Auto Save Does Not Load Properly in SC4pac

[Taz the Mystic 51]

I have discovered that SC4Pac loads the AutoSave plugin files in two different spots. This causes the "can not find settings error."  If you put the dll file and the log file in the 150-mods file the error disappears and the instability this caused in Crast to Desktop incidents disappear.  Can this be corrected?  The ini file is loaded into the 150-mods file and the log and dll file are loaded into the plugins root directory/file.  At least that is what has occured in my sytem.

[nos.17 5,257]

You're talking about null-45:sc4-autosave correct? What should be happening when you install a DLL mod is both the DLL and INI get installed into the 150-mods/package-name subfolder, and a symbolic link is created in Plugins root to point to the DLL file. You then follow the big pop up warning to move the INI file to the root Plugins folder. 

I can inquire about creating a symlink to the INI file too, but for now you have to heed the warning and move the INI this manually.

However, if the DLL is truly installed in a different location than the INI, that would tell me sc4pac did not have adequate permissions to create the symlink, so it just moved the DLL instead.

  Edited January 8 by nos.17  
typo

[Taz the Mystic 51]

Yes, to null-45: s 4-autosave.  The INI was by itself in the 150-mod file and the two others were in the root directory.  I got it fixed but wanted to document this for future newbs like me.

Thanks for the explanation.

[memo 1,473]

This is intended behavior. Installing a DLL with INI file involves a manual intervention step, as indicated by this message during the installation process:

Read it. Understand it. Act on it. – Don't just ignore it. You must move or copy the INI file to the root of your Plugins folder and then edit the file. This is also documented in detail in the FAQ.

 

While the program could move the file to the root directory automatically, this has some drawbacks:

1. The purpose of INI files is to allow for user configuration. Moving the file automatically doesn't imply that manual intervention is not needed. You still have to edit the file manually to set your preferences. If you miss that, the DLL is now loaded with settings that might be unsuitable for your setup. Instead, it's better to load no INI file at all, so that the DLL can react appropriately, providing a safe fallback. This could be a sane default setting or, as in the case of the auto-save DLL, a popup error message.

2. When a new version of the DLL is released, the INI might change as well, or maybe not. If the INI was symlinked into the root directory, your settings would be lost when the package is updated to a new version. If the INI is automatically moved to the root directory, it overwrites your previous settings, which would be lost. If the INI isn't moved, your previous INI file might lack some setting introduced by the new DLL version. So in any case, there must be some way to merge an older (manually edited) INI file with a newer (fresh) INI file. This can only be done manually. Even the package managers on Linux behave like this when you install configuration files to /etc/. They don't just overwrite your previous configuration, but tell you to resolve it manually.

[Taz the Mystic 51]

Thank you.  Yes you are right I did not understand the warning message.  I am glad that your response is now here as it explains what needs to be done to fix this and your explanation of why is very valuable.  I wish this was available when this popped up the first time I encountered it.

Thank you for the information.  I'm sure that others will find this valuable in the future.

[Lab Rat 16]

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