Removing mods with shared files. (Suggestion).

[Tryst46]

When I uninstall a mod, it removes all the associated files from the game directory. This can sometimes cause major problems with other mods.

 

Problem:

 

Mod 1 installs a certain number of files.

Mod 2 installs new ones but also may install files that have already been installed by the previous mod NMM asks if you want to overwrite a file that Mod 1 installed. Whether you answer yes or no is irrelevant since the result is that both mods will use the same file if it's compatible.

 

Later, you decide to uninstall one of the mods. This deletes the file that is shared leaving the other mod you wanted to keep not working at all.

 

 

My suggested solution:

 

Each filename creates an entry in a database used exclusively by NMM. This database has 2 fields per record, (1: File name, 2: Number of mods using this file).

If a file name already exists, the number in the second field of the corresponding record is incremented by 1 regardless of whether the file is overwritten or not.

Otherwise a new record is created with a 1 in the second field.

 

When you come to delete a mod.

Each filename is checked in the database before deletion and the second field is decremented by 1.

If the second field = 0, the file is deleted along with the database record.

If it is still >0 the file and database record is left since another mod is also using it.

 

 

You could also go a step further to add a second database to determine if another mod overwrote the file(s) or not (1: File name, 2: Mod name, 3: Overwrite y/n). The file being overwritten is saved to backup directory. If the game crashes this would allow the user to uninstall the mod and revert back to the files that were previously installed. The user could then decide to abandon the mod or try again without overwriting. An alternate tab (or view) could show in what order all the mods were installed.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Tryst46