Spreadsheets? JSON? Software advice?

Getting Started Newbie Questions
#1

I’m looking for a good solution to introduce a spreadsheet to the card game I am working on. I was making a similar card game in Cocos 2D in the past and found it incredibly useful to make a spreadsheet in Open Office Spreadsheet with the various card characteristics (name, image directory, stats, etc) for each type of card, then export to XML and have the game pull information from it.

After some research I’ve heard that it’s strongly recommended to use JSON file format for spreadsheets in Corona, however I have had trouble finding a good JSON editing/reading/exporting program and up-to-date/easy-to-understand information on reading such files into your Corona program. Thusly:

  1. Is JSON indeed the preferred spreadsheet format to use in Corona?

  2. Any favored JSON editing programs out there? Ideally one that makes creating the spreadsheet and reading it as easy as possible, and of course it would need to be capable of exporting a JSON file.

  3. Any good up-to-date and not too advanced links on how to read JSON info into a Corona program?

Answers to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading.

#2

Hi @nick14,

For point #3, please check out this basic JSON tutorial… it’s a bit older, but hits the key points:

http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2011/08/03/tutorial-exploring-json-usage-in-corona/

Hope this helps somewhat,

Brent

#3

Thank you for the link Brent. I had seen this article but was concerned by its age. If it’s still pertinent then that’s fine though, I’ll read it carefully.

Anyone have any ideas on a good program to use for creating, reading, editing, exporting, etc? The last few times I tried searching and downloading programs like this on my own I got adware and viruses up to wazoo. I would feel much better using a program that has been confirmed as good (and safe). And if there’s a crowd favorite I’m unaware of: so much the better.

#4

Hi @nick14,

For point #3, please check out this basic JSON tutorial… it’s a bit older, but hits the key points:

http://www.coronalabs.com/blog/2011/08/03/tutorial-exploring-json-usage-in-corona/

Hope this helps somewhat,

Brent

#5

Thank you for the link Brent. I had seen this article but was concerned by its age. If it’s still pertinent then that’s fine though, I’ll read it carefully.

Anyone have any ideas on a good program to use for creating, reading, editing, exporting, etc? The last few times I tried searching and downloading programs like this on my own I got adware and viruses up to wazoo. I would feel much better using a program that has been confirmed as good (and safe). And if there’s a crowd favorite I’m unaware of: so much the better.