"broken package" message at start up

[michael1508 2]

Just cleaned my hard drive and installed P3dv5 and the first sceneries according to the xml method.

I did a lot of reading on the xml method and thought I got it. But now after starting the Lorby Addon Manager I get an error for all my installed sceneries on "missing addon.xml" and it advises me to not continue opening the tool.

What I have done:

1. I installed all my Aerosost airport sceneries according to this pattern in P:\P3D Addons\Airports\Airport 1\...(all the content including the scenery and effects folders)

2. Moved the installed addon.xml to the user/documents/p3dv5 addons\ folder :C:\user\documents\p3dv5 add ons\Airport 1\addon.xml

3. Adjusted the paths in the addon.xml to reference the dedicated effects and scenery folders for this scenery on my P:\ drive

On starting P3D every scenery has been registered successfully and is working.

Where is my mistake?

Thanks for you help!

Michael

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

37 minutes ago, michael1508 said:

Moved the installed addon.xml to

The one that Aerosoft created? Then it is registered twice, and one of them is broken.

Aerosoft uses the CLI to register their addons with P3D, so they will have package definitions in \ProgramData\...\add-ons.cfg
When you then move the add-on.xml into the discovery path, P3D finds them and adds them to \AppData\Roaming\...\add-ons.cfg
As a result, the packages are defined both in the CLI add-ons.cfg and in the autodiscovery add-ons.cfg - and one of them is broken, because you moved away the add-on.xml.

You have to decide between one method or the other, you cannot use both at the same time. When an addon installs as a package (=creates an add-on.xml), you have to assume that the package is already registered with P3D using one of the two methods. Any manual interference will most likely break something, even if the result itself is again valid. 

Best regards

Edited May 10, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

45 minutes ago, michael1508 said:

advises me to not continue opening the tool

In this situation, when you press "Ignore", and then "Save", the excess package definitions, that are pointing nowhere since you moved away the add-on.xml, are removed from the relevant add-ons.cfg file. So the message will be gone in the future.

Best regards

[michael1508 2]

Thanks, Oliver.

Never heard about this CLI approach...

So I will just open the tool and save it and that should clean up the broken package links and I am good with the discovery path approach for these sceneries, correct?

What about further sceneries, which produce an addon.xml. Just leave it, as is? I thought the beauty of this xml approach is that I can have all addons at a single place and also manage them from a single Place.

I guess, here your tool comes into play??

Thanks for confirming. I would then don’t have to bother and scratch my head anymore.

Michael

 

 

 

[michael1508 2]

How would P3D find these addon packages after a reinstall, if they are not listed in the autodiscover folder ( user/ documents/...)??
 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

10 hours ago, michael1508 said:

How would P3D find these addon packages after a reinstall, if they are not listed in the autodiscover folder ( user/ documents/...)??

That is where the CLI comes in. CLI = Command Line Interface. The installer of the addon issues a command using the prepar3d.exe, and that makes the package appear in C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\add-ons.cfg. With this method the add-on.xml can be anywhere on your computer.

Naturally, as you rightfully point out, if you delete this add-ons.cfg, the addon packages are gone. But there are quite a few products using this method.

I suggest that you take a look into the "Learning Center.chm" file that is in the P3D main program folder.

• Autodiscovery is described here: "Software Development Kit (SDK) -> Add-ons -> Add-on Packages"
• CLI is described here: "Software Development Kit (SDK) -> Add-ons -> Add-on Configuration Files

Best regards

Edited May 11, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

31 minutes ago, michael1508 said:

I thought the beauty of this xml approach is that I can have all addons at a single place and also manage them from a single Place.

No, IMHO it is not about that. The "beauty" is, that addons can be installed anywhere, and no longer put files all over your default simulator folders - worst case, overwriting default files. That way they remain fully accessible to you, you can opt to turn any addon on or off with a few mouse clicks, and nothing gets destroyed in the simulator itself. 

Consider texture replacements (FTX Global, Ultimate Terrain, FScene, REX) - in the old days, when you installed them, they simply overwrote the default files. You didn't have any chance to switch between two products without running the risk of a full simulator reinstall. Now you can install them somewhere else, link them with an add-on.xml, and jump between them at your leisure. And this is true for every type of simulator asset - it is no longer required to overwrite anything in the sim itself.

And we have vastly expanded options for setting up the sim. For example, you can have multiple different P3D experiences on the same computer with just one P3D install and several user accounts all having different addons in their default discovery path - while the CLI based addons provide the framework that is similar for all of them.

Best regards

Edited May 10, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

34 minutes ago, michael1508 said:

hat about further sceneries, which produce an addon.xml. Just leave it, as is?

Yes. If you start moving around files, you will break the uninstaller and any updater tool that the product may be using.

Best regards

[michael1508 2]

Thanks Oliver,

yes, keeping the add on stuff outside P3d of course is the main driver.

Your feedback was very helpful to get the bigger picture now!

Michael