SC4DataNode 1.33

Just wondering, has this been updated for sc4pac support? By default, sc4pac installs plugins that may include lengthy path names, and this is causing a problem with scans: plugin prop packs are stopping the scan because some paths are too long.

1 hour ago, thedab101 said:

By default, sc4pac installs plugins that may include lengthy path names,

Yikes!

Are the paths too long for Windoze and the props don't show in the game or only too long for DataNode?

I'm wondering if we should beep @memo or not.

On 22/08/2025 at 4:48 AM, CorinaMarie said:

Yikes!

Are the paths too long for Windoze and the props don't show in the game or only too long for DataNode?

I'm wondering if we should beep @memo or not.

I think it's could be causing problems in game: indeed, some bats are showing the Boxing Day Box and probably because the paths are too long now that I rely entirely on sc4pac to manage my Plugins folder. In a bid to see if there was an issue with DataNode (can't imagine there is an issue), I tried scanning the 075-my-plugins folder alone (because I wasn't willing to start temporarily moving problem path folders out of Plugins and then wind up accidentally screwing up the folder). 

I've noticed that after plopping a building (I'm not sure which one I'm plopping that's causing this error), when I go back to the city, I get the Missing Plugin Required dialog. So, this must be because of the folder path lengths. 

That said, the reports of some missing dependencies in DataNode after scanning the my-plugins folder might've been because I wasn't able to scan the entirety of the Plugins folder: DataNode presents a (funny-haha) error, that the paths are too long scanning the root Plugins folder.

For example: the Windows long filename path for a prop from the rretail props pack (a path which also produced an error), installed by sc4pac, looks like this:

C:\Users\<redacted 6-character username>\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\100-props-textures\rretail.mega-prop-pack-vol1.1.6.sc4pac\Road Signs\Traffic Signs\One Way Signs\One Side One Way Left\Left Arrow Vertical\RR Sign_OneWay Left Arrow Vertical 22.5 Left-0x6534284a-0x27d79b48-0x4947a722.SC4Desc

Windows does truncate it to the 8.3 format, which makes the path look like this: 

C:\Users\<redacted 6-character username>\Documents\SIMCIT~1\Plugins\100-PR~1\RRETAI~2.SC4\ROADSI~1\TRAFFI~1\ONEWAY~1\ONESID~1\LEFTAR~2

I don't know if sc4pac has an issue with converting that long path to an 8.3 format, and it doesn't look like DataNode supports that. The long path above exceeds the Windows 260 limit in Windows 10, and in order to allow longer paths, I need to make a registry change... but the apps (both SimCity and SC4 DataNode) must have the element "longpathaware" set to true within the manifest file. 

Let me know if I can provide any more information.

 

3 hours ago, thedab101 said:

I think it's could be causing problems in game: indeed, some bats are showing the Boxing Day Box and probably because the paths are too long now that I rely entirely on sc4pac to manage my Plugins folder. In a bid to see if there was an issue with DataNode (can't imagine there is an issue), I tried scanning the 075-my-plugins folder alone (because I wasn't willing to start temporarily moving problem path folders out of Plugins and then wind up accidentally screwing up the folder). 

I've noticed that after plopping a building (I'm not sure which one I'm plopping that's causing this error), when I go back to the city, I get the Missing Plugin Required dialog. So, this must be because of the folder path lengths. 

That said, the reports of some missing dependencies in DataNode after scanning the my-plugins folder might've been because I wasn't able to scan the entirety of the Plugins folder: DataNode presents a (funny-haha) error, that the paths are too long scanning the root Plugins folder.

For example: the Windows long filename path for a prop from the rretail props pack (a path which also produced an error), installed by sc4pac, looks like this:

C:\Users\<redacted 6-character username>\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\100-props-textures\rretail.mega-prop-pack-vol1.1.6.sc4pac\Road Signs\Traffic Signs\One Way Signs\One Side One Way Left\Left Arrow Vertical\RR Sign_OneWay Left Arrow Vertical 22.5 Left-0x6534284a-0x27d79b48-0x4947a722.SC4Desc

Windows does truncate it to the 8.3 format, which makes the path look like this: 

C:\Users\<redacted 6-character username>\Documents\SIMCIT~1\Plugins\100-PR~1\RRETAI~2.SC4\ROADSI~1\TRAFFI~1\ONEWAY~1\ONESID~1\LEFTAR~2

I don't know if sc4pac has an issue with converting that long path to an 8.3 format, and it doesn't look like DataNode supports that. The long path above exceeds the Windows 260 limit in Windows 10, and in order to allow longer paths, I need to make a registry change... but the apps (both SimCity and SC4 DataNode) must have the element "longpathaware" set to true within the manifest file. 

Let me know if I can provide any more information.

 

I don't think it's a manifest issue. The long path error seems like a custom one:

Just to be sure I've created a manifest "patch"...

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
    <application xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
        <windowsSettings xmlns:ws2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">
            <ws2:longPathAware>true</ws2:longPathAware>
        </windowsSettings>
    </application>
</assembly>

...and applied it to the exe with mt.exe (from the Windows SDK):

.\mt.exe -nologo -manifest "C:\temp\SC4DataNode.exe.manifest" -updateresource:"C:\temp\SC4DataNode.exe;#1"

The "patched" version has the same long path error. So I believe that compatibility does require a change in the SC4DataNode code itself. And that only makes sense if SC4 itself is capable of handling it.

And that seems fine. As a test, I've moved SM2's Mobile Power Generator to the by SC4DataNode reported path (and created an additional subfolder there to make sure it's lengthy enough). Here's the copy-as-path of that file:

"C:\Users\[redacted]\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\100-props-textures\rretail.mega-prop-pack-vol1.1.6.sc4pac\Road Signs\Traffic Signs\One Way Signs\One Side One Way Left\Left Arrow Hornizontal\RRSIGN~1\PLOP_1~1.SC4"

I still can plop it without any issues in the game.

So I'm not sure your brown box issue is related to path length.

7 hours ago, thedab101 said:

Let me know if I can provide any more information.

That looks like a thorough investigation and it does seem like the Windoze limit is being exceeded. As such, I'll guess there's nothing wrong (nor any changes needed) within DataNode itself.

I believe posting your findings in the SC4Pac thread might be a good next step.

19 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

That looks like a thorough investigation and it does seem like the Windoze limit is being exceeded. As such, I'll guess there's nothing wrong (nor any changes needed) within DataNode itself.

In fact, it's only a DataNode issue. Both the game and sc4pac can handle those long paths. The game requires the Startup Performance Optimization DLL to handle those paths, though, as explained in the sc4pac installation instructions on the STEX page.

Edit: Regarding the "Missing Plugin Required" dialog, this is usually the result of removing something from your Plugins that was previously there and has been used in the city before.

11 hours ago, memo said:

In fact, it's only a DataNode issue. Both the game and sc4pac can handle those long paths. The game requires the Startup Performance Optimization DLL to handle those paths, though, as explained in the sc4pac installation instructions on the STEX page.

Edit: Regarding the "Missing Plugin Required" dialog, this is usually the result of removing something from your Plugins that was previously there and has been used in the city before.

I have this DLL installed already (and I had manually installed this before I started using sc4pac), and no plugins were removed prior to or after this issue, from that folder, either manually or by sc4pac. As I mentioned earlier, I'm able to successfully plop a building into my city, but when I reopen the city, I get that Missing Plugin error. I think I know which building is causing the problem, and on opening the city, there are no brown boxes by default - I only see brown boxes with some random buildings I try to plop. And to be clear, to @TiepiNL's example, the brown boxes I see are not specifically from the "SM Power Generator", it was another building installed from sc4pac: I can't remember what it was, and I only brought it up because I thought it might be relevant.

Because I have the DLL installed, it resolves my concern Windows, the game and sc4pac having issues with handling the file name length. At home, my AD Group Policy already enables support for paths longer than the 260 limit, something I set a long time ago and forgot about it, so all my Windows machines support the max length: I don't need to make registry changes. 

As to the manifest: not knowing how the app was constructed, I don't know if @TiepiNL's workaround would have worked for me either, and it's not my app to play around with: my first instinct was whether the manifest or whatever was compiled, enabled support for long paths.

I only wanted to report the problem I had in Windows, and find out if it's common knowledge.