adds preparing the database as a mandatory step and also adds the directory of prepped database jsons to the ignore list

.gitignore

@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 dist
 node_modules
+src/packs/__source

.idea/DSA41.iml

@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
       <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/.tmp" />
       <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/temp" />
       <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/tmp" />
+      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/src/packs/__source" />
+      <excludeFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/src/packs/__source" />
     </content>
     <orderEntry type="inheritedJdk" />
     <orderEntry type="sourceFolder" forTests="false" />
   </component>
-</module>
+</module>

gulpfile.mjs

@@ -1,23 +1,70 @@
 import {dest, series, src} from 'gulp';
 import process from 'node:process';
 import replace from 'gulp-replace';
-
+import {getRandomValues} from 'node:crypto';
 import * as dartSass from 'sass';
 import gulpSass from 'gulp-sass';
 import {deleteAsync} from 'del';
-
+import {readdirSync, readFileSync, writeFileSync, rmdirSync, existsSync, mkdirSync} from "fs";
-import {readdirSync} from 'node:fs';
 import {join} from 'node:path';
 
 import {compilePack} from '@foundryvtt/foundryvtt-cli';
 
 const sass = gulpSass(dartSass);
 
+
+/**
+ * Generate a random alphanumeric string ID of a given requested length using `crypto.getRandomValues()`.
+ * @param {number} length    The length of the random string to generate, which must be at most 16384.
+ * @returns {string}         A string containing random letters (A-Z, a-z) and numbers (0-9).
+ */
+function randomID(length = 16) {
+    const chars = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";
+    const cutoff = 0x100000000 - (0x100000000 % chars.length);
+    const random = new Uint32Array(length);
+    do {
+        getRandomValues(random);
+    } while (random.some(x => x >= cutoff));
+    let id = "";
+    for (let i = 0; i < length; i++) id += chars[random[i] % chars.length];
+    return id;
+}
+
+const convert = function (from, to, ofType) {
+
+    const SOURCE = from;
+    const DEST = to;
+    const TYPE = ofType;
+
+    try {
+        rmdirSync(DEST, {force: true, recursive: true})
+    } catch (e) {
+    }
+    mkdirSync(DEST)
+
+    readdirSync(SOURCE).forEach(file => {
+        let originalSource = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(SOURCE, file), {encoding: "utf8"}));
+        let id = randomID();
+        let targetSource = {
+            _id: id,
+            _key: "!items!" + id,
+            type: TYPE,
+            img: originalSource.image,
+            name: originalSource.name.trim(),
+            system: {...originalSource}
+        }
+        delete targetSource.system.image;
+        let target = JSON.stringify(targetSource, null, 2);
+        let newFileName = "./" + join(DEST, id + ".json");
+        writeFileSync(newFileName, target, {encoding: "utf8"});
+    });
+
+}
+
 function cleanDist() {
     return deleteAsync(['dist/**']);
 }
 
-
 function buildStyles() {
     return src('src/style/**/*.scss')
         .pipe(sass().on('error', sass.logError))
@@ -40,6 +87,27 @@ function updateManifestFile() {
         .pipe(dest('dist/'))
 }
 
+async function prepareDB() {
+
+    try {
+        if (!existsSync("./src/packs/__source")) {
+            mkdirSync("./src/packs/__source");
+        }
+
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/talente", "./src/packs/__source/talente", "Skill");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/zauber", "./src/packs/__source/zauber", "Spell");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/vorteile", "./src/packs/__source/vorteile", "Advantage");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/waffen", "./src/packs/__source/waffen", "Equipment");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/munition", "./src/packs/__source/munition", "Equipment");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/ruestzeug", "./src/packs/__source/ruestzeug", "Equipment");
+        convert("./src/packs/_source/liturgien-und-segnungen", "./src/packs/__source/liturgien", "Liturgy");
+
+    } catch (err) {
+        console.error(err);
+    }
+
+}
+
 function buildDB() {
     // Determine which source folders to process
 
@@ -68,6 +136,7 @@ export default series(
     copySource,
     copyAssets,
     buildStyles,
+    prepareDB,
     buildDB,
     updateManifestFile
 )