what is the functional difference between "save all changes" and "use newer file"

[acidzebra]

When deploying, if I've been messing with xedit, I get a few choices. Vortex detects something has changed and offers me to

- revert

- save all changes

- use newer files

 

Revert works as I would expect, deploy the file from the staging folder overwriting the active file in /data

 

save all changes also does what I expect, overwrite the file in the staging folder with the active file in /data

 

use newer file is a bit confusing. is this for people somehow making changes in both folders? It appears to have the same behavior as save all changes otherwise (I typically don't make changes in both folders - what is the use case?) so I'm not sure what its function is.

[anjenthedog]

Sometimes I encounter a dialog box during deployment that requires me to choose

 

Save all changes

Revert all changes

Use newer file for all changes

 

The accompanying instructions give a weak (IMO) defininition of the behavior of both "Save" and "Revert", but they don't include any explanation for the third choice

 

I can guess, (I suppose), but I'm wondering if someone knows the purpose and can lay it all out for me ELI5 style.

 

The why: I've modified a few resources on the fly, and when a new mod installation comes along, Vortex notices my changes, thereby triggering this dialog box. And although all three choices are still a bit murky to me, my purpose is to ensure that my changes are kept, preferably so that it doesn't keep asking, but at the least not overwriting my changes. (so obviously revert wouldn't be a good choice in this instance)

 

Is Use newer file for all changes the correct choice? Or Save all changes?

 

 

[HadToRegister]

Sometimes I encounter a dialog box during deployment that requires me to choose

 

Save all changes

Revert all changes

Use newer file for all changes

 

The accompanying instructions give a weak (IMO) defininition of the behavior of both "Save" and "Revert", but they don't include any explanation for the third choice

 

I can guess, (I suppose), but I'm wondering if someone knows the purpose and can lay it all out for me ELI5 style.

 

The why: I've modified a few resources on the fly, and when a new mod installation comes along, Vortex notices my changes, thereby triggering this dialog box. And although all three choices are still a bit murky to me, my purpose is to ensure that my changes are kept, preferably so that it doesn't keep asking, but at the least not overwriting my changes. (so obviously revert wouldn't be a good choice in this instance)

 

Is Use newer file for all changes the correct choice? Or Save all changes?

 

external_changes_dialog.jpg

 

 

AcidZebra started a thread on the exact same thing today, a few hours previous

 

I use either Save, or Newer.

NEVER Revert

[Pickysaurus]

Merged the two very similar threads

[Tannin42]

Vortex has two files, one in the staging folder, one in the game folder. The one in the game folder started out as a link to the staging folder but at some point one of the two files was modified.

 

"save" means: "assume that the file in the game folder is the modified file and keep those modifications permanently"

"revert" means: "assume that the file in the game folder is the modified file and undo those modifications"

"use newer file" means: "assume that the file with the newer modified time is the modified file and keep the modifications"

 

As you can see, both save and revert assume that the file in staging is the original and the file in game folder is the modified one, which is a fairly safe assumption because xedit, CreationKit and just about every other tool will work on the files in the game folder and the tutorials you will find online will instruct you to change the files there.

 

If you're not sure whether you might have edited the files in staging directly, "use newer file" will simply compare file modification times and assume that the file that got written/modified later is the modified file. This may _appear_ pretty obvious and safe but unfortunately there are tools that willfully fake the modification time so depending on the modification time may be treacherous.

[acidzebra]

Thanks Tannin, appreciate the insight.

 

As a suggestion, maybe update the popup box text at some point to clarify; it mentions "save" and "revert" but omits "use newer".

[anjenthedog]

Thank you for the explanation Tannin42. That clarifies it for me well.

 

and not to you, but to any mods/admins who read this thread, I agree with acidzebra, the Vortex "help" for this dialog should be revamped to better explain how this all works ... even if I *personally* understand now. I can't count the number of times in the past when it popped up and I floundered, choosing the wrong selection because the instructions are so presumptive of apriori understandings and are abbreviated in scope. That resulted in wasted time and frustration that could have easily been avoided with the simple addition of a few dozen extra words.

[Odylarian]

Tannin42,

Let me make sure I understand what is happening. When I change, delete or install a mod I sometimes (but not always) get the "Saved, Revert, or Use new file" message. I have usually been choosing "Use newer file", not because I know what the hell I am doing - it seems like the right choice. I have noticed after restarting the game, some of my game tweaks (using mods like ESGO, AMM, FriendlyHUD, etc) have reverted back to the default values and I have to reset them again.

Soooo, when I get the "Use Newer file, saved file, or revert" I wanna pick the one that will NOT revert my mod tweaks back to the original values. Which one should I pick? Or is the one you pick dependent on whether you installed a mod, deleted a mod or changed a mod?

 

Thanks

 

EDITED:

In your response you say, ""revert" means: "assume that the file in the game folder is the modified file and undo those modifications"". Just to be clear, when I get that message after I have INSTALLED a new mod, is revert telling me "undo" the file modifications that were made by the new mod or is it telling me "overwrite" the old file with the new file? In other words, replace the information in the old file with information in the new file. See how confusing this "saved, revert, Use newer file" thing can get unless there is voluminous explanation of what they actually do, especially for the 75% of game modders that are not programing nerds.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Odylarian

[HadToRegister]

Tannin42,

Let me make sure I understand what is happening. When I change, delete or install a mod I sometimes (but not always) get the "Saved, Revert, or Use new file" message. I have usually been choosing "Use newer file", not because I know what the hell I am doing - it seems like the right choice. I have noticed after restarting the game, some of my game tweaks (using mods like ESGO, AMM, FriendlyHUD, etc) have reverted back to the default values and I have to reset them again.

Soooo, when I get the "Use Newer file, saved file, or revert" I wanna pick the one that will NOT revert my mod tweaks back to the original values. Which one should I pick? Or is the one you pick dependent on whether you installed a mod, deleted a mod or changed a mod?

 

Thanks

 

 

SAVE

 

The description of what each option does is right in the popup.

 

You'll only ever see that popup when you edit any of the ESPs so on the next Deploy Event it will notify you of this.

 

I routinely edit about 90% of my ESPS

[Odylarian]

 

Tannin42,

Let me make sure I understand what is happening. When I change, delete or install a mod I sometimes (but not always) get the "Saved, Revert, or Use new file" message. I have usually been choosing "Use newer file", not because I know what the hell I am doing - it seems like the right choice. I have noticed after restarting the game, some of my game tweaks (using mods like ESGO, AMM, FriendlyHUD, etc) have reverted back to the default values and I have to reset them again.

Soooo, when I get the "Use Newer file, saved file, or revert" I wanna pick the one that will NOT revert my mod tweaks back to the original values. Which one should I pick? Or is the one you pick dependent on whether you installed a mod, deleted a mod or changed a mod?

 

Thanks

 

 

SAVE

 

The description of what each option does is right in the popup.

 

You'll only ever see that popup when you edit any of the ESPs so on the next Deploy Event it will notify you of this.

 

I routinely edit about 90% of my ESPS

 

Yes, there is a description but it uses "technical terms" like "staging folder" and I am not sure what the word "revert" means. Also, it would be nice if it told you something like, "By hitting save, any changes you made to mods in the game will not be changed by adding a new mod". That way I will know that my mod changes will be saved. Just needing a little more explanation in laymen's terms.