WIP Dev Tips Code Notes En Masse

When RAM digging, you may find yourself wishing for a way to do code notes en masse. Unfortunately, there's not a convenient or simple way to do this, but it is possible and can save a ton of time if you are patient enough to learn how.

First, we'll look at how local code notes work:

• Open the Memory Inspector and the Code Notes windows.
  
• Go to a random address and type something in as a note, but do not publish it.
  
• Check that address in the Code Notes window. You'll notice that your note is red.
  
• Go to the emulator's RACache directory and open the GameID-User.txt file of the game you have running.
  
• Lines that start with N0: are local code notes. Once you publish a note, it will disappear from the GameID-User.txt file.

N0:address of the note:"text of the code note"

• N0: is how the server knows this is a code note.
  
• address of the note the memory address, obviously. This will be in hex, not decimal.
  
• : it's just a separator
  
• "text of the code note" - the contents of the code note, and yes, the quotes are required. Line breaks can be used with \r\n and quotes within the note can be used with \"

Now, the next part requires some general know-how with spreadsheets. It will vary per game, so you'll need to figure out the formula for a lot of things yourself. We will use an example, though.

Let's say we want to have notes for all character stats. You will need the following:

• Character 1's stat addresses.
  
• An offset for Character 1 and Character 2's first stats.

We will use Trails in the Sky SC as an example.

Character 1 is Estelle, and her stat addresses are as followed:

Address	"Character and Stat"
0xc5bbcc	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
0xc5bbd0	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
0xc5bbd4	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
0xc5bbd8	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
0xc5bbda	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
0xc5bbdc	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
0xc5bbe0	"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
0xc5bbe4	"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
0xc5bbe6	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
0xc5bbe8	"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
0xc5bbea	"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
0xc5bbec	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
0xc5bbee	"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
0xc5bbf0	"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
0xc5bbf2	"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
0xc5bbfa	"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"

Character 2 is Joshua. His first stat (Current Level) is at the address 0xc5bc08.

0xc5bc08 minus 0xc5bbcc is 0x3c, or 60 in decimal. We can confirm this by checking his last stat (RNG), which is 0xc5bc36, also 0x3c/60 from Estelle's last stat.

We'll start by putting Estelle's stats into a spreadsheet and adding a column between the addresses and stats. It will look like this (column numbers in parenthesis):

Address (A)	Blank Column (B)	"Character and Stat" (C)
0xc5bbcc		"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
0xc5bbd0		"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
0xc5bbd4		"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
0xc5bbd8		"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
0xc5bbda		"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
0xc5bbdc		"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
0xc5bbe0		"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
0xc5bbe4		"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
0xc5bbe6		"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
0xc5bbe8		"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
0xc5bbea		"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
0xc5bbec		"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
0xc5bbee		"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
0xc5bbf0		"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
0xc5bbf2		"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
0xc5bbfa		"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"

In cell B1, we'll use the following formula: =hex2dec(A1) to turn the address to decimal. Then we'll drag it down to populate the other cells. It should now look like this (also, added the row column since we'll need it):

Row	Address (A)	Address in Decimal (B)	"Character and Stat" (C)
01	0xc5bbcc	12958668	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
02	0xc5bbd0	12958672	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
03	0xc5bbd4	12958676	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
04	0xc5bbd8	12958680	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
05	0xc5bbda	12958682	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
06	0xc5bbdc	12958684	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
07	0xc5bbe0	12958688	"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
08	0xc5bbe4	12958692	"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
09	0xc5bbe6	12958694	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
10	0xc5bbe8	12958696	"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
11	0xc5bbea	12958698	"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
12	0xc5bbec	12958700	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
13	0xc5bbee	12958702	"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
14	0xc5bbf0	12958704	"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
15	0xc5bbf2	12958706	"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
16	0xc5bbfa	12958714	"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"

Now, we'll populate the cells with Joshua's stats using the offset. In cell B17, we will use the formula =B1+60, which will give us 12958728. Drag cell B17 to B32. In cell A17, use the formula =dec2hex and drag that down to A32. It should now look like this:

Row	Address (A)	Address in Decimal (B)	"Character and Stat" (C)
01	0xc5bbcc	12958668	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
02	0xc5bbd0	12958672	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
03	0xc5bbd4	12958676	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
04	0xc5bbd8	12958680	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
05	0xc5bbda	12958682	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
06	0xc5bbdc	12958684	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
07	0xc5bbe0	12958688	"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
08	0xc5bbe4	12958692	"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
09	0xc5bbe6	12958694	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
10	0xc5bbe8	12958696	"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
11	0xc5bbea	12958698	"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
12	0xc5bbec	12958700	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
13	0xc5bbee	12958702	"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
14	0xc5bbf0	12958704	"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
15	0xc5bbf2	12958706	"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
16	0xc5bbfa	12958714	"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"
17	0xc5bc08	12958728
18	0xc5bc0c	12958732
19	0xc5bc10	12958736
20	0xc5bc14	12958740
21	0xc5bc16	12958742
22	0xc5bc18	12958744
23	0xc5bc1c	12958748
24	0xc5bc20	12958752
25	0xc5bc22	12958754
26	0xc5bc24	12958756
27	0xc5bc26	12958758
28	0xc5bc28	12958760
29	0xc5bc2a	12958762
30	0xc5bc2c	12958764
31	0xc5bc2e	12958766
32	0xc5bc36	12958774

Now, we'll copy cells C1:C16 and paste them to cells C17:C32. We'll highlight C17:C32 and use the Find & Replace tool (CTRL+H for Google Sheets) to change instances of Estelle to Joshua, but only for that cell range. It will look like this:

Row	Address (A)	Address in Decimal (B)	"Character and Stat" (C)
01	0xc5bbcc	12958668	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
02	0xc5bbd0	12958672	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
03	0xc5bbd4	12958676	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
04	0xc5bbd8	12958680	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
05	0xc5bbda	12958682	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
06	0xc5bbdc	12958684	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
07	0xc5bbe0	12958688	"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
08	0xc5bbe4	12958692	"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
09	0xc5bbe6	12958694	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
10	0xc5bbe8	12958696	"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
11	0xc5bbea	12958698	"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
12	0xc5bbec	12958700	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
13	0xc5bbee	12958702	"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
14	0xc5bbf0	12958704	"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
15	0xc5bbf2	12958706	"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
16	0xc5bbfa	12958714	"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"
17	0xc5bc08	12958728	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current Level"
18	0xc5bc0c	12958732	"[16-bit] Joshua - Max HP"
19	0xc5bc10	12958736	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current HP"
20	0xc5bc14	12958740	"[16-bit] Joshua - Max EP"
21	0xc5bc16	12958742	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current EP"
22	0xc5bc18	12958744	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current CP"
23	0xc5bc1c	12958748	"[32-bit] Joshua - Current EXP"
24	0xc5bc20	12958752	"[16-bit] Joshua - STR Stat"
25	0xc5bc22	12958754	"[16-bit] Joshua - DEF Stat"
26	0xc5bc24	12958756	"[16-bit] Joshua - ATS Stat"
27	0xc5bc26	12958758	"[16-bit] Joshua - ADF Stat"
28	0xc5bc28	12958760	"[16-bit] Joshua - DEX Stat"
29	0xc5bc2a	12958762	"[16-bit] Joshua - AGL Stat"
30	0xc5bc2c	12958764	"[16-bit] Joshua - MOV Stat"
31	0xc5bc2e	12958766	"[16-bit] Joshua - SPD Stat"
32	0xc5bc36	12958774	"[16-bit] Joshua - RNG Stat"

We can repeat this for the remaining characters, but we'll leave it as is to keep it simple.

Remember the syntax: N0:address of the note:"text of the code note". This is how we'll set up the spreadsheet:

• Add a column to the left of column A and fill that column with N0:.
  
• Copy cells B1:B32 (which are now the hex addresses).
  
• Right-click on B1 and go to Paste Special -> Values only, or simply press CTRL+SHIFT+V. If you don't do this, the next step will mess everything up.
  
• Clear Column C (which were the decimal addresses) and fill C1:C32 with :.
  
• The sheet should now look like this:

Row	N0: (A)	Address (B)	: (C)	"Character and Stat" (D)
01	N0:	0xc5bbcc	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
02	N0:	0xc5bbd0	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
03	N0:	0xc5bbd4	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
04	N0:	0xc5bbd8	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
05	N0:	0xc5bbda	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
06	N0:	0xc5bbdc	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
07	N0:	0xc5bbe0	:	"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
08	N0:	0xc5bbe4	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
09	N0:	0xc5bbe6	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
10	N0:	0xc5bbe8	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
11	N0:	0xc5bbea	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
12	N0:	0xc5bbec	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
13	N0:	0xc5bbee	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
14	N0:	0xc5bbf0	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
15	N0:	0xc5bbf2	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
16	N0:	0xc5bbfa	:	"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"
17	N0:	0xc5bc08	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current Level"
18	N0:	0xc5bc0c	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Max HP"
19	N0:	0xc5bc10	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current HP"
20	N0:	0xc5bc14	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Max EP"
21	N0:	0xc5bc16	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current EP"
22	N0:	0xc5bc18	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - Current CP"
23	N0:	0xc5bc1c	:	"[32-bit] Joshua - Current EXP"
24	N0:	0xc5bc20	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - STR Stat"
25	N0:	0xc5bc22	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - DEF Stat"
26	N0:	0xc5bc24	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - ATS Stat"
27	N0:	0xc5bc26	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - ADF Stat"
28	N0:	0xc5bc28	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - DEX Stat"
29	N0:	0xc5bc2a	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - AGL Stat"
30	N0:	0xc5bc2c	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - MOV Stat"
31	N0:	0xc5bc2e	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - SPD Stat"
32	N0:	0xc5bc36	:	"[16-bit] Joshua - RNG Stat"

• Copy cells A1:D32 and paste them into the GameID-User.txt file.
  
• Use Find and Replace to change tabs to an empty space/nothing/blank.

The GameID-User.txt contents now look like this:

#.#.#.#
Trails in the Sky SC
N0:0xc5bbcc:"[16-bit] Estelle - Current Level"
N0:0xc5bbd0:"[16-bit] Estelle - Max HP"
N0:0xc5bbd4:"[16-bit] Estelle - Current HP"
N0:0xc5bbd8:"[16-bit] Estelle - Max EP"
N0:0xc5bbda:"[16-bit] Estelle - Current EP"
N0:0xc5bbdc:"[16-bit] Estelle - Current CP"
N0:0xc5bbe0:"[32-bit] Estelle - Current EXP"
N0:0xc5bbe4:"[16-bit] Estelle - STR Stat"
N0:0xc5bbe6:"[16-bit] Estelle - DEF Stat"
N0:0xc5bbe8:"[16-bit] Estelle - ATS Stat"
N0:0xc5bbea:"[16-bit] Estelle - ADF Stat"
N0:0xc5bbec:"[16-bit] Estelle - DEX Stat"
N0:0xc5bbee:"[16-bit] Estelle - AGL Stat"
N0:0xc5bbf0:"[16-bit] Estelle - MOV Stat"
N0:0xc5bbf2:"[16-bit] Estelle - SPD Stat"
N0:0xc5bbfa:"[16-bit] Estelle - RNG Stat"
N0:0xc5bc08:"[16-bit] Joshua - Current Level"
N0:0xc5bc0c:"[16-bit] Joshua - Max HP"
N0:0xc5bc10:"[16-bit] Joshua - Current HP"
N0:0xc5bc14:"[16-bit] Joshua - Max EP"
N0:0xc5bc16:"[16-bit] Joshua - Current EP"
N0:0xc5bc18:"[16-bit] Joshua - Current CP"
N0:0xc5bc1c:"[32-bit] Joshua - Current EXP"
N0:0xc5bc20:"[16-bit] Joshua - STR Stat"
N0:0xc5bc22:"[16-bit] Joshua - DEF Stat"
N0:0xc5bc24:"[16-bit] Joshua - ATS Stat"
N0:0xc5bc26:"[16-bit] Joshua - ADF Stat"
N0:0xc5bc28:"[16-bit] Joshua - DEX Stat"
N0:0xc5bc2a:"[16-bit] Joshua - AGL Stat"
N0:0xc5bc2c:"[16-bit] Joshua - MOV Stat"
N0:0xc5bc2e:"[16-bit] Joshua - SPD Stat"
N0:0xc5bc36:"[16-bit] Joshua - RNG Stat"

• Save it.
  
• Next time the game is loaded and the Code Notes window is opened, all of those notes will appear in red.
  
• If we click Publish at the bottom of the Code Notes window, all of the notes will publish at once.

That's all, folks. Learn some spreadsheet formulas and Regular Expressions and you will become a Code Note guru. Please use responsibly and don't actually save over my Trails in the Sky SC notes. Always spot-check addresses here and there to make sure your formulas stay consistent. I added over 500 code notes to the wrong game using an older method, which was much easier to make mistakes. <3 - tele.