Change Rom Path With Notepad++ Tutorial

[Lordmonkus]

Unfortunately right now there is no bulk edit tool for changing the rom path for a bunch of games at one time. We can however use Notepad++ to do this pretty painlessly. Download it here: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ if you don't already have it, it is free and is an amazing replacement for the version of Notepad that comes with Windows.

Here is a bitbucket feature request for this to vote for:
https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/1369/bulk-edit-wizard

To start off go to your Launchbox\data\platforms\ folder and look for the .xml file for the platform you want to change the rom locations for. For the purposes of this guide I am using a secondary install of Launchbox I use for tutorials and testing certain things and the only platform xml I have is a Nintendo Entertainment System.xml

If you open this xml file will see a whole bunch of stuff but what you are looking for is this line:

<ApplicationPath>E:\Downloaded Games\Emulation\Roms\NES\Adventures of Bayou Billy, The (USA).nes</ApplicationPath>

E:\Downloaded Games\Emulation\Roms\NES\ is the location I want to change. The new location I want that changed to is H:\Emulation\Roms\NES\

Here is a screenshot in Launchbox if I right click on the Billy Bayou game and edit, you can see that the rom is located at E:\Downloaded Games\Emulation\Roms\NES\.

IMPORTANT: Before editing your platform xml file you will have to close Launchbox.

Now to change the paths in Notepad++ go to the Search menu at the top and then Replace. This will open the "Find and Replace" window, you want the Replace tab of this window.

In the "Find what" box you will want to put in the old path which for me is E:\Downloaded Games\Emulation\Roms\NES\

Then in the "Replace with" box you will want to put in the new path where your roms are which for me in this example is H:\Emulation\Roms\NES\

Next you will press the Replace All button on the right hand side of the window, you will see all that the paths in Notepad++ changed. Close the replace tool and save the .xml file.

Note: Because my rom paths were very similar I could have just put E:\Downloaded Games\ and H:\ in my find and replace boxes because that was all needed to be changed. I just wanted to be a bit more simple with this example.

Startup Launchbox and right click a game or two to check that the changes actually applied.

As you can see it is now changed, start a game and make sure it runs.

If your rom path did not change make sure you closed down Launchbox before editing the platforms xml file.

If your game does not load make sure that your new rom path is correct.

I just did this entire procedure as I wrote this guide step by step and it worked flawlessly so if it does not work for you retrace the steps above.

[Thatman84]

Love notpad++... the regular exspression thibg came in real handy for a couple of things i forget now

Could i add a bunch of platforms with Notepad++ do you think? Although writing this i decided to do 1 at a time. As made the mistake of biting off or than i can chew and missing things before

[Lordmonkus]

13 minutes ago, Thatman84 said:

Could i add a bunch of platforms with Notepad++ do you think?

You probably could if you opened all the platform xml files you wanted to change and instead of pressing the "Replace All" button you press the "Replace All in All Opened Documents" button.

[DOS76]

Only thing I do slightly different is I like to use the count button in the find tab to make sure it is seeing the items in the path I'm looking for before replacing.

[Thatman84]

Never new about notepad++ till hyperspin.....o boy does that setup need notepad++....like we need water

[damageinc86]

Is there a bitbucket for bulk path editing to be a built in feature when bulk editing?

[Lordmonkus]

https://bitbucket.org/jasondavidcarr/launchbox/issues/1369/bulk-edit-wizard

[Hedgecore024]

On 5/24/2017 at 1:55 AM, Lordmonkus said:

You probably could if you opened all the platform xml files you wanted to change and instead of pressing the "Replace All" button you press the "Replace All in All Opened Documents" button.

Thanks for the tutorial, worked like a charm. The replace…all opened docs” worked as well. Made the whole process even easier. Thanks again.