Magic Data

[Marek14]

Huggybaby - no, I meant that that had to be typo, since Gatherer rulings don't contain flavor text and flip cards don't have one in any case

[Huggybaby]

haha sorry man...I had a very strong suspicion that you knew what flavor text was, still...

And you guys know a LOT more about the details than ol' Huggy ever will.

[MageKing17]

Huggybaby - no, I meant that that had to be typo, since Gatherer rulings don't contain flavor text and flip cards don't have one in any case

You mis-parsed his sentence (which, to be fair, could have been more specific). He didn't mean that the flavor text of the flip side of Budoka Pupil was missing... he meant the actual flip side was missing. Go to http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/ ... seid=74536 and you'll see it says "This is one part of the multi-part card Budoka Pupil. The other parts are:" and lists nothing.

EDIT: Whoops, typo.

[Marek14]

Ah. I see.

EDIT: I don't think that the split cards should have (x2) in their rarity. It's one physical card with only one version.

[Arch]

"Flavor text"?

Yes

Arch, Marek, guys, so many thanks. This is crazy useful work.

Yes

And I wish more people would use this excellent time saver. Maybe some folks like to write a parser from scratch, and deal with the formatting hassles, but why reinvent the wheel?

Yes

You mis-parsed his sentence (which, to be fair, could have been more specific). He didn't mean that the flavor text of the flip side of Budoka Pupil was missing... he meant the actual flip side was missing. Go to http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/ ... seid=74536 and you'll see it says "This is one part of the multi-part card Budoka Pupil. The other parts are:" and lists nothing.

Yes

I don't think that the split cards should have (x2) in their rarity. It's one physical card with only one version.

What are you talking about here? Did some random checking and found no split cards that were marked like that.

I see that the text list you produced uses the CompRules version, which I think is the only sane decision. It's like each text was created by two different teams, working from different specs...

This actually got me thinking a bit. Cost in cards.xml is written differently than in card-text. Since you have "cost-context" at that point it non-ambigious. From a parsing standpoint it should really be bracketed in the same way though: 1WB -> {W}{B}
Will update this for the next release.

[Ye Goblyn Queenne]

I see that the text list you produced uses the CompRules version, which I think is the only sane decision. It's like each text was created by two different teams, working from different specs...

This actually got me thinking a bit. Cost in cards.xml is written differently than in card-text. Since you have "cost-context" at that point it non-ambigious. From a parsing standpoint it should really be bracketed in the same way though: 1WB -> {W}{B}
Will update this for the next release.

Yes.

I mean, I hadn't noticed that (the difference between costs in xml and text).

I guess the CompRules are the only document that can be really considered a specification for ability text syntax so it makes sense to stick to that throughout. The different text symbols on the Gatherer and the set FAQ's must account for different departments inside WotC handling different stages of sets' trip to the printer, each of which (departments) has a different notation for what ends up on the cards. I would be very interested to know how they manage their card data, anyway.

Btw, at some point I need to look seriously into grammar induction (until now I've been deriving my grammar manually). This is another thing your text file is going to be helpful with, it's a huge corpus of Magic ability text- and if you're honouring the CompRules syntax, while all the other sources don't, then I guess it's the fullest, most accurate one. It is, in fact, more accurate than WotC's own sources

Now I'll go have a look at that thread titled "magic grammar" in here...

[Marek14]

Arch: I meant this:

Night

Instant
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
----
Day
{W}
Instant
Creatures target player controls get +1/+1 until end of turn.
APC U (x2)

Seems the (x2) is at INV and APC cards in text spoiler.

[Arch]

I see it now, will have a look at it.

[amuseum]

some 3 letter set codes don't match official codes, particularly for non expansion and casual products (duel decks, commander, etc.). use these codes at this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ma ... ering_sets

[Ark]

some 3 letter set codes don't match official codes, particularly for non expansion and casual products (duel decks, commander, etc.). use these codes at this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ma ... ering_sets

Some of these don't match the old MWS 2 and 3 letter codes, which is arguably more important to some people. Also the whole Conflux=CON thing and CON being a reserved filename (console) under DOS and Windows for ages created enough problems that most of us use CFX instead.

[Arch]

some 3 letter set codes don't match official codes, particularly for non expansion and casual products (duel decks, commander, etc.). use these codes at this wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ma ... ering_sets

The information came from wikipedia at one time or another. I've been using wikipedia and http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/A ... zards/0804 (which is also linked from wikipedia). Wikipedia has been changed a number of times, also altering older codes.

I do not like wikipedia as a source for this since it's obviously not the real source. The information must come from wizards in some form. Wikipedia points to gatherer; is that the true source? As far as I can tell the set code are available in the html code for certain links but not actually presented. Seems a bit shady to me. Is that the "official" source?

Some of these don't match the old MWS 2 and 3 letter codes, which is arguably more important to some people. Also the whole Conflux=CON thing and CON being a reserved filename (console) under DOS and Windows for ages created enough problems that most of us use CFX instead.

CON is annoying and legacy codes are obviously important to some. The information I'm providing though should be as up to date as possible. If additional mapping to legacy is something that would be useful I could look in to adding it as a separate piece of information.

[Ark]

I do not like wikipedia as a source for this since it's obviously not the real source. The information must come from wizards in some form. Wikipedia points to gatherer; is that the true source? As far as I can tell the set code are available in the html code for certain links but not actually presented. Seems a bit shady to me. Is that the "official" source?

What you say here I think is the most official method. It's what I use for my Gatherer Downloader.
Every single symbol can be viewed with an official URL like http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Im ... =R&set=ISD and just replace set=ISD with the correct code. If it doesn't work, then it's not the code Wizards is currently using in Gatherer now.

For example, even though that old Ask Wizards lists Alpha as LEA, Wizards now uses 1E, and MWS and lots of older apps use just A. I'm not sure the old answer of LEA is meaningful to anybody now.

Here is a CSV file I use, which has all of the official Wizards Gatherer symbols used on their website now, the official set name used on Gatherer, as well as optional alternates for both of these columns for MWS or file system compatibility.

CSV File | Open

Core Sets,1E,Limited Edition Alpha,A,1st Limited Edition Alpha
Core Sets,2E,Limited Edition Beta,B,1st Limited Edition Beta
Core Sets,2U,Unlimited Edition,U,2nd Unlimited
Expansions,AN,Arabian Nights
Expansions,AQ,Antiquities
Core Sets,3E,Revised Edition,R,3rd Revised Edition
Expansions,LE,Legends,LG
Expansions,DK,The Dark
Expansions,FE,Fallen Empires
Core Sets,4E,Fourth Edition,,4th Edition
Expansions,IA,Ice Age
Special Sets,CH,Chronicles
Expansions,HM,Homelands,HL
Expansions,AL,Alliances
Expansions,MI,Mirage
Expansions,VI,Visions
Core Sets,5E,Fifth Edition,,5th Edition
Special Sets,PO,Portal,PT
Expansions,WL,Weatherlight
Expansions,TE,Tempest
Expansions,ST,Stronghold,SH
Expansions,EX,Exodus
Special Sets,P2,Portal Second Age
Special Sets,UG,Unglued
Expansions,UZ,Urza's Saga,US
Expansions,GU,Urza's Legacy,UL
Core Sets,6E,Classic Sixth Edition,,6th Classic Edition
Expansions,CG,Urza's Destiny,UD
Special Sets,PK,Portal Three Kingdoms,P3
Special Sets,P3,Starter 1999,ST
Expansions,MM,Mercadian Masques
Special Sets,BR,Battle Royale Box Set,BRB,Battle Royale
Expansions,NE,Nemesis
Special Sets,P4,Starter 2000,S00
Expansions,PR,Prophecy,PY
Expansions,IN,Invasion
Special Sets,BD,Beatdown Box Set,,Beatdown
Expansions,PS,Planeshift
Core Sets,7E,Seventh Edition,,7th Edition
Expansions,AP,Apocalypse
Expansions,OD,Odyssey
Expansions,TOR,Torment,TO
Expansions,JUD,Judgment,JU
Expansions,ONS,Onslaught,ON
Expansions,LGN,Legions,LE
Expansions,SCG,Scourge,SC
Core Sets,8ED,Eighth Edition,8E,8th Edition
Expansions,MRD,Mirrodin,MR
Expansions,DST,Darksteel,DS
Expansions,5DN,Fifth Dawn,FD
Expansions,CHK,Champions of Kamigawa
Special Sets,UNH,Unhinged
Expansions,BOK,Betrayers of Kamigawa
Expansions,SOK,Saviors of Kamigawa
Core Sets,9ED,Ninth Edition,9E,9th Edition
Expansions,RAV,Ravnica: City of Guilds
Expansions,GPT,Guildpact,GP
Expansions,DIS,Dissension
Expansions,CSP,Coldsnap,CS
Expansions,TSP,Time Spiral
Expansions,TSB,"Time Spiral ""Timeshifted"""
Expansions,PLC,Planar Chaos
Expansions,FUT,Future Sight
Core Sets,10E,Tenth Edition,,10th Edition
Expansions,LRW,Lorwyn
Special Sets,EVG,Duel Decks: Elves vs. Goblins,,Duel Decks - Elves vs. Goblins
Expansions,MOR,Morningtide
Expansions,SHM,Shadowmoor
Expansions,EVE,Eventide
Special Sets,DRB,From the Vault: Dragons,,From the Vault - Dragons
Expansions,ALA,Shards of Alara
Special Sets,DD2,Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra,,Duel Decks - Jace vs. Chandra
Expansions,CON,Conflux,CFX
Special Sets,DDC,Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic,,Duel Decks - Divine vs. Demonic
Expansions,ARB,Alara Reborn
Core Sets,M10,Magic 2010
Special Sets,V09,From the Vault: Exiled,,From the Vault - Exiled
Special Sets,HOP,Planechase
Expansions,ZEN,Zendikar
Special Sets,DDD,Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana,,Duel Decks - Garruk vs. Liliana
Special Sets,H09,Premium Deck Series: Slivers,,Premium Deck Series - Slivers
Expansions,WWK,Worldwake
Special Sets,DDE,Duel Decks: Phyrexia vs. the Coalition,,Duel Decks - Phyrexia vs. The Coalition
Expansions,ROE,Rise of the Eldrazi
Special Sets,ARC,Archenemy
Core Sets,M11,Magic 2011
Special Sets,V10,From the Vault: Relics,,From the Vault - Relics
Special Sets,DDF,Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Tezzeret,,Duel Decks - Elspeth vs. Tezzeret
Expansions,SOM,Scars of Mirrodin
Special Sets,PD2,Premium Deck Series: Fire and Lightning,,Premium Deck Series - Fire & Lightning
Expansions,MBS,Mirrodin Besieged
Special Sets,DDG,Duel Decks: Knights vs. Dragons,,Duel Decks - Knights vs. Dragons
Expansions,NPH,New Phyrexia
Core Sets,M12,Magic 2012
Special Sets,V11,From the Vault: Legends,,From the Vault - Legends
Special Sets,DDH,Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas,,Duel Decks - Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas
Expansions,ISD,Innistrad
Special Sets,PD3,Premium Deck Series: Graveborn,,Premium Deck Series - Graveborn
Expansions,DKA,Dark Ascension

[Arch]

Thanks for the info Ark.

I'll fix up the set-codes for next release.

[khaizeth]

hello guys..

I'm currently studying how to read an xml file using visual c# and I have used Arch's xml file to practice on. I encountered a problem and would like you experienced guys to help me out if it be ok with you guys. My problem is I can't pull out the card names of split/flip/transform cards..

EDIT: nvm, I finally solved my problem.. here's my solution

| Open

private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// set the columns for ListView1
ListView1.Columns.Add("Card Name",200);
ListView1.Items.Clear();

// initialize xml reader object
XDocument xdoc = XDocument.Load(@"cards.xml");

var recs = from names in xdoc.Descendants("card")
select new
{
name1 = names.Element("name").Value,
name2 = (names.Element("multi") != null) ? " // " + names.Element("multi").Element("name").Value : ""
};

foreach (var result in recs)
{
ListViewItem item = new ListViewItem(result.name1.ToString() + result.name2.ToString());

ListView1.Items.Add(item);
}
}

[Marek14]

Shield of Kaldra has weird set line.