Uninstaller Incompatibilities
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2012 8:43 am
Here's a little problem I just encountered. I notice this with the mods that add "useful extra" files, like TNM and 2027. What's going on with these "useful extra" files (like the OTP UI fix, renderers and so on) is that if something else is using the file (in other words, the file was already there on install), the uninstallers will take the file out.
This will happen with the renderer files (if I put them on manually & install them manually, or use something like my loader) in 2027, but the most ready example is the UI scaling fix. TNM and 2027 both will install these files. Both uninstallers will remove these files, too. Which means, if I uninstall 2027 and run TNM, I'm likely to get an error. The reverse would likely happen too as it applies to the UI scaling files. I can address it by replacing the files, of course. But really the issue is that these installers / uninstallers are not keeping track of whether files were already present or needed so the correct decision of whether to terminate the file is made.
To state what I observed with the renderer files, 2027 overwrote my existing DX9 renderer with ENBSeries upon install. And then the uninstaller removed ENBSeries, completely leaving my install without the DX9 renderer.
Anyway, I wanted to start this thread to toss around some ideas on how to handle these file collision issues in a nice way, without having to replace the files if the uninstall choice is made. Like with the loader I wrote, I thought about putting those files together into a little installer so they can be added if necessary (since the loader already effectively "installs" them into the settings files). That might be a solution (authors willing), but the obvious thing with these installers is that they need to preserve the files if already present.
Thoughts on how to address/handle it?
This will happen with the renderer files (if I put them on manually & install them manually, or use something like my loader) in 2027, but the most ready example is the UI scaling fix. TNM and 2027 both will install these files. Both uninstallers will remove these files, too. Which means, if I uninstall 2027 and run TNM, I'm likely to get an error. The reverse would likely happen too as it applies to the UI scaling files. I can address it by replacing the files, of course. But really the issue is that these installers / uninstallers are not keeping track of whether files were already present or needed so the correct decision of whether to terminate the file is made.
To state what I observed with the renderer files, 2027 overwrote my existing DX9 renderer with ENBSeries upon install. And then the uninstaller removed ENBSeries, completely leaving my install without the DX9 renderer.
Anyway, I wanted to start this thread to toss around some ideas on how to handle these file collision issues in a nice way, without having to replace the files if the uninstall choice is made. Like with the loader I wrote, I thought about putting those files together into a little installer so they can be added if necessary (since the loader already effectively "installs" them into the settings files). That might be a solution (authors willing), but the obvious thing with these installers is that they need to preserve the files if already present.
Thoughts on how to address/handle it?