Group File Studio 3.0
Help Contents

Program Authored by: Gary and Jonah Bishop
Help Contents Authored by: Jonah Bishop
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved.

How Do I...?

Program Layout
File Menu View Menu Tools Menu Help Menu
Program History and Troubleshooting Miscellaneous Information

Getting Started in Group File Studio

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Program Overview

Group File Studio is a utility for Windows 95 and Windows 98 that makes working with group files much simpler than ever before. The group file format was used by 3D Realms in their hit games Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. A group file is simply a "package" of many smaller files; they act as a container in which many smaller files can live. This allows the user to deal with one and only one file, yet have access to multiple files (which happen to be embedded in that one group file). As an example, the file "duke3d.grp" (the group file that comes with the game Duke Nukem 3D) contains all of the artwork, level maps, sounds, music, etc.

Program Requirements

Group File Studio's only requirement is that it is run in either Windows 95 or 98. If you can play either Duke Nukem 3D or Shadow Warrior, you are more than able to use this program.


How Do I...?

Creating a new group file - Back to Top

  1. Select the "New..." menu item in the File menu. The group file contents tree view should now be blank (there should be no entries in it).
  2. Select the "Insert Files..." menu item in the File menu. The file selection dialog box should appear.
  3. Select the files you wish to add to the group file. You can select more than one file by holding down the control key and clicking on the files you wish to add. Once you have selected the desired files, press the "Open" button. The files will be added to the group file.
  4. Save your group file. This can be done by selecting the "Save" menu item in the File menu. The changes made to the group file do not actually take place until the file is saved by Group File Studio.

Adding files to an existing group file - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that you wish to add files to.
  2. Select the "Insert Files..." menu item in the File menu. The file selection dialog box should appear.
  3. Select the files you wish to add to the group file. You can select more than one file by holding down the control key and clicking on the files you wish to add. Once you have selected the desired files, press the "Open" button. The files will be added to the group file.
  4. Save your group file. This can be done by selecting the "Save" menu item in the File menu. The changes made to the group file do not actually take place until the file is saved by Group File Studio.

Permanently removing files from an existing group file - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that you wish to permanently remove files from.
  2. In the group file contents tree view, select the file or file type that you wish to remove from the group file. Only one file or file type can be selected at a time.
  3. Select the "Remove File" menu item in the File menu. The group file contents tree view should be updated, and the file (or file type) should no longer appear in the tree view.
  4. Save your group file. This can be done by selecting the "Save" menu item in the File menu. The changes made to the group file do not actually take place until the file is saved by Group File Studio.

Extracting a single file - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that you wish to extract a file from.
  2. In the group file contents tree view, select the file that you wish to extract.
  3. Select the "Extract Selected File" menu item in the Tools menu.
  4. If a default extraction directory has been provided (in the program options dialog), the file will automatically be extracted to the default directory.
  5. If no default extraction directory has been provided, a directory selection dialog box will appear. Select the directory that you wish to extract the file to and press the "OK" button. The file will then be extracted to the selected directory.

Extracting files of a common type - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that you wish to extract a file type from.
  2. In the group file contents tree view, select the file type that you wish to extract. The file type is selected by simply selecting the appropriate heading in the tree view. For example, if you want to extract every art file, you would select the "Art Files" heading in the tree view.
  3. Select the "Extract Selected File Type" menu item in the Tools menu.
  4. If a default extraction directory has been provided (in the program options dialog), all files of the selected file type will automatically be extracted to the default directory.
  5. If no default extraction directory has been provided, a directory selection dialog box will appear. Select the directory that you want to extract the file type to and press the "OK" button. All files in the selected file type will then be extracted to the selected directory.

Extracting all files - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that you wish to extract all files from.
  2. Select the "Extract All Files" menu item from the Tools menu.
  3. A dialog box will appear, providing a warning about the possible size of the files being extracted. If you wish to proceed, press the "Yes" button. Otherwise, press the "No" button.
  4. If a default extraction directory has been provided (in the program options dialog), all of the embedded files will automatically be extracted to the default directory.
  5. If no default extraction directory has been provided, a directory selection dialog box will appear. Select the directory that you want to extract all files to and press the "OK" button. All of the embedded files will then be extracted to the selected directory.

Viewing the artwork from embedded art files - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that contains the artwork that you wish to view.
  2. Expand the "Art Files" tree heading in the group file contents tree view.
  3. Select the art file that contains the art tiles you wish to view. The art file information view should be updated, showing the currently selected art file's information.
  4. In the art file information view, select the tile number that you wish to view.
  5. The artwork view port should now show the selected tile, scaled appropriately.

Playing an embedded sound file (*.voc only) - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that contains the sound file that you wish to play.
  2. Expand the "Sound Files" tree heading in the group file contents tree view.
  3. Select the sound file that you wish to listen to. As of this release, the only file format that is supported is the .voc file format.
  4. Select the "Play" menu item in the Tools menu. The sound should begin to play.

Playing an embedded music file (*.mid) - Back to Top

  1. Open the group file that contains the music file that you wish to play.
  2. Expand the "Music Files" tree heading in the group file contents tree view.
  3. Select the music file that you wish to listen to.
  4. Select the "Play" menu item in the Tools menu.
  5. There will be a slight pause after selecting the "Play" menu item. The progress bar will indicate the progress being made as the music file is loaded into memory. The music should then begin to play.

Program Screen Shot (with hot spot links)

A screenshot of the main program window is shown below. Click on the object you want to know more about.

The group file contents tree view - Back to Top

This is where the contents of the currently open group file are shown. Files are organized into file types (Art Files, Map Files, etc.). The file types can be expanded by clicking the little plus box next to the file type description. Once the file type heading has been expanded, all of the embedded files are listed in alphabetical order. Currently, only one heading or file may be selected at a time.

The universal progress meter - Back to Top

This progress meter is used in several areas of Group File Studio. The main purpose of this progress meter is to show the user the progress being made during a file extraction. Some files are quite large in size, and take a few seconds to be completely extracted from the group file. The progress meter is also used in indicating the progress being made while saving a group file.

The artwork view port - Back to Top

This area of the workspace is where the artwork appears when the user selects a certain tile to look at. Artwork that is either very large or very small is scaled accordingly, allowing the user to see the artwork in a clear fashion.

The art file information view - Back to Top

This area of the workspace is where information is displayed about the currently selected art file. The information displayed covers all aspects of the currently selected art file and its embedded art tiles. The columns present in this view are as follows (from left to right):

The Status Bar - Back to Top

The status bar is one of the most useful places to look in Group File Studio. Several items of interest appear here:

The Toolbar - Back to Top

The toolbar provides the user with a shortcut method of accessing common menu commands. By moving the mouse cursor over the various toolbar buttons, the user can see what each button does (and its associated hot key combination). For an explanation as to what each toolbar command does, view the program screenshot and click on the desired toolbar button.

Program Options - Back to Top

Several options are available for the user to change in Group File Studio. These options are as follows:


File Menu - Back to Top

Menu Command Hot Key Command Description
New... Ctrl+N Creates a new group file. The new group file has no embedded files and is untitled.
Open... Ctrl+O Opens a group file for editing purposes. Files can be extracted, added, or removed to an open group file.
Save Ctrl+S Saves the current group file. Changes are not physically made to the group file until this command is used (i.e. - the group file isn't truly "updated" until you save your modifications). 
Save As...   Saves the current group file with a new name (which the user specifies). This is useful in making copies of an existing group file.
Insert Files... Ctrl+I Opens the insert files dialog box. This command is used to add files to either a brand new group file, or to an existing group file. Multiple files can be selected by holding the control key and then clicking on the desired files to add.
Remove File Ctrl+R Removes the currently selected file or file type (permanently) from the current group file. The current group file must be saved for the file(s) to truly be removed.
Exit   Exits Group File Studio and prompts the user to save their work (provided that modifications were made).

View Menu - Back to Top

Menu Command Hot Key Command Description
Toolbar   Toggles whether the toolbar is shown or not.
Status Bar   Toggles whether the status bar is shown or not.

Tools Menu - Back to Top

Menu Command Hot Key Command Description
Extract Selected File Ctrl+E When a single file is selected in the group file contents tree view, this command will extract the selected file from the group file. If a default directory is not provided in the program options, a folder browsing dialog will appear, allowing the user to select the location where the file will be placed.
Extract Selected File Type Ctrl+F When a file type heading is selected in the group file contents tree view, this command will extract all the files under the selected file type (for example: all map files (*.map)). If a default directory is not provided in the program options, a folder browsing dialog will appear, allowing the user to select the location where the files will be placed.
Extract All Files Ctrl+A Extracts all embedded files from the current group file. Be warned that some group files are extremely large and contain many files. If a default directory is not provided in the program options, a folder browsing dialog will appear, allowing the user to select the location where the files will be placed.
Play P Plays the currently selected music (*.mid) or sound (*.voc only) file.
Stop S Stops the currently selected music (*.mid) or sound (*.voc) file from playing.
Options...   Opens the dialog box for setting general program options. Click here to see the options available to the user.

Help Menu - Back to Top

Menu Command Hot Key Command Description
Help Contents F1 Opens this help file in the default internet browser.
Report a Bug F2 Opens the user's default e-mail client to send mail reporting a program bug found.
Submit a Suggestion F3 Opens the user's default e-mail client to send mail submitting an idea or suggestion.
About this program...   Shows a dialog box with some basic information on Group File Studio.

Troubleshooting

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This section lists several common problems and their solutions for Group File Studio. If you are experiencing a problem, please look through this section to see if it is already listed. If the problem is not listed here, or if you are quite sure that what you are doing should work, contact me and I will see if I can help you out. It is quite likely that there are bugs in this program that I haven't yet caught.

Problem 1: I chose to use an external palette file, but it isn't being used. Why?
Solution: Group File Studio uses external palette files only if the current group file does not contain an embedded palette file. Embedded palette files are given preference over external palette files (due to the fact that the embedded palette file is probably the one intended for use with the associated art files).
Problem 2: When I add or remove a file from a group file, the file doesn't change at all. Are these features broken?
Solution: No - The add and remove file features are not broken. The group file itself is not updated until you save your work. This allows you to make changes as you go, saving the tedious task of writing the group file data out until you are truly ready to do so. If you save your work, the group file will be updated properly.
Problem 3: When I select an art file, the art file information view remains empty. What am I doing wrong?
Solution: Make sure that the "Show art information when art files are selected" option is checked in the program options dialog. If the option is checked, but the art file information view does still not update, the art file is most likely corrupted.
Problem 4: When I extract a file from a group file, the file gets extracted, but I didn't choose the extraction folder. Where did the file go?
Solution: You must have specified a default extraction directory. Check in the program options dialog to see if a default directory has been given. If so, the files that you have extracted are located in this directory.

License Agreement

Group File Studio is a freeware program, meaning that you can freely distribute it via any media. However, I do request that the following rules be adhered to:


Contact Information

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Group File Studio has been written with the beginning user in mind. If you have a comment, question, suggestion, or a bug to report, please let me know about it by sending e-mail to: jonahb@3dportal.com. Your input is most valuable in the creation and fine-tuning of this program, so feel free to let us know about anything!

For the latest information on Group File Studio, and the latest versions for downloading, visit the official home for Group File Studio at Map FAQ Central. You can visit Map FAQ Central at this URL: http://mapfaq.3dportal.com


Acknowledgements

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I would like to take the time to thank the following for all that they have done. Group File Studio would not be what it is without you!