Documentation update

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 * Added support for .webp, .svg and unanimated .gif files to the slideshow screensaver when using a custom image directory
 * Changed the default slideshow custom image directory from slideshow/custom_images to screensavers/custom_slideshow
 * Changed the custom slideshow image directory setting from ScreensaverSlideshowImageDir to ScreensaverSlideshowCustomDir
+* The HTTP error code will now be shown on scraper errors instead of the "File is smaller than 350 bytes" message
 * Added Mednafen standalone as an alternative emulator for the gb, gba and gbc systems
 * (Linux) Added support for the AppImage release of Vita3K
 * Added the .zso file extension to the ps2 system
@@ -28,13 +29,16 @@
 * (Windows) Added the %RUNINBACKGROUND% variable for the epic system
 * (Windows) Removed support for building the application using MinGW
 * Added a "renderDuringTransitions" property to the image element
+* Placeholder entries in es_systems.xml are now skipped by default when creating the system directories and systemsinfo.txt files
+* Added a CreatePlaceholderSystemDirectories option that can be manually set in es_settings.xml to still create placeholder directories
 * Added support for more extreme vertical resolutions than previously allowed
 * Added support for the 19.5:9, 20:9 and 1:1 display aspect ratios
-* The SDL error message is now printed to the log if a controller could not be added
+* The relevant SDL error message is now printed to the log if a controller could not be added
 * Added workarounds for some mobile GPUs which do not support all OpenGL operations when using the BGRA pixel format
 
 ### Bug fixes
 
+* Attempting to create the system directories with invalid entries in es_systems.xml could crash the application
 * Stationary image elements could sometimes glitch out during carousel navigation
 * Font textures were sometimes updated with empty glyhps which generated OpenGL errors on some mobile GPUs
 

INSTALL-DEV.md

@@ -1048,7 +1048,7 @@ Setting --resolution to a lower or higher value than the display resolution will
 
 The --no-update-check option only disabled the application updater for the current startup. To permanently disable this functionality use the _Check for application updates_ option in the _Other settings_ menu. The command line option is primarily intended for the unlikely event that the application updater breaks the application and makes it impossible to start.
 
-Running with the --create-system-dirs option will generate all the game system directories in the ROMs folder. This is equivalent to starting ES-DE with no game ROMs present and pressing the _Create directories_ button. Detailed output for the directory creation will be available in es_log.txt and the application will quit immediately after the directories have been created.
+Running with the --create-system-dirs option will generate all the game system directories in the ROMs folder. This is equivalent to starting ES-DE with no game ROMs present and pressing the _Create directories_ button. Detailed output for the directory creation will be available in es_log.txt and the application will quit immediately after the directories have been created. By default placeholder entries will be skipped, if you want to still create these directories then set the CreatePlaceholderSystemDirectories option to true in es_settings.xml.
 
 For the following options, the es_settings.xml file is immediately updated/saved when passing the parameter:
 ```
@@ -1069,6 +1069,10 @@ The --ignore-gamelist option is only active during the program session and is no
 
 There are some settings which are not configurable via the GUI as modifying these should normally not be required. To still change these, edit the es_settings.xml file directly.
 
+**CreatePlaceholderSystemDirectories**
+
+If a system in es_systems.xml has a single command tag with the text _PLACEHOLDER_ anywhere in the tag (regardless of letter case) then its directory and _systeminfo.txt_ file will not get created when running with the --create-system-dirs command line option, or when using the _Create/update system directories_ entry in the _Utilities_ menu or when pressing the _Create directories_ button in the no-games startup dialog. However setting this option to true will override the behavior so the placeholder directories will still be created.
+
 **DebugSkipInputLogging**
 
 Enabling this will skip all input event logging (button and key presses). Default value is false.
@@ -1500,6 +1504,13 @@ Below is an overview of the file layout with various examples. For the command t
         and %ESCAPESPECIALS% escapes the characters &()^=;, that cmd.exe can't otherwise handle. -->
         <command>%HIDEWINDOW% %ESCAPESPECIALS% %RUNINBACKGROUND% cmd.exe /C %ROM%</command>
 
+        <!-- If there is only a single command tag for a system and it has the text PLACEHOLDER anywhere in the tag (regardless of
+        letter case) then the system will not get created when running with the --create-system-dirs command line option, or when
+        using the "Create/update system directories" entry in the Utilities menu or when pressing the "Create directories" button
+        in the no-games startup dialog. It is however possible to override this behavior by setting the option
+        CreatePlaceholderSystemDirectories to true in es_settings.xml -->
+        <command>PLACEHOLDER %ROM%</command>
+
         <!-- The platform(s) to use when scraping. You can see the full list of supported platforms in es-app/src/PlatformId.cpp.
         The entry is case insensitive as it will be converted to lower case during startup.
         This tag is optional but scraper searches for the system will be inaccurate if it's left out.

USERGUIDE-DEV.md

@@ -3441,7 +3441,7 @@ This setting defines the directory for game media, i.e. images, videos and PDF m
 
 The amount of video RAM to use for the application. Defaults to 512 MiB (192 MiB on the Raspberry Pi) which works fine most of the time when using moderately demanding themes with medium-sized collections at up to 4K display resolution. For large collections (as in many different systems rather than many games per system) in combination with demanding themes which use lots of full-screen images and similar it's recommended to increase this number to 1024 MiB or possibly higher to avoid stuttering and texture pop-in. Enabling the GPU statistics overlay gives some indications regarding the amount of texture memory currently used, which is helpful to determine a reasonable value for this setting. The allowed range for the settings is 128 to 2048 MiB. If you try to set it lower or higher than this by passing such values as command line parameters or by editing the es_settings.xml file manually, ES-DE will log a warning and automatically adjust to a value within the allowable range.
 
-**Anti-aliasing (MSAA) (requires restart)**
+**Anti-aliasing (MSAA) (requires restart)** _(All operating systems except Android)_
 
 Sets the level of anti-aliasing for the application. You can select between _disabled_, _2x_ or _4x_. Note that this is a potentially dangerous option which may prevent the application from starting altogether with some GPU drivers. If you're unable to run the application after changing this option then you can reset it via the `--anti-aliasing 0` command line option. Be aware that enabling anti-aliasing has a slight to moderate performance impact.