2016-08-13 19:55:07 +01:00
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*********************
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Miscellaneous Details
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*********************
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String Encoding
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===============
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* All output strings are encoded in UTF-8.
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* Input strings are expected to be encoded in UTF-8.
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* File paths are case-sensitive if and only if the underlying file system is
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case-sensitive.
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* :cpp:func:`WriteMinimalList` writes a metadata list encoded in UTF-8.
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Errors
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======
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All errors encountered are thrown as exceptions that inherit from
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``std::exception``.
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Metadata Files
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==============
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LOOT stores plugin metadata in YAML files. It distinguishes between *masterlist*
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and *userlist* files: each game has a single masterlist, which is a public,
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curated metadata store, and each LOOT user has a private userlist, which can
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2016-09-18 12:53:25 +01:00
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contain metadata added by the user. The two files use the same syntax, but
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2016-08-13 19:55:07 +01:00
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metadata in the userlist extends or replaces metadata sourced from the
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masterlist.
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LOOT's plugin metadata can be conditional, eg. a plugin may require a patch only
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if another plugin is also present. The API's :cpp:func:`LoadLists` method parses
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metadata files into memory, but does not evaluate these conditions, so the
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loaded metadata may contain metadata that is invalid for the installed game that
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the :cpp:class:`loot::DatabaseInterface` object being operated on was created for.
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The :cpp:func:`EvalLists` must be called to evaluate any conditions in the
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loaded metadata. In doing so it discards any metadata with a condition that
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evaluates to false, but the pre-evaluation metadata is cached internally so that
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re-evaluation does not require the lists to be reloaded.
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Caching
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=======
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All unevaluated metadata is cached between calls to :cpp:func:`LoadLists`.
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Evaluated metadata is cached between calls to :cpp:func:`EvalLists`. Metadata
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conditions and their results are cached between calls to :cpp:func:`EvalLists`,
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so that every call to :cpp:func:`EvalLists` re-evaluates all conditions, but
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conditions that are used more than once in the loaded metadata are only
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evaluated once.
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Plugin content is cached between calls to :cpp:func:`SortPlugins`, though no
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other API function makes use of it.
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Performance
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===========
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Loading metadata lists is a relatively costly operation, as is updating the
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masterlist (which involves loading it). Evaluating the loaded metadata lists is
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not very costly relative to loading them, though is performance depends on the
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type and number of conditions used in the loaded metadata, and all the
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conditions involve filesystem access.
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Sorting plugins is expensive, as it involves loading all the FormIDs for all
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the plugins, apart from the game's main master file, which is skipped as an
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optimisation (it doesn't depend on anything else and is much bigger than any
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other plugin, so is unnecessary and slow to load).
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Getting plugin metadata once loaded is cheap, as is getting a masterlist's
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revision.
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