bsnes/docs/interface/icarus.md

icarus is a separate tool
bundled with higan
that allows you to bulk-import ROM files
into higan's [game library].

Bulk importing ROM files
------------------------

icarus' main window
is [a filesystem browser](common.md#the-filesystem-browser),
with customisations:

  - The filesystem browser only lists
    files with extensions typically used for ROM dumps from
    consoles higan emulates,
    plus `.zip` files since ROM dumps are often compressed.
  - Each matching file has a check-box next to it.
  - You can tick the check-box next to every listed file at once
    by pressing "Select All" in the bottom-left.
  - You can un-tick all the check-boxes
    by pressing "Unselect All" in the bottom-left.

Pressing "Import ..." in the bottom-right
will close the filesystem browser
then try to import all the files
whose check-boxes are ticked
into the [game library].
icarus displays a progress dialog during the import process,
and a result window if any errors occurred.

**Note:** Some games require extra steps to import correctly;
see [Importing and playing games](../guides/import.md) for details.

The icarus Settings dialog
--------------------------

Pressing "Settings ..."
in the bottom-right corner of the main icarus window
opens the settings dialog.

The icarus Settings dialog contains the following settings:

  - **Library Location** determines
    where icarus puts the games it imports.
    See [Moving the Game Library][movgamelib]
    for details.
  - **Create Manifests** causes icarus to
    include a [manifest] file
    inside the [game folder] for each imported game.
    See [Ignoring manifests](../concepts/manifests.md#ignoring-manifests)
    for details.
  - **Use Database** causes icarus to use manifest information
    from its database of known-good manifests,
    if it's importing a game it recognises.
    For unrecognised games,
    and for all games if this box is unticked,
    icarus guesses the manifest data.
    This option is still relevant when "Create Manifests" is unticked:
    higan uses icarus to generate a manifest when a game is loaded,
    not just at import-time.

Command line
------------

icarus can be launched with any of the following command-line arguments:

> icarus
>
> icarus \-\-import *FILE*
>
> icarus \-\-manifest *GAME*

When run without arguments,
icarus runs interactively
as described under [Bulk importing ROM files](#bulk-importing-rom-files) above.

When run with the `--import` flag,
`FILE` should be the path to a ROM file
for one of the consoles higan supports,
or a `.zip` file containing such a ROM file.
icarus will import it into the [game library]
just as it would if running interactively,
and the full path to the ressulting game folder
is printed to icarus' standard output.

When run with the `--manifest` flag,
`GAME` should be the path to a [game folder],
such as a game previously imported into the [game library].
icarus will examine the game,
come up with a [manifest] describing the game's memory layout,
and print it to standard output.

[game library]: ../concepts/game-library.md
[movgamelib]: ../concepts/game-library.md#moving-the-game-library
[game folder]: ../concepts/game-folders.md
[manifest]: ../concepts/manifests.md