🕹️ MAME Utility

A modern, high-performance Windows application for managing MAME ROM collections

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🎯 Overview

MAME Utility is a powerful Windows desktop application designed to help retro gaming enthusiasts and MAME collectors efficiently manage, organize, and filter their MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) collections. Built with modern .NET 10 and WPF, it offers a sleek, responsive interface for processing massive XML databases with ease.

Whether you're curating a custom arcade cabinet setup, organizing ROMs by manufacturer or year, or merging multiple game lists, MAME Utility provides the tools you need with exceptional performance.

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✨ Features

📊 List Generation & Organization

Feature	Description
Full Driver List	Generate comprehensive name/description mappings from MAME XML
By Manufacturer	Automatically separate ROMs by company (e.g., Capcom.xml, Nintendo.xml, Sega.xml)
By Year	Organize games chronologically with 4-digit year validation (1970-2099)
By Source File	Group machines by their MAME driver source code file
Software Lists	Process and consolidate MAME software list XML directories

🔧 Data Processing

Feature	Description
Parallel Processing	Multi-core CPU utilization for lightning-fast XML parsing
Smart Merging	Combine multiple XML lists (Machine & Software formats) with duplicate removal
SimpleLauncher Integration	Auto-generates .dat files in MessagePack format for SimpleLauncher compatibility
Streaming I/O	Handles multi-gigabyte XML files without memory exhaustion

📁 Collection Management

Feature	Description
Batch ROM Copying	Copy ZIP files based on filtered XML game lists
Image Synchronization	Sync PNG/JPG/JPEG artwork based on XML entries
Progress Tracking	Real-time progress bars with percentage and elapsed time
Cancellation Support	Safely interrupt long-running operations at any time

🖥️ User Experience

Feature	Description
Modern WPF Interface	Clean, intuitive Windows desktop application
Integrated Logging	Built-in log window for debugging and operation history
Automatic Updates	Version checker notifies of new releases
Bug Reporting	Optional automated crash reporting for stability improvements

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📸 Screenshots

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Operating System: Windows 10 or later (Windows 7/8.1 supported with .NET 10 runtime)
• Runtime: .NET 10.0 Desktop Runtime (x64 or ARM64)
• Input Data: MAME listxml output file (generate with: mame -listxml > mame.xml)

Installation

1. Go to the Releases page
2. Download the latest MAMEUtility.zip for your architecture
3. Extract to your preferred location
4. Run MAMEUtility.exe

📖 Usage Guide

1. Generating MAME Lists

1. Launch MAME Utility
2. Select your desired list type:
   • Create MAME Full List - Complete simplified mapping
   • Create MAME Manufacturer List - Separate files per manufacturer
   • Create MAME Year List - Organized by release year
   • Create MAME Source File List - Grouped by driver source
   • Create MAME Software List - Process software list XMLs
3. Select your MAME listxml file
4. Choose the output directory
5. Click Process and wait for completion

2. Merging Lists

1. Click Merge Lists
2. Select multiple XML files to merge
3. Choose output location
4. The utility generates:
   • A merged .xml file (deduplicated)
   • A .dat file in MessagePack format (for SimpleLauncher)

3. Copying ROMs

1. Click Copy ROMs
2. Select your source ROM directory (containing .zip files)
3. Select destination folder
4. Choose the XML list(s) defining which games to copy
5. The utility copies only matching ROM files

4. Copying Images

1. Click Copy Images
2. Select your source images directory
3. Select destination folder
4. Choose the XML list(s) for filtering
5. Supports: .png, .jpg, .jpeg

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🏗️ Architecture

Technology Stack

Component	Technology
Framework	.NET 10 (WPF)
Language	C# 14
UI Framework	Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
Serialization	MessagePack for C#
Architecture Pattern	Service-based with Service Locator

Project Structure

MAMEUtility/
├── Services/              # Business logic services
│   ├── MameProcessingService.cs
│   ├── LogService.cs
│   ├── DialogService.cs
│   ├── GitHubVersionService.cs
│   └── BugReportService.cs
├── Interfaces/            # Service contracts
├── Models/                # Data models
├── Converters/            # WPF value converters
├── CopyRoms.cs           # ROM batch operations
├── CopyImages.cs         # Image batch operations
├── MergeList.cs          # XML merging logic
├── MAMEFull.cs           # Full list generation
├── MAMEManufacturer.cs   # Manufacturer filtering
├── MAMEYear.cs           # Year-based filtering
├── MAMESourcefile.cs     # Source file filtering
└── MAMESoftwareList.cs   # Software list processing

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

See LICENSE.txt for the full license text.

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💖 Support

If you find MAME Utility helpful, please consider:

• ⭐ Star this repository on GitHub
• 💰 Donate to support ongoing development

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Made with ❤️ by PureLogicCode