Record Store

The world model is split in two parts: An immutable part and a mutable part. The record store represents the immutable part.

The esm/esp file format contains a list of records, where each record is composed of a type ID and additional data. Our world model does mirror this structure.

Individual records can by identified by a string ID, a numeric ID, a coordinate-pair or not at all (depending on the type).

For each type of record we have a struct in the ESM namespace: http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/namespaceESM.html

For each type of record we also have a separate list (there are some variations depending on the record type):


 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1RecListT.html
 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1LTexList.html
 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1LandList.html
 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1CellList.html
 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1ScriptListT.html
 * http://zinnschlag.github.com/openmw/structESMS_1_1IndexListT.html

The record store is composed of these lists.

The class implementing the record store is named ESMStore (in the ESMS namespace), which is partially a misnomer. Currently this class is filled with the records from only one esm. But later multiple esms and esps will be merged into it.

A const reference to the current ESMStore can be obtained from the MWWorld::World class instance.

There are a few exceptions to the rules stated above:

Dynamic Records
Some types of records can be generated dynamically during gameplay and then accessed via the record store like any other record. Once such a record is created, it can not be changed anymore.

Examples:
 * custom classes
 * potions created by alchemy

Cell
A cell record consists of some header-type data fields and a collection of references. Of these only the header data is stored in the record store. The collection of references is mutable and as such needs to be treated separately.

Info
For every practical purpose each info record is a sub-records of a dialogue record. The OpenMW info storage implementation reflects this structure. The esm/esp format does not.