Error Handling

Work In Progress

This page is a copy+paste of the errors document from the OttoMap repository. It needs to be updated and formatted. Please feel free to comment on this in the #mapping-tools channel on the TribeNet Discord server.

Error Files

If there are no issues parsing a report file, the server will create a log file. The file will be given the same prefix as the report file (YYYY-MM.CLAN), but with the extension .log.

If there are any errors parsing a report file, the server will create an error file. The file will be given the same prefix as the report file (YYYY-MM.CLAN), but with the extension .err.

You may have to update the text file copies of your report files.

If you don’t understand what needs to be fixed, please ask for help on the TribeNet Discord’s #mapping channel.

Common Errors

Random text at the bottom of a hex

Sometimes you will see something like "Ford S SE 0987g1" at the bottom of a hex. It might be the combination of terrain with a unit or maybe a resource. This happens when OttoMap can't parse a step in a move or status line. It assumes that the unparseable text is the name of a settlement and displays it at the bottom of the hex.

The fix is to find and update the step. Start by searching the turn report for the line that contains the hex you are looking at. In this case, you would search for "Ford S SE 0987g1." That line looks like this:

0987e1 Status: PRAIRIE, ,,Ford S SE 0987g1

The problem is there needs to be a comma just before the garrison unit.

0987e1 Status: PRAIRIE, ,,Ford S SE,0987g1

Units forbidden at the beginning of step

0899-12.0987: 0987: 13: SW-PR \ 1987g1\ No Ford on River to SW of HEX, nothing of interest found
0899-12.0987: 0987: 13: units forbidden at beginning of step

Line 13 of this turn report contains:

SW-PR \ 1987g1\ No Ford on River to SW of HEX, nothing of interest found

The problem is the backslash just before the garrison unit. It must be changed to a comma:

SW-PR , 1987g1\ No Ford on River to SW of HEX, nothing of interest found

Backslashes separate steps in the move while commas separate the things you find after moving.

Found dash prefix on result

0899-12.0987: 0987e1: 183: step 4: sub 1: "- 0987"
error: found dash prefix on result; it must be removed

The line in the turn report contains:

Scout 3:Scout SE-PR,  \SE-RH,  \SE-PR,  River S, \- 0987\ Not enough M.P's to move to SE into ROCKY HILLS,  Patrolled and found 0190

The problem is that a dash ("-") was left in the turn report by mistake. You must remove it.

Scout 3:Scout SE-PR,  \SE-RH,  \SE-PR,  River S, \ 0987\ Not enough M.P's to move to SE into ROCKY HILLS,  Patrolled and found 0190

Location "N/A": invalid location

0899-12: 0987  : location "N/A": invalid location
please update the invalid locations and restart

This error message is telling you that unit "0987" in the turn report for 899-12 is missing the starting hex location. The line in the turn report contains:

Tribe 0987, , Current Hex = ## 0105, (Previous Hex = N/A)

You must fix this by updating the location in the turn report. Update that line and set the value for Previous Hex. It should be changed to the hex that the unit starts the turn in (e.g. "QQ 0105").

Tribe 0987, , Current Hex = ## 0105, (Previous Hex = QQ 0105)

Other Errors

When the parser encounters a line that it doesn’t recognize, it will print the report id, the input, and then an error message.

parse: report 0900-01.0138: unit 0138e1: parsing error
parse: input: "0138e1 Status: PRAIRIE,,River S 0138e1"
parse: error: status:1:24 (23): no match found, expected: [ \t] or [0-9]

The report id should help you locate the file that needs to be fixed. (Please update the .txt copy of the file; the original .docx is not used by this application.)

If the unit id is available, it will also be displayed to help you find the section of the report that needs to be fixed.

The line shows the input from that report file.

The error message shows the section being parsed, the line number, the column number, and the parser’s best guess at what the problem is.

Note that the line number is always 1 because of the way the application looks at the input.

The column number shows you where the error happened. (It’s usually pretty close, anyway.) Use that to help figure out what to fix.

After you’ve made your update (again, please don’t update your original .docx report file), you must upload the new file to the server. The server will re-parse the file and update the map.

NOTE: I’m trying to get all the error messages to be consistent. If you notice one that’s wonky, please report it.

Expected Turn YYYY-MM

The parser tries to match the year and month from the file name with the year and month from the first line in the turn report. If there’s a mismatch, it will report an error and exit.

If the error mentions turn "0000-00":

render.go:219: error: expected turn "0901-10": got turn "0000-00"

Then the issue is probably with the line endings in the file. Please try running with the --auto-eol option. If that doesn’t resolve this issue, please report it on the Discord server.

Expected unit to have parent

You will get an error when Otto can’t determine which hex a unit was created in.

10:30:18 walk.go:60: 0901-04: 0138  : parent "0138": missing
10:30:18 walk.go:61: error: expected unit to have parent

This happens when Otto can’t determine the starting hex for the clan. It should happen only with the first turn’s report and only when the grid is obscured (meaning it starts with "##").

Tribe 0138, , Current Hex = ## 1304, (Previous Hex = ## 1304)

The fix is to update the report and add a grid id.

Tribe 0138, , Current Hex = KK 1304, (Previous Hex = KK 1304)

NOTE: If you don’t know which grid you’re starting in, put in something like "KK." You can update it later when you know the starting grid.

Otto uses the starting location (the clan’s origin) to plot out all the moves that units makes, that’s why it needs an un-obscured location to begin mapping.

No movement results found

If you run ottomap map and it ends with a line like map: no movement results found, the likely cause is a copy+paste error with the report file.

Check that the first line of the report file starts with Tribe 0nnn where 0nnn is your clan number.

If it does, it might be that your text editor is saving BOM bytes to the file. Please try running with the --skip-bom flag.

If that doesn’t work, please report the error on the #mapping-tools channel of the Discord server.

Backslashes

The report uses backslashes ("\") as movement step separators. When we report an error, you’ll see two backslashes. That’s because backslashes are special to the printf statement, so it doubles them on output.

If you see:

"Scout 1:Scout SE-RH, River SE S SW\\NE-PR, River S\\ not enough M.P’s to move to SE into PRAIRIE, nothing of interest found"

The line in the report is actually:

Scout 1:Scout SE-RH, River SE S SW\NE-PR, River S\ not enough M.P’s to move to SE into PRAIRIE, nothing of interest found

Scout lines

Sometimes a backslash should actually be a comma. If you have an error like this:

parse: section: scout 1: "Scout 1:Scout SE-RH, River SE S SW\\NE-PR, River S\\SE-PR, River SE S SW\\ 1540\\NE-PR, River S\\ not enough M.P’s to move to SE into PRAIRIE, nothing of interest found"
parse: report 0900-01.0138: unit 0138e1: parsing error
parse: input: "1540"
parse: error: scout:1:1 (0): no match found, expected: "Can't Move on", "N", "NE", "NW", "No Ford on River to", "Not enough M.P’s to move to", "S", "SE" or "SW"

The fix is to replace the backslash with a comma:

Scout 1:Scout SE-RH, River SE S SW\NE-PR, River S\SE-PR, River SE S SW, 1540\NE-PR, River S\ not enough M.P’s to move to SE into PRAIRIE, nothing of interest found

Sometimes there are extra characters in the input. This is due to the GMs making a typo when updating your turn report. They do a lot of work to make it presentable and sometimes make an honest mistake.

parse: section: scout 1: "Scout 1:Scout SW-PR,  \\SW-PR,  \\-,  1138e1\\SW-CH,  \\SW-PR,  O SW,  NW\\ Not enough M.P’s to move to S into PRAIRIE,  Nothing of interest found"
parse: report 0900-03.0138: unit 2138e1: parsing error
parse: input: "-,  1138e1"
parse: error: scout:1:1 (0): no match found, expected: "N", "NE", "NW", "S", "SE", "SW", [Cc] or [Nn]

The fix is to remove those characters:

Scout 1:Scout SW-PR,  \SW-PR,    1138e1\SW-CH,  \SW-PR,  O SW,  NW\ Not enough M.P’s to move to S into PRAIRIE,  Nothing of interest found

You may want to confer with the GM to find out what the line should actually have been.

You may see a line start with Scout , instead of just Scout:

parse: section: scout "Scout 1:Scout , Can't Move on Ocean to N of HEX,  Patrolled and found 2138e1"
parse: section: scout ", Can't Move on Ocean to N of HEX,  Patrolled and found 2138e1"
parse: section: scout 1: "Scout 1:Scout , Can't Move on Ocean to N of HEX,  Patrolled and found 2138e1"
parse: report 0900-04.0138: unit 1138e1: parsing error
parse: input: ", Can't Move on Ocean to N of HEX,  Patrolled and found 2138e1"
parse: error: scout:1:1 (0): no match found, expected: "N", "NE", "NW", "S", "SE", "SW", [Cc] or [Nn]

In that case, just remove the comma:

Scout 1:Scout Can’t Move on Ocean to N of HEX, Patrolled and found 2138e1

Status lines

Sometimes there are extra commas in the status line. If you have an error like this:

parse: report 0900-01.0138: unit 0138e1: parsing error
parse: input: "0138e1 Status: PRAIRIE,,River S 0138e1"
parse: error: status:1:24 (23): no match found, expected: [ \t] or [0-9]

Please remove the extra comma:

0138e1 Status: PRAIRIE,River S 0138e1

Sometimes there is a missing comma that should follow River, Ford, or Pass directions.

parse: report 0900-01.0138: unit 0138e1: parsing error
parse: input: "0138e1 Status: PRAIRIE,,River S 0138e1"
parse: error: status:1:33 (32): no match found, expected: ",", "N", "NE", "NW", "S", "SE", "SW", [ \t] or EOF

Please insert the comma after the list of directions:

0138e1 Status: PRAIRIE,River S, 0138e1

Hexes don’t align

Otto steps through every move a unit makes in the turn and calculates the location of each hex. At the end of the move, Otto compares the calculated hex with the "Current Hex" from the turn report. If the two don’t match, Otto reports this error.

10:40:00 render.go:292: error: 0901-04: 0138 : to "KK 1305"
10:40:00 render.go:293: : 0901-05: 0138 : from "KK 1304"
10:40:00 render.go:300: links: 5 good, 1 bad
10:40:00 render.go:303: sorry: the previous and current hexes don’t align in some reports
10:40:00 render.go:304: please report this error

This happens only when the location line from the report is missing the "Previous Hex" or there’s a typo in one of the locations.

Tribe 0138, , Current Hex = KK 1305, (Previous Hex = N/A)

I have only seen this happen when an element was created at the end of a parent’s move. If that’s the case, you will need to update the report and fix the starting and ending hexes for the unit.

If not, please report this on the Discord server. It’s a bug that I’d like to fix.