Patching Unity

How do you actually *patch* unity? They releases patches but they're not actually a patch. It's a full release with a complete reinstall. It usually overwrites my custom templates folder and whatnot. Since 4.6 UI is pretty new I'm trying to keep updated to keep the bugs out, but it's annoying.

Is there a way to just patch/in-place install?

 

They'll introduce "real" patches with Unity 5 as far as I've heard.

 

That may be true; however if you do want to upgrade its still a large download for the complete install which does overwrite some settings when installed. Is there a reason Unity doesn't release patches? Is Xaron correct about plans after 5 is released?

 

The systems seem to be partially in place for 5 to download players and other components of the editor separately. They just haven't flipped the right switches and made Unity itself download its parts :/

 

That's great news. I know most people live in super-connected locations; however for some a 1GB download for each patch can be heavy.

 

I'm one of the lucky few that can get the 1+GB download in about 3 minutes, but it's mostly the encumbering full uninstall and reinstall that entirely overwrites all user settings that aren't a part of specific projects.

But yes, dealing with that massive download is pretty ugly flaw in the patching system.

 

Is support for this use case being improved at all in 5 compared to 4? For instance, in 4.x I have 4.6.2 installed and 4.3.something for PSM. Whenever I load either Unity install it tries to open the last Unity project I had open regardless of which Unity it was opened in. Also, whenever I open a project from Windows Explorer by opening a Scene file it pays no attention to which version of Unity that project belongs to. So some kind of utility that helps out with that would rock.

I notice that the documentation still lists a bunch of manual steps to get side-by-side installations to be distinguishable and not overwrite each other, too. Any chance those things can be handled by the installer instead? (I mean, that could be as easy as adding the version number to the icons and directory names, right?)

 

I do not have 15 version. I just have the one. Nor do I want 15 (or more than 1) version installed at a time. Regardless, I don't see how this is a good argument for the case. Also, whenever I install a new version it just automatically uninstalls the existing version.

 

The thread is about patching, which you've totally ignored and instead used it as a platform to preach about maintaining installs for different versions and when to upgrade to point releases.

 

But that's the thing. I do want them... And I've got a developer in a location that has poor bandwidth, so when something comes up he basically has to sacrifice his entire session time to patching, when it shouldn't be more than a a few minute ordeal. Almost every patch has something we want to have. Especially since UI is in its infancy and still getting a lot of love and we're using it extensively, we want those changes when they're available. I'm sure I'm not alone and I hope Unity Tech puts a few more resources into getting this to a much smoother experience.

 

More to the point it's opening a project via Windows Explorer, it just happens to be the scene file that you click in order to do that. I do exactly the same thing in OS X, by the way - it's not an operating system specific issue (the same thing used to apply to iOS vs. desktop projects in the days before iOS was integrated with the main editor).

You're right that there are workarounds for all of this stuff. I just think that if multiple installs is something that Unity suggests we consider doing it'd be nice to have neat, built-in solutions rather than workarounds.

 

If a single gigabyte is giving him problems then I doubt it'll ever become a matter of a few minutes. This does make me wonder if anyone has developed an automatic tool to create diffs, pass them to someone else, and then automatically apply them.

 

Yes, there are lots of such tools out there. Google user Courgette for Chrome patching. It's pretty efficient, and has source available.