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##On better parsing##

On better parsing

• A character information section begins at a particular string and ends at the next occurrence of the same string, so you can just split the character information sections on that string.
• Once you reach a # you've found a comment and can ignore the rest of the line.
• A variable can be found at the beginning of a line after any whitespace. The amount of whitespace is significant (see last point).
• If the first character found on a line is [ it's an element of an array, not a variable name.
• A variable name ends at the first space.
• A variable's value is on the other side of the =, removing any unnecessary spaces on the other side.
• Variables will always contain type information. The variables that follow are probably the properties of an object of that type.
• An array item's contents are always indented. An increase in indent depth means you're now reading the contents of the array from the line above. A decrease in indent depth means you've finished reading the contents of that array.

Eight rules just from understanding and describing how I understand what I see. They should be fairly simple to implement in the parser in the form of methods - then all of a sudden your parser can already deal with 90% of the logfile's syntax! Only a few things are missing at this point, such as parsing an array element's type or inferring the type of a variable's value (string? integer?).

• A character information section begins at a particular string and ends at the next occurrence of the same string, so you can just split the character information sections on that string.
• Once you reach a # you've found a special field. It may be a simple comment or it may be an ID for each unique object, allowing reusing objects from cache in case two objects are identical. It is probably safe to ignore from a # to the end of a line unless you find a use for it.
• A variable can be found at the beginning of a line after any whitespace. The amount of whitespace is significant (see last point).
• If the first character found on a line is [ it's an element of an array, not a variable name.
• A variable name ends at the first space.
• A variable's value is on the other side of the =, removing any unnecessary spaces on the other side.
• If a value starts with an integer it is an integer. If it starts with quotation marks it is a string.
• Variables will always contain an element ID then a type declaration. The variables that follow are probably the properties of an object of that type.
• An array item's contents are always indented. An increase in indent depth means you're now reading the contents of the array from the line above. A decrease in indent depth means you've finished reading the contents of that array.

Nine rules just from understanding and describing how I understand what I see. They should be fairly simple to implement in the parser in the form of methods - then all of a sudden your parser can already deal with 90% of the logfile's syntax! Only a few things are missing at this point, such as parsing an array element's type declaration or inferring the type of a variable's value (string? integer?).

private IEnumerable<Player> GetGamePlayers(string content)
{
    List<Player> Players = new List<Player>();

    // Get the endgame stats text
    string endgameStatsMarker = "com.riotgames.platform.gameclient.domain::EndOfGameStats"
    int endgameStatsLocation = content.IndexOf(endgameStatsMarker);
    string endgameStats = content.Substring(endgameStatsLocation);
    
    // Split the endgame stats text into an array of player information sections
    string[] charBeginMarker = new stringp[ {"(com.riotgames.platform.gameclient.domain::PlayerParticipantStatsSummary)"}
    string[] playerInfoSet = endgameStats.Split(charBeginMarker, SplitStringOptions.None);

    // don't assume there's 10; get this from the logfile
    int numPlayers = GetMaxPlayers();

    // playerDataSet[0] is before any playerInfo begins, so we skip it.
    for (int i = 1; i <= numPlayers; i++);
    {
        Players.Add(ParsePlayer(playerData));
        // The string passed to ParsePlayer will be a little different now.
        // It will contain a [#] on the end except in the case of the last player.
        // This is since we split the text at the beginning of the player field
        // and AFTER the [#].
        // You will have to ensure your ParsePlayer method will work with this
        // new input.
    }
    
    return Players;
}

private IEnumerable<Player> GetGamePlayers(string content)
{
    List<Player> Players = new List<Player>();

    // Get the endgame stats text
    string endgameStatsMarker = "com.riotgames.platform.gameclient.domain::EndOfGameStats"
    int endgameStatsLocation = content.IndexOf(endgameStatsMarker);
    string endgameStats = content.Substring(endgameStatsLocation);
    
    // Split the endgame stats text into an array of player information sections
    string[] charBeginMarker = new string[] {"(com.riotgames.platform.gameclient.domain::PlayerParticipantStatsSummary)"}
    string[] playerInfoSet = endgameStats.Split(charBeginMarker, SplitStringOptions.None);

    // don't assume there's 10; get this from the logfile
    int numPlayers = GetMaxPlayers();

    // playerDataSet[0] is before any playerInfo begins, so we skip it.
    for (int i = 1; i <= numPlayers; i++);
    {
        Players.Add(ParsePlayer(playerData));
        // The string passed to ParsePlayer will be a little different now.
        // It will contain a [#] on the end except in the case of the last player.
        // This is since we split the text at the beginning of the player field
        // and AFTER the [#].
        // You will have to ensure your ParsePlayer method will work with this
        // new input.
    }
    
    return Players;
}