Problems changing an Asset on MML

[gptech]

Slightly wrong there Mark; the Read Only attribute only needs clearing to enable RW Tools and NameMyRoute to see the files. The game uses files with exactly the same attribute set when using the files in a .ap package, and Windows itself (mostly) ignores this attribute when manipulating files.
The extracted files retain the attributes they have whilst inside an archive, and as an archived copy of something shouldn't gat changed they're protected accordingly.

If clearing the attribute was necessary to enable the game to see the files then nothing would show if you extracted the contents of a .ap and removed the archive from the game

[markpullinger]

True but if the editor hasn't got permissions to change read only files, cos windows said so, it could fail.

[gptech]

It wouldn't Mark, because at file level Windows ignores the Read Only attribute---the directory is treated as file with special restrictions on how it can be modified.

Note Unlike the Read-only attribute for a file, the Read-only attribute for a folder is typically ignored by Windows, Windows components and accessories, and other programs. For example, you can delete, rename, and change a folder with the Read-only attribute by using Windows Explorer.

The Read-only and System attributes is only used by Windows Explorer to determine whether the folder is a special folder, such as a system folder that has its view customized by Windows (for example, My Documents, Favorites, Fonts, Downloaded Program Files), or a folder that you customized by using the Customize tab of the folder's Properties dialog box. As a result, Windows Explorer does not allow you to view or change the Read-only or System attributes of folders. When a folder has the Read-Only attribute set it causes Explorer to request the Desktop.ini of that folder to see if any special folder settings need to be set.

You can test this easily enough by using WinRAR, 7-Zip or Windows Explorer (after changing the extension of a copy of the .ap to .zip) to drag and drop some files/folders to your desktop. You can do anything you want with those! Extract a single .bin file from a .ap using the same method and RW Tools will open it without changing any attributes---it's only folders that it strictly applies to. This screen shot shows that, the .bin file being dragged out of the .ap archive and dropped onto the desktop with WinRAR, and without any further steps opened for editing in RW Tools--and this is with a Standard User account, no Administrative privileges needed.

[markpullinger]

Ok, thanks for that. I'll leave the straw clutching for now.