There have been some significant changes to MCP recently and the "Save Modules" page has seen the brunt of it.

Over the last month or so several people have requested that I add the ability to build ALX/JAD files inside of MCP.

Let's take a look under the hood...



Save Modules > Operations > Save

MCP Mesh 20091013 was the first version to offer automatic ALX/JAD creation for all modules that were manually selected to be saved.  The popup requesting detailed information was mandatory but the user could opt out.  MCP Mesh 20091018a added the new "Create ALX/JAD" option so users could prevent the ALX/JAD popup if they knew they didn't want these files.



Saved modules and ALX/JAD files would go to your Modules folder (use the button higlighted in blue).

If you "opt out" and decide not to create ALX/JAD files, all modules (COD files) will be saved to the main MCP Modules folder, e.g.:

C:\Program Files\BlackBerry Master Control Program\modules

If you "opt-in" to create ALX/JAD files a subfolder will be created under your Modules folder using the same name you typed in for the ALX/JAD and all modules (COD files) and the ALX/JAD's will be placed in this subfolder, e.g.:

C:\Program Files\BlackBerry Master Control Program\modules\ImpConnector

Sample ALX/JAD files (as generated by MCP):  ALX / JAD



Save Modules > Backup & Restore > Backup

MCP Mesh 20091021 saw some more significant changes.  In 20091013 users had to manually select modules and then click "Save".  I wanted a way to reduce clicking and offer a way to easily backup all existing third party applications in just a few clicks.  So, connect the device, start MCP, click the "Save Modules" icon, click the retrieve button, click one more buttton, done!  Roughly 3 clicks after MCP is running.  This quickly turned into a new section called "Backup & Restore".  It seems a little odd to me that "Restore" is on the "Save Modules" tab, but since the major operation here is backup we want a restore nearby.  In any case, a full backup of all third party apps is created along with a dedicated set of ALX/JAD files for those modules.



Backups and ALX/JAD files would go here (use the button higlighted in blue):

C:\Program Files\BlackBerry Master Control Program\backup\

Inside the Backup folder will be subfolders named automatically by the year, month, day, hours, minutes, and seconds, e.g.:  20091021094708.  So, for example:

C:\Program Files\BlackBerry Master Control Program\backup\20091021094708

Sample ALX/JAD files (as generated by MCP):  ALX / JAD



Save Modules > ALX/JAD Builder

Additionally it only made sense to be able to have the ability to create ALX/JAD files easily but without actually touching the device.  For example, say you have 10 COD files and you want to make an ALX/JAD file for those COD's, but they aren't on a device and you don't want to actually send them to the device...  we need a builder of some sort to do just that.  This turned into an entirely new page inside MCP and is based on most of the informational prompts on the "Save (With ALX/JAD)" button popup.  I didn't want to make a new icon on the home screen and since all other ALX/JAD abilities are inside the Save page I decided to just add a new button "ALX/JAD Builder".  All you have to do is drag & drop your COD files into the large area at the top and then click the "Build" button.  During the creation process the COD files can be scattered all over your hard drive, it simply does not matter.  Just drag them in and drop them off.  However, if you ever decide to load the ALX/JAD back on to a device you must make sure all of the required COD files are in the same folder as the ALX/JAD files.



ALX/JAD Builder files would go here (use the button higlighted in blue):

C:\Program Files\BlackBerry Master Control Program\builder

Sample ALX/JAD files (as generated by MCP):  ALX / JAD


Enjoy!

/sgt  :)