It's a rubbish method, but applying, "So oder so" it works. The end result is I can then add or remove with @Bad_T's AddOn Manager, which makes me a happy camper. It's lovely having an empty Community Folder for MSFS upgrades with one click, and even better to only have the area I'm flying loaded, so I don't knit a sweater whilst waiting for MSFS to load.

Edited June 7, 20214 yr by cavaricooper

59 minutes ago, ark said:

Just to make sure I understand, once you zip the unmovable file, the zip file version can then be moved out of the Community folder -- is that the idea?

Thx,

Al

Actually what I do is just create the zip outside of the community folder.

I just wish more developers would realize that many people use the addon linker or similar methods to organize their CF and these dev's would allow the user to point to the install location instead of forcing the CF.

9 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

Actually what I do is just create the zip outside of the community folder.

What program let's you pick a destination for the zip file other than the source folder?

Thx,

Al

I use Winzip or 7zip and pretty sure winrar does also.

Yep, I always used winzip and winrar, but I find 7 zip seems to do everything just as well, if not better.

Keeping my addons in a separate folder within my packages folder makes life easier too, even though I have a spare 250gb SSD going to waste.

I've put a prefix (aa) in front of all my object library folders and those I want to use all of the time and have folders for each country I like to fly in along with one for aircraft, so I can swap the community folder quickly and easily (I know I should use a linker 🙂).

22 hours ago, cavaricooper said:

So far, AWD and Pilots' have locked their folders to Community, and I cannot add and remove them at my desire through Symbolic Links.  This forces TNCM and KCDK to be loaded

I can talk about AWD's TNCM. After its installation I moved it (yes, cut and paste) to my repository folder of addons and added afterwards to the CF via the MSFS Addons Linker, and it works well, with no issues.

On 6/7/2021 at 7:04 PM, vgbaron said:

What I do then is create a zip file outside of community containing the folders you want.

Thank you for your suggestion, but using 7Zip I could not zip the file outside the Community folder as you indicate. I tried several combination but failed all times. What i do is right click on the scenery folder I want to zip, zip it to the Community folder (there is no option to zip it outside or anywhere else) and each time I move the scenery zipped outside Community, it's locked and cannot be unzipped. It's rather shocking to see that Aerosoft and Simmarket don't offer a choice of installation folder in their installer. All other major distributors/developers do offer a choice of location. 

Thank you to please clarify how you can zip "outside" the Community folder, that would help tremendously as I have a host of payware sceneries I can't move out.

Edited June 8, 20214 yr by Bernard Ducret

@Bernard Ducret can you maybe try this :

- right click on the folders you want to zip

- select in the 7zip menu --> Add to archive...

- a screen appears, there you can see 3 little dots that let you change the location of the zip file

- select the folder you want and the zip will be created there.

Maybe it was already clear for you and this doesn't help, not sure 🍻

 

1 hour ago, Bad_T said:

@Bernard Ducret can you maybe try this :

- right click on the folders you want to zip

- select in the 7zip menu --> Add to archive...

- a screen appears, there you can see 3 little dots that let you change the location of the zip file

- select the folder you want and the zip will be created there.

Maybe it was already clear for you and this doesn't help, not sure 🍻

 

Thanx @Bad_T - that is exactly how I do it.

Many thanks Bad_T, that was the missing part indeed, I could choose the location and convert the PDF into a real scenery file... (a tad unsettling at first! You are doing support even on AVSIM, this is so generous of you!

Thank you vgbaron for this tip that will allow me to eliminate all those sceneries from my Community folder and use Add-on-Link fully. Great!

We are all indebted to @Bad_T and his incredibly USEFUL utility. Every MSFS session I pick where and what I’m flying, add my preset(s) and done! Yes, doing something else on the far side of the world means restarting MSFS, but not being able to nap whilst waiting for each load, and upgrading MSFS every time with a one click empty Community folder is PRICELESS!

Surely this deserves the AvSim Gold Star Award? @Mods- how do I nominate?

Ta- C

@cavaricooper you're way too kind with me ❤️, it's really ok, i prefer a low-key-tool without awards and stuff like that, there are a lot of very high quality stuff for our beloved sims and mine is certainly not in the most difficult to program nor the most groundbreaking. Don't get me wrong though, i do really appreciate the nice feedback i had and all your nice comments.

Thanks again, take care 🍻

Edited June 9, 20214 yr by Bad_T

5 hours ago, cavaricooper said:

Surely this deserves the AvSim Gold Star Award? @Mods- how do I nominate?

Ta- C

We need @raymar to make it happen. 😀

Got to check up on him. I have not seen him here in a while.

11 minutes ago, DJJose said:

We need @raymar to make it happen. 😀

Got to check up on him. I have not seen him here in a while.

Yes! You’re correct… you ok Ray??

I haven't seen or heard from Raymar for a long while. I hope he is ok and just taking a break. As for any software which over-controls where you want to put it, I have little patience. The world is already too full of control freaks.

Edited June 9, 20214 yr by robert young