This file format specification describes the format of WorldEditAdditions schematic files. The words `MUST`, `MAY`, `SHALL`, `MUST NOT`, etc that are used in this document are defined as in [RFC 2119](https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt).
Explanations and descriptions have both a technical description and a formal BNF description. Where the two differ, the formal BNF will always take precedence.
The WorldEditAdditions Schematic file format is designed to store schematics of structures in the Minetest world in an efficient text-based format. It is also designed to optionally store just the changes from one state of the world to another (deltas).
In an example situation, a structure in a Minetest world is copied into a WorldEditAdditions Schematic file and saved to disk. At some later time, the resulting schematic file may be parsed and the structure written to a given Minetest world (not necessarily the same world) once more.
1. No other Minetest schematic format is capable of optionally storing changesets.
2. The WorldEdit format (alternative A) is space-inefficient.
3. No simple text-based format exists for storing Minetest schematics at this time, so the best of the authors' knowledge.
## File extension
The file extension for WorldEditAdditions Schematic files MUST be `.weaschem`. Implementers SHOULD NOT choose to also parse files without this file extension.
### Compression
WorldEditAdditions Schematics MAY be gzip-compressed. In such cases, the file extension MUST be `.weaschem.gz`. Implementers MUST transparently decompress them and parse them as normal.
## Terms
> Minetest
The voxel-based sandbox building game [Minetest](https://minetest.net/).
A WorldEdit Additions schematic file with a header value `type` equal to `full`. See [types of schematic](#types-of-schematic).
> Delta schematic file(s)
A WorldEdit Additions schematic file with a header value `type` equal to `delta`. See [types of schematic](#types-of-schematic) and [delta schematics](#delta-schematic-files).
The origin of the schematic itself. This is always (0, 0, 0). Any schematic generated from the main Minetest world MUST be translated such that the negative X, Y, and Z corner of the defined region to be converted to a schematic is (0, 0, 0) in the generated schematic file.
> Offset
An offset, expressed as a `Vector3`, that MUST be applied to a schematic upon loading it back into the world, though implementers MAY offer an option to disable this (but applying the offset MUST be enabled by default).
The string `WEASCHEM` is always present at the beginning of a WorldEditAdditions schematic file, followed a a single space ` ` U+20, then an integer version number.
This specification, as noted above, described WorldEditAdditions schematic files version `1`. It is RECOMMENDED that implementers reject schematic files with a version number that they do not support parsing with a useful error message.
The header of the file contains all the metadata about the schematic required to restore it into the world. The header is defined as a JSON object on a single line, followed by a new line (`\n` U+0A):
A specific example of a header JSON object is noted below. This example is pretty-printed for convenience, but in the real file format it is stored compacted - i.e. all on one line with no pretty-printed whitespace.
**Note:** Implementers MUST ignore any additional unexpected properties in the header JSON object.
### Size and positioning
Schematic size and positioning are controlled by 2 properties in the header JSON object:
1.**`size`:** The size of the schematic stored in the schematic
2.**`offset`:** The offset to apply to the schematic when placing it back in the world.
Sizing is measured from the negative (-x, -y, -z) corner of the region.
**Writing:** In Minetest `VoxelManipulator`s do not always load the exact area you ask them for, and load additional area around them. Therefore, it is necessary to first extract the exact area you want to save before encoding the data array in a WorldEditAdditions Schematic file.
**Reading:** When reading a schematic file from disk, is mentioned above the (-x, -y, -z) corner of the schematic SHOULD be translated to match the (-x, -y, -z) corner, or position 1 if position 2 is defined. Then, the offset in the `offset` field of the header MUST be applied to translate the schematic into the final position it will be written to the target Minetest world.
Implementers MAY choose to add a disabled-by-default option to disable the application of `offset`.
### Types of schematic
WorldEditAdditions Schematic files support two types of schematic:
From here on, these differing types of WorldEditAdditions schematic files will be referred to as follows:
- **`full`:** Full schematic file(s)
- **`delta`:** Delta schematic file(s)
Specifically, the node id value of `-2` represents the fact that no change was made between the previous state and the current state of the world.
### Delta schematic files
Delta schematic files, as described above, store only the changes made to a given Minetest world between 2 different states. The format of delta schematic files differs slightly in that they store both the node id of the previous state *and* the node id of the current state.
**Writing:** When writing out a delta schematic file, the node ID in the previous state *and* the node ID of the current state must be written as described in [the section on data tables](#data-tables).
**Reading:** When reading and parsing a delta schematic file, nodes with a node id of `-2` MUST NOT be changed in the target world. Depending on the operation desired, the implementer may choose to discard either the node id of the previous or the current state:
- **Undo operations:** Node ids of the **previous** state should be kept and used, and node ids of the current state discarded.
- **Redo operations:** Node ids of the **current** state should be kept and used, with node ids of the previous state discarded.
See also the specific notes in the sections below.
Like the [header](#header), the ID map is also defined as a JSON object on a single line, followed by a new line character (`\n` U+0A):
```bnf
<id_map> ::= <the_actual_id_map_json_obj><nl>
```
```
{"5": "foo"}\n
```
The ID map's purpose is to map node IDs in the schematic file to canonical node names, since Minetest does not guarantee that node names will remain the same across different worlds.
Node names in a schematic file MUST be the full canonical node name, and not an abbreviation. For example, `default:stone` is valid, but `stone` is invalid (does not specify the mod).
Implementers MAY perform arbitrary transformations on node names when reading or writing a WorldEditAdditions schematic file, but any such transformations are beyond the scope of this specification.
When loading a schematic, it is RECOMMENDED that implementers use a cache when translating schematic node ids (from this ID map) to node ids from the target world.
Formally, the ID map can be described by the following JSON schema:
"description": "The JSON schema for the ID Map of a WorldEditAdditions Schematic file.",
"patternProperties": {
"^[0-9]+$": {
"type": "string",
"pattern": "^[^\s]+:[^\s]+$"
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}
```
In other words, an example ID map might look like this (pretty-printed for convenience, but in an actual file this would compacted and all on one line):
```json
{
"0": "default:air",
"5": "default:stone",
"14": "default:dirt"
}
```
It is not required that Node IDs in the schematic file be sequential.
The data tables store the actual data in the schematic. This data is stored in flat arrays with optional run-length encoding. Using the `size` given in the header, it is possible to read the data and understand where in the array each block is located. Each data table occupies a single line (delimited with `\n` U+0A as with everything else above).
There are currently the following data tables that are stored in schematics, that MUST be present in the following orders, depending on the type of schematic file (see [types of schematic](#types-of-schematic)).
2.**`param2` (previous state):** The list of [`param2`](https://github.com/minetest/minetest/blob/master/doc/lua_api.md#nodes) values for the **previous** state
3.**`data` (current state):** The list of node IDs for the **current** state
4.**`param2` (current state):** The list of [`param2`](https://github.com/minetest/minetest/blob/master/doc/lua_api.md#nodes) values for the **current** state
**Note:** Either type of schematic file MAY contain additional data tables beyond those described here. In such cases, implementers MUST ignore them, and any such tables MUST be present only *after* the data tables described above.
Here's a specific example of the data tables for a sample **full** schematic file:
```
10x5,40x14,0,5,14,5,14,5x0
51x0,255,8x0
```
The first line is the node IDs table (`data`), and the second line are the `param2` values.
Implementers MAY choose to optimise filesize by compacting the node IDs used (e.g. mapping the node id 456 to an id of 5).
**Note:** Node IDs in a schematic file need to be mapped to the node IDs of the target world when writing a schematic to a Minetest world, as they are unlikely to match.
### Special node ids
The following node id values have specific meaning:
Node ID | Purpose
--------|-----------------
-1 | Represents a value of null/nil. This node id value indicates that no node is stored in this cell. When reading a schematic and writing it to the world, implementers MUST NOT alter the pre-existing node in the world that corresponds with this cell.
-2 | **In a delta schematic only,** This node id value indicates that no change was made between the time the schematic was written and the previous time it was compared against. Using this value as a node in a schematic with a `type` of `full` is **invalid**, and in such a case implementers MUST raise an error message and abort reading of the schematic.
