How to recover a “lost” template from a Show File -jjf
A BlueLite show file always carries all the information that it needs to run. The idea being that if you backup that ONE file, then you can always recover from catastrophic failure (the cable breaks and the giant flaming pig plummets onto your laptop before exploding…) Just run to Best Buy, reload the software, and install the one file and you have everything you need to run the show, including cue changes.
However, one thing you cannot easily do is create new shows, using templates for devices that were lost in the Sus Scrofa Scrofa (S. Domestica?) disaster. However, this information can be extracted with a file editing tool and a few basic steps.
First, the tool…
Basically all files in the X1 system are “Structured Storage” or “OLE” files. Basically, a Microsoft standard for embedding hierarchal file system inside a single file. Microsoft has long provided a Document Viewer (Docview.exe), but it does not allow editing. There might be others, but the most common hit you will get searching the web for free editors is “eDoc”. The original download link is no more, but it does appear in a number of repositories. However, since I can’t vouch for the integrity of those copies, I’m putting a copy of the original self extracting zip file (eDoc.exe) up with these instructions. If the writing style in the brief manual seems familiar, well, let’s just say we have permission for redistribution…
To install, double click on eDoc.exe, then select “Setup” from the dialog that appears. Preparation…
Before using the editing tool, we need to do a little preparation: Step 0. Make a backup copy of the show file
If you skip this step and accidentally corrupt the show file with the editing tool, don’t bother asking for help, we will only laugh, cruelly, at your misfortune.
Step 1. Open the Show File and examine the Device Manager Window
Step 2. Note the exact name of the Device whose original template you wish to recover Example: “Death Ray 001”
Step 3. Create a New Template in with the correct name and in the correct manufacturer folder
Step 4. Exit BlueLite so that all files are unlocked and available for editing The hairy part…
Don’t worry, it’s not that hairy, but it will seem like a lot of steps until you get the hang of it, then it will seem simple.
Step 5. Run eDoc, and use “File” and “Open” to open the show file
Note: eDoc looks for some standard Microsoft extensions. You will need to put *.* or *.x1 in the file name area to show the file you want.
At this point, eDoc looks pretty blank, but the name of the file should be in the little tree display on the left:
Step 6. Expand the tree control on the left, and expand the “Devices” folder that appears under it
Step 7. Expand the individual device folders one at a time and click on the “Info” data block until you find the device that matches the name you noted in Step 2
Note: The name will have spaces between each letter, but should be readable in the bottom of the far right column that appears. For example:
Step 8. Run eDoc again (a second copy) and open the placeholder template file we created in Step 3
Step 9. Copy the “Controls” data block from located device in the show file to the “Controls” data block in the placeholder template file
We are going to cheat and break this step into a few smaller steps: 9a. Expand the template file tree
9b. Click on the “Controls” data block so it is highlighted 9c. Select “Edit” and “Delete” from the menu
At this point, the control block should be gone from the template file
9d. Click on the “Controls” data block in the device in the show file (other copy of eDoc) so it is highlighted
9e. Select “Edit” and “Copy” from the menu
9f. Go back to the template file and select the root folder (top of the tree) so that it is highlighted
9g. Select “Edit” and “Paste” from the menu
At this point, the control block from the show file should be in our template file Step 10. Copy over the “GUID” or unique identifier, from the show file device to our template
Again, we’ll cheat and break this down further:
10a. Select the “Info” data block in the show file device and the “Info” data block in our template file
10b. Select the first 16 data bytes in the Show File info section by clicking and dragging the mouse over them
10c. Select “Edit” and “Copy” from the menu (or use <ctrl>C)
10d. Select the first 16 data bytes in the template file Info section by clicking and dragging the mouse over them
10e. Select “Edit” and “Paste” from the menu (or use <ctrl>V)
At this point, the 16 bytes at the beginning of the Info block in Template File should be replaced with the 16 bytes from the beginning of the Info block from the device in the Show File.
Step 11. Copy over the Control Count from the Info Block in the Show File to the Info Block in the Template File
Yet again, we’ll cheat and break this down into smaller steps:
11a. Highlight the control count (bytes 25, 26, 27, and 28) in the Info Block in the show file by clicking and dragging on it with the mouse
11b. Select “Edit” and “Copy” from the menu (or use <ctrl>C)
11c. Highlight the control count (bytes 17, 18, 19, and 20) in the Info block in the template file by clicking and dragging on it with the mouse
It should look something like this:
11d. Select “Edit” and “Paste” from the menu (or use <ctrl>V)
The control count in the template file should now match the show file. Step 12. Save the Template File “File” and “Save” from the menu
Step 13. Exit both copies of eDoc
You can abandon any changes inadvertently made to the show file. Step 14. Run BlueLite and test the recovered template
