Nexus/MO metadata for DynDOLOD files

[z929669]

DynDOLOD Resources Alpha-47 on Nexus is missing "Download with Mod Manager" functionality. This makes it a bit more error prone for those that don't know how to properly install manually-downloaded mods.

Also, the "newest version" metadata still is "3.00" rather than Alpha-47, so it must be manually maintained for mod manager update notices (at least in MO)

[sheson]

1 hour ago, z929669 said:

DynDOLOD Resources Alpha-47 on Nexus is missing "Download with Mod Manager" functionality. This makes it a bit more error prone for those that don't know how to properly install manually-downloaded mods.

Also, the "newest version" metadata still is "3.00" rather than Alpha-47, so it must be manually maintained for mod manager update notices (at least in MO)

Enabled the button. Every field that contains a version number says Alpha-47? Not sure were you see 3.00.

[Mousetick]

2 hours ago, sheson said:

Every field that contains a version number says Alpha-47? Not sure were you see 3.00.

It's the version number displayed by MO2 after freshly installing the mod:

Contents of meta.ini created by MO2:

Spoiler

[General]
gameName=SkyrimSE
modid=52897
version=f3.00
newestVersion=Alpha-47
category="33,"
nexusFileStatus=1
installationFile=DynDOLOD Resources SE 3.00-52897-Alpha-47-1702746822.7z
repository=Nexus
ignoredVersion=Alpha-20
comments=FOMOD
notes=
nexusDescription="[url=https://ko-fi.com/sheson][img]https://dyndolod.info/sites/dyndolod/files/images/kofi.png[/img][/url]\n<br />\n<br />[url=https://dyndolod.info]Instructions and information at the official DynDOLOD website[/url].\n<br />\n<br />[url=https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod]Feedback and support at the official DynDOLOD support forum[/url].\n<br />\n<br />This is early ALPHA to test things and iron out bugs. Certain things may be incomplete, not work as expected or change considerably between versions."
url=https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod-xlodgen/
hasCustomURL=false
lastNexusQuery=2023-12-17T17:53:22Z
lastNexusUpdate=2023-12-17T17:53:22Z
nexusLastModified=2023-12-16T17:13:42Z
converted=false
validated=false
color=@Variant(\0\0\0\x43\x1\xff\xff\xaa\xaa\xff\xff\xff\xff\0\0)
tracked=0
endorsed=0
nexusCategory=82

[installedFiles]
size=1
1\modid=52897
1\fileid=452435

MO2 does funny things with Nexus metadata and version numbers.

I'm wondering if it doesn't pull the 3.00 from the FOMOD info.xml:

Spoiler

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<fomod>
  <Name>DynDOLOD Resources SE</Name>
  <Author>Sheson</Author>
  <Version>3.00</Version>
  <Website>https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod-xlodgen/</Website>
  <Description>This Package contains the DynDOLOD Resource files required to generate static, tree and dynamic LOD with DynDOLOD.exe.</Description>
  <Groups>
    <Element>Models and Textures</Element>
  </Groups>
</fomod>

 

[sheson]

1 hour ago, Mousetick said:

It's the version number displayed by MO2 after freshly installing the mod:

Contents of meta.ini created by MO2:

  Reveal hidden contents

[General]
gameName=SkyrimSE
modid=52897
version=f3.00
newestVersion=Alpha-47
category="33,"
nexusFileStatus=1
installationFile=DynDOLOD Resources SE 3.00-52897-Alpha-47-1702746822.7z
repository=Nexus
ignoredVersion=Alpha-20
comments=FOMOD
notes=
nexusDescription="[url=https://ko-fi.com/sheson][img]https://dyndolod.info/sites/dyndolod/files/images/kofi.png[/img][/url]\n<br />\n<br />[url=https://dyndolod.info]Instructions and information at the official DynDOLOD website[/url].\n<br />\n<br />[url=https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod]Feedback and support at the official DynDOLOD support forum[/url].\n<br />\n<br />This is early ALPHA to test things and iron out bugs. Certain things may be incomplete, not work as expected or change considerably between versions."
url=https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod-xlodgen/
hasCustomURL=false
lastNexusQuery=2023-12-17T17:53:22Z
lastNexusUpdate=2023-12-17T17:53:22Z
nexusLastModified=2023-12-16T17:13:42Z
converted=false
validated=false
color=@Variant(\0\0\0\x43\x1\xff\xff\xaa\xaa\xff\xff\xff\xff\0\0)
tracked=0
endorsed=0
nexusCategory=82

[installedFiles]
size=1
1\modid=52897
1\fileid=452435

MO2 does funny things with Nexus metadata and version numbers.

I'm wondering if it doesn't pull the 3.00 from the FOMOD info.xml:

  Reveal hidden contents

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<fomod>
  <Name>DynDOLOD Resources SE</Name>
  <Author>Sheson</Author>
  <Version>3.00</Version>
  <Website>https://stepmodifications.org/forum/forum/223-dyndolod-xlodgen/</Website>
  <Description>This Package contains the DynDOLOD Resource files required to generate static, tree and dynamic LOD with DynDOLOD.exe.</Description>
  <Groups>
    <Element>Models and Textures</Element>
  </Groups>
</fomod>

 

The version info in the FOMOD is 3.00 since the beginning of the Alpha test and never contained the alpha version.

I was asking about fields in Nexus interface.

[Mousetick]

33 minutes ago, sheson said:

The version info in the FOMOD is 3.00 since the beginning of the Alpha test and never contained the alpha version.

I was asking about fields in Nexus interface.

Yes, the version number displayed by MO2 has always been mismatched with the Nexus version number since the beginning of the Alpha test.

I was just clarifying which 3.00 and which metadata Z was talking about. He wasn't referring to Nexus metadata or interface, he was referring to the MO2 interface, without calling it explicitly:

5 hours ago, z929669 said:

Also, the "newest version" metadata still is "3.00" rather than Alpha-47, so it must be manually maintained for mod manager update notices (at least in MO)

If you remove the <Version> tags from the FOMOD info.xml, MO2 uses the correct version metadata from Nexus, and it doesn't show that the installed version is out of date.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Mousetick

[sheson]

2 hours ago, Mousetick said:

Yes, the version number displayed by MO2 has always been mismatched with the Nexus version number since the beginning of the Alpha test.

I was just clarifying which 3.00 and which metadata Z was talking about. He wasn't referring to Nexus metadata or interface, he was referring to the MO2 interface, without calling it explicitly:

If you remove the <Version> tags from the FOMOD info.xml, MO2 uses the correct version metadata from Nexus, and it doesn't show that the installed version is out of date.

The MO2 devs keep saying they are meaning to fix this bug and that it should consistently use the version from Nexus/filename since at least 2019 IIRC.

The Nexus data also knows which new version replaces which old version of an specific archive in case there are several different downloads available. This sounds like MO2 is still not using that data either.

Pretty random thing to post about something that is like that for years.

[z929669]

10 hours ago, sheson said:

Enabled the button. Every field that contains a version number says Alpha-47? Not sure were you see 3.00.

I cannot enable the button. I think it's controlled by how you upload the file. You must have checked this box:

You can also check this on your Nexus admin:

I think this may be "f3.00" for DynDOLOD Resources ... yes it is a random thing to bring up after years. I've held my tongue all this time, since it's not critical, but I guess I'm finally sick of updating meta.ini myself for this one each time I update. It may as well be fixed, since it's simple.

Your other files don't have this issue, IIRC, so you could compare these attributes with those to see what fields populate the metadata. In MO, this is what you get after updating ... every time you update:

Fixing meta.ini resolves:

In meta.ini, newestVersion is set by the Nexus global version ("Current version" field as in previous screen I think). Mouse is correct that MO also seems to scrape the version from info.xml, because I've often forgot to update this in my own mods and wind up re-uploading with corrected info.xml to resolve.

Do as you wish, but I thought to finally point this stuff out, since you also use MO or at least advocate doing so for your users.

 

6 hours ago, Mousetick said:

If you remove the <Version> tags from the FOMOD info.xml, MO2 uses the correct version metadata from Nexus, and it doesn't show that the installed version is out of date.

Thanks for noticing this. I will omit the <version> tags and data from all of my FOMODs when I update them. No sense maintaining the same info in > 1 place.

 

I split this from the Alpha topic, since it was all contiguous.

[sheson]

6 hours ago, z929669 said:

I cannot enable the button. I think it's controlled by how you upload the file. 

Yes, I enabled the "Mod Manager Download" button yesterday by unchecking that box.

6 hours ago, z929669 said:

I think this may be "f3.00" for DynDOLOD Resources ...

It is set to Alpha-47.

I suggest to report issues with MO2 to the MO2 devs, though they are aware of this bug and mean to fix it since years as far as I can tell.

[Mousetick]

There is an issue currently open on MO2's GitHub: [Enhancement] MO currently prioritizes FOMOD mod info but may need to prioritize available download info #328

It's from 2018, about another field from the FOMOD but same cause/effect, and is categorized as 'Enhancement' which means it will never get fixed

6 hours ago, z929669 said:

Thanks for noticing this. I will omit the <version> tags and data from all of my FOMODs when I update them. No sense maintaining the same info in > 1 place.

I'm not sure my observation should be construed as safe advice to follow. This effectively works around MO2's schizophrenic version handling/checking with Nexus, but we don't know how other mod managers might handle the lack of <Version> tag. It should be ok but without actually testing with Wrye Bash, NMM or Vortex, there is a risk.