Database Editing Questions / nice program found

[mudman]

Hi all,

Firstly I found a nice program called Access2Mysql it allows you to make an Access mdb file from the host MSQL very nice I must say.

Since i know nothing about MSQL it was very nice to see all the tables laid out in Access so that I could easily see and edit them.

I edited a few minor things and then exported and boom there was a new (in this case did not want to overwrite eq database) in the database tab. in mysql


First question:

- Now that, that database is added to mysql host , this database would be active correct., I.E all i have to do is refer to this database in the DB.INI file in eqemu 312 database? I.E.

database=eq change this to database=eqtest ? for example?

-also: can mysql database be dropped is this just a sample db?


Ok seccond question:

I look at all these tables like faction table, name filters, guild, books ect. I am wondering why not just delete some of these tables and clean out the database a bit maybe less Link Deaths and less problems? For example who really cares about tradeskillrecipe table when you can summon anything.


Last question.
Making spawns
the following tables.

spawn2
spawnentry
spawngroup are all that are needed to work with right?

is there a simple system to working with these three tables? ie what relationship ect?


Thanks for the help
Mudman

Defender server

[Wynsom]

I should write a big FAQ on this sorta thing since I've gotten it down to a science. Now I made a software tool that does all the below in 10 seconds but until I release it, you'll have to do what I did before.

Question 1: Yes, just type in the name of the db you want to use in db.ini Dropped? Ok, like in mysqladmin.exe, you can remove a db from your mysql server by 'dropping' it. You dont have to drop any other dbs you have if thats your question. I have 6 different named eq dbs in my mysql server. Just make sure you source your db once you create it, thats all.

Question 2:
Ok, to make a NPC or custom spawn for the db, I do it this way.
1. Make the NPC in NPC Types. Make sure the id is unique or you can crash the zone.
2. Go to the SpawnGroups table, find the last occurance of a spawngroup in the zone you want to use(lets say its 19543 for example) Then I will set my new spawn group id to be like 19550. Be sure no other zones use the number you enter! They start on even increments, usually on 100s or 1000s. Set the group name to 'zonename19550'.
3. Go to NPC types, find the zone you want to use again. Find the last instance in the zone you are using(which should also be 19543). Add a new row with your spawn id number and your NPC id number.
4. Finally, go to the spawn table for your zone, find the last instance, and insert your spawn data after it. Important!:Here is the only place the id number may not be the same as the group number since there may be more than 1 instance of a single spawn group. So the first open ID for the zone may be 19569, and you're gonna use group 19550. Often they are the same though.

Now when you boot your zone, your npc should be in it. If you messed up, it will either crash the zone or not show up. If it crashes the zone, then its trying to spawn from data that dosn't exist or is wrong.

My best advice to you: BACK UP YOUR DB BEFORE YOU ADD CHANGES.

'mysqldump --opt your_servern_ame > save_as_name.sql'

If I had a dollar for how many times I lost hours of work when I was running the Tigurius server because I didnt backup my db, id be rich as hell. Now I back up my db for every change I do. Once your zone crashes because of a spawn bug, you may never find it, especially if you have 50 new npcs in a single zone.

Good Luck

[mudman]

thank you for the nice rundown on how to do it. your walkthough is pretty much as i expected , using fqadmin it works that way too.

i tried that accesstomysql program to make some changes and re-export it back to mysql. but it could never log in again after the changes so i quess it does something bad to the database.

i am going to try msqltools to edit the db now.

thanks again