Layout copy program with python

EVE Technology and Research Center Third Party Developers
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Recently, I’ve had a lot of power outages in my city, and many times my characters had their “char” and “user” files deleted, resetting the layout back to zero. That meant I had to go through all the work of copying, renaming, and moving files again — which is simple, but repetitive. Since this started happening so often, I decided to create an automated copier that takes one “char” file and one “user” file that I keep as backups in a separate folder, and with those two files, I can instantly configure all my alts at once with just one click and zero hassle.

Even though it’s something really simple, I think I’ve completely changed the way I’ll play from now on, because adjusting all my windows has become quick and easy. I can now set up different window layouts much more conveniently without having to copy and paste files between folders. The program itself is very lightweight and includes a few safety features, such as automatically saving backups before making any changes and a test mode (which I mostly used during development) that helps identify issues.

You can see in the code that, for security reasons, the only files the program searches for are EVE-related and specifically limited to the Tranquility folder. The program has no access to anything else beyond that.

It’s super lightweight and doesn’t require installation. If the EVE folder isn’t found automatically, you’ll need to navigate to:
C:\Users(YOUR USER NAME)\AppData\Local\CCP\EVE\c_eve_sharedcache_tq_tranquility\settings_Default

I strongly recommend saving a backup of your best layout in a separate folder in case any file gets corrupted — it makes recovery much easier!

I accept ISK donations to the character Plunder Skol, and I’d love for the devs to share what they think. My GitHub link is below, where you can find the full program. Anyone is free to modify it and upload their own version there! I’ll keep it updated based on feedback.

I used ChatGPT to do about 90% of the work — even the icon was generated that way. I spent an entire afternoon on this, and I hope you like it and find it useful.

download here

UPDATES NOTES:

Version 3.6 updated, new interface with portraits, minor problems solved folder selection now goes to dafault at start.

If the program crashes while loading the portraits, check your antivirus.

if you use the .py instead .exe for debug dont forget to install libs like pillow for python, so you can see the portraits while coding.

Version 3.8 Update Summary

  • Added support for multiple source character selections for profile saving.
  • Kept single-source restriction for direct layout cloning (Execute Copy).
  • Added multilingual tooltips for all major buttons (EN, PT, ZH, RU, FR, ES, DE).
  • Updated Help window with detailed step-by-step instructions for all actions.
  • Added automatic UI refresh after save/copy operations.
  • Improved profile management (create, delete, switch between profiles).
  • Fixed window icon behavior in compiled .exe version.
  • Optimized API handling for EVE portrait and character name loading.
  • Maintained lightweight, fully portable .exe build structure.

Thank you all for feedback, I will keep improving it !!! 7o

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Gave it a try, looks like a good start!

I already gave some feedback in Slack, but as our unpaid mode tends to eat stuff after a while, I’ll also post it here:

  • The dry-run test mode doesn’t give the user any feedback when used. What’s the intended use of it? A ‘Execution would modify 3 files’ message could already be nice to see, as well as maybe a warning that test mode is on and nothing gets changed. (I was confused first time I pressed the execute button and didn’t see any file changes, until I remembered I had ticked the test box :stuck_out_tongue: )

  • My biggest pain with manually copy-pasting the files over is figuring out which character is which. Your current tool doesn’t fix that issue yet, but it could. For example core_char_2116662655.dat is clearly the file of character Plunder Skol, as the character ID is public knowledge and used in for example urls of Eve Who - Plunder Skol and Plunder Skol | Character | zKillboard . It would be wonderful if you can somehow show character names or portraits next to the filenames in the UI. (But I can imagine it complicates things as it then requires an internet connection and API calls, rather than just some simple local file changes. Also it won’t help for core user names as these aren’t public.)

  • Alternatively an easier option to make finding the right file easier: show the ‘last modified’ timestamp of the files and allow us to order by it, so players can recognize their characters and users that way. Currently the files are ordered alphabetically, which can I guess also be useful but I don’t really recall which core user and characters I made first as that’s years ago. I do recall which ones I logged out of last!

  • There currently is nothing in the UI that tells me which settings I’m changing. I realize it’s the Settings_Default because of the description and code, but when I’m copying over settings from my Settings_Default profile to some other launcher profiles like my Settings_Multibox profile it can be nice to have the chosen folder names visible in the UI.

  • Finding the origin folder is hard for people who do not know it’s within their C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\CCP\EVE\c_ccp_eve_online_tq_tranquility\settings_Default location. Maybe if you click the ‘Choose origin folder’ let it start there if the path exists, or have some UI explanation where the users can search for it.

  • A funny quirk, it seems that when I’m selecting an origin character I can override my choice by choosing a different origin character below it, but not above it. If I wish to select one above it I need to deselect the current selection. Same with origin users.

It’s a nice little tool and has the potential to make copying over files easier than manual copy-pasting. Next time I need to copy over some settings I might look for it again!

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I am working on the timestamp, the first version had it but I forgot to put it again, I really want to make named options but API stuff will make this so much complex, next version will have a step-by-step and more explanations about the functions, the test button was made just for debugging its useless for normal users thats why I made it default unchecked and some friends said the backup folder isnt being created correctly too, so many things to repair xD thank you for advice I will work on it !! 7o

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updated to version 3.6, major problems solved and new interfaced added with portraits

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I recently had one of my characters lose their layout suddenly and had no idea why - I am interested to try this.

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