For those of you updating your add-ons

Mazzlefizz · 03-11-07, 02:17 PM

Due to the decreased amount of time I've spent on developing, I have not released a version in quite some time. As a result, I think many people are starting to update their add-ons on their own. While completely reasonable, I think some of these weird errors people are experiencing may be due to library conflicts. So, here's a quick primer on updating libraries. There's probably a better guide somewhere, but I didn't find anything in my quick search.

Most Ace2 add-on distributions you download on your own will include embedded libraries. That means each Ace2 add-on has sub-directories, usually within a folder called "libs", that contain little "helper add-ons". Most Ace2 add-ons use the exact same helper add-ons, so there's a lot of duplication going on. That means your UI would need to load up dozens of the same exact helper add-ons for each add-ons that uses them. To avoid this, MazzleUI does not include those "helper sub-directories"; instead, it puts one copy of the stand-alone version of those libraries at the top level. This speeds loading up and decreases initial memory use. (Those duplicates will eventually be cleaned up.)

When you update those Ace2 add-ons on your own, you're probably re-adding those little helper sub-directories that were removed. While the updated library may be fine for the add-on that you included it with, it's possible that it can introduce conflicts for other add-ons that load after it. The newer version of the library may have slightly different behavior that conflicts with the expectations of the older add-ons.

So, I suggest doing one of three things:

Update everything including the stand-alone libraries on the top level. Make sure to delete the embedded libraries in any Ace2 add-ons you download.
Do the inverse and delete all the stand-alone libraries and update all the Ace2 add-ons to make sure they include the embedded libraries.
Don't update anything and just wait for a new version of MazzleUI.

If you do the first item, check the original version of the add-on I include. I don't always delete all the libraries. I only delete the ones that are used by multiple add-ons. Another thing to note is that those add-ons don't always use a "libs" directory. Make sure to check them individually and not to a search and delete type thing.

airdragon · 03-11-07, 04:29 PM

Thanks for the info Mazzle. I have one really pressing question that did not seem to get directly addressed here (or I'm blind, equal chance if not greater chance of this).

Lets say I go to all the trouble to put back the lib folders in the Ace2 addons, will they use the versions in their subfolder first? And inversely will MazzleUI choose to use the top-level versions or use the embedded smaller versions?

I guess getting to what I'm doing might help better with the question. Lets say I want to add all the libs back to all the original mod folders (including MazzleUI). Will this mean they will start to use their proper versions of the Ace2 libraries now in the specific addons subfolder? Or will they choose the higher level one to run?

Thanks!

PS THANK YOU..... I don't think you know how long I've been trying to get a UI to run like this one does. Not only have you improved my overall enjoyment of WoW, you've given life to dozens of new ideas for what to do with a UI. I can't say THANK YOU enough.

timmyrulz27 · 03-11-07, 09:20 PM

heres a tutorial for using the wowace updater to deal with the standalonelibs. Somebody double check this and make sure i understand the concept of the ace2 addons/libs.

airdragon · 03-12-07, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by timmyrulz27

heres a tutorial for using the wowace updater to deal with the standalonelibs. Somebody double check this and make sure i understand the concept of the ace2 addons/libs.

If I'm reading the wiki on WAU, version 1.7 standalone libraries version will automatically do things the way I'm talking about, hopefully avoiding library errors. I'm going to try it out and report back alter on it (stupid work getting in the way of WoW).

Mazzlefizz · 03-12-07, 01:55 PM

I don't know what you mean by "the way you talked about". Your original question was about what would happen in the odd situation that you had both stand-alone and embedded libraries at the same time. When you only have one of the two, which is what you seem to be refferring to in your last post, what it does will be clear. It's basically what it does right now, i.e. use the stand-alone libraries.

estarianne · 03-12-07, 02:05 PM

It's my understanding that if you have both standalone and embedded, or multiple embedded, ace keeps the most recent version and dumps all older versions. This goes along with the assumption that library changes are always fully compatible with older add-on versions, which isn't always the case I guess.

I found that I had to update libraries to update some mods, yet I didn't delete the standalones (just kept the embedded libs). It's all working fine, I just have nasty load times due to my laziness. Hey, maybe I'll go fix that now.

edit: Don't update PT 3.0, Mazzle's autobar doesn't like the newest version. Other than that it's all good.

Mazzlefizz · 03-12-07, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by airdragon

Thanks for the info Mazzle. I have one really pressing question that did not seem to get directly addressed here (or I'm blind, equal chance if not greater chance of this).

Lets say I go to all the trouble to put back the lib folders in the Ace2 addons, will they use the versions in their subfolder first? And inversely will MazzleUI choose to use the top-level versions or use the embedded smaller versions?

I guess getting to what I'm doing might help better with the question. Lets say I want to add all the libs back to all the original mod folders (including MazzleUI). Will this mean they will start to use their proper versions of the Ace2 libraries now in the specific addons subfolder? Or will they choose the higher level one to run?

Thanks!

PS THANK YOU..... I don't think you know how long I've been trying to get a UI to run like this one does. Not only have you improved my overall enjoyment of WoW, you've given life to dozens of new ideas for what to do with a UI. I can't say THANK YOU enough.

It's a good question, but I don't know the answer to it. Perhaps someone more familiar with the mechanics of ace libraries could answer that. My guess is that it would depend on the effective load order of the add-ons, but that's a pretty uninformed guess.

I did just think of one other possible concern. The MazzleUI add-ons were never set-up to use embedded libraries since there never was any need to. As a result, there are a few libraries you'll need to keep stand-alone, name Ace, BabbleLib and Banzailib.