Auto-Add Assets to Projects -- Come and Get It!

Outlaw Game Tools
#1

One of the most requested features hit CPM tonight – the ability to auto-add assets to a project. if you’d like to see it in action, here’s a 2-minute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bEGS8fj9GM

The coolest aspect of this feature is that it’s a “smart add” – you specify the types of files you want to add, so it doesn’t just throw everything into the project.

For example, in your images folder you may only want to add files with a suffix of .png or .jpg – those will be added but the editable .psd files (Photoshop) files won’t. That way you won’t accidentally add file that will do nothing except take up space when you build the project for device.

I’ll post a link in this thread to the updated CPM files as soon as they’re ready – that should be by Thursday evening.

Jay

PS - Auto-add is off by default – you can turn it on or off on a per-project and per-folder basis. [import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 315434[/import]

#2

Nice !!!
I was looking forward for that. :slight_smile: thanks Jay. [import]uid: 71210 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57060[/import]

#3

Here’s a link to the beta version of CPM v2.8.0 which includes the new auto-add assets feature:

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/files/CPM280b.zip

The Mac version is the only one available right now. Download that, unzip to your desktop, and run it (make sure the older CPM is not running at the same time).

If you’d like to see how to use it, there’s a 2 and a half minute video on the following page that will walk you through the process – or just dink with it and you’ll figure it out. :slight_smile:

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/learningcenter/

As always, doing a backup of your current CPM database is a good idea whwn trying something new. If you don’t have Time Machine running or something like that, see this blog post for a quick way to backup your CPM database:

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/blog/corona-tools/backing-up-the-cpm-database/

Have fun, and let me know how the new feature works for you!
[import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57174[/import]

#4

great [import]uid: 7911 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57186[/import]

#5

My god… auto add assets??.. after all this time??.. it’s a Friday night treat! I’ve gotta see this…
[import]uid: 33866 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57300[/import]

#6

My god… auto add assets??.. after all this time??

Yeah yeah. Pffft! :wink:

The *only* reason I decided to go ahead with it is because I realized I could limit the files added by requiring a list of file suffixes to look for. If I hadn’t thought of doing that it still wouldn’t be in because adding everything in the project folder is at odds with one of CPM’s strengths – showing you only the files your project needs to build for simulator/device.

Now after using auto-add for a day I’m thinking it was a nice feature to add. :slight_smile: Just another quick time-saver that allows me to think less about housekeeping chores.

The only thing I haven’t tested yet is sheer numbers – if you have 50 Projects, each with 3 folders, and everything has auto-add set, will checking 150 folders against the project database every 2 seconds cause your system to start chugging?

I’ll find out later today when I turn all that stuff on. :slight_smile:

Jay [import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57303[/import]

#7

Just FYI, I added auto-add to 209 Projects and 65 folders and CPM decided to run at about 95% CPU in order to handle everything. Figured that’s probably not a good thing. :slight_smile:

So my alternate route is to only check the currently active Project for assets that need to be added. That means a file dropped into a folder won’t be automatically added to a Project until you actually go and look at that Project (or Launch or Build it).

It’s the equivalent of, “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s nobody around, does it make any sound?”

In CPM, “If a file is added to a project but you don’t look, is it really there?”

I’ll have v2.8.1 available here later today.

Jay

PS - If you see something wrong with this current approach, please speak up! :slight_smile: [import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57310[/import]

#8

New version with the “more intelligent” auto-add code is here:

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/files/CPM280b.zip

(Again, Mac only at this point.)

Jay
[import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57317[/import]

#9

Fantastic, this works perfectly… just on little hitch though. Deleting an asset in the list lasts for two seconds and then it pops up again… so delete in the folder first and then from the list? I can live with that though.

Thanks again for a simple but great timesaving feature!

Oh, and liking the new icon!

[import]uid: 33866 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57368[/import]

#10

Deleting an asset in the list lasts for two seconds and then it pops up again

Yep, auto-add is auto-add. The only way around that that I can see is to keep a list of files that are deleted from the asset list and then don’t add them again, but I think that could bring up more problems than it solves.

Your solution is the right one – delete from the folder on your drive first, and then from the asset list.

Jay

PS - Thanks for the compliments on the new logo – it was done by Warpser here in the forums. I liked his entry into the Corona SDK logo contest and contacted him about creating a CPM version for me. I wanted something that kept the “gear” theme from the initial logo but would kind of “match” the Corona SDK logo. He did a great job for me. [import]uid: 9440 topic_id: 15434 reply_id: 57414[/import]

#11

The beta version of 2.8.0 for Windows is here:

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/files/CPMSetup280b.zip

If you don’t regularly backup your files, see this blog post about backing up the CPM database – this update changes some of the tables and data.

http://coronaprojectmanager.com/blog/corona-tools/backing-up-the-cpm-database/

So far I haven’t heard any “badness” from people using this version, so in a day or two it will probably become the release version.

Jay
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