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GemStone IV XML Log Analysis - Complete Element Documentation

Overview

Analysis of 2,898 XML log files from the Lich5 client logs directory across 10 characters. These are game session logs from GemStone IV containing mixed XML and plain text output.

1. XML Elements (Tags)

Core System Elements

Element Description Key Attributes
mode Game mode indicator id (GAME, LOGIN)
playerID Player identifier id (numeric)
settingsInfo Client/game settings client, major, crc, instance
app Application metadata char, game, title
endSetup Marks end of initial setup (none)

Stream Management

Element Description Key Attributes
streamWindow UI window definition id, title, subtitle, location, target, ifClosed, resident, save, scroll, timestamp, styleIfClosed, appearance, nameFilterOption
clearStream Clear stream contents id, ifClosed
pushStream Push content to stream id
popStream Pop stream context id
stream Individual stream content line id
exposeStream Expose/show a stream id

Component System

Element Description Key Attributes
compDef Component definition id
component Component instance id

Component IDs Found:

  • room desc - Room description
  • room objs - Room objects
  • room players - Players in room
  • room exits - Available exits
  • sprite - Player's familiar/sprite

Container/Inventory System

Element Description Key Attributes
container Container window id, title, location, target, resident, save
exposeContainer Expose container (special for stow) id
clearContainer Clear container contents id
inv Inventory item line id

Container Stream Patterns:

  1. Looking in a container (e.g., look in my bandolier):
<container id='225766824' title='Bandolier' target='#225766824' location='right'/>
<clearContainer id="225766824"/>
<inv id='225766824'>In the <a exist="225766824" noun="bandolier">bandolier</a>:</inv>
<inv id='225766824'> a <a exist="225766858" noun="sword">slim short sword</a></inv>
<!-- ...more inv items... -->

Then followed by categorized display text (Weapons, Armor, Containers, etc.)

  1. Stow container (default storage, special format):
<exposeContainer id='stow'/>
<container id='stow' title="My Shroud" target='#225766691' location='right' save='' resident='true'/>
<clearContainer id="stow"/>
<inv id='stow'>In the <a exist="225766691" noun="shroud">shroud</a>:</inv>
<inv id='stow'> a <a exist="225766734" noun="feather">nacreous disir feather</a></inv>
<!-- ...more inv items... -->

Dialog System

Element Description Key Attributes
openDialog Create dialog window id, type, title, location, target, height, width, resident
dialogData Dialog content id, clear

Dialog IDs Found:

  • combat - Combat controls
  • injuries - Injury display
  • minivitals - Health/mana/stamina bars
  • stance - Stance indicator
  • expr - Experience/level info
  • encum - Encumbrance
  • Active Spells - Active spell list
  • Buffs - Active buffs
  • Debuffs - Active debuffs
  • Cooldowns - Ability cooldowns
  • mapMaster - Map controls
  • mapViewMain - Map view
  • espMasterDialog / espMasterData - ESP/telepathy controls
  • quick - Quick action bar (main)
  • quick-combat - Combat quick bar
  • quick-simu - Information quick bar

UI Control Elements

Element Description Key Attributes
progressBar Progress indicator id, value, text, customText, top, left, height, width, align, tooltip
cmdButton Command button id, value, cmd, echo, tooltip, top, left, height, width, align, anchor_left, anchor_top
dropDownBox Dropdown selector id, value, cmd, content_text, content_value, tooltip, top, left, height, width, align, anchor_left, anchor_right
upDownEditBox Numeric input id, value, min, max, top, left, height, width, align, name, controls
label Text label id, value, justify, top, left, height, width, align, anchor_top, anchor_left, anchor_right, tooltip
link Clickable link id, value, cmd, echo, top, left, align, justify, width, URL, anchor_top, anchor_left
menuLink Menu link id, value, exist, noun, width, left
image UI image/button id, name, cmd, echo, tooltip, top, left, height, width, align, anchor_top, anchor_left
radio Radio button id, value, text, cmd, group, autosend, align, top, left, width
skin UI skin/theme id, name, controls, top, left, height, width, align
sep Separator (none)

Navigation Elements

Element Description Key Attributes
nav Navigation/room info rm (room ID)
compass Compass container (contains dir elements)
dir Direction indicator value (n, s, e, w, ne, nw, se, sw, up, down, out)

Interactive Elements

Element Description Key Attributes
a Hyperlink/object reference exist, noun, coord, char, game, title, href
d Direction link in text (contains direction text)

Character State Elements

Element Description Key Attributes
indicator Status indicator id, visible (y/n)
spell Current prepared spell (text content)
left Left hand item exist, noun
right Right hand item exist, noun
prompt Command prompt time (unix timestamp)
roundTime Action round time value
castTime Spell cast time value

Indicator IDs Found:

  • IconKNEELING - Kneeling status
  • IconPRONE - Prone status
  • IconSITTING - Sitting status
  • IconSTANDING - Standing status
  • IconSTUNNED - Stunned status
  • IconHIDDEN - Hidden status
  • IconINVISIBLE - Invisible status
  • IconDEAD - Dead status
  • IconWEBBED - Webbed status
  • IconJOINED - Joined group status

Text Formatting

Element Description Key Attributes
pushBold Start bold text (none)
popBold End bold text (none)
b Bold wrapper (none)
output Output formatting/font switch class
style Text style id (roomName, roomDesc, etc.)
resource Resource reference picture

Output Class Values (Font Switching for GUI):

  • <output class="mono"/> - Switch to monospace font (font2)
  • <output class=""/> - Switch back to normal font (font1)

Note: In TUI mode, always mono so this doesn't matter.

Dialog Control

Element Description Key Attributes
closeDialog Close a dialog window id

Settings/Flags System

Element Description Key Attributes
flag Player setting flag id, status (on/off), desc

Example flags:

  • Player Log On, Player Log Off, Player Disconnect
  • Room Names, Room Descriptions, Brief Room Description
  • Monster Bold, Default Group Open
  • Automatically Activate ESP Amulets, Automatically Gather Coins

Client Command Markers (Lich5 Scripting)

Pattern Description
<!-- CLIENT --><c>command</c><!-- ENDCLIENT --> Client-side command marker

Commands prefixed with ; are Lich5 script commands (e.g., ;list all, ;autostart add script)

Miscellaneous

Element Description Key Attributes
switchQuickBar Switch active quick bar id
updateverbs Update available verbs default
cmdlist Command list (none)
cmdtimestamp Command timestamp data
pushInputState Input state control state
popInputState Pop input state (none)

2. Stream Window IDs

Stream ID Title Purpose
main Story Main game output
room Room Room description display
inv My Inventory Worn items
Spells Spells Available spells list
familiar Familiar Familiar messages
thoughts Thoughts ESP/telepathy
logons Arrivals Player arrivals
death Deaths Death notices
speech Speech Speech window
ambients Ambients Ambient messages
announcements Announcements Game announcements
bounty Bounties Bounty task info
society Society Tasks Society task info
loot Loot Loot window
charprofile [Character]'s Profile Character profile
charsheet Character Sheet Character sheet

3. Progress Bar IDs

ProgressBar ID Dialog Purpose
health minivitals Health bar (main)
health2 injuries Health bar (injuries)
mana minivitals Mana bar
spirit minivitals Spirit bar
stamina minivitals Stamina bar
pbarStance combat/stance Stance indicator
encumlevel encum Encumbrance level
mindState expr Mind state (experience absorption)
nextLvlPB expr Progress to next level

4. Common Attributes Reference

Layout/Positioning

  • top, left - Position coordinates
  • height, width - Size
  • align - Alignment (n, s, e, w, nw, ne, sw, se, center)
  • anchor_top, anchor_left, anchor_right - Relative anchoring
  • justify - Text justification
  • location - Window location (right, left, center, statBar, quickBar, force-center)

Identity

  • id - Element identifier
  • exist - Game object ID (numeric, can be negative)
  • noun - Object noun/type

Behavioral

  • cmd - Command to execute
  • echo - Text to echo to client
  • value - Current value
  • visible - Visibility (y/n)
  • resident - Persistent element
  • ifClosed - Condition for display

Content

  • title, subtitle - Display titles
  • text - Display text
  • tooltip - Hover text
  • content_text, content_value - Dropdown options

5. File Structure

logs/
  GSIV-[CharacterName]/
    2025/
      09/  (September)
      10/  (October)
      11/  (November)
      12/  (December)
        2025-12-21_19-26-11.xml  (timestamp format)
  GST-[CharacterName]/  (Test server)
  debug/

Characters Found: Armler, Bodegap, Brodega, Dicate, Getho, Hypate, Monstr, Nisugi, Sugiin, Zoleta

Implementation Notes for VellumFE

Critical Elements to Handle:

  1. Mixed Content - Files contain both XML tags and plain text on same lines
  2. Self-closing vs Content Tags - Some elements self-close, others have content
  3. Nested DialogData - Multiple dialogData elements can update same dialog
  4. Dynamic Updates - Elements like progressBar update with new value attributes
  5. Clear Operations - clear='t' attribute resets dialog contents
  6. Negative exist IDs - Room/NPC objects often have negative exist values
  7. Coordinate System - coord attribute uses "x,y" format for click handling

Stream Priority:

  1. main - Primary game output
  2. room - Room state (compDef updates)
  3. inv - Inventory changes
  4. Dialog updates (minivitals, combat, etc.)

Real-time Updates:

  • prompt with time - Server tick
  • indicator visibility changes
  • progressBar value updates
  • left/right hand changes
  • spell prepared spell changes

6. Additional/Rare Elements Found

Rare UI Elements

Element Description Context
closeDialog Closes a dialog Used when leaving tables, etc.
deleteContainer Delete container from UI Rare cleanup operation
menuImage Image in menu Quick bar menus
annotate Annotation marker Special text markup
columnFont Column font definition Table formatting

Formatting Elements (Additional)

Element Description
c Client command wrapper (inside <!-- CLIENT -->)
m Styled text/metadata
o Object styling
r Red/styled text
s Span/styled text
w Warning/styled text

Combat/Action Timing

Element Description Attributes
roundTime Combat round timer value (seconds)
castTime Spell casting timer value (seconds)

Direction Element (d)

The d element is used for clickable directions in text:

<a exist="-11225598" noun="Ludge">Ludge</a> just went <d cmd='go north'>north</d>.

Attributes: cmd (optional, command to execute)

7. Complete Element Summary

Total Unique Elements: 60+

By Category:

Core (5): mode, playerID, settingsInfo, app, endSetup

Streams (6): streamWindow, clearStream, pushStream, popStream, stream, exposeStream

Components (2): compDef, component

Containers (4): container, exposeContainer, clearContainer, inv

Dialogs (3): openDialog, dialogData, closeDialog

Controls (10): progressBar, cmdButton, dropDownBox, upDownEditBox, label, link, menuLink, image, radio, skin, sep

Navigation (3): nav, compass, dir

Interactive (2): a, d

Character State (7): indicator, spell, left, right, prompt, roundTime, castTime

Formatting (6): pushBold, popBold, b, output, style, resource

Settings (1): flag

Miscellaneous (6): switchQuickBar, updateverbs, cmdlist, cmdtimestamp, pushInputState, popInputState

Rare/Styling (6+): c, m, o, r, s, w, annotate, menuImage, columnFont, deleteContainer

8. Additional Dialogs Discovered

Special Dialog Types

Dialog ID Purpose Key Elements
BetrayerPanel Blood Points tracking (Betrayer items) lblBPs, lblitem1
befriend Friends & Enemies list (dynamic content)
bank Banking interface depositallLnk, wealthnotesLnk, closeMe

BetrayerPanel Example:

<dialogData id='BetrayerPanel' clear='t'></dialogData>
<dialogData id='BetrayerPanel'>
  <label id='lblBPs' value='Blood Points: 100' justify='4' width='189'/>
  <label id='lblitem1' value='!a patchwork dwarf skin backpack' justify='4' width='189'/>
</dialogData>

Speech/Action Presets

Element Description Example
preset Styled action text <preset id="speech">You recite to a table:</preset>

Preset IDs: speech, whisper, thought

9. Client Settings Update (stgupd)

The stgupd element is used within <!-- CLIENT --> markers for client-side settings:

<!-- CLIENT --><stgupd><panels>...</panels><!-- ENDCLIENT -->
<!-- CLIENT --><stgupd><stream>...</stream><!-- ENDCLIENT -->
<!-- CLIENT --><stgupd><misc>...</misc><toggles>...</toggles><!-- ENDCLIENT -->

Nested Elements in stgupd:

Element Description
panels Panel layout configuration
stream Stream window settings
misc Miscellaneous settings
toggles Toggle settings
group Group container (id: Left, Right)
dialog Dialog reference
builtin Built-in element reference
w Window configuration
m Setting value
s Toggle state
detach Detached window settings

Window (w) Attributes:

  • id - Window ID (smain, sroom, cstow, etc.)
  • frame - Frame type (float, panel)
  • vis - Visibility (t/f)
  • width, height, x, y - Position/size
  • location - Location (center, detach)
  • ts - Timestamp
  • maximized - Maximized state

10. UI State Control

Monopolize Element

Element Description
monopolize Game takes exclusive control of a stream 
<monopolize id="main"/>You get a room key from the innkeeper and wander off to your room...
<!-- All other streams blocked until released -->
<!-- later, after character manager/rest is done -->
<monopolize id=""/>  <!-- releases monopolize, other streams resume -->

Behavior: When monopolize id="main" is set, the game blocks all other text/streams and only accepts output from that system (inn rest, character manager, etc.). This is a game-side control mechanism - not particularly useful for VellumFE to handle specially beyond passing through the text.

Expose/Close Elements

Element Description Attributes
exposeDialog Show a hidden dialog id
closeButton Close button in dialog id, value, cmd, align, top, left, width

Bank Dialog Example:

<dialogData id='bank'>
  <link id='depositallLnk' value='Deposit All' cmd='deposit all'.../>
  <link id='wealthnotesLnk' value='Check Notes' cmd='wealth notes'.../>
  <closeButton id='closeMe' value='Close' cmd='' align='s'.../>
</dialogData>
<exposeDialog id='bank'/>