Misplaced Content Library folders

jmucchiello

There are a not insignifant number of products that almost install to the right place. In the content library, there's both a Prop and a Props folder. 99% of props are in the Props folder and a handful in the incorrect location. I have a Genesis 9 folder in the root of the Content Library with a handful of products that obviously should have been installed into /People/Genesis 9.

Is there a good way to fix this?

• I could leave it be. But actually, no, it drives me batty. Something must be done.
• Could just move the folders. The downside here is it breaks uninstalls and updates. And it breaks the metadata.
• Could move the folders and undate the manifest files. This only breaks the metadata.
• Could uninstall, open the zip file and make changes to the manifest.dsx file, then reinstall. Solves the uninstall and metadata issue. Does nothing for updates. And it's a lot of work.
• Could file a ticket. This solves all these issues. But I have tickets like this that are 9+ months old sitting Open and untouched.

What do other's do? Am I missing some trick here?

NorthOf45

Filing a ticket is the only official way to get the products fixed. I am also annoyed at the seemingly endless variations of folder misspellings and omissions. What I do is re-package them with Content Package Assist. I will re-arrange folders and/or correct spelling, then update the metadata files manually (it is usually just a question of string replacement for the mis-assigned path). To account for updates, I actually create a new file with a different part (i.e., IM00xxxxxxx-02_yadayadaMOD vs -01 for the original) I put the MOD in the product title so that I can see why there are two (or more) of the same product. Drop the new package into DIM and hide the original. CPA will take care of the manifest and supplement. Refresh and install the new version. DIM still has a record of the original download, and will flag updates to it, if they ever appear. Minor changes like this might take an unreasonable amount of time to correct, if at all, compared to broken product functionality. I satisfy my own frustrations, and hopefully DAZ will do it for everyone else. If ever the update does appear, I check to see if it was properly done. I then uninstall my mod and install the new one, then delete the modified version. Sounds like a lot of work, but it gets things done now, and I don't have to constantly check for updates. The readme pages don't always document the updates.

jmucchiello

As I expected, just follow these 325 easy steps. :)

NorthOf45

We-e-ll-ll, you don't have to make a second package, I do that to avoid overwriting my corrections with an unexpected update. First law of wing-walking...

jmucchiello

I'm editing the packages after download. I've found the changes just inconsistent enough that I can't imagine automating it. *sigh*

My favorite issue is not just the PROPS directory with a bunch of assets and it's neighbor PROP with a handful of assets. But some PA folder names are spelled wrong in places.

jmucchiello

BTW, can someone provide an historic pretext for why there are "Camera Presets" and "Cameras". Same for scenes, shaders, lights, etc. Was there a time they just switched whether Presets were needed. It's amusing since there's also a root level Presets directory.

richardandtracy

I don't use smart content and do use manual install, which makes it somewhat easier, in Windows Explorer, I just drag the contents of the 'Prop' directory into 'Props' etc.

If the .duf files are in a wrongly named directory, drag them into the correct one or change the PA name manually. I DO NOT touch anything in the data directory, as that's on the recieving end of .a link. If the textures are in 'Runtime|Texture' instead of 'Runtime|Textures', I leave alone as it's not worth moving. If the texture or the PA directory is in 'Runtime', I move it.

If I see a PA name directory with an exclamation mark in front of the PA name, I remove everything relating to the product by hand and with prejudice and see if I have anything else by the same PA/freebie generator and get rid of that, too. I'm not having [early?] Poser style anarchy reign in my DAZ content.

Regards,

Richard

 

jmucchiello

The purpose here is to find things. My library is huge. I find manual installation, which I do with renderosity/renderhub/etc assets, annoying. I can't imagine dealing with it if it applied to my entire library.

If I see a PA name directory with an exclamation mark in front of the PA name, I remove everything relating to the product by hand and with prejudice

I have no context for what this might mean.

frank0314

If any current products have the exclamation point in front of the artist's name, please report it. They are permitted in the user-facing files, aka presets, but not in folder names.

jmucchiello

Is this really just about getting one's folder higher up in the directory?

Richard Haseltine

jmucchiello said:

BTW, can someone provide an historic pretext for why there are "Camera Presets" and "Cameras". Same for scenes, shaders, lights, etc. Was there a time they just switched whether Presets were needed. It's amusing since there's also a root level Presets directory.

It was distinguishing between actual new cameras, sahders etc. and presets that just applied an existing camera, shader etc. In principle the non-Preset folder should be for loading a basic item type (though it is stil a preset type) while presets would be partcular settings for a given look or purpose.