Todo List for v1.4 (feedback requested) - Updated 12/21

Tue May 17, 2005 5:36 pm by IGx89

- Case-Insensitive text comparison (beta 1 )
- Limited support for "Strict" XML via optional CDATA tags (beta 1 )
- Elements can now be closed on the same line they're defined; i.e. "<item/>" instead of "<item>(newline)</item>" (beta 1 )
- Add more detailed/helpful/accurate error messages to XML parser (beta 1 )
- Fix GENERATESTRRES/GENERATEXMLSTRRES line truncation, allow multiple macros per line, and validate macro syntax during test activations (beta 1 )
- Warn users if FLServer is loaded when they try to activate/deactivate a mod (beta 1 )
- If a readme.txt file isn't found, search for a readme.htm/readme.html file (beta 1 )
- *.htm/*.html files are now not copied when a mod is activated, unless specific instructions are given to in a script (beta 1 )
- Investigate possible backup/restore bugs (fixed at least one in beta 1 )
- Add a new, special "sectionmodify" method; doesn't require a dest element, among other things. Detailed here. (beta 1, improved in beta 4 )
- Implement multithreading so FLMM doesn't appear to lock up when activating/deactivating big mods (beta 1 )
- allow options to be specified when activating mods from the command line (beta 1 )
- improve the robustness of the activation testing pass when the mod has files copied (beta 1 )
- Make F5 reload the mod list from disk when the mod list has focus (beta 1 )
- Allow modification of My Documents\My Games\Freelancer\Accts\SinglePlayer\Restart.fl (beta 2 )
- Make Ctrl-D a shortcut for Launch FLServer (beta 2 )
- Add LZMA (through 7-Zip SDK) support (beta 3 )
- Add mod-specific feature to "cache" (left behind when deactivating) large files (beta 3 )
- Filter out *.flmmbak files from mods (they should never contain any anyway), to prevent the possibility of empty folders being left behind after deactivation (beta 3 )
- Add a script feature to change Freelancer.exe's and FLServer.exe's version string (under research, need more details and opinions )
- Scroll log window to the first error if an error occurs while loading mods (beta 4 )
- Speed up loading time (beta 4, about 15% for big mods )
- Update documentation (mostly done )

Most of the changes are detailed in this thread.

Edited by - IGx89 on 12/21/2005 4:42:43 PM

Tue May 17, 2005 6:06 pm by Argh

Ooh, ooh, ooh!

Last feature request!

Could we put some sort've global tag into the main script that removed all blank lines after the mod was done appending/replacing/whatever?? IOW:

[munition
blah blah blah

[weapon
blah blah blah

Would become

[munition
blah blah blah
[weapon
blah blah blah

I have researched removing the blank lines from inis, and have found that this greatly improves the efficiency of the FL game engine. Doing this could really improve the performance of mods without destroying FLMM's functionality (since it would do it after every other step) or making developers need some sort've "repacked" SDK.

Wed May 18, 2005 8:27 pm by Overkill

Just as a note about the backup/restore problem I discussed in the other thread, I figured out what happened- I had referenced the file as "DATA\something" in one tag and "DATA/something" in another tag (notice the / instead of the \ ). The mod worked, but the restore was a bit confused. When I used the same convention throughout, it worked fine. I don't know if you care or not, just thought I'd mention it

I have become one with my computer. It is a feeling of ecstasy...the perfect blend of logic and emotion. I have reached...Nerdvana!

Thu May 19, 2005 11:05 am by Chips

Make it so that index.txt could instead be index.html (if one existed) - which would allow links etc to the sites individual areas.

Its just so that you could use a smaller index file, which actually contains more content - like "Click here for problem solving bugs" etc.

I know, crap and probabily worthless to most... but just a thought (yeah, you can visit mods homepage, but that means your website would have to be set up for them to immediately find stuff - instead of a simple link clicking for each individual thing).

If its really simple, then it would just be a nice addition. If its not that simple - don't bother

As always Matt - thanks for such a great/useful tool - its awesome! Thanks for continually improving it for no reason other than, well... for no reason

Fri May 20, 2005 12:03 pm by IGx89

Argh: I think that'd be a job best left for the unofficial patch/SDK.

Overkill: Great find, I really appreciated you giving me those details. Fixed it in just a few minutes

. All "/" are now automatically replaced with "\".

Chips: Good idea; done

.

Sun May 22, 2005 6:40 pm by Louva-Deus

One problem that I hope you can fix is where some mods leave crap behind after you have deactivated it (TNG for example) which messes up the game and other mods. Maybe having FLMM create a manifest file before activation in the mod folder and then use that to remove stuff and use it as part of the restore backups thing.

Check out the latest beta's of the Freelancer S.D.K. 1.5 and Freelancer Explorer v2.x

Sun May 22, 2005 6:57 pm by Cold_Void

Don't allow mod activation/deactivation while FLServer is loaded (done )

why?I have a mod planned that will pretty much depend on flmm running with the server open for editing mpnewcharacter.fl(actually i don't even know if flmm can edit this,if it can't add that please)for altering startup location, ship, loadout, costume....Agh! again,why?

Sun May 22, 2005 8:48 pm by Argh

Oh yeah... and, um... if it's going to strip comments... can it do that last , or not at all (i.e., with a switch)?

My XML Toolkit Mod, which is supposed to be showcasing what your app. can do... will be kind've hosed if Comments get stripped by the parser before the end- the Comments are creating context for the XML script searches... so, uh... you might want to take a look at my mod before you unleash 1.4, because it'd be a real pain to have to fix that... and it's a useful thing for developers. If you're going to force the parser to strip comments as it goes, instead of at the end of processing the entire queue, my whole approach is going to be hosed if I can't turn it off with a switch or something.

Mon May 23, 2005 2:38 pm by IGx89

Louva-Deus: FLMM should already properly restore every file to its original state (and delete every added file) when a mod is deactivated. I just activated/deactivated TNG v2.7.6 using FLMM v1.3.1, and couldn't find any changed/left behind files?

Cold_Void: I did it because of a request in this thread. I just changed it to give a warning if FLServer is loaded, letting a user continue the process if they click Yes; would that work?

Argh: Ok, I removed the comment stripping code (which actually just stripped comments from inside <section> elements). I added that to reduce conflicts when activating multiple mods (because improperly-placed comments can mess up other mod scripts), but since (as you say) it might actually cause more problems than solve I'm removing it (unless someone suggests a better way to do it).

Mon May 23, 2005 4:06 pm by Cold_Void

that sounds great to me IGx89, having no ability to run with flserver seemed like an extreme solution for corruption problems but this feels just right

thanks for listening & programming a great mod manager(i don't think 90% of mod installers work as well as yours does)

p.s. can FLMM run script operations on mpnewcharacter.fl?

Edited by - Cold_Void on 5/23/2005 5:08:11 PM

Mon May 23, 2005 5:17 pm by IGx89

Thanks

.

Yep!

Mon May 23, 2005 6:31 pm by Argh

Thanks IGx89, I was having nightmares about how I was going to have to "re-tag" all of that data

Mon May 23, 2005 7:08 pm by Louva-Deus

Louva-Deus: FLMM should already properly restore every file to its original state (and delete every added file) when a mod is deactivated. I just activated/deactivated TNG v2.7.6 using FLMM v1.3.1, and couldn't find any changed/left behind files?

Under normal operation that would be fine but there are many cases where parts of a mod are left behind. Some being if there was an error in deactivating, flmm crashes, someone activates two or more incompatible mods. These are cases in which FLMM can't tell the difference between the original game files and any new ones added by a mod.

How this happens isn't important, the fact that it does is. Some sort of temporary manifest file should be considered as a static source for recovery rather than relying on program memory, think of it as an install log that is used to reverse the process (restore backups). The log should be appendable so people activating more than one mod don't mess up the log feature.

You don't have to take my word for it but I have seen this many many times and if the feature can be added without too much difficulty I suggest doing it. This would reduce support/help requests a lot.

Check out the latest beta's of the Freelancer S.D.K. 1.5 and Freelancer Explorer v2.x

Tue May 24, 2005 10:52 am by Louva-Deus

Issue with generating string and xml resources

Tue May 24, 2005 12:03 pm by IGx89

I'll look at making the error recovery more robust, but that could take a lot of work so I can't promise anything.

Fix GENERATESTRRES/GENERATEXMLSTRRES line truncation, allow multiple macros per line, and validate macro syntax during test activations (done )

Already fixed

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