# open unzipped module **URL:** \ **Category:** Technical Support & Bugs\ **Created:** [January 10, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459 "2009-01-10T21:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/pelle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/1 "2009-01-10T21:26:46Z")
Is it possible somehow to open a module that is not zipped? I keep my modules unzipped when editing them, to make version management useful and make it easier to edit the image files, but the only way I found to make this practical was to write a pair of scripts to zip-edit-unzip every time. ---
**Author:** ![Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/brent_easton/32/10_2.png) [@Brent\_Easton](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/Brent_Easton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/2 "2009-01-10T21:31:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Is it possible somehow to open a module that is not zipped? No. Rgds, B. * * * Messages mailing list [Messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:Messages@forums.vassalengine.org) [forums.vassalengine.org/mailman/ … engine.org](http://forums.vassalengine.org/mailman/listinfo/messages_forums.vassalengine.org) Post generated using Mail2Forum ([mail2forum.com](http://www.mail2forum.com)) ---
**Author:** ![pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/pelle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/3 "2009-01-10T22:16:25Z")
> [@Brent Easton](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Is it possible somehow to open a module that is not zipped? > > No. That was unfortunately the conclusion I reached from skimming the 3.0 source code some months ago. Is it on the roadmap? How do other module makers manage all their data? Keeping everything in a zip is fine for distribution and play of course, but it’s not very practical when developing the module. ---
**Author:** ![mkiefte](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/mkiefte/32/25_2.png) [@mkiefte](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/mkiefte)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/4 "2009-01-10T22:41:38Z")
I don’t know how it works on your computer, but on mine, when I click on an archive, like a VASSAL module, the OS doesn’t really care whether it’s a folder or an archive. I can edit images within the archive no problem. Gnome on Linux just treats it like a folder that happens to be compressed. How does it work on Windows? - M. P.S.: How do you activate the middle and right mouse button on a Mac that only has one button? 2009/1/10 pelle \<[messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:messages@forums.vassalengine.org) ([messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:messages@forums.vassalengine.org))\> > [@](#): > > Brent Easton wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > Is it possible somehow to open a module that is not zipped? > > > [@](#): > > > > No. > > That was unfortunately the conclusion I reached from skimming the 3.0 source code some months ago. > > Is it on the roadmap? How do other module makers manage all their data? Keeping everything in a zip is fine for distribution and play of course, but it’s not very practical when developing the module. Post generated using Mail2Forum ([mail2forum.com](http://www.mail2forum.com)) ---
**Author:** ![pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/pelle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/5 "2009-01-11T18:08:44Z")
I’m on Linux. Didn’t think of that possibility, since I only use the command-line, but that would solve the image editing part. Version management would still be a problem I think, and since I have a workable way to get around this there is no reason for me to change, but it would feel a bit safer to not have to bring everything out of and into the zip file all the time. ---
**Author:** ![mkiefte](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/mkiefte/32/25_2.png) [@mkiefte](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/mkiefte)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/6 "2009-01-11T18:26:02Z")
If you’re on linux, just write a Makefile that does all this for you. - M. 2009/1/11 pelle \<[messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:messages@forums.vassalengine.org) ([messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:messages@forums.vassalengine.org))\> > [@](#): > > I’m on Linux. Didn’t think of that possibility, since I only use the command-line, but that would solve the image editing part. Version management would still be a problem I think, and since I have a workable way to get around this there is no reason for me to change, but it would feel a bit safer to not have to bring everything out of and into the zip file all the time. Post generated using Mail2Forum ([mail2forum.com](http://www.mail2forum.com)) ---
**Author:** ![pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@pelle](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/pelle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/7 "2009-01-11T19:38:46Z")
> [@mkiefte](#): > > If you’re on linux, just write a Makefile that does all this for you. Actually the scripts are based on a makefile, plus a bunch of makefiles generated from the makefile. But that’s mostly because I did this way back before there was SVG support in VASSAL, so the script also had to render all the changed SVG images to PNG before creating the zip file. 😮 ---
**Author:** ![uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/user_avatar/forum.vassalengine.org/uckelman/32/10020_2.png) [@uckelman](https://forum.vassalengine.org/u/uckelman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 8:56pm UTC](https://forum.vassalengine.org/t/open-unzipped-module/1459/8 "2009-01-12T20:56:22Z")
Thus spake “pelle”: > [@](#): > > Is it possible somehow to open a module that is not zipped? > > I keep my modules unzipped when editing them, to make version management usef > ul and make it easier to edit the image files, but the only way I found to ma > ke this practical was to write a pair of scripts to zip-edit-unzip every time I use a Makefile to handle zipping the archive. I can see the utility of having VASSAL be able to read a directory as a module, but then the obvious next request is for VASSAL to be able to zip a working directory to a module. The problem there is that there could be all sorts of stuff in your working directory which you don’t want to (or shouldn’t) include in a module, and VASSAL has no way of knowing what should go in and what to ignore. (E.g., I’m not particualrly keen on writing and maintaining code to recognize metadata files for every single revision control system in existence.) This makes me think that a Makefile is actually right tool for the job here. – J. * * * Messages mailing list [Messages@forums.vassalengine.org](mailto:Messages@forums.vassalengine.org) [forums.vassalengine.org/mailman/ … engine.org](http://forums.vassalengine.org/mailman/listinfo/messages_forums.vassalengine.org) Post generated using Mail2Forum ([mail2forum.com](http://www.mail2forum.com))