Problem with copying files in "categories"
odastein
Posts: 606
I've been for a while copying all my files to the "categories" folders, ordered according to my preferences, with the intent of eventually only using these folders to search for content, instead of the messed up libraries.
Unfortunately, today, unpon copying "Room creator 2" :https://www.daz3d.com/room-creator-version-2 , I notice that in two subfolders, "preset materials" and "preset poses", only the first file of each folder (out of dozens of files) has been copied. I tried again several times, and the result is the same : almost all files are missing.
When I copy, I verify that the folders have been correctly created in "categories" but not that the content of the folders has been entirely copied. I noticed it this time by accident. So, for all I know, I could be missing tons of files for many products in my painfully created folders by category.
Any idea of why this happened? And if it's common? Should I give up my idea of organizing all my content by category?
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I've had similar issues where suddenly the files I've copied over to categories just copy empty folders.
Check out this thread - it was a big help to me:
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/23763/how-do-i-get-rid-of-empty-categories
But removing empty folders isn't my problem.
My problem is that the "create a new category from" tool doesn't in fact copy all the files (in fact copied almost none of them) in the created folders, at least in this instance and maybe in many other instances, unbestknown to me. And I want to know why and if possible fix this, in order to be able to reorganize my content in "categories" as I have been advised to do.
To clarify some terminology: Creating categories does not "copy" files. Categories are just metadata added to the Daz Studio database that allow you to sort and view your originally installed content files in a different way.
I see exactly what you mean. I just tried it myself with the same results. I tried 'Create catagory from', copy and paste and, 'Catagorize' with the same results. The files are all normal suported files. There is no difference in file extension between the 2 files copied and the ones that aren't.
Sorry I couldn't do anything but verify your problem.
Gus
Go to the folder that you tried to categorize and look at the metadata (right-click on the folder -> Edit Metadata...) Select each item in the Assets tab, and check if the data in the bottom half of the window is valid (Path, Type, Categories, etc).
Also check to see if the files show in the Products section of the Content Library,
Sorry to come back to this so much later, but I had stopped using DAZ Studio for a couple months.
So, the first thing I noticed in the Metadata is that all files that don't appear in "Categories" have no "type". So, I tried to add a "type" and then create a category again, but it didn't change anything. They still didn't appear in my categories.
The second thing I noticed is that in "files/categories", for all files the path to the category I wanted to create is indicated (whether they actually appear or not in this category), but files that actually appear in my new category are the only ones with a second path indicated : towards one of the existing default categories (for instance Default/Material/Architecture).
The third thing I have noticed is that for the files that appear in my new categories, the "compat" column is checked. While it isn't for files that don't appear in my new categories.
So, now, what I can I do?
Okay, I'm confused. There are several places to see your files, all with different conditions. Let's assume that they are physically installed where they should be. (DIM or Connect? You never mentioned which).
Starting with the Content Library (DAZ Studio Formats and Poser Formats), this should show the same folder structure as the physical file structure, whether it has good, bad, or no metadata.
Under Products, you will see all files that belong to a product that have an Asset entry in the metadata. It might be incomplete, it might be wrong, but as long as it is properly formed it will get into the product. Files from products with metadata support without the Asset tag will end up in the LOCAL USER product. (Older products with no metadata support at all have a default minimal metadata file generated automatically from the contents, so they all end up in the correct Product).
The Categories view shows which Default categories each file belongs to, based on the metadata. If you add Custom Categories, you can see them there, too. If there is no default category defined in the metadata, the files end up in the "Default/Lost and Found" category, in a folder with the Product name. (I keep my custom categories separate from the Default to avoid complications. You can move Custom categories as long as they show a darker grey folder with a "U" at the bottom. If they are a lighter coloured folder, then they are read-only because they are considered vendor data. You can copy those and then delete the original. Totally optional.)
Smart Content is the most difficult to please. Metadata must be correct and complete for the product files to appear in the right place at the right time. You can view by Product or by File. Each view has a tree for Default categories, and maybe one for your custom categories if they are in a separate branch (or branches). You can drill down to narrow the scope of the matches in the results pane. What shows up can be "Filtered by Context", which is where the compatibility comes in. The type will show as the flash in the upper right corner of the file.
So, where do you see and/or not see the files from the product you are trying to categorize?
I'm trying to have all my elements appear in customized categories in order to organize my library and be able to find everything (originally, I tried to do that by reorganizing the library folders themselves, but I was told not to do this, since it might cause problems, in particular for updates).
So, I take all the folders of my library one by one, and put them in one of my customized categories, and that's where I search when I need, say, a prop. But I noticed that for this particular product, while the folder itself correctly appear in my categories, only a few of its numerous files appear there. I'm wondering why this happened and how to fix it, and I'm wondering also if ti's not a general problem. Until now I only verified that the folder was appearing in categories, not every single file within it (which would be very impractical anyway). Now I'm wondering how many files are actually missing, and whether I should as a result give up trying to use the categories to organize properly the content of my library.
I have made custom categories for all my products (yes, it took forever), but I only recall once or twice when the files would not show. If I remember correctly, I had to wipe all trace of it from all ways to access the database. Uninstall might not be enough, as it can leave orphaned references. After uninstalling, go to the Products view and navigate to the product in question and Delete it if it is still there. You might need to refresh to get the latest status. Go to the LOCAL USER product (under L) and look for any files that come from the problem product. There might be a lot of files in there, so wait for it to finish gathering the info. Everything is sorted alphabetically, so there is no short way of finding files from the product, but check to see if any are still hanging around and remove any references. Check the Lost and Found default category and remove any of that product's folders. Now you can try re-installing the product and making your custom category again. Anything that shows in the Content Library should appear in custom categories.