CFAN - mod manager

[trakos]

Hello!

I made CFAN, a fork of CKAN for factorio.



If you've never heard of CKAN, it is a mod manager for Kerbal Space Program. It is written in C# (runs fine on Mono on both Mac OS and linux).
Quick introduction to CKAN can be seen here: https://youtu.be/_wsBK1ovKtA?t=40s.

CFAN is basically the same, only adapted for Factorio. The mod list is being fetched from factoriomods.com, almost all of them are available.

ScreenShots

Download: https://github.com/trakos/CFAN/wiki/Installing-CFAN

FAQ

How to run it on Mac OS/Linux?
Install http://www.mono-project.com/docs/gettin ... d/install/ and then try 'mono cfan.exe' from command line.

I can't run it on windows, why?
Make sure you have installed .NET 4.5 https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/downloa ... x?id=30653.

Why not all mods from factoriomods.com are available?
Some mods from factoriomods.com have unfriendly links, like mediafire or yandex, that I can't download from automatically.

Does it need GUI?
No, it works from command line too. Try 'cfan.exe help' (or 'mono cfan.exe help' on Mac OS/Linux).

Do you like the idea? Let me know!



DISCLAIMER: I am not not affiliated with factorio, neither with CKAN or any of the mods available.

[nightingale]

Nice. What CKAN features that are KSP specific made it over? I'm thinking stuff like:
* Automatic Factorio version determination
* Auto detection of manually installed mods

[Koub]

The idea is surely nice, but CFAN has high chance of being outdated soon : the devs are working on adding a mod portal + ingame integration : https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-131

[trakos]

Nice. What CKAN features that are KSP specific made it over? I'm thinking stuff like:
* Automatic Factorio version determination
* Auto detection of manually installed mods

Both of those works. Factorio version is determined by checking info.json in base directory. Mods are auto detected, and if they are in the zipped form and are available then they will be autoupdated etc. Non-zipped mods (i. e. a simple directory) will be detected, but won't be managed by CFAN.

The idea is surely nice, but CFAN has high chance of being outdated soon : the devs are working on adding a mod portal + ingame integration : https://www.factorio.com/blog/post/fff-131

Yeah, I know, I saw it before. I just wanted something sooner, and prefer something run outside of the game. Plus it works from command line, so you can use it for a server, too. I'm sure eventually Factorio will offer all of those things, but for now this could be useful.

[Stregone]

KSP has its own mod portal but CKAN still exists. This is probably going to be more powerful than anything that gets built into the game. I'm surprised i took this long for someone to do this Rock on.

[roy7]

I've been hoping someone would eventually fork CKAN for Factorio!

[waduk]

Do i need cfan_updater.exe ?
How the update working ? is it to overwriting the old mod version ?
Are there any warning ?
Some mod have user configurable option, this will get overwritten if that is the case.
But severe case would be foreman (blueprint) mod, since many user store the blueprint within the mod. ( I store 100 blueprint in defaultBook.lua)

[miturion]

good work. I will check it out later.

[Afforess]

The mod list is being fetched from factoriomods.com, almost all of them are available.

That's so funny. None of mine are. Lots of other mods aren't there either.

Factoriomods.com is problematic because its abandonded. It is a poor source of information on the latest mods, and mostly wrong.

[trakos]

Do i need cfan_updater.exe ?
How the update working ? is it to overwriting the old mod version ?
Are there any warning ?
Some mod have user configurable option, this will get overwritten if that is the case.
But severe case would be foreman (blueprint) mod, since many user store the blueprint within the mod. ( I store 100 blueprint in defaultBook.lua)

You don't need cfan_updater, if is fetched in the background when there is a new CFAN version available. Only cfan.exe is needed.
Currently it is overwriting the old version. I'm not sure how to support such case, would you expect it to omit changed files?

The mod list is being fetched from factoriomods.com, almost all of them are available.

That's so funny. None of mine are. Lots of other mods aren't there either.

Factoriomods.com is problematic because its abandonded. It is a poor source of information on the latest mods, and mostly wrong.

I meant almost all mods of those that are on factoriomods . Anyway, I think misanthrope is your mod? It is available on CFAN because I've added all mods from Shadow pack. Generally I treated factoriomods as a good start. Do you have some ideas how to approach gathering more mods?

[Afforess]

I meant almost all mods of those that are on factoriomods . Anyway, I think misanthrope is your mod? It is available on CFAN because I've added all mods from Shadow pack. Generally I treated factoriomods as a good start. Do you have some ideas how to approach gathering more mods?

Yes.

Probably scraping the forums is the best bet, but there are no tools that do this yet. To minimize your effort, we could make sure any scraper outputs mod information in the same format as factoriomods.com

If you want to start some sort of scraping project, I might look into seeing what I can do to help. I'm just so busy with other factorio projects at the moment, I hesitate to start another.

[Rampant Core]

im having a bit of difficulty getting it started on mac, ive found my factorio folder where all the mods are and it will not accept it as an installation. i have also tried the folder of just the factorio app, am i doing something wrong?

[trakos]

im having a bit of difficulty getting it started on mac, ive found my factorio folder where all the mods are and it will not accept it as an installation. i have also tried the folder of just the factorio app, am i doing something wrong?

Is it steam install or one from factorio.com? For a factorio.com one I think it was /Applications/factorio.app/Contents . It should then detect the data dir automatically ( ~/Library/Application Support/factorio ).

e: also try running mono cfan.exe --debug , maybe full log will help.

[waduk]

Do i need cfan_updater.exe ?
How the update working ? is it to overwriting the old mod version ?
Are there any warning ?
Some mod have user configurable option, this will get overwritten if that is the case.
But severe case would be foreman (blueprint) mod, since many user store the blueprint within the mod. ( I store 100 blueprint in defaultBook.lua)

You don't need cfan_updater, if is fetched in the background when there is a new CFAN version available. Only cfan.exe is needed.
Currently it is overwriting the old version. I'm not sure how to support such case, would you expect it to omit changed files?

I figured it might bit troublesome to support such case.
Maybe an option to exclude certain mod to be updated ?
if there are new version for that mod it will only notify user ? Need manual prompt ?

But you know what, this is such rare case, most user probably didn't aware many mod have user-config.
I'd say you wait until many user requesting "exclude" option.
No need for adding minor function at the moment.

[crasher925]

ive noticed that certain mods in CFAN are out of date can you please update them for one fat controller is really out of date

[MatthewGP]

Exception Report:

When first using CFAN, I had all of 5dim's Mods installed. However, while 5dim's Mod - Ores is present, it is not enabled. I do no have any of Bob's mods installed. When starting CFAN an exception is thrown. The head of the exception states that 5dims' Mod - Ores is dependent on Bob's Ores. I was able to avoid the exception error by either removing 5dim's Mod - Ores or installling Bob's Ores and required dependencies.

So far CFAN looks interesting. I had been hoping that it would help me keep track of which mods are associated with which saved games. It doesn't. However, having a tool like this will be very helpful for keeping up on if the mods are being updated. Thank you for your hard work.

Matthew

[trakos]

Hey,

ive noticed that certain mods in CFAN are out of date can you please update them for one fat controller is really out of date

I've updated some mods (added automatic downloading github releases, including fat controller). Any other useful mods I've missed?

The head of the exception states that 5dims' Mod - Ores is dependent on Bob's Ores. I was able to avoid the exception error by either removing 5dim's Mod - Ores or installling Bob's Ores and required dependencies.

Sorry for that. I've fixed it today in version 0.0.5. CKAN was not managing auto-detected mods, basically it marked them as installed but you couldn't remove or update them through CKAN. Now I do the same for mods with unmet dependency (though I show error message on every repository refresh to remind user that this mod is not managed until dependencies will be met).

I had been hoping that it would help me keep track of which mods are associated with which saved games. It doesn't.

What would you like to see? Something like an open file dialog that would let you choose a save-game and would then install required mods (and remove other mods)?

Thank you for your hard work.

You're welcome, I enjoy programming obviously .

[MatthewGP]

Thank you for fixing the dependency issue.

Regarding the saved games. If an open file dialog works, that would be great.
Maybe there is an option that is something like "Parse Saved Games"
1. That could hit the saves folder
2. Extract each zip file to a temp folder
3. Keep the preview.png file
4. Parse the script.dat file for partial strings that begin with 'mod-' and end with 'do'
5. Parse the substring to extract the Mod Name so that you know what the associated Mods are
6. Perform HPFM (Hocus Pocus Freaking Magic)

That gives you the base information to then copy the required mods into the Mod folder for each saved game.

Of course I don't know what the actual complexities really are and rely on Programming Wizards to do the heavy lifting

Oh, one other little thing that would be nice is if I could copy the hyperlink you put in the description that points to the Factorio Forum. If it is any big effort at all it is not worth it though. Very nice to have the link. I just like to paste them into a different browser than my default browser. Hope you are having a great night.

Matthew

[pjf]

Holy smokes! I started the CKAN project, and I've been away from development for a little bit and only just discovered this! It makes me immensely happy to see a CFAN fork.

[trakos]

I hope I didn't butcher it too much I did a few shortcuts here and there since Factorio is supposedly getting an official mod management in a few months.

I'm glad you like it.