Map folder doesn't get created

[kaputtnik]

I had a talk with a windows user which used build 18 and updated to current trunk. He had trouble to download maps from the website because he doesn't know where to put the maps. The folder ".widelands" exists, but the subfolders "\maps" and "\maps\My_Maps" where missing. In result he couldn't save the downloaded maps to the right place.

So this is just a reminder when the next official release is available, we should check the existance and maybe automatically add the subfolders during an update. Or make a hint to remove the folder ".widelands".

Also the wiki needs updating: https://wl.widelands.org/wiki/Technical%20FAQ/#where-are-my-maps-and-savegames-stored

[GunChleoc (gunchleoc)]

@Tino: Is it possible to fix that with the uninstall/install commands in InnoSetup?

[Tino (tino79)]

Sorry, seems i've overlooked this report.

I am not sure, if this should be integrated (it is possible) in the installer:
Currently the installer does not create files and (sub-)directories ~/.widelands and does not delete them on deinstallation (you do not want to loose config, custom maps, etc... (note to myself: there should be an optional switch for deletion).

So somewhere in the sourcecode the widelands binary does handle detecting if this directory does exist and creates files and folders if necessary.

In my opinion, at this point also those two directories should be created.

If no one gives any arguments pro inno setup I would implement the necessary cases into the widelands source code.

[Tino (tino79)]

And why do we need ~\.widelands\maps\My_Maps ?

Every shipped map is in <widelands-install>\data\maps and the user's maps in ~\.widelands\maps.

Is this additional subfolder really necessary?

[kaputtnik (franku)]

The folder was created to better distinguish between self made maps and shipped maps. If you're a map creator and always have to search around between the shipped maps until you find the map you want to edit or open it for testing a game, it's not good. The folder structure looks bad, but for the workflow it is better this way :-)

[kaputtnik (franku)]

Disambiguation: The workflow in the menus of editor and new game is better this way, because each menu has an additional Entry called My_Maps. So one could find his own map easier.

[Tino (tino79)]

Ok, avoiding ambiguity could be done easily by giving shipped maps an distinct icon or an overlay icon when they are loaded from ~\.widelands\maps vs. <widelands-install>\data\maps.

I do not understand the need of a third physical directory ~\.widelands\maps\My_Maps?

[Tino (tino79)]

Ok, this does also affect completely fresh installs: The folder ~\.widelands\maps\My_Maps is assumed to exists, but widelands does not create it.

Steps to reproduce:
- do a fresh install or remove ~\.widelands\maps
- Start Editor
- Try to Save map

At least on windows at this point an error is given and you are back in the main menu.

[kaputtnik (franku)]

I forgot to tell about bug 1560454 "Editor: saving maps deletes shipped map file" which was the initial bug for the new "My_Maps" folder.

[GunChleoc (gunchleoc)]

If we handle this by overlay icons, we would need 2 of them, one for scenarios, and one for normal maps. Since the icons are tiny, I think that a subdirectory does serve us better. Or we could have another checkbox to filter for unofficial maps, but it's already pretty crowded up there.

Another problem was users accidentally overwriting official maps.

[Klaus Halfmann (klaus-halfmann)]

Changed descriptuion in https://wl.widelands.org/wiki/Technical%20FAQ
I am not sure where files downloaded via network games are stored, should we add this there, too?

[GunChleoc (gunchleoc)]

Fixed in build19-rc1.