Is there a foolproof method to update to new version?

[ziggy]

Hello all,
Fool here, I previously updated in a fairly successful fashion by backing up my whole celestia just in case, then uninstalling the previous version and running the new one. I noticed that the old folder hadn't gone altogether and retained my add ons which integrated with the new. I forgot that I had done a fair bit of editing (or meddling some would say) of solar ssc etc and had some work to do.I recall other people having problems with files being overwritten etc. I was too late in reading the advice on setting up additional add on folders to keep customised parts separate from the basic program,mines kind of all in together, anyway its like a lot of extra folders isnt it? I was wondering if (a) it would be possible to have patches to update the necessary files, (a customisable download) or (b) it would work if I run a bare basic celestia, then save the uninstall dat,then run a copy of this uninstall later on when I'm upgrading,so that all my stuff is left and just the unwanted bits of celestia are removed, and then the new version put in. Or is this a load of sapnish? I'm looking for that kind of separating of what to keep and what to delete, sure its easy ,when you know. All my sys details are on the bug forum awaiting rescue from a clock problem.......oh dear.
By the way, in my house, we dont argue, we discuss, its the same thing but you can feel better about discussing something
cheers- ziggy

[selden]

ziggy,

I can't speak to the possiblity of incremental Celestia upgrades, but there are a few things that can be done in the v1.3.* environment to reduce the upgrade pain significantly.

For example, you can install each new release of Celestia in its own directory, completely separate from all the previous versions. Then you can move over just the addons you want. The things that are of most interest to me often vary significantly from month to month, and minimizing the amount of carry-over can help keep Celestia's performance reasonable.

I also have a separate directory tree where I keep the originals (zip files, etc) of the various addon downloads, so reinstalling them usually isn't a big deal.

Celestia's new ability to scan subdirectories of the extras directory can help a lot if you're willing to do the necessary reorganization of your addons. I've tried to spell out some of the details at http://www.lns.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/addon-intro.html

This doesn't help so much when you've spent a lot of time improving solarsys.ssc, of course.

I hope these ideas help a little.