How to access .DSF content in the Runtime folder structure?

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• JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891

  October 2012 edited October 2012

  DAZ Studio does not 'see' DS content files installed in a Poser Runtime folder (normally).

  To see Poser content, you have to have the Poser Runtime folder listed as a Poser Format Folder inside DS4 in Preferences, or more correctly, the folder which 'holds' the Runtime folder must be listed. The same applies to DAZ Studio content, and the content folder should be listed.
  
  In both cases, Poser AND DAZ Studio, the default location for installing content is to :

  C:\Users\\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library

  The only time that DS sees files inside a Poser Runtime, is with the combined content installers. These are setup so that users don;t need to switch from one library to another to apply DS optimised materials. When there is a Poser PZ2 file, a DSA file, and a PNG file, all with EXACTLY the same name, DS displays a scroll in the corner of the icon, showing that it will use the DS materials.

  Post edited by JimmyC_2009 on October 2012
• IconicPoser Posts: 0

  October 2012 edited December 1969

  Thanks JimmyC_2009 for your reply.

  In my case, I'm using an external HDD including all content. In the DS4 preferences both the Poser and the DAZ directory are set to the SAME destination, so both Poser and DAZ (or combined) content installers will always refer to:

  D:/CONTENT/

  That means, that all DAZ related files are normally installed into subdirectories of this /CONTENT/ folder, for example /CONTENT/People/. However, as long as those DAZ files have extensions like .DS/.DSA/.DSB/.DSE they can easily be moved over to the Poser directory, which (with my settings) has been created to the following path:

  D:/CONTENT/RUNTIME/

  This Runtime folder normally holds all Poser related subdirectories and files. Unfortunately .DSF files can't be moved into the Poser structure as they won't be accessable and visible there anymore.

  So there's nothing wrong with my application setup so far, as I have been using "combined" installers before. My only question was if there's any way to make .DSF files show up the same way as .DS or .DSA files do in a Poser folder. If the co-location of a .PZ2 file won't work in such a case, maybe there's another way to make it work, for example by writing a special .DSA script which points to the D:/CONTENT/People/ folder where the original DAZ-native .DSF original file is located.

  I hope I could discribe my problem better this time.
• JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891

  October 2012 edited December 1969

  I'm sorry, I just don't know any way to do that. It doesn't mean that someone else doesn't, so hang on.
  
  I like the rigid Poser format, but I think even later versions of Poser are getting away from that now, pity, I like the idea of a place for everything, and everything in it's place. Future versions of DS will probably follow suit, and anything will be able to be put anywhere, who knows?
  
  The main idea of sorting content in DS4 is by using Categories, which does not discriminate between DS and Poser formats, but I have never used that. I have seperate Poser runtime folders for certain categories, like Vehicles, Buildings, Vegetation etc., in an effort to stop the My Library folder taking over my entire disk.
  
  Hope you get a reply soon, best wishes.
• IconicPoser Posts: 0

  October 2012 edited December 1969

  Thanks JimmyC, I also hope there's a solution. Like you I also don't like to use the Content Manager and its related functions as all of that references and categories have to be consistantly maintained by the artist, especially if changing the file structure very often like I do. A simple folder structure which can be adapted, moved or copied around would be the easiest way to keep things sorted.

  I can see that there are some good news like the DSON Importer which is the first step into the right direction, but I'm still afraid that both Poser and DAZ worlds will keep drifting apart instead of merging together. However, I still keep on waiting if someone has some ideas for a possible solution to my described problem...

  Cheers.
• IconicPoser Posts: 0

  October 2012 edited December 1969

  Surprise, surprise - I finally figured it out!
  And it works perfectly!!!
  

  My first approach starting with the idea using the code of customized actions was the right one!

  First I added a test custom action for the original .DSF file I wanted to access later on out of a Poser directory. Then I opened this new entry using the built-in editor and I extracted the self-generated code to a new .DSA file which I put into my desired Poser subdirectory.

  setBusyCursor();
  var oMgr = App.getContentMgr();
  var bMerge = shiftPressed() ? false : true;
  if( !bMerge )
  {
   Scene.clear();
  }
  oMgr.openFile( "//.DSF" );
  clearBusyCursor();
  

  Adding an empty .PZ2 file plus an icon with the same name as the new .DSA script did the trick. From now on I can easily access the original .DSF file which is still located in the original DAZ folder. Of course the created custom action can be deleted again and the same script code can be used later on for calling other .DSF files from any Poser directory!