add-on.xml and p3dv4, best approaches out there? ftx?

[onebob 125]

43 minutes ago, theskyisthelimit said:

So in your case you basically did a location change for your my documents to that of your addons drive.. for me, i'd rather not do this.. so i guess im manually installing to my custom folder on my p3d drive and then changing the cfg file each time or using lorby (or maybe trying a junction point).. leaning towards sticking with adding the entry to the cfg file, as once they are in there, its done.

 

My user documents folder was set up on my HDD drive ..ie  storage drive.. D:  so that's where the P3D install put the 'Prepar3D v4 Add-ons' folder

my root drive is the normal C:  ..(SSD)   and P3Dv4 is on a ssd  .. K:

I may need to rethink this for my back-ups  just realised I need to include this in my backup schedule.

bob 

edit ..my Add-ons.cfg file looks like this:-

         [Package.0]
PATH=D:\Users\?????\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\A2A
ACTIVE=true
REQUIRED=false
[Package.1]
PATH=D:\Users\??????\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\Carenado
ACTIVE=true
REQUIRED=false
 

[onebob 125]

21 minutes ago, GSalden said:

How do you guys handle scenery addons which automatically place files at different locations with the xml methode ?

Hi Gerard.. not got round to adding any scenery yet ..only just past the first stage.  

bob

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 11:09 PM, theskyisthelimit said:

Is this entry in pink normal.. not sure i understand its purpose? i guess the defaults, though it says not active?

 

The entry in pink is the scenery.cfg root element. You can't do anything with it and it is not a scenery area - just a tag. I left it in there because it is part of the scenery.cfg and if something goes wrong when reordering the list, I can see where "down" is.

[General]
Title=Prepar3D Scenery
Description=Prepar3D Scenery Areas Data
Clean_on_Exit=TRUE

[Area.001]
Title=Default Terrain
Texture_ID=1
...

Best regards

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

27 minutes ago, onebob said:

edit ..my Add-ons.cfg file looks like this:-

There are two add-ons.cfg files.

- One in ProgramData for the addons that have been installed in other places than "Documents\Prepar3d V4 Add-ons"

- And a second one in AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D V4 for the addons in "Documents" that have been discovered automaticlly.

The P4AO always uses the latter file/method, because then the addons are rediscovered automatically if you reinstall P3D.
To stress this point: only add-on.xml files in the proper place "Documents\Prepar3d V4 Add-ons\<subfolder>\add-on.xml" are dicovered automatically by P3D.

Best regards

 

 

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

1 hour ago, GSalden said:

How do you guys handle scenery addons which automatically place files at different locations with the xml methode ?

So installers which also put files in Effects or in a World/Scenery folder ?

How do you know that has been done ?

regards,

Gerard

 

You can add every type of content to the add-on.xml, effects too. For World\Scenery I have a separate entry that is linked directly, not as an area.

This for example is my

C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\FireFightingAircraft\add-on.xml

for my fire fighting aircraft - works just the same with scenery. All content folders I have put here:

C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\FireFightingAircraft\Content

To fool the installers I have put a Prepar3D.exe and fsx.exe in that folder too. Not knowing that they don't install into the simulator directly, the installers put all files where they belong.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">
  <AddOn.Name>FireFighting Aircraft</AddOn.Name>
  <AddOn.Description>Content for FF addons</AddOn.Description>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Effects</Category>
    <Path>Content\Effects</Path>
    <Name>Effects</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Gauges</Category>
    <Path>Content\Gauges</Path>
    <Name>Gauges</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Sound</Category>
    <Path>Content\Sound</Path>
    <Name>Sound</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>Content\SimObjects\Airplanes</Path>
    <Name>Airplanes</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>Content\SimObjects\Rotorcraft</Path>
    <Name>Helicopters</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
</SimBase.Document>

 

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 9:26 PM, theskyisthelimit said:

I suppose it might be possible to move FTX airports into this subfolder area, unsure.. thats a different beast.

I'm assuming that the add-on.xml files cant be put anywhere other than "P3DV4 Add-ons" under my documents.. it would be nice to put them in a more generic folder for future pathings (assuming they keep all this constant down the line), like P3D Add-ons instead.

 

 

1. The Addon Organizer 1.05 makes it possible to shift entries from the scenery.cfg into an add-on.xml and back. The problem with ORBX is FTX Central. It will always put the scenery.cfg entries back in, no matter how you organize them.

2. See my post above. Only if you put the add-on.xml files into "Documents\Prepar3D V4 Add-ons\<subfolder" they will be discovered by P3D automatically. For any other location you have to alter the add-ons.cfg file in "ProgramData".

Best regards

[onebob 125]

1 hour ago, Lorby_SI said:

1. The Addon Organizer 1.05 makes it possible to shift entries from the scenery.cfg into an add-on.xml and back. The problem with ORBX is FTX Central. It will always put the scenery.cfg entries back in, no matter how you organize them.

2. See my post above. Only if you put the add-on.xml files into "Documents\Prepar3D V4 Add-ons\<subfolder" they will be discovered by P3D automatically. For any other location you have to alter the add-ons.cfg file in "ProgramData".

Best regards

Thanks for the explanations, very useful.

bob

[aeronauta 67]

Gerard , your question will become really relevant when LM decides to change something that would not be impacted IF the Add-on method was used.... who is to blame??.. LM warn everybody enough...

now in reply to your question, ..nobody knows , only the developer...unless you install with an install file tracker or to a fake SIM folder... (even so the USER files will go there without you knowing..

Jorge

[theskyisthelimit 48]

10 hours ago, Lorby_SI said:

You can add every type of content to the add-on.xml, effects too. For World\Scenery I have a separate entry that is linked directly, not as an area.

This for example is my

C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\FireFightingAircraft\add-on.xml

for my fire fighting aircraft - works just the same with scenery. All content folders I have put here:

C:\Users\...\Documents\Prepar3D v4 Add-ons\FireFightingAircraft\Content

To fool the installers I have put a Prepar3D.exe and fsx.exe in that folder too. Not knowing that they don't install into the simulator directly, the installers put all files where they belong.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SimBase.Document Type="AddOnXml" version="4,0" id="add-on">
  <AddOn.Name>FireFighting Aircraft</AddOn.Name>
  <AddOn.Description>Content for FF addons</AddOn.Description>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Effects</Category>
    <Path>Content\Effects</Path>
    <Name>Effects</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Gauges</Category>
    <Path>Content\Gauges</Path>
    <Name>Gauges</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>Sound</Category>
    <Path>Content\Sound</Path>
    <Name>Sound</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>Content\SimObjects\Airplanes</Path>
    <Name>Airplanes</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
  <AddOn.Component>
    <Category>SimObjects</Category>
    <Path>Content\SimObjects\Rotorcraft</Path>
    <Name>Helicopters</Name>
  </AddOn.Component>
</SimBase.Document>

 

You say linked directly and added.. do you mean under the "Other Addons" tab that you have?

For instance.. take Aerosoft San Fran as an example.. i install this .. point it to a "fake" p3d v3 folder.. it installs the main scenery folder but it also puts files in:

P3D
    Sounds
    Effects

*it didnt install anything into world/scenery.. but lets say it did like..
   World\Scenery etc..

For the P3D sounds/effects.. i'm assuming i go to Other Addons.. Add Component.. i choose my san fran add-on.xml that i've already made for the main scenery entry.. then i change the category to either sounds or effects (do both), set path to my custom V drive p3d addons subfolder (I made a San fran folder.. then under is scenery/texture for the main scenery, then i have a p3d subfolder with effects and sounds subfolders..

So i see the effects/sounds options under this.. easily created (if this is correct).. but for world/scenery.. unclear where that goes.

EDIT: i see if you set a category of "Texture", give it a name.. you can choose Type.. Global.. World.. so i guess depending on which folder received files during the install, this is what would be chosen, is this right?  Either way these, p3d main subfolders (effects,texture,world, global etc) dont end up showing up under scenery but under "other addons"?

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

1 hour ago, theskyisthelimit said:

do you mean under the "Other Addons" tab that you have?

Yes.

The first page of the P4AO tool specializes in scenery. It only shows Addon.Components of Category Scenery and the entries of the scenery.cfg in their proper order. All the other content types don't have a Layer tag, so it would be pointless to show them on the first page.

"Other addons" shows you everything else. If you put effects and sounds into the same add-on.xml as a scenery, then you will see the scenery on the first page and the other two on the second. What you describe it, is the correct setup.

1 hour ago, theskyisthelimit said:

Global.. World.. so i guess depending on which folder received files during the install, this is what would be chosen, is this right?

No, the folder has nothing to do with this. No idea what LM means by those texture types. What all the options are on the "other addon" tab, is described the "Learning Center.chm" windows help file in your main P3D directory. My tool does nothing that is not part of the specification - with one exception: it can disable individual scenery components inside the same add-on.xml.

Learning Center -> SDK -> Add-on packages

Unfortunately LM only lists the different texture "Type" values - they don't really explain what they mean. So this is strictly trial and error.

Some addon sceneries require that you reference the \Scenery and the \Texture subfolders of the scenery area separately to work correctly. Again, trial and error.

1 hour ago, theskyisthelimit said:

but for world/scenery.. unclear where that goes.

That is a scenery component too, linked at the lowest folder "Scenery\World\Scenery" - right where the BGLs live, with Layer 3.This is nothing new either, the "World" scenery are has always been present in the scenery.cfg too, and anyone could have turned it on or off if so inclined.

Trial and error. I know, I keep repeating this - but there really is no specification what the scenery config is supposed to look like anywhere in the P3D or SDK documentation. So we have to find working configurations ourselves. YM will V depending on what addons you have, one setup can work for you, but not for me.

Best regards

[theskyisthelimit 48]

10 hours ago, Lorby_SI said:

 

That is a scenery component too, linked at the lowest folder "Scenery\World\Scenery" - right where the BGLs live, with Layer 3.This is nothing new either, the "World" scenery are has always been present in the scenery.cfg too, and anyone could have turned it on or off if so inclined.

Trial and error. I know, I keep repeating this - but there really is no specification what the scenery config is supposed to look like anywhere in the P3D or SDK documentation. So we have to find working configurations ourselves. YM will V depending on what addons you have, one setup can work for you, but not for me.

Best regards

Thanks for these explanations.. 

Yeah I realized that the scenery/world/scenery was the same as always.. I was just hoping i could "capture" the files that various addons are pushing into those folders and store them in my separate addons folder in subfolders and reference them somehow (making reinstalls easy)..

But, from the sounds of it, being as they are tied into as you mentioned layer3 (though i thought it was layer2 for some reason).. maybe the only real workaround would be to add these entries after a reinstall, manually to scenery.cfg at a higher layer to override the defaults?

Actually.. in theory.. wouldnt something like this work in the xml itself?

<AddOn.Component>
<Category>scenery</Category>
<Path>My World scenery PATH here</Path> 
<Layer>3</Layer> <-- or 4?
</AddOn.Component>

 

And a side question for those installing other "p3dv4" compatible sceneries..

Take for instance DD NYCX.. its installer doesnt allow the software to be installed to a different directory.. so it gets put in the "Addon scenery" folder under p3dv4.. 

Is anyone then, later physically moving it, to as in my case say V:\P3D Addons\Scenery\DDNYCX etc?  Then changing the xml file in my documents to reference the new location?

The other thing is, with p3dv4 installers, they could be putting other files in other subfolders in the root of the p3dv4 folder, ie: sounds, effects, world, etc.. no real way to tell, unless doing a test install into a dummy folder structure to see what gets put there (and capturing that for ease of a reinstall).

EDIT: sounds like maybe something like sandboxie could be used to isolate the changed files and then keep it separated via add-on.xml files.

[Michael Moe 495]

FSDG scenerys is also locked to c:drive which is a problem for me having small hdd. 

Will try to move them manually 

Thanks Michael Moe 

[theskyisthelimit 48]

Now i'm running into a sudden issue.. seems all of my FTX scenery is disabled and their priorities are set such that they are all below the base layer default scenery in either the addon organizer tool view or the view in p3d once loaded..

I tried opening ftx central to let it reorder things and reenable but it doesnt seem to be working.  I never disabled the entries either.. 

Not sure if there was a bug in the tool that led to this or not..

I also have a "blank" scenery entry that seems to point to the p3d folder near the bottom of the default scenery listing. (pink color)..ie:

0000 Base
Default Scenery
Default Terrain
BLANK SPOT in pink
ALL FTX entries in pink here down
Prepar3D scenery in pink (bottom) 

Also.. in sceneryconfigeditor.. i cant seem to save the scenery.cfg anymore.. nor if i open a backup and then choose save does it save.. it just doesnt do anything upon clicking save  (edit: seems to be a sudden permissions issue specific ONLY to scenery.cfg.. is this normal for this to have changed, guessing not)..

This permission issue brings me to another question that may have caused this..

When i was saving in the addon manager, SODE threw an error cause of its C drive PF location.. so i started the addon manager as administrator the next time.. i think this is what caused it.. is the sode error normal and i should have just ignored?  Actually it cant be ignored.. anytime you save when not running as "admin" you get.. access to the path c:\PFX86\12bpilot.. psscbak  is denied"

It will bring up a .net exception window.. if you click continue, it does appear to save howevever

[theskyisthelimit 48]

So I managed to fix the sode error, by removing sode and moving it to my p3d drive instead.

The layering order issue is resolved in 1.06, however i cant directly edit the layer number, hit save and it stick.. only up and down arrows work.

 

Back on the subject of "capturing" installs either p3dv3 or v4.. my original thinking was that this addon method would allow for an easy time of reinstalling p3d.. just wipe the drive and install p3d and everything would work, but in the long run i dont think this is fool proof, at least not for installers that install to effects, sounds, world/scenery.. granted right now i've been "capturing" at least the p3d v3 installers by installing to a blank directory and then moving those folders to my p3d addons folder.. if later on there is a p3dv4 installer.. this is fruitless.. it would come along and even if you can change the install path, you hit install and for ones that push to the p3d folders, you lose those files and have to re-capture to figure out which ones have changed all over again.. so i dunno, it might be just as well to not worry about it and install as usual, reinstall later.. though for simple installers that only go into one folder it is a life saver, but not near the modularity of XP unfortunately, but closer... still debating this as i continue to move forward capturing installs one by one, painstakingly.  (in theory those main folders could be saved and then restored, but then theres a good chance of overwriting needed changed files that are updated by p3d itself)

 

 

[theskyisthelimit 48]

On 7/22/2017 at 2:53 PM, Lorby_SI said:

That is a scenery component too, linked at the lowest folder "Scenery\World\Scenery" - right where the BGLs live, with Layer 3.This is nothing new either, the "World" scenery are has always been present in the scenery.cfg too, and anyone could have turned it on or off if so inclined.

Trial and error. I know, I keep repeating this - but there really is no specification what the scenery config is supposed to look like anywhere in the P3D or SDK documentation. So we have to find working configurations ourselves. YM will V depending on what addons you have, one setup can work for you, but not for me.

Best regards

I needed to come back to this again, i thought i was square on this but maybe not.. i spotted another post where you mentioned setting "base layer" scenery to layer 1.. i'm confused because i was assuming it would be set to layer 3.. for those files you would normally copy into the scenery\world\scenery folder.. which i also get confused on comparing to the "global" ones as well, though I think global refers to global textures which can be added in your tool on the second tab, but you cant do this with scenery\world\scenery bgs.. those i have been adding as an add-on.xml setting their layer to layer 3, or should this be layer 1.. confused.