I'm having an issue with using blueprint with SE Cargo landing pads designed in sandbox mode.

1. Designed city block with cargo landing pads in sandbox. Sandbox had Fake cargo landing pads, which I assume is expected.
2. Created blueprint. Blueprint has Cargo landing pads: https://i.imgur.com/lj1e1je.jpeg (ignore quality, screenshot tool doesn't work well with HDR) . Great!
3. Used blueprint in non-sandbox surface but for some reason Fake Cargo landing pads get inserted which behave like simple containers: https://i.imgur.com/5FimL00.jpeg

Had to manually remove Fake instances and place real Cargo pads

Interesting, I think someone else mentioned this but I could not replicate it. I believe they said it was due to some other note-related mod that when removed stopped causing this to happen. I'd like to know more to see if I could replicate it too.

How exactly was the pad placed? Like, you placed the blueprint but then what happens after that? Do bots place the entities? Was it automatically placed for you (like what happens in the Sandboxes)? And what was the specific surface that it happened on?

Edit: I see on your last screenshot that it was probably Nauvis Orbit and you were using the Remote-View/Navigation mode, right?

Sorry, didn't see update.

Yes, it was placed in nav mode on Nauvis orbit (character was on Nauvis at that moment if it makes any difference). Bot placed Fake cargo and when I deconstructed it - there were no Fake cargo items in logistic network.

I will try to reproduce issue starting from blueprint creation tomorrow.

Thank you, that is even more odd than I thought.

I can reliably reproduce an issue:
1. Open sandbox, switch to space tab
2. Place cargo pad (Fake version is placed)
3. Create and save BP of that cargo pad. BP has Non-Fake pad
4. Open saved BP, click "Select new BP content" and select same Fake instance of cargo

"Select new BP content" is what makes BP broken. Once used in non-sandbox surface, Fake Pad will be inserted

This was quite the rabbit hole, and unfortunately I think the ultimate answer is: sorry, but this probably won't work due to known issues within Factorio itself. I have added a warning in game for this (when it's attempted and is probably happening), and added this to the known issues.

That said, if you were doing this with a Blueprint in your Inventory, then I have probably included a fix for the situation. If you were doing this from the Blueprint Library, then there's nothing that can be done and you'll have to work around it.

Basically, Factorio seems to have one defined way for a mod to handle this situation, but it handles that process quite differently for each workflow - mainly due to complicated code internals and not for providing a sane or consistent API. Copying, Copying to a Blueprint, Selecting new contents for a Blueprint in your Inventory, and Selecting for one in your Blueprint Library are literally all following the same API but with different data. The two selection methods fail to provide the expected or necessary information. The Inventory process only has a potential workaround since we can use a separate API to get some identifiable information to make the updates another way.

Finally, the preferred route is to have this resolved within Factorio - numerous other mods and users know of and have brought this issue up. If that's not working, and if this is a large problem, then I can start to imagine some other workarounds that require user intervention (so by no means a proper solution).

Got it! I wonder if you can try to fix it from other side: why bots insert Fake instances in non-sandbox surfaces? Maybe you can prevent them to do anything, Fake cargo will remain ghosts until player intervenes. Or, if possible, bots should place non-fake cargo pads instead of fake once regardless of what blueprint says.

Well, that is the problem really. We should have the capability to swap the Fake for the Real in the Blueprint, but we cannot, so it's placing Fake ghosts. One part you mentioned is possible, where we'd examine every placed thing and swap it back from Fake to Real - but that is costly for a few reasons, and it shouldn't be necessary.

So, this just happened again to me: I used blueprint to place asteroid defenses and I got 20 useless Fake defenses until asteroid destroyed valuable building :)

I understand now how it happens, but the main problem here is that it was hard to notice. Is it possible to make Fake items more noticeable? Add red border to them or something. I think it will help to avoid problem described if proper fix is not possible