MsbtLib

MSBT Library by GingerAvalanche on GitHub.

About MsbtLib

MSBT (Message Standard Binary Table) is Nintendo's text container format. This library parses the binary format into editable C# classes that can be serialized to a pseudo HTML markup or back to binary.

Usage

Usage examples for reading, writing, and editing MSBT files using MsbtLib.

Reading

Reading from a FileStream

using MsbtLib;

using FileStream fileStream = File.OpenRead("C:/ExtractedMsbt/Msg_USen.product/ActorType/ArmorHead.msbt");
MSBT msbt = new(fileStream);

Reading from a byte[] (example from a SarcFile)

using MsbtLib;
using Nintendo.Sarc;
using Nintendo.Yaz0;

SarcFile bootup = new(File.ReadAllBytes("D:/Botw/Update/content/Pack/Bootup_USen.pack"));
SarcFile langPack = new(Yaz0.Decompress(bootup.Files["Msg_USen.product.ssarc"]));
MSBT msbt = new(langPack.Files["ActorType/ArmorHead.msbt"]);

Reading from a pseudo HTML string

Documentation in progress.

Editing

using MsbtLib;

.. .. ..

// Deserialize the texts into a generic Dictionary
Dictionary<string, MsbtEntry> texts = msbt.GetTexts();

// Setting an attribute
texts["Armor_001_Head_Name"].Attribute = "NewHylianHoodAttribute";

// Setting localized text
texts["Armor_001_Head_Name"].Value = "New Hylian Hood Name";

// Adding a new entry
texts["Armor_001_Head_Name_New"] = new("", "New Head Armor Name");

// Set the modified texts
msbt.SetTexts(texts);

Writing

Writing to pseudo HTML

using MsbtLib;

.. .. ..

// Using texts from 'ActorType/ArmorHead.msbt'
Console.WriteLine(texts["Armor_063_Head_Desc"].Value);
Zora headgear made from dragon scales.
Increases swimming speed and allows you to
<color=Blue>spin</color> to attack underwater. A Great Fairy has
increased its defense by three levels.

Valid HTML Tags:

  • Animation - <animation=[name] />

  • Auto-Advance - <auto_advance=[num_frames] />

  • ℹ️ One Choice - <choice1=[key] />

  • ℹ️ Two Choice - <choice2 0=[key] 1=[key] cancel=[index] />

  • ℹ️ Three Choice - <choice3 0=[key] 1=[key] 2=[key] cancel=[index] >

  • ℹ️ Four Choice - <choice4 0=[key] 1=[key] 2=[key] 3=[key] cancel=[index] >

  • Font - <font=[face] /> (Only Normal and Hylian)

  • Icon - <icon=[character] /> (Some characters require numbers, e.g. A(10))

  • Pause for a number of frames - <pauseframes=[num_frames] />

  • Pause for a duration - <pauselength=[duration] /> (Only Short, Long, or Longer)

  • Set Text Color - <color=[color]> (Only Red, LightGreen1, Blue, Grey, LightGreen4, Orange, or LightGrey)

  • Reset Text Color to Default - </color>

  • ⚠️ Sound - <sound field_1=[uint8] field_2=[uint8] />

  • ⚠️ Another Sound Type - <sound2=[uint8] />

  • Text Size - <textsize percent=[num] /> (Use <textsize percent=100 /> to reset)

  • ♠️ Variable - <variable kind=[uint16] name=[name] /> (name must correspond to a variable name in the executable)

Extra Info

ℹ️ These keys are keys for other localized strings. Usually, those keys are read from the same MSBT, but in the case of shops, they are read from the shop NPC's MSBT. The keys are read as %04d-formatted strings, e.g. '4' is read as '0004'. The indexes are for which choice represents a cancellation.

⚠️ It is currently unknown how the game uses these uint8s

♠️ It is currently unknown how the game uses these uint16s

Writing to a file

using MsbtLib;

.. .. ..

msbt.Write("C:/ExtractedMsbt/Msg_USen.product/ActorType/ArmorHead_edited.msbt");

Writing to a byte[] (continued example from 'Reading from a byte[]')

using MsbtLib;
using Nintendo.Sarc;
using Nintendo.Yaz0;

.. .. ..

langPack.Files["ActorType/ArmorHead.msbt"] = msbt.Write();
bootup.Files["Msg_USen.product.ssarc"] = Yaz0.Compress(langPack.ToBinary());
File.WriteAllBytes(bootup.ToBinary());

Download

The C# implementation of MSBT can be downloaded from GitHub - Direct Download

Credits @Kyle Clemens - Original Rust Implementation @GingerAvalanche - C# Implementation and Usage Instructions

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