Utility to reset Stars! passwords |
Sun, 12 August 2018 19:52 |
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ricks03 | | | Messages: 222
Registered: January 2012 Location: NC | |
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I wrote a script (in Perl) that will:
-Remove the password on a .M file (change the password when submitting the turn to make the change persist)
-Remove all player passwords in a .HST file (so the next turn generation will have no passwords on any .M files)
-Remove a password submitted in a .X file (effectively preventing someone from setting a password).
-Remove the host-level password on a .HST file.
The script (StarsPWD.pl) is posted to Raptor's GitHub site: https://github.com/stars-4x/totalhost
I was only interested in resetting the .M file to to permit player replacement when someone drops and doesn't provide their password. Little is more irritating that investing months, only to have someone drop out of a Stars! game. I've been burned that way more than once.
This functionality was trivial to implement (well, if you know what you're doing; me, less so) with raptor's files. Anyone who has written a utility that can write out Stars! files could implement this in minutes. Undoubtedly this ability has existed in the wild for years.
Hosts can also use this to easily check a player's file to validate questions about turn validity. I can even update TotalHost so that game admins can dynamically reset a player's password for a replacement. Another feature I can now implement is using the Stars! mapping utilities (like StarMapper) to automatically create a movie at the end of a game, displaying the expansion of players across the universe. Not possible if any or all all the files are password-protected!
This script shouldn't affect play on AutoHost or TotalHost, because they limit access to the individual player. But I wanted to resolve the uncertainty of, "who can read my Stars! files if they can access them?"
Everyone.
Rick
[Updated on: Sun, 19 August 2018 02:37]
https://www.irelandbybicycle.com
http://totalhost.sinister.net:999
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