Some assistance please:

I have a liveries folder which has reached over 23GB in size and I want to move it to a different M2 SSD to free up space. I know I can use AddOns Linker to move a file to a different location but I want to keep the dependencies active. I have spent a lot of time setting up each livery to only load when its particular aircraft is active (e.g. a Spitfire livery would only be active if I activated a Spitfire). I'm wondering if it's possible to move the folder to the new location without having to manually set up those dependencies again?

 

Suggestions, @Bad_T or anyone else?

Hello,

First (really first before moving the files) make a backup of your current C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker folder, this will allow to recover stuff should it be needed 🙃

If you move files to a different folder, it should be ok because the files that save the dependencies (same for presets) only stores the 'folder name' and not the 'full path' of the addon. So it should make no difference in which folder the addons are stored, it should still work fine. The file that stores the dependencies is this one (C:\ProgramData\MSFS Addons Linker\Data\Addons_dependencies.bin), it's just a simple text file that you can open with notepad.

Some other less used settings are saved with the full path, if needed you would be able to edit the .bin files by replacing the old folder with the new one if you have kept a backup.

Try maybe first with a few addons to check everything is ok, good luck 🤞

🍻

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong - but I've always been under the impression that if the aircraft is inactive, then none of the associated liveries show in MSFS anyway - so I've never had to use dependencies to achieve the same result.

Once again - a massive thank you to Bad_T for this superb utility!

thank you @Adamski_NZ 🍻 .. yeah the liveries won't show up if the aircraft is not active so dependencies for liveries are probably not needed. But if you have dependencies and want to move the folder to free up some space on one of your disks, it should be ok to do so.

Edited December 18, 20232 yr by Bad_T

Thanks - and thanks for the useful info about editing those .bin files. Good to know!

3 hours ago, Bad_T said:

If you move files to a different folder, it should be ok because the files that save the dependencies (same for presets) only stores the 'folder name' and not the 'full path' of the addon.

 

2 hours ago, Adamski_NZ said:

Correct me if I'm wrong - but I've always been under the impression that if the aircraft is inactive, then none of the associated liveries show in MSFS anyway - so I've never had to use dependencies to achieve the same result.

 

2 hours ago, Bad_T said:

thank you @Adamski_NZ 🍻 .. yeah the liveries won't show up if the aircraft is not active so dependencies for liveries are probably not needed. But if you have dependencies and want to move the folder to free up some space on one of your disks, it should be ok to do so.

Thanks guys. I reckon I've been overthinking liveries and dependencies and thinking that I was loading more than I needed if every livery I have was active. But of course, as they are symbolic links in the real Community folder, none of those 23GB of liveries are actually being loaded into the sim unless I use an aircraft which uses one (or more) of them. I even did an unscientific test (as I only tried once each way): Loaded MSFS with all addons disabled (21s to launch splash screen changing to main sim screen opening up; 1min 36s to sim home screen [world map etc]), quit and reloaded MSFS with all liveries but all other addons disabled (exactly the same times to the second).

So I don't see any impact at all if I just activate all 23GB of liveries without using dependencies.

 

One problem, I find that even if I untick a dependency in  Addons Linker settings, it still loads the livery (in Linker and Community) when I load the aircraft. So is it a simple as deleting a whole entry (including aircraft name)  like this one?:

Quote

flybywire-aircraft-a320-neo:a320-livery-aer lingus 4k*a320-livery-southwest_8k*asobo_a320_neo_easyjet_dirty*asobo_a320_neo_easyjet200*asobo_a320_neo_easyjeteuropcars*asobo_a320_neo_j2h*asobo_a320_neo_jet2_rg*a320-livery-easyjetneo_lotw*a320-livery-easyjetneouzhn_lotw*easyjet g-eziw by aamasih*fbw-a320-livery-southwest_8k*livery-a320-easyjet*livery-fbw-a320-airfrance-fheph*livery-fbw-a320-airfrance-fheph-dirty*operatorland468-livery-a320neodlhneubrandenburg*red_sox*vlegion_a320_neo_easyjet20years*vlegion_a320_neo_easyjetberlin

Is it safe to delete every entry if I actually wanted to reset/delete all dependencies? 

(I'd make a backup of the dependency .bin file before making any edits).

yes it's safe to delete the row, as you have probably figured out the structure is very simple, 1 row per addon structured like this :

• name of addon:dependency1*dependency2*....*dependencyX

so when enabling the addon, all dependencies separated by the * mark will be enabled automatically.

if you want to start fresh with the dependencies, you can just delete/rename the file and it will automatically create a new one once you start creating new dependencies. If you want to edit file manually you can remove full lines and it should be no prob. Obviously you can also remove the dependencies from the tool itself, so for example if you wanted to remove all dependencies from the FBW A320 you could to that in 3 clicks -> right click on the FBW addons and use the dependencies menu to open up the dependency screen -> click on the red button at the top of the dependencies screen to unselect everything -> click ok.to validate the changes.

'One problem, I find that even if I untick a dependency in  Addons Linker settings, it still loads the livery'  -> not exactly sure i understand what is happening, if you think it's a bug send me maybe a few more info/screenshots in a private message and i'll check it out. Thank you.

Let me know if something is not clear.

🍻

 

Edited December 18, 20232 yr by Bad_T

36 minutes ago, Bad_T said:

yes it's safe to delete the row...

Ah, that's brilliant, thanks. I'll double-check if I need to keep any other dependencies and make any changes I need to.

39 minutes ago, Bad_T said:

if you want to start fresh with the dependencies, you can just delete/rename the file and it will automatically create a new one once you start creating new dependencies. If you want to edit file manually you can remove full lines and it should be no prob. Obviously you can also remove the dependencies from the tool itself, so for example if you wanted to remove all dependencies from the FBW A320 you could to that in 3 clicks -> right click on the FBW addons and use the dependencies menu to open up the dependency screen -> click on the red button at the top of the dependencies screen to unselect everything -> click ok.to validate the changes.

You've just explained how to fix my problem - I was unticking the dependency and clicking ok instead of clicking on the red button and clicking ok.😊

7 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

Some assistance please:

I have a liveries folder which has reached over 23GB in size and I want to move it to a different M2 SSD to free up space. I know I can use AddOns Linker to move a file to a different location but I want to keep the dependencies active. I have spent a lot of time setting up each livery to only load when its particular aircraft is active (e.g. a Spitfire livery would only be active if I activated a Spitfire). I'm wondering if it's possible to move the folder to the new location without having to manually set up those dependencies again?

 

Suggestions, @Bad_T or anyone else?

Addon-Linker does NOT move files. It places LINKS to addon files in Community. Big difference!

1 hour ago, cobalt said:

Addon-Linker does NOT move files. It places LINKS to addon files in Community. Big difference!

Thanks, but I'm well aware that Addons Linker uses symbolic links as you'd see when reading all of my posts in the thread. However, it does enable you to move files!

Right click on a folder (e.g. 'AAAA Anywhere Airport'), select Manage Addons/Move Addons and guess what? You can move that airport to another location you have selected for Addons Linker. Yes, the airport has moved, you haven't created a symbolic link.

11 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

Thanks, but I'm well aware that Addons Linker uses symbolic links as you'd see when reading all of my posts in the thread. However, it does enable you to move files!

Right click on a folder (e.g. 'AAAA Anywhere Airport'), select Manage Addons/Move Addons and guess what? You can move that airport to another location you have selected for Addons Linker. Yes, the airport has moved, you haven't created a symbolic link.

You are right; my apologies. I was not aware of this feature in AL, as I have an earlier version that does not have it (as far as I know). I have always thought that the great thing about AL is that it avoids having to move actual files. That one can now use it to do just that, is surprising.

2 hours ago, cobalt said:

I have always thought that the great thing about AL is that it avoids having to move actual files. That one can now use it to do just that, is surprising.

you are right, the move option is just a little option that was added per request to avoid the need to go through windows explorer to move files, but it's obviously not the main idea of the program to move files 👍

Edited December 19, 20232 yr by Bad_T

20 hours ago, 109Sqn said:

Thanks guys. I reckon I've been overthinking liveries and dependencies and thinking that I was loading more than I needed if every livery I have was active. But of course, as they are symbolic links in the real Community folder, none of those 23GB of liveries are actually being loaded into the sim unless I use an aircraft which uses one (or more) of them.

As best I know, MSFS does not know the difference between a symbolic linked or actual folder in the Community folder.  The dependency would trigger the links to be present or not.. depending on whether you have the aircraft active.

Either way, I also subscribe to the notion of only activating addons that I might actually use on a given flight. 🙂   Keeping it as simple and uncluttered as possible...

7 hours ago, cobalt said:

You are right; my apologies

No worries. It's testament to the versatility of AoL that there are so many functions that are there to be discovered the more it is used.