Gexter

A powerful tool for viewing and editing GXT (game text) files from Grand Theft Auto games

Features • Supported Games • Installation • Usage • Library • Contributing • License

---

✨ Features

Desktop Application

• Modern Dark UI - Beautiful flat design with custom window chrome
• Multi-Game Support - Works with GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA IV
• Full CRUD Operations - Add, edit, rename, duplicate, and delete tables and entries
• Advanced Search & Filter - Search entries and filter tables with case-sensitive option
• Multi-line Value Editor - Dedicated editor for editing long text values with word wrap
• Real-time Modification Tracking - Visual indicators show unsaved changes on tables and entries
• Export Functionality - Export to CSV or JSON formats
• Keyboard Shortcuts - Efficient workflow with Ctrl+O, Ctrl+S, Ctrl+F, and more
• Drag & Drop Support - Simply drag GXT files onto the window to open them
• Formatting Code Preservation - Correctly handles and preserves game formatting codes like ~r~, ~g~, ~b~, etc.
• Multi-lingual Support - Proper encoding handling for UTF-16LE (III/VC) and Windows-1252 (SA/IV)

Library

• Cross-Platform - Supports .NET Framework 4.5.2+, .NET Standard 2.0, .NET Core 3.1+, and .NET 5.0, 7.0-9.0
• Type-Safe API - Clean, intuitive API for reading and manipulating GXT files
• Read & Write Support - Full support for reading and writing GXT files in all supported formats
• Memory Efficient - Stream-based reading and writing for large files
• Key Name Preservation - Maintains original key names for VC/III formats
• Comprehensive Error Handling - Detailed exceptions for debugging

🎮 Supported Games

Game	Format	Encoding	Status
GTA III	Single-table (TKEY)	UTF-16LE	✅ Fully Supported
GTA: Vice City	Multi-table (TABL)	UTF-16LE	✅ Fully Supported
GTA: San Andreas	Multi-table (TABL)	Windows-1252	✅ Fully Supported
GTA IV	Multi-table (TABL)	Windows-1252	✅ Fully Supported

📦 Installation

Desktop Application

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page
2. Extract the ZIP file
3. Run Gexter.Desktop.exe

Requirements:

• Windows 7 or later
• No additional dependencies (self-contained)

Library (NuGet)

dotnet add package Gexter

Or via Package Manager:

Install-Package Gexter

🚀 Usage

Desktop Application

1. Open a GXT file:

   • Click File > Open or press Ctrl+O
   • Or drag and drop a .gxt file onto the window

2. Navigate:

   • Select a table from the left panel
   • View entries in the middle panel
   • Edit values in the bottom panel

3. Search:

   • Use the search box in the entries section
   • Toggle case-sensitive search as needed

4. Edit:

   • Click on an entry to edit its value
   • Use the action buttons or context menu to add/rename/delete entries
   • Modified entries are marked with an orange dot

5. Save:

   • Click File > Save or press Ctrl+S
   • Use File > Save As... to save to a new location

6. Export:

   • Use Export > Export to CSV... or Export > Export to JSON...

Library

using Gexter;

// Load a GXT file
var gxtFile = GxtLoader.Load("american.gxt");

// Access tables
var mainTable = gxtFile["MAIN"];
if (mainTable != null)
{
    // Get value by hash
    var value = mainTable.GetValue(0x89BD20D0);
    
    // Get value by key name (VC/III)
    var value2 = mainTable.GetValue("MAIN");
    
    // Set a value
    mainTable.SetValue("MY_KEY", "My custom text");
    
    // Iterate entries
    foreach (var entry in mainTable)
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Hash: {entry.Key:X8}, Value: {entry.Value}");
    }
}

// Search across all tables
var foundValue = gxtFile.FindValue("SOME_KEY");

// Save the modified file
gxtFile.Save("modified.gxt");

📚 Library

Key Classes

• GxtLoader - Main class for loading GXT files from streams or files
• GxtFile - Container for all tables in a GXT file with save functionality
• GxtWriter - Class for writing GXT files to streams or files
• GxtTable - Represents a single table with key-value pairs
• GxtVersion - Enum for GXT format versions
• Crc32 - Utility for computing CRC32 hashes

Example: Reading a GXT File

using var loader = GxtLoader.FromFile("american.gxt");
var gxtFile = loader.Load();

Console.WriteLine($"Version: {gxtFile.Version}");
Console.WriteLine($"Tables: {gxtFile.TableCount}");

foreach (var table in gxtFile)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Table: {table.Name} ({table.Count} entries)");
}

Example: Creating and Saving a New GXT File

var tables = new List<GxtTable>
{
    new GxtTable("MAIN", Encoding.Unicode, keepKeyNames: true)
};

tables[0].SetValue("HELLO", "Hello, World!");
tables[0].SetValue("GOODBYE", "Goodbye!");

var gxtFile = new GxtFile(GxtVersion.ViceCityIII, tables);

// Save to file
gxtFile.Save("output.gxt");

// Or save to stream
using var stream = File.Create("output.gxt");
gxtFile.Save(stream);

Example: Modifying and Saving an Existing GXT File

// Load a GXT file
var gxtFile = GxtLoader.Load("american.gxt");

// Modify entries
var mainTable = gxtFile["MAIN"];
if (mainTable != null)
{
    mainTable.SetValue("NEW_KEY", "New value");
    mainTable.SetValue(0x89BD20D0, "Updated value");
}

// Save the modified file
gxtFile.Save("modified.gxt");

🛠️ Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/vaibhavpandeyvpz/gexter.git
cd gexter

# Restore dependencies
dotnet restore

# Build the library
dotnet build Gexter

# Build the desktop app
dotnet build Gexter.Desktop

# Run tests
dotnet test Gexter.Tests

Project Structure

gexter/
├── Gexter/              # Core library
├── Gexter.Desktop/      # WPF desktop application
├── Gexter.Tests/        # NUnit test suite
└── examples/            # Sample GXT files for testing

🧪 Testing

The project includes comprehensive unit tests covering:

• CRC32 hash computation
• GXT file loading for all supported formats
• GXT file writing for all supported formats
• Round-trip testing (load, save, reload) to verify data integrity
• Encoding handling (UTF-16LE and Windows-1252)
• Formatting code preservation
• Error handling

Run tests with:

dotnet test

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👤 Author

Vaibhav Pandey (VPZ)

• Website: vaibhavpandey.com
• Email: contact@vaibhavpandey.com
• GitHub: @vaibhavpandeyvpz
• YouTube: Channel

🙏 Acknowledgments

• libgtaformats - This project is a C# port (or based on) of the C++ library libgtaformats by David "Alemarius Nexus" Lerch
• Grand Theft Auto series by Rockstar Games
• FontAwesome for icons
• Community contributors and testers

📞 Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions:

• Open an issue on GitHub
• Contact: contact@vaibhavpandey.com

---

Made with ❤️ for the GTA modding community

⭐ Star this repo if you find it useful!