Token Change Proposals for 5.13 Alpha

The following are the philosophies underlying these token change proposals for the 5.13 cycle:

1. Elimination of magical values: Values like -1 that represent unlimited should be replaced by "UNLIMITED" or a String otherwise explicitly identifying the meaning of the special value.
2. Elimination of duplicate code by consolidating tokens
3. Completion of Ability Object changes
4. Preparation for CDOM parsing of tokens
5. Performance (in one or two cases)
6. Elimination of complicated, undocumented interactions

The following are the definitions of the Reason in the token change proposals:

• Syntax: This is a proposed syntax change to improve clarity and eliminate a magical value that is not clearly identified
• Consistency: This is a proposed change to improve consistency between tokens
• Duplicate: This is a proposed change to eliminate an alternate way of achieving an identical result
• Upgrade: This is a proposed change based on upgrades made to PCGen to keep the application consistent
• Nonfunctioning: This is a proposed change due to the token not functioning in the current rev of PCGen
• Unnecessary: This is a token that provides insights, but requires no processing by the code
• Performance: This is a proposed change that will reducing parsing complexity and thus improve speed
• Complicated: This is a proposed change that eliminates complicated behavior

You may also wish to see:

• 5.15 Alpha Token Change Proposals

The following are the actual proposed changes to tokens:

Token LST File	Status	Token Name	Current Syntax	Syntax Change	Future Syntax	Reason	Justification for Change	Discussion/Approval/FREQ
All	SVN 3034	All Relevant tokens	PRExxx|x	Disallow embedded PRE, require PRE at end	x|PRExxx	Consistency, Performance	Clarity and error checking
Race	SVN 3029	INIT	INIT:x	Deprecate	INITIATIVE|x	Nonfunctioning, Duplicate	INIT: does not function in the code	[1696679]
Race	SVN 3029	MFEAT	MFEAT:x	Deprecate	none	Removed	MFEAT was part of the Default Monster Code	[1613771]
Race	SVN 3029	HITDICE	HITDICE:x	Deprecate	none	Removed	HITDICE was part of the Default Monster Code	[1613771]
All	SVN 3029	PREDEFAULTMONSTER	PREDEFAULTMONSTER:x	Deprecate	none	Removed	PREDEFAULTMONSTER was part of the Default Monster Code	[1613771]
Class	SVN 3029	BAB	BAB:x	Deprecate	BONUS:xxx	Nonfunctioning, Duplicate	BAB: is present in the code but will always fail (not valid today)
Global	SVN 3032	REMOVE:FEAT	REMOVE:FEAT(x,x)n	syntax like ADD	[x|]y,y	Consistency	This was not changed for consistency when ADD and AUTO were updated
Global	SVN 3029	MOVEA	MOVEA:x	Deprecate	use BONUS:...	Duplicate	This was rated an ancient Token by Tir	[[1]]
Global	SVN 3033	KNOWNSPELLS	KNOWNSPELLS:.CLEARx	after .CLEAR	x	Syntax	KNOWNSPELLS:.CLEARLEVEL=0 is just strange	[6293]
Equipment	SVN 3028	WT	WT:x	Eliminate Magical Value (*)	WT:x	Syntax		[7172]
Equipment	SVN 3027	RANGE	RANGE:x	Eliminate Magical Value (-)	RANGE:x	Syntax		[7172]
EquipmentModifier	SVN 3029	ADDPROF	ADDPROF:X.Y	Deprecate	none	Capability	The implementation of this token in the code makes the assumption that proficiencies are still in the (Exotic) format, which according to [discussion] is no longer valid.
Global	SVN 3031/4526	PREHD	PREHD:x-y PREHD:x+ PREHD:x- (undocumented)	Remove Undocumented Feature	PREHD:x-y PREHD:x+	Consistency, Clarity	An unclosed range should be 4+ not 4-
Equipment	SVN 3810	CONTAINS	varies	-1 changes to "UNLIM"	varies	Syntax, Known Error	Fix an issue where one item is capacity 1 and another capacity -1 resulting in total allowed items being zero (can't add anything to the container) Eliminate -1 as a magical value	[[2]]
Global	SVN up to 4875/4876	CHOOSE	varies	Deprecate	See FREQ	Consistency	Previously approved	[1690306] [[3]] [[4]]
Global	SVN 3057	CHOOSE	CHOOSE:WEAPONFOCUS	Deprecate	TBD (new syntax of CHOOSE:FEAT=)	Consistency	Previously approved	[1683322]
Global	SVN up to 4875/4876	CHOOSE	CHOOSE:x (weapon)	Deprecate	CHOOSE:PROFICIENCY	Consistency	Previously approved	[1631983]
Class	SVN 3344	FEATAUTO	x FEATAUTO:.CLEAR.x	Remove Cross-Level Interaction	AUTO:FEAT	Complicated	Currently, FEATAUTO can be used on different Class Level lines, and the .CLEAR behavior is expected to (or I shoudl say 'does' - not sure if people expect it) bridge across those different class levels. This is extremely complicated behavior to replicate, and behavior that we do not replicate elsewhere (except in SA, and we may remove that)	[[5]]
Global	SVN up to 4832	SA	SA:.CLEAR.	Remove Cross-Level Interaction Deprecate .CLEAR behavior (complex, use Ability object)	SAB:x	Complicated	Currently, SA can be used on different Class Level lines, and the .CLEAR behavior is expected to bridge across those different class levels. This is extremely complicated behavior to replicate once Class Levels are separate objects	[[6]]
Global	SVN 3826	MOVECLONE	MOVECLONE:x,xn,y,yn	Simplify	MOVECLONE:x,y,yn	Complicated	Fixes order of operations issues in movement	[1707366] [[7]]
Global	SVN 3814	PRETYPE	PRETYPE:x	Deprecate	None	Deprecated Usage	Proper replacement is PRERACETYPE or PRERACESUBTYPE	[[8]]
SubClass	SVN 3812	CHOICE	CHOICE:x	May indicate School, SubSchool or Descriptor	TBD	Ambiguous	Perhaps clarifications like CHOICE:SCHOOOL=x or perhaps 3 different tokens??
Equipment	SVN 4872	PROFICIENCY	PROFICIENCY:x	May indicate ArmorProf, ShieldProf or WeaponProf	TBD	Ambiguous		[[9]]
Race	SVN 4870	FAVCLASS	FAVCLASS:x	May indicate Class or SubClass	TBD	Ambiguous		[[10]]
Spell	SVN 3969	KNOWNSPELLS	KNOWNSPELLS:.CLEARTYPE=Cleric	No delimiter after .CLEAR	TYPE=Cleric	Syntax	Cleans up an ugly typo in PCGen	[[11]]
Class	SVN 4172	REPEATLEVEL	REPEATLEVEL:...	Attach to Class Level	1:REPEATLEVEL:... SUBCLASSLEVEL:1:REPEATLEVEL:...	Consistency	This is the only "lookahead" token in PCGen - would valuable in toe code to eliminate that behavior
Global	BUG 1791283	UDAM				Consistency	This token is STRANGE in the current PCGen world - it appends to the list, no matter what, but the list in a PCClass is always based on level... Therefore mods can do weird things that they probably shouldn't be able to do	[[12]]
Global		CHOOSE	CHOOSE:COUNT=	Deprecate COUNT=	Replace with individual token SELECT:	Non-Functioning, Complicated
Global		CHOOSE	<blah>.A	Eliminate .A support	No replacement	Complicated	There is no explanation in the code for exactly what the .A was used for, or if it is necessary, and the rule construct is also not well defined... there should be a better way to do this even if it needs to be supported.

Also, there have been various discussions about PRERACETYPE and finishing that cleanup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pcgen_experimental/message/6281

The problem is that PRERACETYPE internally references deprecated code (getCritterType()) implying that the structure needs to change. So I need to understand more about whether this can be elimianted in favor of PRERACE:1,RACETYPE= or whether another solution is required.

Additional items for 5.13, issues being worked on, solutions TBD:

1. Retroactivity, much of this issue is discussed in this thread: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pcgen_experimental/message/6864
2. Prerequisite behavior, this is surfaced starting at this message: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/pcgen_experimental/message/8133
3. A 6.0 compatibility checker (built out of the CDOM branch) must be completed.