[1.0.0] In-game mod manager does not always allow viewing the changelog

[MPeti1]

I've just updated to 1.0.0, and I'm preparing to also update all mods that I have. I started going through the changelogs of mods, and found that sometimes the changelog button is greyed out even though the mod has a changelog in the appropriate tab on the mod portal.

What I expect is being able to view the changelog in the in-game mod manager.

The mod that I've found to cause this issue is Krastorio 2
It has it's changelog on the mod portal: https://mods.factorio.com/mod/Krastorio2/changelog
But in the mod manager, the changelog button is greyed out:


Steps to reproduce:
1. Launch the game
2. In the main menu, select mods
3. Install an older version (I had 0.9.99) of Krastorio 2, then confirm
4. When the main menu loaded, select mods again
5. Try to view the changelogs of Krastorio 2 (latest version: 1.0.3)

I would like to note that I had Krastorio 2 (0.9.99) before updating Factorio to 1.0.0, and before staring to read the mod changelogs, I've installed the mod fCPU, which is still waiting to be confirmed at the time of writing.

It happens after I confirm the changes (currently just the installation of fCPU) and try viewing the changelog again after the game loaded the main menu

The log file can be found here. The file is the factorio-previous.log file, that was the session when I installed fCPU and when I first noticed the bug.

Additionional mods that have the same or a similar problem:
Space Exploration Graphics: first the changelog button was clickable, but after clicking the changelog didn't open, the button got to be greyed out, and it seemed like as if the mod icon below the button would have refreshed.

[Xorimuth]

I'd say that it is because the changelog is not in the correct format. As per viewtopic.php?p=409587#p409587, "Fixes" is not valid so it is probably deliberately not showing it.

[Pi-C]

I've just updated to 1.0.0, and I'm preparing to also update all mods that I have. I started going through the changelogs of mods, and found that sometimes the changelog button is greyed out even though the mod has a changelog in the appropriate tab on the mod portal.

Said so time and again: The mod portal will display everything you throw at it, but the in-game parser is very finicky.

The log file can be found here.

Pretty much at the end of the log file, there's the solution to your problem:

10488.284 Error CachedChangelog.cpp:54: Failed to parse changelog for mod Krastorio 2: invalid changelog file, line 1 (the first line) must always be exactly '---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------' or an empty line.

Missing header line, thus first entry isn't valid -- parser will bail out immediately. After fixing this, the changelog still won't be displayed, though, because there are some more errors: lines 784, 813, and 817 contain tabulators (which are illegal everywhere in changelog.txt) at the end of the line. Remove these, and the changelog will be displayed correctly in the game.

I agree it's not nice if changelogs don't work. But understand, please, that it's very easy to overlook a small typo in a file with more than 800 lines of text. Even my own changelogs contain an error occasionally and won't be parsed correctly -- and I definitely care about getting them right! It's just that, sometimes, shit just happens.

So, if a changelog isn't displayed correctly by the game, complain to the mod author that it's not working. If the "Changelog" button is grayed out, look at the end of factorio-current.log to get the error message and add that to your bug report. Oh, and don't forget to remind the modder that they should check their changelogs thoroughly for more errors before uploading the next version!

[Pi-C]

As per viewtopic.php?p=409587#p409587, "Fixes" is not valid so it is probably deliberately not showing it.

No, not quite correct. Basically, you can use anything you want as category, as long as the line is indented by 2 spaces and ends with a colon. The list you've linked to contains the categories used by the devs for Factorio changelogs. The in-game changelog viewer will make tabs for these categories on the left, then a tab "All" is added, and any unofficial categories will be displayed to the right of that "All" button.

There's a hard limit set by what will fit on your monitor -- scrolling of the tabs isn't possible, so if you add too many categories, some won't be displayed. That's one reason why sticking to the "official" categories is a good idea. The other is consistency: If you've used "Bugfix" most of the time, using "Fixes" in another changelog entry may be confusing because its all about the same thing (you've fixed a bug) and it would be good if players could find all info about all your bugfixes in one location. But if you prefer to use "Fixes" (and use that exclusively in your changelog), that's perfectly OK.

[MPeti1]

I've just updated to 1.0.0, and I'm preparing to also update all mods that I have. I started going through the changelogs of mods, and found that sometimes the changelog button is greyed out even though the mod has a changelog in the appropriate tab on the mod portal.

Said so time and again: The mod portal will display everything you throw at it, but the in-game parser is very finicky.

The log file can be found here.

Pretty much at the end of the log file, there's the solution to your problem:

10488.284 Error CachedChangelog.cpp:54: Failed to parse changelog for mod Krastorio 2: invalid changelog file, line 1 (the first line) must always be exactly '---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------' or an empty line.

Missing header line, thus first entry isn't valid -- parser will bail out immediately. After fixing this, the changelog still won't be displayed, though, because there are some more errors: lines 784, 813, and 817 contain tabulators (which are illegal everywhere in changelog.txt) at the end of the line. Remove these, and the changelog will be displayed correctly in the game.

I agree it's not nice if changelogs don't work. But understand, please, that it's very easy to overlook a small typo in a file with more than 800 lines of text. Even my own changelogs contain an error occasionally and won't be parsed correctly -- and I definitely care about getting them right! It's just that, sometimes, shit just happens.

So, if a changelog isn't displayed correctly by the game, complain to the mod author that it's not working. If the "Changelog" button is grayed out, look at the end of factorio-current.log to get the error message and add that to your bug report. Oh, and don't forget to remind the modder that they should check their changelogs thoroughly for more errors before uploading the next version!

It's good to know this, I'll notify the Krastorio devs, thank you! I usually look at logs myself because I'm interested and I usually can understand most of it, but this time I forgot it. Also, sorry if it seemed like I was complaining, I didn't intend to.

From your wording it seems it's a commonly reported problem, did you (or the moderators) consider adding this to the list of usual non-bugs?
Also, I think it could be useful if there would be a tooltip on the changelog button when this happens, so by hovering the mouse over it the player could see what's the problem

[Pi-C]

It's good to know this, I'll notify the Krastorio devs, thank you! I usually look at logs myself because I'm interested and I usually can understand most of it, but this time I forgot it. Also, sorry if it seemed like I was complaining, I didn't intend to.

No problem. If I came across a bit grumpy, it's probably because I didn't have coffee yet when I wrote this.

From your wording it seems it's a commonly reported problem, did you (or the moderators) consider adding this to the list of usual non-bugs?

I've mentioned this prominently in the tutorial (see my sig), don't know if it's in the non-bug list yet, but perhaps one of the mods could move this thread there?

Also, I think it could be useful if there would be a tooltip on the changelog button when this happens, so by hovering the mouse over it the player could see what's the problem

That's a good idea! A tooltip saying either "This mod doesn't have a changelog" or "The changelog contains an error, check __PATH_TO_LOGFILE__" might entice players to report a changelog bug with some useful information, which hopefully would motivate modders to make better changelogs.

[MPeti1]

No problem. If I came across a bit grumpy, it's probably because I didn't have coffee yet when I wrote this.

No problem! I usually attribute it to me not being a native English speaker, and also that I know that I have problems even in my native language with choosing the appropriate style, so I can imagine that my writing style unintentionally reads as demanding or impolite. Sometimes I try to compensate this with ":D"s, so that I don't seem to be an old man yelling at the cloud

I've mentioned this prominently in the tutorial (see my sig), don't know if it's in the non-bug list yet, but perhaps one of the mods could move this thread there?

They have moved it to that subforum, so that one is complete

A tooltip saying either "This mod doesn't have a changelog" or "The changelog contains an error, check __PATH_TO_LOGFILE__" might entice players to report a changelog bug with some useful information, which hopefully would motivate modders to make better changelogs.

I just made a suggestion about it: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=88451

[Pi-C]

No problem. If I came across a bit grumpy, it's probably because I didn't have coffee yet when I wrote this.

No problem! I usually attribute it to me not being a native English speaker,

I wonder how many people here really are native English speakers, or at least live in countries where English is the primary language. English isn't my first language, either.

A tooltip saying either "This mod doesn't have a changelog" or "The changelog contains an error, check __PATH_TO_LOGFILE__" might entice players to report a changelog bug with some useful information, which hopefully would motivate modders to make better changelogs.

I just made a suggestion about it: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=88451

Thanks, that's a good idea!