bethesda toolkit

Convert ESP/ESM files to easily editable XML files and back again.

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Overview

This is a command line tool that will be used with Bethesda plugin files to help create mods. Currently this involves converting the ESM/ESP file into XML format, which can then be edited using any tools required, and then converted back to ESM/ESP once changes have been made. Ultimately, I would like to extend the functionality provided by this toolkit once I have stabilized the code for reading and writing plugin files.

usage

This is a command line tool that runs with the bethkit.exe executable. To convert the plugin to an XML file, just run the following command in the command prompt:

bethkitconvertYourMod.esp YourMod.esx

The generated ESX file will be in XML format which is the same format that I referenced to create the toolkit

bethkitconvertYourMod.esx YourMod.esp

In addition to the convert command, there is also an unzip command, which runs as follows:

bethkit decompresses YourMod.esp YourModDecompressed.esp

Some records in the plugin files are stored in a compressed format, this will decompress them so they are still available in uncompressed form. You probably won't need to use it, but I thought I'd mention it since it's available. I used it so that while developing this toolbox it would be much easier to analyze the records using a hex editor.

warn

Since this toolkit is relatively new, there may still be many bugs. In my testing I made sure that Skyrim.esm, Update.esm, HearthFires.esm, Dawnguard.esm and Dragonborn.esm worked fine when converting them to XML and back again to the generated files without any differences. This doesn't mean there won't be problems converting other files created by modders. If you encounter any problems, please feel free to report a bug so I can fix it.

Also, when editing an XML file, it's likely that you can make changes and then successfully convert it back to a plugin file using this tool, but it won't actually work when used in Skyrim. I highly recommend using TES5Edit to verify that any changes you make do not introduce any errors. Given that this toolkit is relatively new, you may not want to rely heavily on creating mods, but simply use it as another tool that can help you understand the plugins you create.

error report

If you find a bug and want to report it, please provide a link to where I can download the file in question so I can reproduce the bug. Bug reports that just say "it doesn't work" or otherwise provide vague information don't help me because these plugin files are so complex that I can't guess what the problem might be if it can't be reproduced. If I don't have documentation to reproduce the issue, capital letters won't help either.

future

Eventually, I hope to support other games besides Skyrim, such as Fallout 4 and Oblivion. Once I understand what the interest is and see feedback from others using it, I may think of other features besides XML transformation.

do it

This is just a list of things I can think of off the top of my head that I might want to put into the next available update:

When converting plugin files to XML format, add options to configure the indent spacing. Currently this is hardcoded to 4 spaces.

Optimize code to reduce memory usage and possibly increase conversion speed.

Try to explain some currently unknown fields.

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OVERVIEW

This is a command line tool that will work with Bethesda plugin files for the purposes of helping to create mods. Currently this consists of converting ESM/ESP files to an XML format that can then be edited with whatever tools you like and then converted back …