Community Folder- Naming Convention Standard Solicited

[cavaricooper 2,615]

With the many, MANY mods now coming available, I would propose the following name structure be adopted-

TYPE_NAME_DEV NAME_VERSION #

 

TYPE- would be SCENERY, AIRCRAFT, LIVERY, UTILITY, MISC

NAME- would START with ICAO or IATA (i.e. EGLL London Heathrow or BAW A320N etc.)

DEV NAME- would be the developer's gamertag, name, company name etc.

Version #- would be the version #

 

So for a new Tampa International Airport scenery the Community Folder File name would be SCENERY_KTPA Tampa International Airport_cavaricooper_1.0 and

for a new A320 livery it would be LIVERY_BAW A320 GTTFN_cavaricooper_1.0

 

These folders are getting quite large and while https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker works like a treat- there will soon be a LOT of folders, and the more organized the better.  I obviously use this stellar program by @Bad_T, but even my MSFS AddOn Folder needs organization.  

Feedback welcome.

C

[marsman2020 1,310]

One issue I see with this is a lot of people are running into 'folder name too long' errors in Windows due to a max path limitation at 260 characters.  The ridiculous nested paths of many MSFS installs are bumping up the limit.  Having the items in the Community folder have super long names also risks bumping up against these limits.

If you use a tool like the MSFS Addon Linker it will pull the add-on type, title, version number, and creator from the XML files in the add-on package.  So I think a simpler shortened naming scheme for the folders is acceptable.  Personally I'd go for something like <a single letter to set loading priority for addons where priority matters like the WT mods>_<a three letter type designation>_<three letter initials of the creator>_<a short descriptive name <=20 characters, all lowercase, no spaces>_<a three digit version number>, so as not to consume more than around 32 characters of the available path space.

Very similar to your proposal, just condensed for space.

Putting the creator initials before the description/name makes it easier to sort and see for example, all your aircraft made by one creator or all your scenery made by one creator. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by marsman2020

[ryanbatc 13,125]

My feedback is I COMPLETEY agree with you.

Especially for scenery, and especially for airports.  Just use the 4 letter name in the description...that would be so nice.  Sometimes I reference windows explorer to see what cool airports I've got, then I fly there.  When I see a title like "mammothyosemite_arpt" I'm thinking.....ok Mammoth...sounds familiar...what's the 4 letter on that one again?  If they would have just called it airport-KMMH that would be cool.  

[marsman2020 1,310]

Agree that airports should use the ICAO code!

[Evros 310]

You can rename the folder what ever you like (special characters excluded). Does not affect contents.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Evros

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,799]

Just now, Evros said:

You can rename the folder what ever you like (special characters excluded). Does not affect contents.

Yep, I believe that is true.

if you wanted to start combining mods into a single folder you would need to start editing things and then rebuild the layout.json but I think renaming the containing folder is fine.

[virtuali 4,542]

1 hour ago, cavaricooper said:

I would propose the following name structure be adopted

there’s already an official naming convention, and that’s the one used by the SDK, which clearly says it must be used by all products that would eventually end up on the marketplace.

[cavaricooper 2,615]

Umberto... perhaps you can expound... it would be fantastic to have som sort of standardization.

Thanks- C

[Ragnaroq 45]

I rename mine before I file them. Here's a sample:

[vgbaron 3,731]

I just prepend S+, L+, A+, M+ to whatever I add. Keeps them all grouped.

Agree that some sort of convention especially including version numbers would be a big plus

Vic

[RaptyrOne 1,463]

I rename everything I place there too, except payware - I’m not sure if I will break links with those, or create issues with future updates to those that run from .exe’s, not simple copy/paste. So I abbreviate everything to for example: 

APT-ICAO

LIV-BA-A320

WT-G1000-v032

WT-CJ4-v071

SCN-CPT-LionsHead (which would be Scenery-Cape Town-Lions Head mountain improvement)

This keeps things sharp and tidy and helps reduce the ridiculously long folder structures and names we have to deal with in this sim. I can at a glance see version numbers on frequently updated titles such as WT (Working Title) mods to quickly confirm I have the latest version. The OP’s suggestion is good but we can’t be having folders of 30+ alpha-numerical characters. The folder should not include the dev’s name. That can be a small ‘read me’ in the the files inside the folder, clearly stating version number too.

Edited November 12, 2020 by RaptyrOne

[bszuch 95]

Using the Addon Manager, You can implement your own structure (mine is by state since I fly in the US most of the time) The directory naming has no bearing on the contents.  I don't think you'll ever get the community to adopt a naming convention, but you can enforce one internally.

[vbazillio 2,461]

Fully agree with the mess generated by all this great energy from independant developpers. There are several new sceneries, addons, utilities or mod's (as we should say now in 2020 😉) popup everywhere and everyday. And it's fantastic 3 month after launching our sim.

As many of you I manually manage by adding the category (1. Aircraft 2. Airport, 3. landscape, +OACI code if available) for independant freewares. It's a good way to clean my Community folder. And by cleaning, I mean deleting or archiving things I'm not using... really.

Because sorting, categorizing... is great but the collection addictiveness + the increasing loading time is something we have to fight against as well 😉

[Stratocruiser1 134]

Somewhere in this forum there is a post about using a link inside the Community file to a file outside the sim and putting all the new mods/addons you want there, like the ORBX Library thing. I think that is the way to go. So simple to use and no need to backup your Community folder before every time you want to add another mod.

Just my 2cents worth.

[Phantoms 800]

Even with a with a naming convention you will still get modes that append ZZZZ- or something to the front of the name to control where it is in the load order.