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

IconicPoser

Hi,

I'm still using D|S 4.0 and I have to say that it's still okay for my needs. But to be honest, I don't really like the way how .DSF files are handled there. No, not because of the newer file format which has been introduced here, it's just the fact that shortcuts and icons for this file type aren't automatically displayed in a normal Poser directory located underneath the RUNTIME folder structure. Instead .DSF related actions, especially supporting the new Genesis platform, can only be accessed out of some special subdirectories located in the CONTENT folder which is one level higer than the good-old RUNTIME.

Regardless if Poser or DAZ native, I prefer to keep my well-organized content within the same RUNTIME. So I always have quick access to all related morphs and maps without the need to switch between two different "worlds", the standard Poser structure and the "additional" DAZ structure. I've always disliked those unnecessary jumps back and forth just to access files which belong together. I'd rather prefer to keep the workflow efficient and simple.

In case of .DS/.DSA/.DSB/.DSE files there has never been a problem to put them into the RUNTIME structure, as long as there was also a .PZ2 file existing with the same name. Even if the content was DAZ-Only with no Poser content present, an empty .PZ2 file could always be used to display and make all .DSx content accessable within the old Poser structure. Unfortunately this trick doesn't work anymore for .DSF files (as it also doesn't work for .DAZ files). At least I couldn't find a way to make the .DSF content appear in the Poser structure.

Of course I know how to define D|S custom actions in order to have quick access to all kinds of functions, including calls to .DSF content. The drawback is that all these commands can only be sent out of a special application menu which has to be opened first and searched for the right entry. What I'd like to see instead is a simple way to access such .DSF files out of the RUNTIME structure where (in my case) the current morphs and materials (Poser or DAZ) are also located. It wouldn't matter to me if there's a need to write a special script for every situation in order to achieve that functionality. Once set up, the correct .DSF content could always be quickly applied with one single click on the icon.

Is there a way to write a .DS or .DSA script located in the RUNTIME structure calling a specific .DSF function?

If yes, how should this be set up?

Would this approach also work for .DUF files if I ever consider to upgrade to DAZ Studio 4.5?

Thanks in advance for your help, I appreciate it!

JimmyC_2009

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.

IconicPoser

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

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

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

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!