The OpenSim Library just got more interesting
The OpenSim Library has been a neglected part of OpenSim since I can remember. Apart from a few animations and example scripts, there hasn’t been anything interesting there. Even though it was possible to add things to it, the process was so cumbersome and error-prone that no one cared to do it. So the Library stagnated. That stagnation has finally come to an end.
As of today, it is now possible to add any arbitrary elements to the OpenSim Library simply by using IARs. I’m going to explain it below. For starters, the latest release of the Diva Distro already has some new freebie content in the Library (see picture above — zoom in). I added three outfits, 2 female and 1 male, that you can use to replace the horrible Ruth avatar; and I added a very small collection of objects. They are available to everyone with the latest diva distro, diva-r11766. (Remember that to use the content in the OpenSim Library you first must copy it to your own inventory, and then wear it or rez it.)
I have a larger object collection available from the github site. I didn’t include this in the distribution, because it’s quite large, larger than the distribution file itself. You can download it and place it under bin/Library if you want.
You can add more IARs to your Library, so that the content of your choice can be made available to all your users. The process is very simple: produce or get one or more IARs with your favorite content, and place them under bin/Library — that’s all. The content of those IARs will be added to the OpenSim Library automagically.
A few details. In general, IAR content is placed at the top level of the Library. If, however, if you are careful with the name of the IAR files, you may be able to control their placement better. For example, if you want to add things under, say Clothing Library, name your IAR something like “Clothing Library part1.iar”. When the first 2 words of your IAR file name match one of the existing subfolders of the Library, the content will be placed under the match. Content always adds up, so you can have several IARs, and they will all be loaded.
One important limitation: this only works for standalones, for the time being — which is what the diva distro is all about anyway. It will be nice to make this work for grids, but that will require substantial changes in the way IARs are coded.
Enjoy!