Compiling 2DAs

In the "Dragon Age\tools\ResourceBuild\Processors" folder there is an executable named "ExcelProcessor.exe". This is the file that handles conversions from XLS to 2DA format. Below are described 3 ways in which this file may be used.

Drag & Drop Method

1. Copy ExcelProcessor.exe and source .XLS files to a new directory (not explicitly neccessary, but advised)
2. Select source .XLS files and drag them onto ExcelProcessor.exe
3. Cut & Paste resulting .GDA files, which will be located in the same directory as the source .XLS files, to your desired location (usually to "My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns\yourmodulename\module\overrides\")

Adding 2DA export to the Windows XP file explorer

Here's an easy way to add a context (ie, right-click) menu item that quickly converts new or updated Dragon Age Excel files into GDA format:

Setup:

1. Open Windows Explorer and click Tools | Folder Options.
2. In the File Types tab, select the XLS extension from the list and click the Advanced button.
3. Click the New button and put 'Binarize 2DA' in the Action field.
4. Paste the following in the Application field and click OK (update the drive and folder names to match your client): "C:\Program Files\Dragon Age\tools\ResourceBuild\Processors\ExcelProcessor.exe" "%1" -outdir="C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override"
   1. For the Steam version, use the following: "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\dragon age origins\tools\ResourceBuild\Processors\ExcelProcessor.exe" "%1" -outdir="C:\Documents and Settings\YOURNAME\My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override"

Note that paths with spaces in them can cause Windows trouble, if your paths have spaces in them remember to wrap them in quotation marks.

Usage:

1. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to your 2DA folder (in my case C:\DA\tag\main\data\Source\2DA) and select the Excel file(s) to process. Right click and select 'Binarize 2DA' from the context menu.
2. Confirm a corresponding GDA file is created in your override folder (in my case C:\DA\tag\main\build\packages\core\override) for each Excel file processed.

An example of how setting this up in Windows XP looks

Using a .BAT file

The following method may work better for you instead:

• Create two folders called C:\2DA\ and C:\2DA\Override\
• Copy ExcelProcessor.exe to C:\2DA\
• Copy the Excel spreadsheets containing the 2DA you want to use in the game to C:\2DA\
• Create a batch file with the following line in it (change "placeables.xls" to whatever Excel file you're working with):

C:\2DA\ExcelProcessor.exe placeables.xls -outdir=C:\2DA\override\

• Run your batch file
• Find the GDA file from the C:\2DA\Override\ directory and copy it to the game's override directory. Remember to take into account the naming conventions of M2DAs; you may need to rename your 2DA files with a new suffix unique to your module to allow it to add to the core 2DAs without conflict.
• If you copied your new 2DA file in your Override directory while Dragon Age Game was running, you will need to exit to windows and re-run the game to let your changes to work.