Submenus DLL

[Tyberius06 12,189]

4 hours ago, CahosRahneVeloza said:

Is requesting submenus.dll support for a specific set of Custom content allowed to be asked on here?

If it's not I hope I won't get in trouble for asking this...

But I would just like to ask for submenus.dll support for PEG Streams, Ponds and the SPAM Irrigation Canals as these items are just all over the place. And if possible I'd like them to be placed in the Waterways sub menu, just like the BSC Canal sets.

Again if this is not allowed just kindly disregard this comment of mine.

Updating these have been planned in recent years (and since last year that would mean adding submenu support for them as well), but neither @rsc204 nor myself got anywhere near to this topic so far as far as I know. They will get submenu support well eventually... Of course if someone comes up with an intermitten exemplar patch for them in the meantime that would not hurt either...

[kergelen 734]

On 6/4/2025 at 9:17 AM, memo said:

Use the Building Exemplar instead of the Lot Exemplar. Also note that the "Exemplar Patch Targets" property is an alternating list of Group IDs and Instance IDs, so add both the Group ID and Instance ID of the Building Exemplar.

Thanks memo, I'll try it

[rsc204 21,808]

3 hours ago, Tyberius06 said:

Updating these have been planned in recent years (and since last year that would mean adding submenu support for them as well), but neither @rsc204 nor myself got anywhere near to this topic so far as far as I know. They will get submenu support well eventually... Of course if someone comes up with an intermitten exemplar patch for them in the meantime that would not hurt either...

I have actually started work on the Ponds/Streams, but I figure the Irrigation Canals fit better thematically with SPAM. Certainly the intention would be to include DLL support when those are released, likewise I want to add support for the two released Pegasus sets too.

Can't say when it will actually happen, Exemplar patching is a bit of a PITA because you need to get a lot of IDs together and there isn't a simple copy/paste method of achieving that AFAIK.

[Rady 94]

7 hours ago, Tyberius06 said:

Updating these have been planned in recent years (and since last year that would mean adding submenu support for them as well), but neither @rsc204 nor myself got anywhere near to this topic so far as far as I know. They will get submenu support well eventually... Of course if someone comes up with an intermitten exemplar patch for them in the meantime that would not hurt either...

Given you last sentence ... I'm using the submenu mod extensively for all my custom content and have created around 62 of them, most of them very specific for a certain set of lots, including more or less standardised menu icons. From your point of view, would it make sense to share them? If yes, where? Here? STEX? Just asking, not going to be disappointed if you say "thanks keep it" :-)

[rsc204 21,808]

If you plan to release SubMenus, the simplest solution is using the Exemplar Patch method. You'd be free to just upload such a mod on the STEX in such cases. That's the reason this was added, so a 3rd party can easily distribute a working SubMenu that anyone with the supported mods can use.

However, it get's trickier if you have been adding SubMenu's directly to the Building Exemplars via the requisite Property.

[Rady 94]

I have another question regarding MMPs. I modified quite a lot of them to show up in the custom submenus. Am I right that I need the modified files only to create the submenu patch files with the sc4 tool, but can keep the original ones in the plugin folder? I have a seperate folder structure "Plugins for submenus" for use with the sc4 tool.

[Andreas Roth 607]

Exemplar patches are just patching the desired features into the original files "on the fly", so yes, you have to keep those. That's the whole idea about the patches, you can leave the original files like they are, and add them to submenus (or do other things) with the separate patch file.

[smf_16 1,835]

As @Andreas Roth said, the exemplar patches (which is what my sc4 cli tool generates, it does not edit the original files) just tell the game: "hey, before you read this building exemplar, add the "Building Submenus" property to it", which means there is a way to modify exemplars without actually overriding them. This is why you need to keep both the original files and the patches in your plugins folder.

It is also possible to directly add the "Building Submenus" property to the exemplars with the Reader, but this is very cumbersome. Exemplar patching is a also a really clever solution to a classic override problem. Say you have two plugins that override a builtin maxis exemplar: one that adds a property A, and another that adds property B. Due to how the game loads plugins, the "final" exemplar it sees will either only contain property A or B, depending on which override is later in the load order.

Exemplar patching circumvents this in a clever way, and you can use it for other things than submenus too. Have a look for example at my Universal Sea Level Mod. Typically, the sea level is set in your terrain mod as it is part of the terrain exemplar, but by leveraging exemplar patching it becomes possible to override the sea level for any terrain mod.

 

[Rady 94]

@Andreas Roth @smf_16

Thanks for clarification. I misunderstood this in the first, but it obviously makes much more sense this way :-)

[Rady 94]

I run into a problem with including MMPs into my submenus. Obviously, I did somethink wrong, however I don't know what. I created a submenu for the historic harbour lots, some of which are MMPs. I also edited the MMP files, however, they don't show up. But to my surprise, they also vanished from the flora menu. So they are nowhere to be found rigth now. I attached the submenu files as well as a normal and an MMP lot. Maybe someone can have a lookt into it and tell em where I went wrong :-)

Quays.dat

HH_Birds_MMP.dat

submenu-historic-harbour.dat

submenu_patch_historic_harbour.dat

[smf_16 1,835]

Can you verify that you have the latest version of my tool? MMP's did not work in earlier versions, so make sure you are using the latest one.

 

[Rady 94]

11 hours ago, smf_16 said:

Can you verify that you have the latest version of my tool? MMP's did not work in earlier versions, so make sure you are using the latest one.

I updated to the latest version (mine was .14), but to no avail. Those MMP still refuse to cooperate. Funny, as I already created quite some MMP submenus without any problems.

Right, the problem has to be linked to these specific MMP dat files. I just created a MMP submenu for Girafes MMP cars without any problems.

  Edited April 22, 2025 by Rady  
Further investigation results

[11241036 5,097]

On 21.4.2025 at 8:25 AM, Rady said:

I run into a problem with including MMPs into my submenus. Obviously, I did somethink wrong, however I don't know what. I created a submenu for the historic harbour lots, some of which are MMPs. I also edited the MMP files, however, they don't show up. But to my surprise, they also vanished from the flora menu. So they are nowhere to be found rigth now. I attached the submenu files as well as a normal and an MMP lot. Maybe someone can have a lookt into it and tell em where I went wrong :-)

Quays.dat

HH_Birds_MMP.dat

submenu-historic-harbour.dat

submenu_patch_historic_harbour.dat

Hello Rady, I quickly looked into your files and noticed that in the file HH_Birds_MMP.dat there's an important property missing: the FloraFamily property. I don't know what it does exactly, but it is present in other MMP's, and there, it is set to 0xE8F02107. I quickly changed that and attached the modified file to this post; please check if it works now.

Other than that, did I get this right that you've put lots and MMP's into one submenu? I don't know if that works, but you might want to try to put them into different submenus.

HH_Birds_MMP.dat

[Rady 94]

22 hours ago, 11241036 said:

Hello Rady, I quickly looked into your files and noticed that in the file HH_Birds_MMP.dat there's an important property missing: the FloraFamily property. I don't know what it does exactly, but it is present in other MMP's, and there, it is set to 0xE8F02107. I quickly changed that and attached the modified file to this post; please check if it works now.

Other than that, did I get this right that you've put lots and MMP's into one submenu? I don't know if that works, but you might want to try to put them into different submenus.

HH_Birds_MMP.dat

Unfortunately not. I also made an extra MMP submenu, but it appears empty ingame.  There is something strange with these MMPs. Interestingly, when adding the lots to the submenu with the sc4 tool, it all looks fine given the output of the command:

INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/HH_Birds_MMP_new.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Workers/HH_WorkersResting_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Workers/HH_WorkersMoving_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Workers/HH_WorkersBuilding_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Wagons/HH_Wagons_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Piles/HH_DockPilesRotten_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Piles/HH_DockPilesOld_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Piles/HH_DockPilesNew_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Cargo/HH_PropsSmall_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Cargo/HH_PropsMedium_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Cargo/HH_PropsLarge_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Cargo/HH_JunkProps_MMP.dat
INFO Reading MMP Historic Harbor/Birds/HH_Birds_MMP.dat
INFO Using Historic Harbor Birds (0x6534284a-0xe83e0437-0xc008a6ba)
INFO Using Historic Harbor Birds (0x6534284a-0xe83e0437-0xc008a6bb)
INFO Using Historic Harbor Birds (0x6534284a-0xe83e0437-0xc008a6bc)
.....

So I guess it's not worth the hassle .. I think I'll just leave them within the flora menu ..

[memo 1,445]

@Rady Flora items only appear in submenus of the Flora menu.

[Wiimeiser 444]

I assume this is something hardcoded in the exe?

[Rady 94]

15 hours ago, memo said:

@Rady Flora items only appear in submenus of the Flora menu.

Thanks, I'm gonna give that a try!

 

Right, that solved the problem.

  Edited April 24, 2025 by Rady  
Success story

[JDSquared 5]

Can I address a problem here? It might belong in the submenus topic instead. I am trying to go through both topics and haven't found my situation.

After I installed CAM 2.5 yesterday, (upgrade from 2.1) my parks menus got messed up. The plazas are no longer in that submenu, just in the main. The sorts submenu has only the basketball court, the tennis and the skateboard park are back in the main menu. The flower gardens are in the green spaces now, and I don't remember what else maybe changed. I don't know how to program or how to fix this. I tried deleting 2.5 and went back to the older CAM but it didn't change back.

 

Is this maybe a loading issue?

 

I have to let you know as well that the sc4cli tool is awesome for me! Thank you for that program. It made it easy for me to add my own submenus and then add items to those (and to the menus that came with the dll download). But that's about the limit of my programming knowledge. I open up reader, and think I might be able to go into more depth but I get lost quickly and can't seem to do anything in there. Although i have learned how to look at the item order (when it's there) to give my new submenu a lower  place in the menu.

 

If I knew what I was doing, I assume I could open up the parks/green spaces file from the submenu patch from memo, and find the maxis exemplars and edit them, but I open that file and can't figure much out. It's even more confusing if I open up the simcity1.dat and try to find these files.

 

Any suggestions from y'all are appreciated.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

2 hours ago, JDSquared said:

Can I address a problem here? It might belong in the submenus topic instead. I am trying to go through both topics and haven't found my situation.

After I installed CAM 2.5 yesterday, (upgrade from 2.1) my parks menus got messed up. The plazas are no longer in that submenu, just in the main. The sorts submenu has only the basketball court, the tennis and the skateboard park are back in the main menu. The flower gardens are in the green spaces now, and I don't remember what else maybe changed. I don't know how to program or how to fix this. I tried deleting 2.5 and went back to the older CAM but it didn't change back.

 

Is this maybe a loading issue?

 

I have to let you know as well that the sc4cli tool is awesome for me! Thank you for that program. It made it easy for me to add my own submenus and then add items to those (and to the menus that came with the dll download). But that's about the limit of my programming knowledge. I open up reader, and think I might be able to go into more depth but I get lost quickly and can't seem to do anything in there. Although i have learned how to look at the item order (when it's there) to give my new submenu a lower  place in the menu.

 

If I knew what I was doing, I assume I could open up the parks/green spaces file from the submenu patch from memo, and find the maxis exemplars and edit them, but I open that file and can't figure much out. It's even more confusing if I open up the simcity1.dat and try to find these files.

 

Any suggestions from y'all are appreciated.

This is a CAM problem and not a Submenu problem. I have analyzed and found that Gazebo, Tennis Court, Medium Square and Large Square do not have the submenu property. The fix will be available in CAM 3.0

[JDSquared 5]

22 hours ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

This is a CAM problem and not a Submenu problem. I have analyzed and found that Gazebo, Tennis Court, Medium Square and Large Square do not have the submenu property. The fix will be available in CAM 3.0

awesome Thank you for the reply. 

[monicadm 40]

I have a couple canals that don't show up in the submenus, they show up empty, particularly irrigation canals. 

I downloaded these from the SC4D LEX legacy link at the bottom. 

 

Could you help me figure out if its a submenu thing or files themselves? 

Thanks!

[Dono 178]

48 minutes ago, unaguayabita said:

Could you help me figure out if its a submenu thing or files themselves? 

Thanks!

Hi,

-Do you know if they showed up before adding to the submenus.
-If you click the blank spot where the icon should be, do you still get the plop.

[monicadm 40]

18 minutes ago, Dono said:

Hi,

-Do you know if they showed up before adding to the submenus.
-If you click the blank spot where the icon should be, do you still get the plop.

It's the first time I try using them. 

Clicking on the blank spot on the submenu does nothing. 

The canals installed wiht the @ in the folders. Is that normal for them to install like that?

[Dono 178]

37 minutes ago, unaguayabita said:

It's the first time I try using them. 

Clicking ...........

What was in the 3Canals Folder? if it had other folders the submenu would only show top level files, not files in other folders. I haven't added to my submenus for a while so they could have changed that. But if not, and there is 3 folders inside, you have to add each folder individually or empty all three folders contents into 1 folder and add to submenus as a combined group of files.

[monicadm 40]

16 minutes ago, Dono said:

What was in the 3Canals Folder? if it had other folders the submenu would only show top level files, not files in other folders. I haven't added to my submenus for a while so they could have changed that. But if not, and there is 3 folders inside, you have to add each folder individually or empty all three folders contents into 1 folder and add to submenus as a combined group of files.

So empty all these folders right into 3canals folders?

Actually yes, many subfolders. To get to the irrigation canals>

3 canals > Simgoober  sets > irrigation canals > pond files

[Dono 178]

12 minutes ago, unaguayabita said:

Actually yes, many subfolders. To get to the irrigation canals>

 

Yeah, so just pick the folder of files you want and add that to the submenu. You can delete the submenu_patch.dat file you made in the 3canals folder as it wont work anyway.

The folder you choose should just have files in it no folders.

[monicadm 40]

1 hour ago, Dono said:

Yeah, so just pick the folder of files you want and add that to the submenu. You can delete the submenu_patch.dat file you made in the 3canals folder as it wont work anyway.

The folder you choose should just have files in it no folders.

Still doesnt work

[Dono 178]

4 minutes ago, unaguayabita said:

Still doesnt work

I haven't read the readme forever but there might be something basic your missing, I looked through my folders and I did find one or two that had other folders in them.

So you have both the Sc4 cli Tool and the submenus DLL downloads.

[memo 1,445]

On 5/31/2025 at 8:53 AM, unaguayabita said:

The canals installed wiht the @ in the folders. Is that normal for them to install like that?

@unaguayabita No, it's not normal. It looks like you didn't run the Java installer, but just extracted the files from it.

I've checked the canals files, but couldn't replicate your issue. My guess is that you have a second, older copy of those canals in your plugins. Otherwise, check if the log file "memo.submenus.log" provides any hints.

It also looks like you're lacking the file "submenu-essentials.dat" that came with the DLL. Make sure you installed it properly, including its dependency.

[monicadm 40]

i have all the files you mention, in the correct place. the log shows this. i deleted the BSC folder. I re=downloaded and re=installed using a java installer. i checked for duplicate files. 

nothing. still doesnt work