INTRODUCTION
I'm not sure how much help this will be to others, but I wanted to doucument what I did anyway.
This page will have three primary uses:
This is made possible by four features of EmuLoader, which were only available at the same time with the release of Version 4.7.3. These features are:
INTRODUCTION
Between roughly Version 36 and Version 0.74u2 of MAME, I kept up with the changes to MAME and updated my files frequently. During this time I kept a list of ROMS that I wanted to exclude from MAME (mahjong, pron, violence, etc.) I would then compile a custom build of MAME with these games removed, so MY version of MAME 0.74u2 contained 2749 games, with 1257 games commented out and not included. (I kept a text file of roms that were commented out.) Later, I decided that I didn't need 15 different-language versions of Gauntlet, so I went through my list using EmuLoader, adding clones that were very similar to the parent games to the Parental Lock file. This left me with 1695 games available with parental lock turned on. I later went through this list and selected 531 games as my Favorites. This list was much more manageable and actually made MAME more enjoyable.
I used this list for a long time, occasionally picking up a newer version, but not updating the game list, however several factors made me decide to upgrade. First, MAME hit version 0.100, which seemed like a good time to start anew. Second, Howard Casto perfected his Johnny5 controls viewer and a way to launch it while MAME was paused. Third, there are rumors of a new version of NoNameMAME being released. Fourth, most roms have disappeared from public websites, and there are some ominous clouds on the horizon, making me think that it is a good idea to update now while MAME is still legal and files are still available.
But I wasn't looking
forward to having to sort through 5778 games and pick and choose the
ones I wanted. Especially after I had spent a long time doing
this previously. So here's what I did. . .
HOW TO DO IT
First, I will assume that you have EmuLoader already set up with the version of MAME that you will be upgrading FROM, and have the new version of MAME set up on your computer. Also that you currently have a Parental Lock file set up for the version of MAME that you are upgrading FROM (or don't use Parental Lock, but then this procedure is only really useful for displaying added games).
Start by opening EmuLoader and turning on Parental Lock. Turn off all other filters, so that you have a list of all the games you want to KEEP available after the upgrade. Select File>Export Games List>Visible Games (Game Name Only) and save the file as oldmamegames.txt (we will use this file later).
Now, turn on multiple select (File>Preference>Games>Multiple Games Selection), and leave the first game in the list, but select the second game, scroll to the bottom of the list, and shift-click on the last game, right-click and select "Add to Parental Lock." This will leave you with only one game in the game list. (EmuLoader sometimes dislikes empty games lists.) Note the name of this game.
Now, point EmuLoader to the new MAME version and select File>Create Games List>MAME. For most users, this will give you a list of the one previous game, plus all games added between the old and new versions of MAME. Add the one previous game to the Parental Lock list, and you have just the added games. For me, it gave me this list, plus all the games I had commented out of the custom build of the old MAME version. But I was soon going to fix this:
First, I decrypted the Parental Lock file. Next, I modifed my list of roms that I had commented out so that each entry was in the format of "romname=mame". Then I opened the decrypted Parental Lock file and the commented games list, selected all games on the commented games list and copied it to the clipboard, pasted it to the end of the decrypted Parental Lock file and saved it. Then I encrypted this file and saved it to EmuLoader's folder. Now I had my list of only games added between the two MAME versions.
The next step is to edit this list to only games that we want to keep. This can be done very easily using the catver file and EmuLoader's Parental Lock editor. Once you have the list edited down, you should also go through the list and add games to your Favorites, if you want to do so, as it is easier with to do with only the reduced list of added games shown.
Finally, we want to get our oldmamegames.txt entries out of the Parental Lock file, so they can be played in the new MAME version. The first step to doing this is to decrypt the Parental Lock file once again. Ideally, you should also edit both oldmamegames.txt and the decrypted Parental Lock file so they are both in alphabetical order (keeping the password line at the top). (This can be done in Microsoft Word by selecting Table>Sort and checking "My List has header row".)
For the next step, I initially used a program called "Beyond Compare", but any text file comparison program that can display similar entries can work. Open oldmamegames.txt in the left hand pane, and the decrypted Parental Lock file in the right hand pane. Select the "Just Matching Text" filter. "Select all" (Ctrl-A) on the decrypted Parental Lock pane and press delete. Save the decrypted Parental Lock file.
UPDATE: In my quest to save you from spending money on software when a freeware solution will do the job, I have found a freeware solution for this: Download and install ExamDiff. Open oldmamegames.txt as file 1 and the decrypted Parental Lock file as file 2. Select "View>Show Differences Only" from the taskbar (Ctrl-D). Right-click in the right pane and select "Select All". Right-click again and select "Copy." Open WordPad and paste the contents and save this file, replacing the decrypted Parental Lock file.
Now, open EmuLoader and encrypt and save the new decrypted Parental Lock file. You now have an updated MAME list containing only the games that you were saving previously and the games that you wanted to keep from the new version of MAME.
NOTE: Some games will no longer be present because they were deleted between the two MAME versions.
You're done!!!
CONCLUSION
Hopefully this was helpful. Contact me if you have any questions.