save also metadata that have default values. they might not had default values on start so they have to be saved

es-app/src/CollectionSystemManager.cpp

@@ -448,6 +448,8 @@ void CollectionSystemManager::exitEditMode()
 	mWindow->setInfoPopup(s);
 	mIsEditingCustom = false;
 	mEditingCollection = "Favorites";
+
+	mEditingCollectionSystemData->system->onMetaDataSavePoint();
 }
 
 // adds or removes a game from a specific collection
@@ -521,6 +523,9 @@ bool CollectionSystemManager::toggleGameInCollection(FileData* file)
 				md->set("favorite", "false");
 			}
 			file->getSourceFileData()->getSystem()->getIndex()->addToIndex(file);
+
+			file->getSourceFileData()->getSystem()->onMetaDataSavePoint();
+
 			refreshCollectionSystems(file->getSourceFileData());
 		}
 		if (adding)

es-app/src/FileData.cpp

@@ -309,6 +309,8 @@ void FileData::launchGame(Window* window)
 	//update last played time
 	gameToUpdate->metadata.set("lastplayed", Utils::Time::DateTime(Utils::Time::now()));
 	CollectionSystemManager::get()->refreshCollectionSystems(gameToUpdate);
+
+	gameToUpdate->mSystem->onMetaDataSavePoint();
 }
 
 CollectionFileData::CollectionFileData(FileData* file, SystemData* system)

es-app/src/Gamelist.cpp

@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "Gamelist.h"
 
+#include <chrono>
+
 #include "utils/FileSystemUtil.h"
 #include "FileData.h"
 #include "FileFilterIndex.h"
@@ -217,11 +219,6 @@ void updateGamelist(SystemData* system)
 		{
 			const char* tag = ((*fit)->getType() == GAME) ? "game" : "folder";
 
-			// check if current file has metadata, if no, skip it as it wont be in the gamelist anyway.
-			if ((*fit)->metadata.isDefault()) {
-				continue;
-			}
-
 			// do not touch if it wasn't changed anyway
 			if (!(*fit)->metadata.wasChanged())
 				continue;
@@ -255,6 +252,8 @@ void updateGamelist(SystemData* system)
 		//now write the file
 
 		if (numUpdated > 0) {
+			const auto startTs = std::chrono::system_clock::now();
+
 			//make sure the folders leading up to this path exist (or the write will fail)
 			std::string xmlWritePath(system->getGamelistPath(true));
 			Utils::FileSystem::createDirectory(Utils::FileSystem::getParent(xmlWritePath));
@@ -264,6 +263,9 @@ void updateGamelist(SystemData* system)
 			if (!doc.save_file(xmlWritePath.c_str())) {
 				LOG(LogError) << "Error saving gamelist.xml to \"" << xmlWritePath << "\" (for system " << system->getName() << ")!";
 			}
+
+			const auto endTs = std::chrono::system_clock::now();
+			LOG(LogInfo) << "Saved gamelist.xml for system \"" << system->getName() << "\" in " << std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(endTs - startTs).count() << " ms";
 		}
 	}else{
 		LOG(LogError) << "Found no root folder for system \"" << system->getName() << "\"!";

es-app/src/MetaData.cpp

@@ -140,17 +140,6 @@ float MetaDataList::getFloat(const std::string& key) const
 	return (float)atof(get(key).c_str());
 }
 
-bool MetaDataList::isDefault()
-{
-	const std::vector<MetaDataDecl>& mdd = getMDD();
-
-	for (unsigned int i = 1; i < mMap.size(); i++) {
-		if (mMap.at(mdd[i].key) != mdd[i].defaultValue) return false;
-	}
-
-	return true;
-}
-
 bool MetaDataList::wasChanged() const
 {
 	return mWasChanged;

es-app/src/MetaData.h

@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ public:
 	int getInt(const std::string& key) const;
 	float getFloat(const std::string& key) const;
 
-	bool isDefault();
-
 	bool wasChanged() const;
 	void resetChangedFlag();
 

es-app/src/SystemData.cpp

@@ -50,11 +50,8 @@ SystemData::SystemData(const std::string& name, const std::string& fullName, Sys
 
 SystemData::~SystemData()
 {
-	//save changed game data back to xml
-	if(!Settings::getInstance()->getBool("IgnoreGamelist") && Settings::getInstance()->getBool("SaveGamelistsOnExit") && !mIsCollectionSystem)
-	{
-		updateGamelist(this);
-	}
+	if(Settings::getInstance()->getString("SaveGamelistsMode") == "on exit")
+		writeMetaData();
 
 	delete mRootFolder;
 	delete mFilterIndex;
@@ -502,3 +499,18 @@ void SystemData::loadTheme()
 		mTheme = std::make_shared<ThemeData>(); // reset to empty
 	}
 }
+
+void SystemData::writeMetaData() {
+	if(Settings::getInstance()->getBool("IgnoreGamelist") || mIsCollectionSystem)
+		return;
+
+	//save changed game data back to xml
+	updateGamelist(this);
+}
+
+void SystemData::onMetaDataSavePoint() {
+	if(Settings::getInstance()->getString("SaveGamelistsMode") != "always")
+		return;
+
+	writeMetaData();
+}

es-app/src/SystemData.h

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ public:
 	void loadTheme();
 
 	FileFilterIndex* getIndex() { return mFilterIndex; };
+	void onMetaDataSavePoint();
 
 private:
 	bool mIsCollectionSystem;
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ private:
 	void populateFolder(FileData* folder);
 	void indexAllGameFilters(const FileData* folder);
 	void setIsGameSystemStatus();
+	void writeMetaData();
 
 	FileFilterIndex* mFilterIndex;
 

es-app/src/guis/GuiMenu.cpp

@@ -400,10 +400,18 @@ void GuiMenu::openOtherSettings()
 	});
 
 	// gamelists
-	auto save_gamelists = std::make_shared<SwitchComponent>(mWindow);
-	save_gamelists->setState(Settings::getInstance()->getBool("SaveGamelistsOnExit"));
-	s->addWithLabel("SAVE METADATA ON EXIT", save_gamelists);
-	s->addSaveFunc([save_gamelists] { Settings::getInstance()->setBool("SaveGamelistsOnExit", save_gamelists->getState()); });
+	auto gamelistsSaveMode = std::make_shared< OptionListComponent<std::string> >(mWindow, "SAVE METADATA", false);
+	std::vector<std::string> saveModes;
+	saveModes.push_back("on exit");
+	saveModes.push_back("always");
+	saveModes.push_back("never");
+
+	for(auto it = saveModes.cbegin(); it != saveModes.cend(); it++)
+		gamelistsSaveMode->add(*it, *it, Settings::getInstance()->getString("SaveGamelistsMode") == *it);
+	s->addWithLabel("SAVE METADATA", gamelistsSaveMode);
+	s->addSaveFunc([gamelistsSaveMode] {
+		Settings::getInstance()->setString("SaveGamelistsMode", gamelistsSaveMode->getSelected());
+	});
 
 	auto parse_gamelists = std::make_shared<SwitchComponent>(mWindow);
 	parse_gamelists->setState(Settings::getInstance()->getBool("ParseGamelistOnly"));

es-app/src/guis/GuiMetaDataEd.cpp

@@ -199,6 +199,8 @@ void GuiMetaDataEd::save()
 
 	// update respective Collection Entries
 	CollectionSystemManager::get()->refreshCollectionSystems(mScraperParams.game);
+
+	mScraperParams.system->onMetaDataSavePoint();
 }
 
 void GuiMetaDataEd::fetch()

es-core/src/Settings.cpp

@@ -76,7 +76,6 @@ void Settings::setDefaults()
 	mBoolMap["HideConsole"] = true;
 	mBoolMap["QuickSystemSelect"] = true;
 	mBoolMap["MoveCarousel"] = true;
-	mBoolMap["SaveGamelistsOnExit"] = true;
 
 	mBoolMap["Debug"] = false;
 	mBoolMap["DebugGrid"] = false;
@@ -97,6 +96,7 @@ void Settings::setDefaults()
 	mStringMap["ScreenSaverBehavior"] = "dim";
 	mStringMap["Scraper"] = "TheGamesDB";
 	mStringMap["GamelistViewStyle"] = "automatic";
+	mStringMap["SaveGamelistsMode"] = "on exit";
 
 	mBoolMap["ScreenSaverControls"] = true;
 	mStringMap["ScreenSaverGameInfo"] = "never";
@@ -228,6 +228,19 @@ void Settings::loadFile()
 		setFloat(node.attribute("name").as_string(), node.attribute("value").as_float());
 	for(pugi::xml_node node = doc.child("string"); node; node = node.next_sibling("string"))
 		setString(node.attribute("name").as_string(), node.attribute("value").as_string());
+
+	processBackwardCompatibility();
+}
+
+void Settings::processBackwardCompatibility()
+{
+	{	// SaveGamelistsOnExit -> SaveGamelistsMode
+		std::map<std::string, bool>::const_iterator it = mBoolMap.find("SaveGamelistsOnExit");
+		if (it != mBoolMap.end()) {
+			mStringMap["SaveGamelistsMode"] = it->second ? "on exit" : "never";
+			mBoolMap.erase(it);
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 //Print a warning message if the setting we're trying to get doesn't already exist in the map, then return the value in the map.

es-core/src/Settings.h

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ private:
 
 	//Clear everything and load default values.
 	void setDefaults();
+	void processBackwardCompatibility();
 
 	std::map<std::string, bool> mBoolMap;
 	std::map<std::string, int> mIntMap;