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It is still a 100MB of trash for me which I refuse to keep and who knows how much hog on DS performance. Sorry, but disk space this isn't an argument. The question is - is there way to delete metadata through the DIM safely and completely from DS once it is got installed if we don't have a choice to install it or not?Open DS and Reset your Database under Database maintenance. Simple.
Yes, but unless you know that you should be looking at the readme online, you won't know that you should be looking at the readme online. If I don't know there's an update, I don't know to look at the readme to see what that update is. Who wants to spend hours looking through readmes online to see if there are updates to who knows how much content they have?
As someone else mentioned, other stores have the policy that if there's an update, the vendor notifies you. I've had several notifications from Renderosity vendors recently, and in the past.
Completely agree (I'm the one who mentioned that :)) It would take forever to constantly look at every file for every product I have to see if it's updated today. It's not just Renderosity that tells you when there are updates - RDNA does it and even CP does it! Why not Daz???
Solution. I have a folder (unfortunately one in DS and one in Poser runtimes) called Clothing Misc - with subfolders for things that any character can use with a tiny adjustment. Subfolders - hats, belts, scarves, gloves (ok they're a bit more individual), etc. Stick all your hats in that folder and make a sub folder called MATS where you put Pose files.
Thanks. Um, how do I do that?
Well I have the new "Default" directory set up. So bring it on so I can test it out!
Still concerned about one other thing. If I have one directory filled with MY content setup, data and texture folders and all the rest will installing everything new to a test directory and then creating a work path for DAZ Studio to find it all make things go hiccup with there being doubles of allot of the data and textures and what not?
Mostly that and then trying to figure out how to get all the old data and textures out of the old Content folder (which would become my legacy Generation 4 PLUS content folder). Most of the freebies and 'Rosity Genesis stuff is in ZIP files, I keep those all in their own folder mostly away from the DAZ installers. So won't be hard to tell WinZIP to do a batch installation to the new directory and then sort things as needed when that's all done.
Thanks. Um, how do I do that?
From the Content Library tab, click on the Active Pane options. About halfway down is Content DB Maintenance. Click on that. A popup will show up. Select Reset Database at the bottom. Accept, and *poof* Metadata vanish. :)
And not only MetaData I'd wager, but also everything one may have categorised oneself, which makes the "reset" thing kind of not an option for me.
From the Content Library tab, click on the Active Pane options. About halfway down is Content DB Maintenance. Click on that. A popup will show up. Select Reset Database at the bottom. Accept, and *poof* Metadata vanish. :)
*poof* And it is gone :) Thanks!
And not only MetaData I'd wager, but also everything one may have categorised oneself, which makes the "reset" thing kind of not an option for me.
Well, yes. It's not to be done lightly unless one either wants to get rid of it all, or is ready to start over.
If you only want a subset? That is what user data is for.
Metadata for about 4000 products amounts to around 100 MB. In the old days that was lots of HD, but with 128GB SSD drives now being considered small. and typical Hard Drives in the TB+ range, 100MB is nothing.
Oh stop with the condescension. It's not the space, it's the possible corruption and extra work. The fewer files in the db and the fewer I, as the user, might mess up the better. So if I don't want ALL of the metadata I get NONE and have to enter from scratch for my current installed 44 gigs of Genesis and DS4 stuff.
DAZ seems to be turning into Microsoft with the one-size-fits-all stuff. Now I'm not even sure it will be beneficial to use as a downloader only.
Solution. I have a folder (unfortunately one in DS and one in Poser runtimes) called Clothing Misc - with subfolders for things that any character can use with a tiny adjustment. Subfolders - hats, belts, scarves, gloves (ok they're a bit more individual), etc. Stick all your hats in that folder and make a sub folder called MATS where you put Pose files.
Well, that was kinda a joke, but seriously, I do basically what you do though not as extensively. I don't need it with clothes so much (except for hats and other prop thingies) but I do have folders for items from scenes and props such as Lanterns, Books, Grounds, etc. I know this is what the CMS is for and database mavens go gaga over it, but for the little I need and the total switchover to an ancient messy series of content and runtime folders and utter dependence on the CMS with a total reinstall of everything, it's just not worth it to me.
I guess I could use the new program for a onetime download of my entire history for backup. Beyond that?
Anyway, thanks for the input.
Just like moving things and then expecting an Uninstaller to work (it won't) Install manager can't track things that Install Manager, itself, didn't do.
Are you saying here that items which are categorized according to our own systems won't be recognized by the Install Manager? Surely, that cannot be the case? After all, as I understand it, our categorizations are just our own virtual file structure, and do not affect the actual file structure in My Library.
Completely agree (I'm the one who mentioned that :)) It would take forever to constantly look at every file for every product I have to see if it's updated today. It's not just Renderosity that tells you when there are updates - RDNA does it and even CP does it! Why not Daz???
Solution. I have a folder (unfortunately one in DS and one in Poser runtimes) called Clothing Misc - with subfolders for things that any character can use with a tiny adjustment. Subfolders - hats, belts, scarves, gloves (ok they're a bit more individual), etc. Stick all your hats in that folder and make a sub folder called MATS where you put Pose files. You aren't duplicating anything. There is no reason you can't have the zips you bought at DAZ in one folder and stuff you bought elsewhere in another folder. Install manager does not, can not, connect to any store besides DAZ3D. So your downloads from DAZ goes in one folder, your stuff from Rendo goes in another, RDNA in a third, etc. Doesn't make a difference. Those are not the files that need to be organized anyway. They are just the zips, the Installers, if you prefer.
Install manager does not have to download to the same place that your Browser does when you shop at those other stores. (In fact it would probably be better if it didn't.)
That has nothing at all to do with how things are installed after they are downloaded. Where you choose to put your CR2 files, or your PP2 files, DSA, or DUF files has nothing to do with where your zips are.
Let me give you a usage example,
I want all my mil4 clothing to go in one content directory. OK, I set up my content directory in settings. I select all of the Mil 4 clothing which I have either already downloaded with Install manager on the "Ready to Install" tab, or which I haven't yet downloaded on the "Ready to Download" Tab. I select my Content Directory in my drop down. If I am downloading I check the box that says install after download, and if I am not worried about keeping the zips I check the delete after install box, or I can choose to keep the zips, my choice. And I push the button.
Everything downloads, it all gets installed, I come back in a bit and I say, wait it is done already? :)
Now I want all of my genesis stuff in another directory, well I choose all of my Genesis stuff, pick the Content Directory I want it in and push the button.
Now I want my Mil 3 clothing in another directory, OK, select it, pick my directory and push the button.
Then I think to myself, wait, I have the Morphing Fantasy Dress for V3, V4 and Genesis, but I have all these textures somewhere, where did I put those? And in DS I open my smart content tab and under products, I choose wardrobe and look through them, or open product name and look through the alphabetical list list for the name of that texture set. Because Install Manager made all those entries for me.
Now I have been using Poser 6 for a while, along with DS and Carrara but I decide to upgrade to Poser 2012. So I open Install manager and change the version of Poser I use from Poser 6 to Poser 9/2012 and all the DSON files and Poser CF files for products I own show up for me ready to Download and install.
I then look at my Content structure and say, you know what? I could have done this better. I now want all of my Mil 4 stuff broken out so that V4 is in one directory, M4 is in another directory, K4 is in a third directory. So I select everything in my Mil 4 directory and uninstall it. I select the V4 stuff and select a directory, and push the button. Since I am not downloading it doesn't take very long. Then I choose all of the M4 stuff and select a Directory and push the button. And the same for K4.
Then I think, you know what, I hardly ever use this mil 3 and mil 2 stuff anymore, so I decide to uninstall all of it to make more room. And if I decide to use it, I can always put it back.
If you, like me, have allot of content, reorganizing your content structure is a royal pain. So you don't do it. You live with your choices you originally made because it made sense at the time, even if you have outgrown that organizational structure, because it would take you forever to change it around. Not anymore. Want to try to organize it differently? No big deal. What used to take weeks can now be done in hours. (And when I lost a HD it did take me weeks to re-install everything from backups, click, click, click, click, click, click and that is just one installer.)
Oh stop with the condescension. It's not the space, it's the possible corruption and extra work. The fewer files in the db and the fewer I, as the user, might mess up the better. So if I don't want ALL of the metadata I get NONE and have to enter from scratch for my current installed 44 gigs of Genesis and DS4 stuff.
DAZ seems to be turning into Microsoft with the one-size-fits-all stuff. Now I'm not even sure it will be beneficial to use as a downloader only. No if you are concerned about corruption of the database you back it up. The tools to do that are in DS.
Are you saying here that items which are categorized according to our own systems won't be recognized by the Install Manager? Surely, that cannot be the case? After all, as I understand it, our categorizations are just our own virtual file structure, and do not affect the actual file structure in My Library.I did not say that. I did say I am going to have to wait until Tomorrow to see exactly what, if any potential problems there may be with User data, and what the trade offs are.
And not only MetaData I'd wager, but also everything one may have categorised oneself, which makes the "reset" thing kind of not an option for me.Save your Userdata first. reimport your userdata.
Thanks for the explanations, DAZ_Spooky :)
Are you saying here that items which are categorized according to our own systems won't be recognized by the Install Manager? Surely, that cannot be the case? After all, as I understand it, our categorizations are just our own virtual file structure, and do not affect the actual file structure in My Library.I did not say that. I did say I am going to have to wait until Tomorrow to see exactly what, if any potential problems there may be with User data, and what the trade offs are.
Great - we'll hold off until tomorrow for the answer. But I would think the DIM would be dead in the water for many of us if it didn't support customer categorization.
So, we are to dump all of the download into one place. Will the DIM realize which is a Poser and which is a DS and install them into the right place or will we have to pick it. And right place for Poser is not My Library/Runtime unless it is for the Genesis PCF stuff to me.
This is utter nonsense. I have a lot of content (probably a lot more than you have, given the numbers you quoted in earlier messages). With that much content you DO organize it. If you wouldn't you would end up with 10.000 folders in the characters section. It is also pretty easy to do if you use a temp folder to install. Moving them around afterwards is pretty easy as well. The install manager completely breaks this because it does not allow you to install to dedicated subfolders (as in V4 runtime, Clothing:Swimsuits). The big problem with a large runtime is NOT to find it, but to know what you have. The only way to keep an overview is to keep it organized in such a way you can easily browse it. The install manager breaks this method
The click fest is only because DAZ insisted on creating the product installers. Everywhere else you had zip files, which install the same content with a simple drag and drop - and all of it at once if you want to.
I was hoping that the install manager would be of help eliminating the superfluous needed for other programs and to alert me to updates. Maybe some of the filters will allow me to do that, but I am not so sure about that. But I will wait and see what the program actually does
I also know, that if there is a downside, and I don't know that there is one, it is potentially outweighed by the upside of every product that Install Manager Installs now has, at the minimum, a product entry in the database. So you gain a bunch of metadata already done for you.
Adding this to the feature set would be the only thing to make me perhaps consider I might have a use for the DIM. The way it works is so totally different to the way I download, store and install Poser or D|S content, using it would amount to throwing away a system I've used for about eight years and replacing it with a system I don't understand.
BTW, Spooky, please don't re-repeat your "no need to throw anything away". As has been said upthread, it's beginning to look like this is an all-or-nothing proposition. If I were to make complete use of the DIM, with its complete duplicate of every DAZ content file I already have installed and (if I want to keep them) complete duplicate of every installation .zip, it sounds like I'd end up with two parallel content sets taking up twice the HD space until I decide to delete one. (Hint: it probably won't be the system I understand from end to end that gets deleted, the one where I can't find anything would be a much more likely choice.)
I wonder how that would work. I mean – if you choose to delete the ZIP files after install, how can you re-install the installed stuff afterwards? You install Mil4 stuff, delete the ZIPs, then uninstall everything again and install V4, M4, K4 separately into different directories, all that without re-downloading anything? But when you deleted the ZIPs right after the initial install, you do not have the source files (deleted) from which you could install the uninstalled stuff, or not?
That's a great question! I am also still on Windows XP Pro 32 bit.
Dana
It would be even better if there was an answer to the question... I've asked 2 times so far and it keeps either being missed in the forum, skipped over because they don't know or skipped over because it's probably a NO and will cause even more issues for those with an older OS.....
Here's one more though... They always say the 3rd time is the charm....
Will this program run on a Windows XP OS? The program install path does not exist for XP and leads me to believe it won't work on XP.
I think some confusion/misunderstanding about Install Manager has emerged so I’d thought I’d clear a few things up. I’m going to give a simple overview about how it works -- it might get a bit technical so bear with me.
When you sign-in to Install Manager it goes to your “Downloads” directory and finds what content you have there. It determines this by seeing what zips are in that “Downloads” folder, and by reading a small supplement file that Install Manager places next to them for informational purposes. It also looks in its “Manifests” folder, which has a little file in it for each product it has installed. These manifests are just simple xml files containing some basic information about the product, as well as directions on how to uninstall that product. If a product is in the “Manifest” folder, then it is installed; if it’s not, then it’s not. If a product is in the “Downloads” folder, it’s downloaded; if it’s not, it’s not.
Once it has gathered this local information, Install Manager goes online to see what the store says you own. If a product is neither in the “Downloads” folder or in the “Manifests” folder, then Install Manager will tell you that you need to download that product. The information in the manifests and download files includes information about the product’s version, so Install Manager can also notify you when the store has an update to the product.
Okay, so that’s the basics of the system. It’s pretty straight forward. It is simple so that it is less likely to have problems, and to make it easier to fix problems that do arise.
Now what this means is, like others have been saying, Install Manager only knows about what it has done. That means that if you install with Install Manager, and then uninstall manually (i.e. manually delete the files), then the manifest for that product is still in the “Manifests” directory and Install Manager still thinks the product is installed. The CMS also thinks the product is installed if the CMS was on when the content was installed. In addition, it means that if you manually install a product (instead of using Install Manager), Install Manager will think it’s not installed, unless you manually make and place the manifest file.
I have read many concerns about the install section of Install Manager. It’s really just a batch version of what the currently installers already do. Right now, you launch an installer click through a bunch of pages, pick a place to install, and then it drops a bunch a files in that location. Then you go to another installer and click through pretty much the same pages, maybe picking a different install location but often the same one again. This is tedious and requires a lot of user interaction. The Install Manger just turns this around. Pick one or more products you wish to install, pick a place for them to install to, and click a button to install. The Install Manager goes through the selected products and drops their files, and does anything that installing that product means. So pretty much the same thing, just with fewer clicks. There are a couple differences: for example, formerly the installers optionally made an un-installer for the product to make clean up easy; Install Manager, on the other hand, always records the information it needs to uninstall in the manifest file, as described above. Also, the Install Manager handles the meta-data insertion, so that individual applications don’t have too. The big change is in how much work you as a user have to do, not in the actual work that is begin done.
What happens if you move/rename your files after you install? Well, the same thing that happens without Install Manager: the un-installers can’t find them, and the CMS can’t find them. Anything else looking for the files might not find them. So, this is not any different than the state of things before Install Manager. Install Manager doesn’t cause you any more or fewer problems in these cases. With a manually moved file, it does mean that when an update comes out, you will need to do more manual work. If you’re willing to do that work, then moving your files after installation is not a big deal: it’s the same work you do when updates come out now.
There’s also been a lot of discussion about the clean install recommendation. This recommendation exists because we know that people move, rename, and edit their products, and because of how the un-install for Install Manager works compared to the un-installers made by current installers. We don’t want to mess up what you have set up. So it is safer to give Install Manager its own directory. Will Install Manager still work if you target an existing directory? Yes. That’s why the application warns you about targeting an existing folder, but does not prevent you from doing it. But, Install Manager can get a little confused if it tries to drop a file that already exists in that location on your system. It will think it doesn’t need to remove the file when it un-installs, because it was already there. (There is a means in Install Manager to fix this case, but it’s a more advance feature that the general user shouldn’t need to worry about.) Also, it is possible that the file set you have for a product is different from the file set used to make the new Install Manager zips -- either because of updates, or fixes, or manual tinkering. This means that the uninstall will never remove everything cleanly, because it knows nothing about these orphan files. Another issue is that if you run an old un-installer, it will blankly remove all the files it dropped. If you do this before Install Manager installs a product, no problem. If you do it after, it could break your install. This complication is avoided if you follow the recommendation and install to a new place, because the old un-installs won’t ever touch the new files.
So in summation, if you are careful and aren’t afraid of having to manually clean up a file here or there, install wherever you want, and move the front end files as you wish. It will have pretty much the same repercussions it currently has. You’ll have to check any un-installs you do, in order to make sure it got everything; and, you’ll need to compare updates to see how they affect your custom content setup, but that is the same as it is before Install Manager, nothing new. That said, the recommendation makes a simpler, easier content install experience.
I am not quite sure I get it. Are you saying that when you install stuff with the Install Manager, that it automaticaly creates metadata? Or that for every product that has been converted to ZIP, metadata was created during conversion and is now part of the ZIP file?
It would be even better if there was an answer to the question... I've asked 2 times so far and it keeps either being missed in the forum, skipped over because they don't know or skipped over because it's probably a NO and will cause even more issues for those with an older OS.....
Here's one more though... They always say the 3rd time is the charm....
Will this program run on a Windows XP OS? The program install path does not exist for XP and leads me to believe it won't work on XP.
On XP it uses a different default path.
I too want to know if the Install Manager works in Windows XP 32bit, since that´s the OS i have.
I am not quite sure I get it. Are you saying that when you install stuff with the Install Manager, that it automaticaly creates metadata? Or that for every product that has been converted to ZIP, metadata was created during conversion and is now part of the ZIP file?
The install manager uses the meta-data that is in the zip if its there. If its not, it makes a simple entry in the database that connects the user facing files to a product and enters some basic tags. This is not enough to show up in smart content but enough to show up in the Products section of the content library.
This is utter nonsense. I have a lot of content (probably a lot more than you have, given the numbers you quoted in earlier messages). With that much content you DO organize it. If you wouldn't you would end up with 10.000 folders in the characters section. It is also pretty easy to do if you use a temp folder to install. Moving them around afterwards is pretty easy as well. The install manager completely breaks this because it does not allow you to install to dedicated subfolders (as in V4 runtime, Clothing:Swimsuits). The big problem with a large runtime is NOT to find it, but to know what you have. The only way to keep an overview is to keep it organized in such a way you can easily browse it. The install manager breaks this method
The click fest is only because DAZ insisted on creating the product installers. Everywhere else you had zip files, which install the same content with a simple drag and drop - and all of it at once if you want to.
I was hoping that the install manager would be of help eliminating the superfluous needed for other programs and to alert me to updates. Maybe some of the filters will allow me to do that, but I am not so sure about that. But I will wait and see what the program actually does
I never said you don't organize it, of course you organize it. I said you don't reorganize it, you live with the choices you originally made in how to organize it because reorganizing it is a pain and allot of work. I have reorganized mine twice, I have put off doing it a third time as I knew this was coming. :) Given the mistakes I made in organization the first two times, I think I can finally get it right, but if I don't, at least it won't be nearly as tedious to do it a fourth time. :) And while I am not going to get into a size comparison discussion, none of the numbers I have listed has anything to do with my personal Content collection, besides large. :)
Install manager doesn't break anything, unless you mean break by not using windows explorer/finder to move things after you put them where you didn't want them in the first place. That is like moving a couch from the side of the room near the door to the far side of the room, so you can then move it out the door and load it onto a truck.
The vast majority, not all, but the vast majority, of our customers preferred the installers, or we wouldn't have kept them so long.
It would be even better if there was an answer to the question... I've asked 2 times so far and it keeps either being missed in the forum, skipped over because they don't know or skipped over because it's probably a NO and will cause even more issues for those with an older OS.....
Here's one more though... They always say the 3rd time is the charm....
Will this program run on a Windows XP OS? The program install path does not exist for XP and leads me to believe it won't work on XP.
On XP it uses a different default path.
Thank you for the information. Perhaps that should be noted in the documentation because right now it makes it sound like it only will install into that particular path listed in the documentation, which made me wonder if it will work on XP or not.