• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

Cleanitol A Guide for Creators

Started by xxdita, February 10, 2008, 05:30:54 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

xxdita

Creating Cleanitol files

For anyone wanting to make a Cleanitol file to include with their upload, simply open up your favorite word processor program. Just make sure that you save the file as a *.txt file. If you don't have a fancy wordprocessor, Notepad will do quite nicely, though I prefer WordPad.

:satisfied: Who should include a Cleanitol file in their uploads?
Let's make some general rules of thumb at this point. Arbitrarily set by me.  :D
If the upload is a Prop MegaPack with any previously available models, it should come with a Cleanitol file.
If you are releasing an update to your lot, or a corrected version of someone else's, absolutely include a Cleanitol.
If your lots use files that aren't commonly used (such as a new Japanese prop you found), or you have a set of lots that requires a number of dependencies, I strongly suggest making a Cleanitol file for them, as well as listing them in your ReadMe, so that the end users can easily access the necessary files. Of course, you do know where all of the dependencies came from, don't you?
If your mod is incompatible with others, or is a groundbreaking revision of previous works, then by all means, a Cleanitol is in order.
In some instances, especially for updated lots or mods, it may be necessary to create BOTH a Removal Cleanitol, and a Dependencies Cleanitol for the end users.

Now, let's get started.

For  ?$%kar&%h Removal Cleanitols, it's very important to be thorough in your listing. Any file that will be replaced by your Mega Pack, new lots, or mod should be listed, so that they can all be removed with ease. If your mod has been through any sort of beta testing, it's not a bad idea to include those files in the Cleanitol as well. If you are releasing an updated lot or set of lots, even with the same filename(s), a Cleanitol is helpful to make sure that the outdated files are removed, so that the new ones can be enjoyed properly. As users organize their Plugins as best suits them, you can hardly depend on the installer to overwrite the old file correctly.

There are several ways to add your text to the file. You could type out each filename that needs to be removed, or cut & paste. A file listing program could come in handy if you have a lot of files.

An example:
Quote
*.rtf
*.zip
*.xml
*.iit
*.exe
*.bak
*.doc
*.ico

It is very important to not mix Removal & Dependency Cleanitols in the same file, as the end user will inevitably end up being confused, and so could you. At the very least, they'll be wondering why so many files say Not Found, but there's no link included to download them, not sure what to do at this point.

So, now all files have been listed. Time to save the *.txt file. Now what do you call the file? I think it's best to make it rather obvious what to do with the file, so Removal My Mega Pack Vol26.txt (or something to that effect). Now, if you have updated lots for your upload, and are using the same file names, I strongly suggest calling the file Removal RUN ONLY ONCE - My Updated Lots (or something similar).txt. Otherwise the end user could end up running in circles, installing & removing the same files over and over again. (Though this is sometimes fun to watch)  $%Grinno$%

%confuso To make a Dependency scanner Cleanitol, you also need to add the links to the file. Make sure you seperate the file name and the url with a semicolon ; . Now, if one of your dependencies has multiple files in the zip, instead of being all in one dat, you can add text in between the semicolon and the url, to give the User this information. I'd recommend adding the download's name and url to each file, just in case a user has one out of the pack that is necessary, but somehow is missing another found in the zip. This space can also be used to inform the User of optional files, or any other information you'd like to pass along, or just to make sure they're paying attention. Sometimes it may be necessary to add in Make Sure You Read The ReadME!! Such as when pointing to the BSC Park Textures.

Example:
Quote
JRJ_TC_Aesculus_01a-0x6534284a-0x0f55ca9c-0xb0f8ec8b.SC4Desc;BSC Props Jeronij Vol 02 Trees http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=167
JRJ_TC_Aesculus_02-0x6534284a-0x0f55ca9c-0x90f8ef15.SC4Desc;BSC Props Jeronij Vol 02 Trees http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=167
JRJ_TC_Aesculus_03-0x6534284a-0x0f55ca9c-0xb0f8f17e.SC4Desc;BSC Props Jeronij Vol 02 Trees http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=167
JRJ_TC_Aesculus_04-0x6534284a-0x0f55ca9c-0xf0f8fa12.SC4Desc;BSC Props Jeronij Vol 02 Trees http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=167

()testing() It is very important to make sure that all files in a download are linked, so that should the end user accidentally click on Backup Now, only the files that need to be removed will be.


"$Deal"$ If you need to make other notes within your Cleanitol, you can add text, without a filetype before a semicolon, then your message after.
Like so:
Quote
Don't forget; Read The ReadMe

If there is nothing in front of the semicolon, then the program has nothing to look for, and will show no message at all. This can be handy when you need to make notes (or a subliminal message perhaps?) within the file itself.
Quote
;ReadMe's are fun
;2 parts orange juice 1 part vodka, splash with grenadine

When you're ready to save your file, I recommend naming it Dependencies - Your Lot Name (obviously inserting your own name & the name of your lot, or pack or mod), making sure that you save it in txt format.

Before packaging up any Cleanitol with your upload, you need to test it out, to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. For Dependency Cleanitols, run the file in Cleanitol with an empty Plugins folder. Double check all of the links. For Removal Cleanitols, run with a full Plugins, then check the Backup folder to make sure that all filenames were typed out correctly. Test again, temporarily naming your new file, adding an a_ to the beginning. If your install files have pointed to multiple folders over the years, copy the new a_file into each of those. Now, run DatPacker. If you get a superseeded message, then you've missed something. DatPacker will tell you which file has been superceded, but not by which file. Of course since your new a_file was datpacked first, you should be able to tell any files that it replaces quite easily. Add those to your Cleanitol, then delete the compressed file for any superseed message you receive, and repeat the process until you get no superceded messages.

()flamdev() Cleanitol can make the process of updating lots, releasing Mega Prop Packs, and clearing the way for new mods a much simpler process for the entire community, as long as the same passion put into creating the Custom Content is put into making sure that it works properly for everyone that wishes to use it.

SC4BOY

My my, You've been a busy boy!! Great work and well written!

JoeST

You could potentially replace the [quote] tags with  [code] tags, but apart from that small qualm, its brilliant. Thankyou for sharing this with us.

Joe
Copperminds and Cuddleswarms

SC4BOY

This has been working happily for some time now, but I've noted an issue which can be a problem with large groups such as BSC which are trying to maintain a lot of files over several versions. The problem comes up where one time a file is named something like
"my good stuff.dat"
in a version, but on another version it may be called
"my_good_stuff.dat"
For cleanitol REMOVE FILE purposes, its simple enough to add BOTH VERSIONS to the list. Then if it finds one version, it works.. or.. if it finds the other version, it still works.. :)

Still well-written documentation AND a great tool.