Hello,
Inspired by the amount of mail we were getting at the ML from people wondering what to do with all those files (Thanks Discover Magazine), I decided to write a short intro on how to install add-ons, as part of Hank's Celestia Wikibook.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Celestia:Add-Ons
It should be writen at a level so that anyone who has just downloaded the program can install the add-on without too much hassle. If this is not the case, please edit the document (it's a wiki.) After a few days, I will add the link to this file to the top of each ML page.
Cheers,
Joe
How to Install Add-ons (newbie guide)
HI folks:
As a creator of add-ons, I have always done them like the other creators, using a zip file that the user has to unzip into the proper Celestia directory. Believe it or not, that is a problem for many users. Many are simply not comfortable with navigating their hard drives, or telling an unzipper program how to point to the Celestia folder, or unzipping an add-on and manually moving it to the Celestia extras folder.
Recently, I discovered a shareware program on the web called "Self-Extracting Archive Utility", which converts any set of files directly into an automatic installer program. When an add-on is created using it, a user downloads not a zip file but an "exe" file. Click on it, and it will automatically install all add-ons directly into the correct Celestia folders. The program even gives you the option to uninstall an add-on automatically. It displays read-me notes in advance, has options for neat displays, etc.
If you use the shareware version, a message will appear at the beginning of each installation advertising the program. The paid version ($49), removes the message.
I'll be posting a separate post on the topic soon. In the meantime, thanks Alphaplus for the instructions.
Frank
As a creator of add-ons, I have always done them like the other creators, using a zip file that the user has to unzip into the proper Celestia directory. Believe it or not, that is a problem for many users. Many are simply not comfortable with navigating their hard drives, or telling an unzipper program how to point to the Celestia folder, or unzipping an add-on and manually moving it to the Celestia extras folder.
Recently, I discovered a shareware program on the web called "Self-Extracting Archive Utility", which converts any set of files directly into an automatic installer program. When an add-on is created using it, a user downloads not a zip file but an "exe" file. Click on it, and it will automatically install all add-ons directly into the correct Celestia folders. The program even gives you the option to uninstall an add-on automatically. It displays read-me notes in advance, has options for neat displays, etc.
If you use the shareware version, a message will appear at the beginning of each installation advertising the program. The paid version ($49), removes the message.
I'll be posting a separate post on the topic soon. In the meantime, thanks Alphaplus for the instructions.
Frank
Installation is really a problem for a lot of people. It would be a big step forward if installation meant simply extracting the file to the extras-directory - and for most addons this is an easily achievable goal. Unfortunately many (notably the older) addons need manual tweaking.
I am not a big fan of self-extracting ZIP-files. The main problem is that you suddenly deal with executables, and all problems they have such as viruses and other malware. Furthermore they don't work on Linux or Mac OS (in fact some can be decompressed just as any other regular ZIP file, but you can't be sure when downloading and it makes things more complicated). Oh, and I don't know if they are able to find Celestia's installation directory (not the whole world is using "C:\Program Files\Celestia\").
The ultimate goal should be to let Celestia (or a dedicated helper utility) handle installation, but there is no indication that this could happen anytime soon.
Harald
I am not a big fan of self-extracting ZIP-files. The main problem is that you suddenly deal with executables, and all problems they have such as viruses and other malware. Furthermore they don't work on Linux or Mac OS (in fact some can be decompressed just as any other regular ZIP file, but you can't be sure when downloading and it makes things more complicated). Oh, and I don't know if they are able to find Celestia's installation directory (not the whole world is using "C:\Program Files\Celestia\").
The ultimate goal should be to let Celestia (or a dedicated helper utility) handle installation, but there is no indication that this could happen anytime soon.
Harald
fsgregs wrote:Recently, I discovered a shareware program on the web called "Self-Extracting Archive Utility", which converts any set of files directly into an automatic installer program. When an add-on is created using it, a user downloads not a zip file but an "exe" file
Though the concept in itself is nice, i sincerely hope no one ever starts using software like this for Celestia Add-ons:
Celestia is cross-platform, but the installer software is not. Doing this will make the add-on inaccessible to anyone not on a windows PC (like me).
On my side, there are shareware installer utilities on Mac, too. If i started using one for my own work, about 5% of the Celestia community would be able to install it.
-rthorvald