nova plug-ins

```
// TypeScript
import { NovaParse } from "novaparse";

// Determines whether NovaParse should throw errors when a parse fails
// or should provide a default value for each failed resource parse.
var strict = false;

// should contain "Plug-ins" and "Nova Files" subdirectories
var parser = new NovaParse("/nova/source/folder", strict);

```
This loads all Nova Files contained in ```/nova/source/folder/Nova\ Files/``` and then loads all Nova Plug-ins in
```/nova/source/folder/Plug-ins/```, possibly overwriting IDs in `Nova Files`. Plug-ins are loaded in reverse alphabetical order, so a plug-in of earlier alphabetical order may overwrite a resource in `Nova Files` that was previously overwritten by a plug-in of later alphabetical order.

#### Getting data out of the parser
NovaParse implements `GameDataInterface` of [NovaDataInterface](https://github.com/mattsoulanille/NovaDataInterface), which defines how data can be accessed from it. In short, 
* `(await NovaDataInterface.ids)["ResourceType"]` gets the list of available IDs for resources of "ResourceType"
* `await NovaDataInterface.data["ResourceType"].get("GlobalID")` gets the `"ResourceType"` resource of id `"GlobalID"`.

The global IDs of `Nova Files` all start with `nova:` and end with their corresponding ID. Global IDs of things in the `Plug-ins` directory start with the name of the Plug-in or directory and end with a colon and their ID.


## Development
To set up development, download the repository and run 
```
npm install
```
to install dependencies.

To build the project for deployment, use
```
npm run build
```
This command must be run prior to publishing to npm.

### Running Tests
Tests can be run with
```npm run test```

To run an individual test, run ```npm run test-only ./test/path/to/test.ts```

### Contributing
Pull requests are welcome if you find bugs, but more type definitions need to be written before new data types can be implemented. The next large project is parsing the `snd ` resource, which contains all the Nova sounds.