Each Update seems to break units

[Mettius]

I am very glad that a product like Army Builder exists and that the fine volunteers who write the data files do what they do.
Thank you!

I have a question though. I know there was an overhaul of the structure of the ab40k datafiles when they were created for 5th ed. I thought I recalled seeing that the new approach would be more modular and easier to maintain.

My question is why does each update seem to break my previous rosters (and saved units). I make extensive use of saved units (complete with unit pictures for each one) and am rather disappointed that each new AB40k update seems to generate a list of errors when I attempt to load my rosters/units created with a previous version. It is disheartening to have to redo everything... again... each... time.
I just discoverd that the 40+ units I created for my Blood Angels list is broken after the 1.19 update. (I maintain a "master list" of all my models and save off each unit so that I can build a new roster from the component units).

Why do updates break existing rosters?

Regards,
-Mettius

[shaggai]

You can try playing Necrons, I don't think they've been updated that many times

In all seriousness, generally anything we do to the files will have an adverse effect on the files. It's just whether they will be roster-stopping errors or just having to scratch one unit off and replace the same unit. And the only time that we do anything to the files is to correct errors. Some can as simple as typographic errors or page misnumbering - and usually these should not cause failed rosters. It's the errors which require change of coding that will do it, and sometimes they are not restricted to just the one unit in question.

Case in point would be the Tau drones - it was mentioned that the drones never showed up as correct when purchased for a entire team. That was corrected, but to do so modified every unit capable of taking drones, added close to 15 new drone entries, needed to have the validation rules modified and of course required the modfication of the Stealth Team from it's monolithic unit structure into a form which resembled Crisis Teams. One error fix required this, and of course correcting the numerous errors which were discovered (and still being discovered). And of course all of this was done on spare time from my usual 40 hour a week job. Could I have left it as it was - of course, but it was not correct as it was and now it has been made correct to how it should work.

We don't just get bored one week and say "what can we tinker with to screw the users"...

[Mettius]

We don't just get bored one week and say "what can we tinker with to screw the users"...

I didn't expect this was the case. Nor was I suggesting I'm not appreciative of the effort put into this project.

In the case of the example above (Tau drones), if the changes were only to Tau units which used them it wouldn't cause an Imperial Guard roster to break then? (I understand that was probably not the only bugfix in the 1.19 release, I'm only asking to understand somewhat how the files relate to one another).

I like your SFB quote.

Kind Regards,
-Mettius

[shaggai]

In the case of the example above (Tau drones), if the changes were only to Tau units which used them it wouldn't cause an Imperial Guard roster to break then? (I understand that was probably not the only bugfix in the 1.19 release, I'm only asking to understand somewhat how the files relate to one another).

I like your SFB quote.

Kind Regards,
-Mettius

That's exactly the case - although there may have been one "big item" to note when giving a blurb on the update comment/info, the single update actually updates several files one of which may have been an IG fix which caused havoc wih a roster. Updating the Tau nominally would not affect the Eldar, etc. We do have a list of the fixes as they occur and are commented on a they get updated, sometimes out of a 30 day month it may get some updated as often as 26 times.

Steve Cole, designer of SFB, wrote that comment in one of the Captain's Log (periodic house organ, similar to the Update Compendiums of 40K's past). While not specifically aimed at GW, it certainly encompasses their efforts. And while SFB has long been ridiculed for the immense size of the basic rulebook (3" D-ring binders are stretched to their limit) and the amount of errata both now and in the past, they do make the effort to correct or clarify issues that arise...and I would certainly take that over "roll a die", and "the most important rule" any day.

[Spack]

Just to give you an idea, there have been 10 updates to the BA files in the past 3 months; that's commits to the versioning system - each commit could be a single error correction or a complete rewrite of the entire file, either way it's one commit.

There was a major overhaul to the files between the 1.15 and 1.16 releases, as well as more changes between 1.17 and 1.18, and 1.18 to 1.19. If you were on 1.15 or earlier and then moved to 1.16 or later most if not all of a BA roster would have been invalid, and at least a couple of units would have had problems moving between the later releases. This is, as shaggai has stated, unavoidable as even a simple bug fix can cascade to multiple units and even codexes. The Tau were certainly not the only change between 1.18 and 1.19 ...