VASL disappearing from the Module Manager

[uckelman]

We have finally figured out the cause of all the reports of VASL disappearing from the Module Manager we've had all these years. Quoting Brent:

Windows is now able to navigate inside Zip archives as if they where folders from the Vassal Open File Dialog. I was able to reproduce the issue by right-clicking on the Zip Archive in the File dialog and selecting open, then opening the displayed module inside the Zip archive. It's actually really neat, except that it sends the MM into a spin the next time it starts because it is expecting a file, can't find the module, so drops it off the MM list.

It took ages for us to figure this out, because modules aren't typically distributed inside ZIP archives, it would never have occurred to us to open a module that was in a ZIP archive without unzipping the archive first, and nobody every described in sufficient detail what they were doing for us to entertain the possibility.

VASL has apparently been distributed inside a ZIP archive for quite some time. Very few other modules are. It's confusing, unnecessary, and causes this problem. We'd appreciate it if you could provide a download that is just the module, not the module inside a ZIP archive.

 

[DougRim]

The reason we do it that what is because we have always done it that way. LOL!

Happy to make a change.

Before I do, let me make sure I understand this properly.

When I build a vasl release using maven, I get a VASLx.x.x.jar file as the output. I rename that file to VASLx.x.x.vmod. That is the "module", correct?

I then zip that file as VASLvXXX.zip and post it to VASL.info where people download it.

You are saying that people don't always unzip that zip file but use it directly? I can't get that to work on my machine.

Our installation instructions state that people should extract the VASLx.x.x.vmod from the VASLvXXX.zip file and then open VASSAL and use it to open the .vmod.

Are you suggesting that I should not create the VASLvXXX.zip file and instead should post the VASLx.x.x.vmod to VASL.info for download?

Easy to do and happy to make the change but want to be sure I am doing the right thing?

VASL6.6.7 is due to release tomorrow.

 

[uckelman]

I then zip that file as VASLvXXX.zip and post it to VASL.info where people download it.

This is the thing I'm requesting not be done. Upload just the .vmod as it is.

You are saying that people don't always unzip that zip file but use it directly? I can't get that to work on my machine.

Yes, exactly.

 

[DougRim]

Upload just the .vmod as it is.

Wilco

 

[DougRim]

I tried this today and it did not work. The .vmod file would not download and users got a 404 message.

I will revert to the .zip format in order to get 667 released.

It appears we may need to reconfigure our website somewhat to enabled the download of the .vmod file. I will see about that.

 

[uckelman]

We set the MIME type for .vmod files to "application/vnd.vassalengine.module", in case that helps. You could also use "application/octet-stream".

 

[uckelman]

Maybe while you're doing website maintenance, you could also add a redirect from HTTP to HTTPS? http://vasl.info should redirect to https://vasl.info.