Scenery scanning when deactivated not working as expected

[Berzerker]

Trying to figure out the proper way of setting up scenery scanning. I'd like to have it so all my custom scenery is scanned regardless of if they're enabled or not, but to prioritize custom sceneries over default ones.

 

I use Lorby Organizer to disable sceneries for areas not in use to speed up loading and reduce stuttering, but if I install a new scenery, I have to re-enable all my scenery, then rescan, or else the disabled scenery will get overwritten with the default scenery (since the custom one is disabled).

 

I assume the check box option to "scan all scenery" is how you avoid needing to do this, but it's not working as I expected (disabled custom scenery gets overwritten with default scenery). Is there a proper procedure for this or do I just need to re-enable all scenery before scanning?

 

Thank you.

[lonewulf47]

Hi,

Yes, the easiest method to have all Add-Ons in the EFB database is to run a DatabaseBuild with ALL add-Ons enabled. If you then disable a few, EFB OPS is not hampered. However if you happen to position on a default airport which is actually a disabled Add-On, you will see the airport layout of the Add-On. That's all. But to be honest, I don't think that you would take-off or land on a disabled Add-On, wouldn't you?

This of course also means that whenever you add a new Add-On airport, you will have to re-enable all disabled Airports to have all airports scanned by the DatabaseBuilder. Individual disabling can take place thereafter upon your liking.

[Berzerker]

I guess, let me clarify my question. Is there any way to have the EFB scan all add-ons even if they are listed as disabled, and utilize custom scenery over default scenery, even if it's disabled?

 

I thought that's what the checkbox was supposed to do, but it doesn't seem to be scanning it properly.

[lonewulf47]

Ok, I  see what you mean. I  was still a bit too much inclined towards MSFS and I just now realized that you are talking about Prepar3D. In facht the mentioned function should actually do exactly what you expect it to do. For Troubleshooting I recommend to do a complete scan and then create a complete set of support files. This will allow us to do a deeper troubleshooting into this issue. I must neverheless admit that I'm not completely sure whether this function is still working  properly after LM introduced the new add-on packages system with P3DV4 ff.

 

Edit: Urs just reviewed the code an confirms, that using the checkbox "scan all scenery" works as intended. So, whatever problem surfaces, we need in any case the support files and an accurate description of the case. In any case it is important to know, that whenever a new scenery is added, a complete rebuild of the Scenery Database is necessary.

[Berzerker]

I think I've narrowed the issue down to it being an issue with addon.xml-based scenery addons. Perhaps I have something incorrectly configured in Aivla or Lorby, but for ex: if I have my US airports disabled, this shows in the log:

 

 

But if I enable them, I then get this:

 

 

So it seems to maybe be an issue with addon.xml based sceneries.

[lonewulf47]

Nope, it's an issue with the Lorby Organizer. it is however difficult to trace as you didn't provide the requested Support Files yet. Please do the follwing: Make a full Database Rebuild with all scenery activated and then make a set of Support Files and send those UNEDITED to: support@aivlasoft.com

 

 

[Berzerker]

Ok, I've sent the zipped client and server support files and referenced this thread in my email.

[aivlasoft]

Hello,

 

thank you for sending the files. I have analyzed them and came to the following conclusion:

 

First of all a brief description about the so called 'package-system' and the relations between the files 'add-ons.cfg' and 'add-on.xml':

 

The file 'add-ons.cfg' is kind of a table of contents and it contains the list of your add-ons and for each of these add-ons a path to the directory where the files of the add-on are stored. There are two locations where the file 'add-ons.cfg' can be found, one is below '%ProgramData%' and one is below '%AppData%'.

 

The file 'add-on.xml' contains information about the add-on itself. One part of this information is whether it is a scenery-add-on, or not. If it is a scenery-add-on then the file must contain an XML-node containing the text 'scenery'. This is what the DbBuilder is looking for.

 

Basically the logfile entry '-- No scenery category found' is OK, because there are add-ons listed in the add-ons.cfg which do not have a scenery node (e.g. FSLabs, or FSUIPC). But if the '-- No scenery category found' entry is logged for a scenery-add-on then this is an indication of a serious problem, or in other words, it looks like the 'scenery-node' in the add-on.xml has been removed or has been commented out. If no 'scenery node' can be found in a certain add-on.xml, the DbBuilder will no longer try to scan this add-on when it is creating/updating the database.

 

Quote

I guess, let me clarify my question. Is there any way to have the EFB scan all add-ons even if they are listed as disabled, and utilize custom scenery over default scenery, even if it's disabled? I thought that's what the checkbox was supposed to do, but it doesn't seem to be scanning it properly.

That's correct. The DbBuilder distinguishes between active and inactive sceneries by simply reading the 'Active=true/false' flag in either the 'scenery.cfg' or in the 'add-ons.cfg' file(s). If the box 'Check all' is ticked then all add-ons will be considered, regardless whether the flag is set to true or false. If the box is no ticked, only active scenery add-ons will be considered.

 

In the logfile which you sent us I can see for example the following entry:
-- No scenery category found in: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\Flightbeam - KDEN\add-on.xml

 

This seems to be a valid scenery add-on of KDEN airport, but it looks like the corresponding add-on.xml does not contain a 'scenery-node' (see above) and therefore this add-on will no longer be considered in the process of creating/updating a database.

 

Conclusion:
I don't know what exactly the Lorby-Organizer is doing when you set a scenery to ON or OFF, but from my point of view it seems that it does some changes in the add-on.xml file. Could you please check whether the content of the file C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\Flightbeam - KDEN\add-on.xml will be changed in any way when you switch the KDEN scenery from ON to OFF and vice versa?

 

 

 

[Berzerker]

6 hours ago, aivlasoft said:

Hello,

 

thank you for sending the files. I have analyzed them and came to the following conclusion:

 

First of all a brief description about the so called 'package-system' and the relations between the files 'add-ons.cfg' and 'add-on.xml':

 

The file 'add-ons.cfg' is kind of a table of contents and it contains the list of your add-ons and for each of these add-ons a path to the directory where the files of the add-on are stored. There are two locations where the file 'add-ons.cfg' can be found, one is below '%ProgramData%' and one is below '%AppData%'.

 

The file 'add-on.xml' contains information about the add-on itself. One part of this information is whether it is a scenery-add-on, or not. If it is a scenery-add-on then the file must contain an XML-node containing the text 'scenery'. This is what the DbBuilder is looking for.

 

Basically the logfile entry '-- No scenery category found' is OK, because there are add-ons listed in the add-ons.cfg which do not have a scenery node (e.g. FSLabs, or FSUIPC). But if the '-- No scenery category found' entry is logged for a scenery-add-on then this is an indication of a serious problem, or in other words, it looks like the 'scenery-node' in the add-on.xml has been removed or has been commented out. If no 'scenery node' can be found in a certain add-on.xml, the DbBuilder will no longer try to scan this add-on when it is creating/updating the database.

 

That's correct. The DbBuilder distinguishes between active and inactive sceneries by simply reading the 'Active=true/false' flag in either the 'scenery.cfg' or in the 'add-ons.cfg' file(s). If the box 'Check all' is ticked then all add-ons will be considered, regardless whether the flag is set to true or false. If the box is no ticked, only active scenery add-ons will be considered.

 

In the logfile which you sent us I can see for example the following entry:
-- No scenery category found in: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\Flightbeam - KDEN\add-on.xml

 

This seems to be a valid scenery add-on of KDEN airport, but it looks like the corresponding add-on.xml does not contain a 'scenery-node' (see above) and therefore this add-on will no longer be considered in the process of creating/updating a database.

 

Conclusion:
I don't know what exactly the Lorby-Organizer is doing when you set a scenery to ON or OFF, but from my point of view it seems that it does some changes in the add-on.xml file. Could you please check whether the content of the file C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Prepar3D v5 Add-ons\Flightbeam - KDEN\add-on.xml will be changed in any way when you switch the KDEN scenery from ON to OFF and vice versa?

 

 

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation. I figured this may have been the case. Seems like the contents of the add-on.xml file for KDEN do not change, but because the addon is disabled via Lorby, the entry actually gets removed completely from the scenery.cfg file. If it's disabled, I can't find it at all in there. So I guess with the way Lorby manages the sceneries, enabling all sceneries then running a rebuild would be the only way I can do a proper rebuild via Aivlasoft.

 

As an aside, would it be possible to add a box disabling the ask to rebuild the scenery database if it detects change? I see this fairly often since I'm always enabling and disabling sceneries.

 

Thank you again for the help.

[aivlasoft]

3 hours ago, Berzerker said:

As an aside, would it be possible to add a box disabling the ask to rebuild the scenery database if it detects change? I see this fairly often since I'm always enabling and disabling sceneries.

Currently we do not have plans to introduce this functionality in the near future.