Worldserver crashes after changing the DBC files

[Caracan]

I've been dealing with the topic of private servers a lot lately and have tried out a lot. It's going pretty well now, but I'm still fresh on the matter.

Now I wanted to adjust some spells, but couldn't find them in the database. Now I'm one step further and understand that I don't need to change the spells in the database but in the DBC file.

In most cases, a patch for the client would then also be necessary, but there are also some entries that should be changeable in this way. For example the casting times of Skinning, Mining and Herbalism. Or the Hearthstone's cast time.

I used TRX's DBC tool, which I took from a German video. However, if I make even the smallest change, the Word server no longer starts and the following error message appears:

D:\World of Warcraft Privatserver\Source\src\common\DataStores\DBCFileL oader.h:75 in DBCFileLoader::Record::getString ASSERTION FAILED:
stringOffset < file.stringSize

I also noticed that the size of the file has decreased from 47800 KB to around 45000 KB and even if I undo the changes, the world server starts with the same error.

Does anyone have an idea or another program that I can use under Windows?

Thanks to everyone willing to help.

[vratam]

Generally speaking, any change made to any *.dbc file or the inclusion of a patch file requires a hacked executable to process. The Wow.exe checks whether or not any client files have been tampered with and if so refuses to launch. The hacked executable removes this functionality. If you're not using such an executable that is most likely your issue.

https://www.ownedcore.com/forums/wor...n-remover.html

FYI - the Hearthstone's cooldown time, if that's what you mean by cast time, is assigned in the DB, not a dbc. If you're referring to the actual time it takes to cast the spell, then that would be in the dbc.

[Caracan]

First of all, thank you very much for the answer!

If I recognize that correctly, the post refers to a modified client. But I want to change the server-side files. The WoW.exe, which does not exist in the Worldserver files, is being processed.

I apologize. I already said I'm not a professional and I'm not the youngest anymore. But I'm trying very hard. :-)

It used to be possible to simply edit part of the database to change the spells. However, now I'm missing almost all the spells in the database because it's not considered necessary.

I would be very happy if the explanation could be a little more detailed.

Oh! And I use Azerothcore. If that should make a difference.

[Tok124]

I've been dealing with the topic of private servers a lot lately and have tried out a lot. It's going pretty well now, but I'm still fresh on the matter.

Now I wanted to adjust some spells, but couldn't find them in the database. Now I'm one step further and understand that I don't need to change the spells in the database but in the DBC file.

In most cases, a patch for the client would then also be necessary, but there are also some entries that should be changeable in this way. For example the casting times of Skinning, Mining and Herbalism. Or the Hearthstone's cast time.

I used TRX's DBC tool, which I took from a German video. However, if I make even the smallest change, the Word server no longer starts and the following error message appears:

D:\World of Warcraft Privatserver\Source\src\common\DataStores\DBCFileL oader.h:75 in DBCFileLoader::Record::getString ASSERTION FAILED:
stringOffset < file.stringSize

I also noticed that the size of the file has decreased from 47800 KB to around 45000 KB and even if I undo the changes, the world server starts with the same error.

Does anyone have an idea or another program that I can use under Windows?

Thanks to everyone willing to help.

For editing spells i recommend Stoneharry's Spell Editor and for all other DBC Files you may want to change in the future i recommend wdbx dbc editor. The editor you are using is most likely broken or support only dbc files for another expansion. Changing a DBC File does not require a custom client. You only need a Custom Client if you are going to change the User Interface. Like the login screen and add more races and classes and so on. That requires a modified wow client. But for changing spells it does not require a custom client. Atleast not for a 3.3.5 server. Im not sure how it is with other expansions... and for making MPQ Patches i recommend using Ladik's MPQ Editor. But i recommend folder patches while you are working on a patch. It is so much faster to work with and you can work with it even while the client is running. To make a folder patch simply open your wow folder and go in to "data" folder and create a folder called patch-X.mpq (X can be any letter from A-Z or any number from 1-9 i believe). Inside patch-X.mpq folder create folder DBFilesClient and put your dbc files there.

[vratam]

@Tok124 may be correct regarding the specific need for a modified (hacked) client. When first starting out with emulation my first modifications were graphic (login/character screens), and I found out that a hacked client was necessary. So when I began to modify dbc files, my hacked client was already in use. My apologies for my presumption.

Unless you plan on distributing your dbc modifications, I too would recommend employing "loose" files, rather than producing a patch. I currently have many modifications incorporated using this method. However, I eventually get around to bundling them up into a nice MPQ file. From experience, I can tell you in doing so I've occassional encountered issues when making the patch with Ladik's MPQEditor v3.6 and having the patch load correctly. Luckily, Ladik supplies downloads for earlier versions and, with a recommendation from another modder, I have switched to v3.2 where any such issues have vanished. This leaves me to believe that, as @Tok124 suggests, perhaps the editor you are using is the culprit.

Personally, my workflow, when modifying dbc files, is that: I'll extract the file from the client using the MPQEditor, convert the archive to a csv file using DBCUtil, and make my changes using LibreOffice Calc before converting back to dbc. I have not encountered any issues doing so. Unfortunately for me, Stoneharry's Spell Editor does not run on GNU/Linux, even under Wine, otherwise I would certainly use it! On the Windows platform you'll have no problem.

[Tok124]

@Tok124 may be correct regarding the specific need for a modified (hacked) client. When first starting out with emulation my first modifications were graphic (login/character screens), and I found out that a hacked client was necessary. So when I began to modify dbc files, my hacked client was already in use. My apologies for my presumption.

Unless you plan on distributing your dbc modifications, I too would recommend employing "loose" files, rather than producing a patch. I currently have many modifications incorporated using this method. However, I eventually get around to bundling them up into a nice MPQ file. From experience, I can tell you in doing so I've occassional encountered issues when making the patch with Ladik's MPQEditor v3.6 and having the patch load correctly. Luckily, Ladik supplies downloads for earlier versions and, with a recommendation from another modder, I have switched to v3.2 where any such issues have vanished. This leaves me to believe that, as @Tok124 suggests, perhaps the editor you are using is the culprit.

Personally, my workflow, when modifying dbc files, is that: I'll extract the file from the client using the MPQEditor, convert the archive to a csv file using DBCUtil, and make my changes using LibreOffice Calc before converting back to dbc. I have not encountered any issues doing so. Unfortunately for me, Stoneharry's Spell Editor does not run on GNU/Linux, even under Wine, otherwise I would certainly use it! On the Windows platform you'll have no problem.

I am using Ladik's MPQ Editor Version 3.6.0 and i have never had any issue with it. Idk maybe he had an error in the program and fixed it without making it in to a new version. Not really sure. But i have also had problems with some versions.

I was also using DBCutil. That is the program that i used for dbc editing for many years. I stopped using it very recently because it messed up one of my dbc files. I cannot remember which file it was. But i was recommended to use WDBX so i decided to give it a try and i definitely do not regret it.

When i open a DBC File with WDBX the columns already have column names assigned to them. Which helps a lot to understand which value you are modifying.

All other DBC Editors i have tried in the past have no column names. I believe it was just a number as the name of the column like 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on. The second great thing about WDBX is that you can export to database and it creates a table for you in choosen database. It adds same column names as in the editor. It allows you to use SQL Code to modify the DBC Files incredibly quickly.

Of course, you can also use DBCutil to convert to CSV and use online tools to convert to SQL but you have to name each column and it takes time on large files and then you can use heidi or any other database editor to convert back to CSV and use DBCutil to convert back to DBC. But its all x100 times faster and easier with WDBX.

Thats why i strongly recommend WDBX and because DBCutil may destroy your files. I have edited most dbc files using DBCutil and i have only had the problem with 1 file. So it can handle most files... But WDBX is faster and easier to use and since you can quickly convert to SQL
and also import into wdbx from SQL Database and save files as DBC i strongly recommend this DBC Editor.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, Some DBC Files have like little to no information at all anywhere on the internet. But when you use WDBX you have column names in these files which helps you a lot to understand how you should edit the file since this information cannot be found anywhere else on the internet

[vratam]

@Tok124 - WDBX sounds wonderful! I agree that exposing the columns by name would be quite helpful! It requires the .NET framework, which is available for GNU/Linux. Your descriptive recommendation makes me almost want to install .NET on my system just to give it a try

So far, for the relatively few dbc files I've modded, I've been able to find their column information and names on the Internet; and, I've converted quite a few of them to DB tables for various reasons (mainly to use in my web application). While the data itself is easily enough imported into the RDB as a delimited file, creating the schema is often time consuming, as you stated. More than anything, I like the idea of a simple and quick conversion tool for doing this. Thanks for sharing!

[Tok124]

@Tok124 - WDBX sounds wonderful! I agree that exposing the columns by name would be quite helpful! It requires the .NET framework, which is available for GNU/Linux. Your descriptive recommendation makes me almost want to install .NET on my system just to give it a try

So far, for the relatively few dbc files I've modded, I've been able to find their column information and names on the Internet; and, I've converted quite a few of them to DB tables for various reasons (mainly to use in my web application). While the data itself is easily enough imported into the RDB as a delimited file, creating the schema is often time consuming, as you stated. More than anything, I like the idea of a simple and quick conversion tool for doing this. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah i strongly recommend to install .NET and give WDBX a try. You're going to fall in love with this program. And no problem