Aside from adding new content and features to their rFactor 2 simulation, Image Space Incorporated is also working on the simulation’s foundation.
Adding to the on-going 64-bit version work, ISI has announced that rFactor 2 will switch to??JSON file formats in upcoming builds :
ISI will be using JSON file formats in upcoming builds. This replaces, most notably for most users, INI file format. We will gradually move all files to a single format, and JSON is it, giving consistency for editing and usage across what are currently mixed filetypes.
Tools, APIs, Libraries are readily available on the Web to parse and manipulate, and many platforms and languages are supported. Most users will be able to make the same changes they did previously with INI files by simply opening the JSON file with notepad. However, as with the INI file it is important to understand the formatting to avoid issues. For example, here is an unpopulated line just to show formatting:
??????:???”,A populated line would look like:
???Lobby Chat Nickname???:???Tim Wheatley???,A populated line with no data entry would look like:
???Lobby Chat Nickname???:???”,A ???commented out???, information only line would look like:
???Lobby Chat Nickname#???:???Nickname shown in lobby chat???,Information only lines with the # at the end of the first section, should not be edited, they exist to explain what the populated line (usually right above it) actually does.
All new ISI web services (and many other companies like Google, Microsoft, etc) use JSON for marshalling. Object nature for set operations (union, intersections, complements), using data, is much easier for varying application needs and precedents. For example, think if user has some setting configured, but a server has higher precedent for a setting, it can override the player setting much easier. Driver aid options, etc, will all be enforced easily.
