AddOn Manager (again)

[RaiN_MaN]

Hi

Seams the right forum to post this.
Problems with many addons are well known so i decided to code my own AddOn Manager, i didn't know nothing about the Mod Folder stuff or that DKM made already something like that (ehm, actually i don't remember exactly if the AddOn Manager was made by DKMM, sorry ;D).
I wasen't able to try the DKMM Manager case it requires the VB 5.0 Runtimes, the Mod Folders are ok but too much work for a poor result (in terms of addon managment) and acctually i spent too much time on my own manager (it works pretty fine and has a lot of usefull stuff) to trash it.

The main idea about this AddOn Manager was thet it requires only one click to activate only the AddOns required by a custom mission (not packed inside PBOs) of your choices.
At the first time i thought i was only a matter of loading the mission.sqm and read the part inside AddOns={}. The AddOn names there seemed to be references to the addon file names without extension. I tought all i have to do is read the names and then search the AddOn folders for PBOs named like that. After the first tests i understood that those names are somekind of internal references of the AddOn.
So things got pretty much harder ;D

What i would like to know, if someone out here can tell me, is there a way to "scan" the PBOs to get the AddOn names they include?
OPF doesn't take much time to load all the PBOs and load all the AddOns, even with more then 400 AddOns, would be really interesting to know something more about this.
In other words, how can i get a reference from the AddOn name listed in the mission.sqm to the AddOn file itself?  

Thx in advance

PS: I've attached a screen of my manager (Beta), if someone is interested mail me @ rainman@ngi.it

[RaiN_MaN]

Damn attach ;D

[FistOfLegend]

i want this whenever it is finished.

[RaiN_MaN]

So for everyone who could need this here are a few link where you can download the AddOn Manager and what you might need to get it up and running.


!!! I couldn't find out the package method of the PBO format, so i wasn't able to  complete the "one click addons selection" idea. However it works without problems and offers an easy way to disable/enable all of you addons !!!


Since i switched to a newer language, which requires the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed on the host machine, i thought it would be usefull to release two versions.
Since not everyone wants to download 23Mb ;D
Both versions have the same functionality, but the .NET version (0.1.5) has some improvements and is the only one which will be kept up to date.
Here are some detailed info:


Version 1.31:

 + Runs on Win2000/XP/Server2003 (probably ME) without any requirements
 + Runs on Win9x/NT4.0 or less with the Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime Libraries (Link below)
 + Small Donwload Size
 - Will not be updated

 AddOn Manager v1.31 Beta: http://www.rain-man.net/bdown/addonman-old.rar(~30Kb)
 Visual Basic 6.0 Runtimes: http://www.rain-man.net/bdown/runtime/MSVBVM60.rar (~500Kb)

Version 1.5:

 - Runs on Windows Server 2003 without any requirements
 - Runs on Win2000/XP or less with the .NET Framework (Link below)
 + Some improved features and improved interface (WinXP Visual Style Compatible)
 + Will be updated asap
 + Bug reports will be verified and bug will be erased asap
 + Sooner or later you will be forced to update to .NET anyway, since many new softwares will use it in the future

 AddOn Manager v1.31 Beta: http://www.rain-man.net/bdown/addonman-net.rar (~30Kb)
 .NET Framework: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3&DisplayLang=en (~23Mb)



Installation

Version 1.31:
 1. Create a new folder whereever you want it
 2. Unrar (if you don't have WinRAR download it here: www.rarlab.com) the content of the addonman-old.rar archive into that folder
 3. If your OS doesn't need the Runtime Libraries (as listed above) start the Executable (addonman.exe) and you should be ready to go. if not go to step 4
 4. Unrar the content of the MSVBVM60.rar into the same folder.
 5. Start the executable, if it runs this ends here, if it returns an error go to step 6
 6. Move the file you extraced from the MSVBVM60.rar into your \Windows\System32 folder (maybe Winnt\System32)
 7. If this ends up with another error of somekind contact me with a detailed tech info (OS ...) and a detailed description of the error message. If possible attach a screenshot of the error.

Version 1.5:
 1. Create a new folder whereever you want it
 2. Unrar (if you don't have WinRAR download it here: www.rarlab.com) the content of the addonman-net.rar archive into that folder
 3. If your OS doesn't need the .NET Framework (as listed above) start the Executable (addonman.exe) and you should be ready to go. if not go to step 4
 4. Install the .NET Framework Redist which you can download from the link above
 5. Restart you machine.
 6. Start the executable, if it runs this ends here, if it returns an error go to step 7
 7. If this ends up with another error of somekind contact me with a detailed tech info (OS ...) and a detailed description of the error message. If possible attach a screenshot of the error.



.: Use:

Both versions are pretty simple to use, two sections (AddOns and Missions) display a list of your currently installed Addons (from both \AddOns and \Res\AddOns folders) and you currently available Single and Multiplayer "Custom" missions.

AddOns Section:
Check an AddOn to enable it or uncheck it to disable it. The AddOn Manager doesn't move, copy o delete anything. The only thing it does is renaming the AddOn extension from .pbo to .pb0 (zero), this prevents OPF from loading that addon without the need of large file copy operations or other time spending stuff. In fact it takes just one to a few seconds to enabled or disable all of you addons. By using the "Set AddOns" Button you enable the checked and disable the unchecked addons.

Mission Section:
You can switch player (if you have more than one) two select mission made by another player.
Since the "On Click AddOn Selection" idea failed the addon manager displayes the section in you mission.sqm file which contains the AddOn infos to help you select the addons required by that mission without any other operations.

Functions:
The Functions button shows a menu which allows you to perform some usefull tasks, Save or Load the Current settings to disk, invert the current selection, enable only BIS AddOns or just keep them enabled so that if you load your settings Original AddOns wont be disabled.



That's all i hope, lol a bit long this post ;D
BTW, i'll be offline for a bit (vacation), i'll reply to everything asap.

[Homefry31464]

Good Job!