Probably a stupid question, but..

It's a DOS command prompt program that takes command line parameters so just double clicking it will do that. I could explain how to use it in DOS prompt, but someone made a windows GUI program to batch convert files with the convertdata program, it's somewhere on the mod forum if you look around. Thread is called something like "ConvertData GUI" so you won't need to learn dos commands to make it run

Edit: Here's the thread to save you time looking

https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/322559

Thanks a ton man.

Ug what am I doing wrong now? It's telling me that GUI isn't an executable. I really know nodda about this stuff. It's in the same folder as the convertdata tool if it matters.

What's the file extention? Zip? Rar? The download is probably an archive, so you'll need to use winzip or winrar or something like that to extract it. I haven't used the GUI program myself

7 zip is best!

It's an executable which is what I don't get. (.exe) I already unzipped the files.

Erp.. you'd probably be better off posting in the other thread so the developer of the GUI can answer. As I said I've never used it. I know it requires the .NET framework (so do the map editor, and particle editor in the forge tools) so you might need to get that from Windows Update.

If you don't have a lot of files to convert, here's how it works in DOS prompt:

- First, go to start > run > cmd to open the prompt

- Navigate to the folder where you have convertdata.exe by using "cd" (change dir), for example:

cd c:\forge tools\

will change your active folder to c:\forge tools (so I recommend you put the program and the files you need to convert in a very easy path to save typing time!)

- run the program by itself and it will show you the command line syntax, so just type convertdata.exe

Since it needs command line options, that will show you what they are. For example, if you wanted to convert an entity file (let's say CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIP.entity) from text to binary, you'd type:

convertdata.exe entity CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIP.entity CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIPtext.entity

So you have the type of file (entity), source file, destination file. If you're converting backwards, from binary to text, it'd be

convertdata.exe entity CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIP.entity CAPITALSHIP_TECHBATTLESHIPbin.entity bin

Notice the bin in the end to specify what you're converting from. Technically in the first example you could have put "txt" at the end, but it defaults to it so you don't have to.

Could have something to doh with not installing the Framework 3.5 SP 1 yet....doh!!!

annatar ironclad should realy offer you a job

Oh yeah! that though crossed my mind like 1 000 times since I started here!

For everything hes doing for the company...least they can do is offer him some sort of advantage or revenu!

Let's just say I'm paying them back for what they already did

Holy smokes got it to work. After some serious agitating hours due probably to my own ignorance, but it's working! Thanks Annatar.

Um one last question when you open the galaxy files now in explorer why are they not showing BIN for binary at the top anymore and are instead text all the time? It did convert it back I am hoping. Much faster this way I hear.

I am using Vista which could be part of the problem?

The map files were always in text Please tell me you didn't go through all that trouble just for the .galaxy files!

Lol well some. Entity files, too.